Experts explain how close co-Ordination between Parents and Teachers enhance Child's Overall Growth

When you work closely with your children's teachers, you help support your child's personal and academic success. Coordination with teachers demonstrates that you are willing to do whatever you need to to help your child achieve their potential.

"'A positive parent-teacher relationship helps your child feel good about school and be successful in school. It demonstrates to your child that he can trust his teacher, because you do. This positive relationship makes a child feel like the important people in his life to are working together," says Dr. Diane Levin, professor of education at Wheelock College in a PBSParents article.

Some of the problems that arise when parents and teachers do not work together include judgment, and "dumping," according to Dr. Richard Curwin, director of the graduate program in behavior disorders at David Yellin College, and an Edutopia blogger. Judgment happens on both the parts of teachers and parents. Teachers judge parents based on their language, how they dress, their social skills. Likewise, parents judge teachers based on what they hear from their children. For instance, they may learn "nothing" at school, or they might feel that the teacher doesn't like them.

The second problem, "dumping," as Curwin calls it, occurs when teachers, who are fed up with a child's performance at school, contact a parent about how the child is doing and basically "dump" the issue at the feet of parents. The parents have to be the ones to solve the problem, which, according to Curwin, is no more helpful than a parent telling a teacher to fix a problem with a student's behavior or academic performance.

Instead, it is vital that parents and teachers work together towards a common goal: wanting the best for the child. Leaving the child out of some of the communication can benefit the child in the long run because teachers and parents are building a relationship of their own. They are not transmitting messages and signals through the child. PBSParents recommends also letting your child develop a relationship with their teacher because it can be a powerful first relationship outside that they have with you, the parent.

As a parent, you can improve communication with your child's teacher. If there is something that has happened at home that might affect a child's behavior or ability to do schoolwork well, let the teacher know. This might be a death, illness, birth of a sibling, a coming divorce, or perhaps a parent who is away on an extended trip. Tell the teacher about your child's likes, dislikes, talents, and areas of struggle so they can use that information to make lessons more engaging and relevant to your child.

Work together to develop a plan that will help your child succeed at school. Share ideas about what works at home, and take ideas from the teacher that to work for your child at school. Remember, you are on the same team with the teacher.