Parent-Teacher Conference
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
United States
November 6, 2008 7:25am CST
Do you go to parent-teacher conferences for your kids, where you sit with the teacher and they tell you your child's strengths and weaknesses in school?
Well I had 2 yesterday, one for each of my twins who are in 1st grade. They are both doing quite well in school, so it's always nice to go to their teacher meetings. My oldest isn't doing as well, so I'm usually not looking forward to his as much, but of course I will always still go and discuss his shortcomings.
My twins are both reading above 3rd grade level. The only problem either of them are having is my daughter doesn't have much confidence in math. She knows how to do it and what she's doing, but she won't do it on her own until the teacher comes to help her. We are sure it's just a confidence problem as we've seen things like this in other areas of her life. But mostly they're getting top grades.
It's always nice to hear how well your child is doing in school, especially since I've been dealing with my oldest being behind in school since Kindergarten, and he's now in 6th grade!
How well are your kids doing in school?
3 people like this
17 responses
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
10 Nov 08
Don’t remind me Meow! This Saturday (15th) is THAT DAY of the year, alongwith the half-yearly report card. The individual teachers of each major subject calls up each parent and discusses the ‘whatever’ and in the end the class-teacher reserves her ‘best’ on behaviour and discipline and attentiveness and such. My son is a complete extrovert and his attention span is in the minus…I once tested him and he could not keep his mouth shut for 60 seconds at a stretch! Its but natural that with such concentration of a master chess-player, he just manages to scrape thru in maths. This is what I am dreading…its OK in all other subjects but I know I would get to hear an earful on his attention and talkative nature
1 person likes this
@vidhyagowri (1973)
• United States
10 Nov 08
Well I have twins too and they are in Kindergarten now. I like to go and talk to their teacher regularly regarding their progress in academics and arts. They are doing pretty good now. Actually they are just 4 years old and because of their talent, their principal offered them kindergarten admission. I personally think its always good to talk with the class teachers about our kids.
1 person likes this
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
6 Nov 08
That is great to hear that your twins are doing so well. Hopefully your daughter will focus a little better and you won't have to worry.
I have a parent teacher conference next week for my daughter. I don't think she has any problems, but we will see. She does seem to be having a little bit harder time in 3rd grade than she did in previous grades.
Up until now she has had all shining reviews at the conferences.
When I went to p/t conferences for my boys, I will never forget. At home they were so crazy and wild I thought for sure the teacher would tell me this. She said Andrew is so quiet.....I then said, You must have the wrong student, I am Andrew Bennetts mom! She laughed and then said, I am talking about Andrew Bennett!
It is so true that our kids are so much better for others than they are for their parents.
1 person likes this
@dncmanning (770)
• United States
7 Nov 08
Both of my boys are doing well and honestly always have. I have an 11 in the 6th grade who is takiing 8th grade math, reading, and English. He's very active in sports and is truly a very well rounded child.
Our youngest is 8 and in the 3rd grade and like his brother he is ahead of the game and its always been that way. He too is active in sports and is very well rounded.
Please note I thank God every day for the blessings he has given me with my children.
So I do enjoy going to the conferences and hearing how things are going.
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
7 Nov 08
I agree with your views. I feel that it is very essential for parents to keep track of the child's progress in school.It is not just about studies, but even other aspects like general behavior .Being a teacher myself, I have always felt that these interactions help me understand and guide my students better.There are the troublesome ones among the parents making impossible demands, but that i take in the right spirit.
Coming to my own children, i have had excellent rapport with their teachers, which helped them all round in their studies and other activities as well.
1 person likes this
@Nhey16 (2518)
• Philippines
6 Nov 08
both of my kids, so far, are doin great in school, and both of my kids are always excited when it comes to parent-teacher conference, they would always remind me to go and talk to the teacher, and it makes me happy that they really love to go to school...
@laglen (19759)
• United States
6 Nov 08
My daughter is in 9th grade and I have always attended conferences. For the most part she has always done well. Except 6th grade. It was the worst! This year she is doing great except science. Her teacher is new to the school and a lot of the kids are not doing well. He is not a very good communicator. So besides regular conferences, I meet with him every couple of weeks.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
6 Nov 08
That's not good at all. I would hate to have my child fall behind due to a teacher not being well prepaired.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
6 Nov 08
I get to go to my first parent teacher conference on the 17th! 
I'm sure I'll go to all of them. With my oldest I don't look to ever get a bad report from her. She is well behaved and she is pretty smart. They are learning words now in kindergarten and she seems to be picking it up fast. Now my middle one I'm not sure how it will go lol. she is smart, but I'm thinking her attitude and stubbornness might come into play.
I'm sure I'll go to all of them. With my oldest I don't look to ever get a bad report from her. She is well behaved and she is pretty smart. They are learning words now in kindergarten and she seems to be picking it up fast. Now my middle one I'm not sure how it will go lol. she is smart, but I'm thinking her attitude and stubbornness might come into play.@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
6 Nov 08
It will depend on how she views school. If she thinks it's fun and exciting she will love it and do well. If she doesn't want to do it, then she won't. My twins love school right now, but the oldest doesn't. He hates it and refuses to do any of his work like he's supposed to.
