Parenting Guides

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, or both, good communication is crucial for the success of your children in the school system. In a town without a good parent teacher organization, there is often a hostile relationship that develops between parents and teachers. Teachers try to carry on with teaching without listening to parent recommendations. Parents try to get the education they want for their children without listening to the teacher's explanations of why they try a particular approach. Everyone ends up unhappy, and the result is often worse for the children.

In good parent teacher organizations, the school becomes more of a community. Parents understand problems that crop up with their children, and effectively deal with them. Teachers can respond to community concerns and integrate them into the classroom curriculum. Everyone stands to benefit. The key is, of course, to have good communication.

Different communities have different parent teacher organizations which reflect differing needs. In some communities, the emphasis is on a tightknit, collective identity. If you live in a community like this, you want a classroom that reflects it.

Teaching local history, cultural values, and accepted standards is the rule. In other types of parent teacher organizations, the emphasis is more on diversity. Communities with people from many different backgrounds need to be able to come up with a way to address everyone's needs. By making both newcomers and old settled residents feel welcome in the schools, they can ensure that all of their kids have quality educations.

An important factor in parent teacher Associations is how often they meet. Have too many parent teacher association meetings and the only people who will be included are those with the free time to come to every meeting. Have too few, and the parents will not feel that they have a voice in the schools. In my local parent teacher organization, we have a pretty novel solution. We have special meanings and regular meetings.

At the regular meetings, the parents and teachers who prefer to associate and participate more regularly can come and talk about minor issues that come up. In the special meetings, everyone can have their voice to talk about curriculum, classroom discipline, and other issues that concern everyone. That way, no one feels left out of the organization. People who want to participate more heavily can, and those with schedules that are more restrictive still have the opportunity to express themselves on the most crucial issues.