by Plano franchise owner, Jan Coltrain-Sapp

With the beginning of the school year comes the challenge of what to tell your child’s teachers about their learning differences, how much or how little and what form of communication do you use. You certainly don’t want the teachers to spend 6 weeks or more getting to know your child, or make incorrect assumptions about your child. Although teachers are the experts in the classroom, you are the expert on your child!

Follow up:

You should communicate with your child’s teachers early in the school year—even before the school year starts if you know who your child’s teachers will be. At a minimum you should communicate, and the teacher wants to know, about your child’s health conditions, strengths and challenges, and personality traits and behavior issues. You might also want to describe classroom strategies that have helped your child in the past. As a parent of a child with a LD, you could probably write a tome; however, it is important that you be succinct if you want the teacher to read what you have written about your child. I encourage my parents to communicate by writing “The Top Ten Things You Should Know About My Child”. If there is an open house at the very beginning of the school year, give the teacher a copy of the Top Ten Things, but follow up with an email of your list within the first few weeks of school. The communication should not stop with the list! I've included a copy of the list that I use for my daughter to help you get started.

You should schedule a time to meet with your child’s teachers in the first 6 weeks of school to answer any questions the teachers may have about your child, to make sure the teachers understand your child’s LD, as well as to address any issues or concerns that may have arisen. Even if your child is doing fine in school and a parent/teacher conference is not mandatory, schedule one so that you can assess your child’s teachers’ knowledge of your child and keep the lines of communication open.

Remember, no matter what format you decide to use, be respectful , stay positive, and COMMUNICATE all year long! If location is important in real estate, communication is essential in a successful school year.