Knowing What Teachers Expect
Often at the beginning of the school year meetings, teachers will tell
you what they expect for homework and studying. It's always a good idea
to attend these meetings, even (perhaps moreso) if your children are in
middle school or high school. Generally, meetings for parents of primary
children are well-attended, but those for the middle and upper grades have
far fewer in the audience. If you can't attend beginning of the year meetings
or if your children's school doesn't have these, get in touch with the
teachers about what you may expect during the school year and how you can
work with the teachers to better help your child.
Keep in mind that while younger children are quite responsible about
bringing home notes about meetings, your middle schoolers and high school
students may not give you the notes. Most of the time, this is not because
they don't want you to have the notes, it's because they forget about them,
leave them in their locker, put them in the back of their notebooks, etc.
You might get the note in June when lockers are cleaned out. "Sorry,
Mom and Dad, but . . . ."
If your school has a Web page or online bulletin board, notices about
meetings might be placed on these. Check the Web page or bulletin board
frequently for postings. Sometimes schools mail home activity calendars
which list important parent meetings. When in doubt, it never hurts to
call the school office for information.
Here are some examples of what some teachers may tell parents: "Your
children will have homework every night, so look for it." "I
don't give homework on Fridays." "They will have sentences with
their vocabulary words each week." "I expect them to do their
book reports using word processing." "Current Events reports
are due each Wednesday." "Term papers will be due at the end
of third term. You'll be getting a note about the term paper topic at the
end of second term." "I give long-term assignments, and if your
child tells you he or she has no homework, that is not true." "I
expect homework to be on standard-sized notebook paper, written in pencil
or printed on the computer, and include the child's name, subject, and
class."
If you have questions about expectations, get in touch with your children's
teachers.
Expect expectations to differ from teacher to teacher.
