Good parent/teacher relationships enhance child success | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is a contributor to ECU News Services.

    The Labor Day holiday and weeks that follow find families with schoolchildren settling into the new school year. To help children succeed, ECU Child Development and Family Relations instructor Ashley Norris recommends that parents build an open, supportive relationship with their children's teachers.

    Norris advises parents of children from kindergarten to high school to stay involved and keep the doors of communication with teachers open. She offers the following tips to make that happen:

• Communicate early and often. Provide teachers with information on your family's activities and your child's interests and strengths. This helps teachers accommodate academic challenges specific to your child.
• Volunteer. Not all volunteering requires time off work for activities during the school day. Teachers may appreciate help putting together games, cutting laminate, printing pictures of projects, or even writing a grant for their next STEM project. Let teachers know your strengths and ask how you may help.
• Share major life changes. If your family is expecting a new baby, getting a puppy or moving to a new house, share these milestones with the teacher. Children handle major life transitions differently and teachers can be more supportive of your child's emotional needs if they know about these changes.
• Communicate the positive, not just the negative. Build relationships by sharing positive, happy moments such as an exciting family vacation. Offer to share cultural experiences by bringing in photographs and talking about the trip with the child's class. A relationship built on positives will make it easier to confide hardships that may arise over the year.
• Be creative in your communication. Schools often have web sites, social media accounts and other outlets to enhance ongoing communication with families. If you are having difficulty communicating face-to-face with your child's teacher, consider alternative methods that you both might find more comfortable.
• Reciprocate appreciation and patience. It is important that teachers and families let each other know how much we appreciate and value what we do for each other. Something as small as a handwritten note can go a long way in building a relationship and keeping lines of communication open.