Clue them into the goals. Children and parents often don’t know what the year’s goals and objectives are. Most would probably say “to finish the grade.” As a former teacher, I would submit that teachers (particularly newer ones) also may begin the year with a nebulous sense of what needs to happen in order for it to be considered a success. Teachers can help themselves and their charges by offering a list of objectives (“by the end of third grade, you will have learned …and be able to…”). Even if certain individual students are unable to achieve those goals as they are presented (more about that in a bit), they give the class and the year a sense of direction and purpose.
Get to know children’s learning styles. Most instruction, particularly in elementary school and higher, tends to be auditory and visual. This means teachers rely heavily on their ability to articulate concepts, instructions, etc. and have students learn and process by listening. One common alternative to “lecture” is the use of text/board/worksheet for inputting, clarification, and review. However, it is important for us to keep in mind that there are numerous identified learning styles – and that we benefit greatly from knowing each child’s personal composition and how we can help the child customize the learning process to his advantage.
We do our children a great service by helping them understand how they learn best. They may be kinesthetic learners, who learn better when they can move as they learn. Perhaps they have strong interpersonal intelligence, and need to talk things through in order to achieve clarity. Maybe they are musical, and would be well served by being able to listen to music or put information to song as a way of deepening their learning. Quizzes are available online that can help determine a child’s learning preferences.
Teachers can help by building in various approaches into their lessons. This can be achieved through process differentiation, cooperative learning, and other techniques. Parents can help by “translating” content into a more palatable form, and also by advocating to their child’s teacher by requesting that content be presented in multiple forms, such as through the use of graphic organizers (visual spatial) and manipulatives (kinesthetic).
Communicate early and often. It is crucial for parents and teachers to develop strong lines of communication. This is true on the high school level, and all the more so in primary grades. Of course, such communication should be two-way and proactive.
I suggest, however, that parents in particular take the initiative and not wait for conferences or for things to go sideways. I can personally attest from my experience as a teacher and as a principal that involved parents are usually great advocates for their children.
This is not to say that parents should overdo it. Rather, arrive at an early understanding as to when would be a good time to catch up and endeavor to stay consistent throughout the year, even when things appear to be going well. This will minimally result in the child receiving more positive feedback and may even allow for the adults to identify an issue and troubleshoot it before it becomes something bigger.
How to you define success? Often, success in school is narrowly defined. We place on the academic pedestal those students who are able to achieve in the context of text-based learning, with a strong combination of auditory processing, note taking, memorization, and test taking skills. The rest, including those students who require additional academic supports and/or a different set of curricular expectations, typically do not thrive in such settings, and are forced to endure years of perceived mediocrity or worse in the most important areas of self-definition and social status during their formative years. And we all know what happens to children who develop low self-esteem and a general sense of disconnect and disenfranchisement with their learning.
