by Almondie Shampine

Created on: May 25, 2008   Last Updated: March 05, 2011

Where crawling, walking, talking, and potty-training were provided with leniency to the child's physical and mental development, pre-school begins to define those deadlines that must be met utilizing those labels of below-average, average, and above-average. They are graded on their behavior, how well they follow direction, presentation and participation, as well as their social skills with the other students and adults. Finally, they are graded on their comprehension and learning of the material.

It is a whole new realm of reality for these children, all very daunting, frustrating, confusing amidst the excitement of growing-up, meeting others their size and age, and new learning. Though we as parents are overburdened with our own reality, it is crucial that the parent's role be active in their child's schooling and education.

Though parent-teacher conferences are scheduled quarterly, this is hardly a way a parent can be constantly informed as to their child's progress and/or fall-backs, whereas being kept informed of problem-areas and non-problem areas can allow you as a parent to participate in preventative measures.

1. Become familiar with those who will be involved in your child's educational experience. Exchange phone numbers. Let them know that you are going to be very active in your child's education experiences. Tell them about your child and provide them a heads up.

2. Make up a daily evaluation sheet that confronts what is being taught each day, how well the child absorbed this information, the child's behavior, and daily events with the other children, as well as whether the child had nap-time, and what the child ate. There should be two parts to this evaluation sheet: one for the teacher throughout the day and one for the parent throughout the night.

3. Preview this evaluation sheet every night. Go over the positive things through family time such as dinner or other. Keep communication open daily so that the child can always feel reassured and encouraged to tell you about his day rather than shrugging his shoulders and saying I don't know.

4. After playtime it is time to confront those negative things, such as bullying or difficulty learning, but always keep it positive. Offer advice. If there is difficulty in learning which can lead to a child's feelings of inferiority or incompetence, boost the child's esteem in learning the material with you. Encourage independence during home-work time but assure your support. Offer incentive and rewards.

5. If certain problems persist, such as difficulty learning, bullying, etc . . . confront the instructor with some various tips that you might use in motivating your child to learn or helping your child absorb the material. Let the teacher know that the bullying is negatively affecting the child and if it cannot be contained, other steps must be taken. Your keeping an eye on the teacher's performance' will insure that the teacher takes special care to keep an eye on your child and those things negatively and positively affecting him'.

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