@idowrite72 (2213)
• United States
24 Nov 08
My kids are all grown, but I can remember when I got to the point where I had to go to my kids', since I was a teacher and had been on the other side of the desk for a few years before I had to go to my own kids'. I had to arrange times from the ones that I had to go to my own. It usually wasn't a problem since I taught jr high and those parents don't seem to come as often AND the school where I taught they didn't seem to come at all. If I had 5 or 6 in 2 days, it was normal, and I had several different classes since they switched classes. I did teach special ed, but they changed classes like the other kids did. We never got very many of the parents and then usually only the ones who we didn't need to see. My kids did fine in school, so it was good to go and hear how well they were doing and I was involved in the parents' organization so most of the teachers knew who I was, too.
@idowrite72 (2213)
• United States
24 Nov 08
I forgot to add, that my only grandchild, of 9, who goes to school is doing excellent. She is in the 7th grade and has all good grades and is involved in sports, cheerleading and modeling as well as helping to take care of 2 younger little sisters, who are 23 months and 3 months. Mom is a single parent.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
6 Nov 08
I had a parent teacher conference with my son's teacher a few weeks ago. He is doing well and getting A's and B's on his papers for the most part. She said he is a really good kid and she enjoys having him in her class. He is on grade level in reading according to the tests, but he is a terrible test taker. He can actually read much better than the tests show.
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
6 Nov 08
My daughter is in Kindergarten. So I had my 1st on of these in October. It was an interesting experience. Helps to know where they think my daughters strengths are. And where she made need a bit of work. She is doing very well.
@gimmeadream (44)
• Canada
6 Nov 08
I went to all my son's parent/teacher meetings and it was to discuss his short comings. He was declared an intellect in the genius level in grade 1 having a grade 9, 7th month reading level. His shortcomings were always in his homework (never done) lack of listening in class (he was always a multi-tasker), and never participated in class productions (he didn't like that his peers wouldn't cooperate a word he learned for Sesame Street and used as a four-year-old in day care). He graduated university at 18 years old and has worked in the computer industry ever since.
@camomom (7535)
• United States
6 Nov 08
Well, as you know my 2 are too young to be in school but my stepson is in 1st grade. He seems to be doing well academically but his behavior isn't the greatest. He gets in trouble atleast once a day, well atleast a warning. We haven't had conferences yet but it's coming in a week or 2. We usually look forward to them so that we can see how he's really doing because him mom insists he has ADHD and is having problems but we never hear that from the school.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
6 Nov 08
When my oldest son was younger I assumed he had ADHD also, and I told everyone that he did. I could never get it diagnosed, because it had to be done through a therapist and my insurance doesn't cover those fees very well, only about 50%.
Well it doesn't make a difference anyways because as he gets older I realize it's not ADHD. It is actually learning disability that I was seeing symptoms of, but he doesn't have that either! Actually he is borderline learning disability. Not enough to warrent getting him help, but enough that it makes his education and other aspects of his life rather frustrating.
@camomom (7535)
• United States
7 Nov 08
That's what I think is wrong with my stepson. Either a learning disability or he doesn't focus well because of the split home and those issues. He needs to see a therapist in my opinion but no one can afford it even with insurance. He's an angry and depressed child but she insists there's something else wrong because it can't possibly be her fault. I hope your son gets the help he needs as he gets older. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a good, smart kid.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
6 Nov 08
definitely. it is good to talk to the teacher and get on the same page as he or she is when it comes to your daughter. like for instance if your child is having problems seeing the board at school. you wouldnt know that at home necessarily.
my daughter is also in grade 6 and is doing ok but neither of my daughters (her sister is in grade 10) are all that confident in math. wonder why?
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
6 Nov 08
Yes I always go to the parents evenings, the last one was just a few weeks ago and they are doing really well. I was really proud of them and I gave them both a reward for working so hard. I have one who lacks confidence and this can work against them but having confidence is not something I can teach him it is only something I can encourage him to have by telling him constantly how good and how clever he is.
@chameleonsdream (1230)
• United States
6 Nov 08
My two youngest children are the only ones of my five that are still in school. I may not have always attended formal parent-teacher conferences, but I've always been available to teachers at the drop of a hat. I've often had to fight for my children to get the services and the education that they need, and being open with teachers from the start of the year has meant that I almost always have the support of the teacher when I have to advocate for my kids. This year, it's meant working with the high school to get my youngest child moved to a program where he is allowed to work to his fullest potential. After three years of barely passing classes or flunking them entirely, he whipped through an entire year's curriculum in math, English, science and history in just three weeks. I couldn't be prouder! The older son is also getting all A's and high B's in his classes. It's a great year for them both!
