Preventative Maintenance! Quick Tips to Get Started!

When I get contacted by parents of students with special needs, it is usually at the crisis stage.  One of the best things to do as a parent from the very beginning of your child’s educational career is to practice preventative maintenance!!!!!  Be proactive, and be an involved parent.  If you start as an involved partner to the process, you will feel less helpless when tough times arise, because you will have already formed a good working relationship with your child’s school.  It doesn’t mean there won’t be any rough times, but the more proactive you are, the better off you will be.  Here are some quick tips to get you started.

GETTING INVOLVED IN SCHOOL AND

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION

1. Introduce yourself to the classroom teacher as soon as possible and discuss with them any special circumstances with your child.
2. Attend and participate in open houses, parent teacher conferences, IEP meetings and back to school nights.
3. Volunteer in the classroom if at all possible.
4. Check in with teachers using short chats, phone calls, or written notes.
5. Be proactive—if there is something going on with the child that will affect school performance let the teacher know before hand.
6. Take part in Parent Associations.
7. Be a chaperone of school events or field trips.
8. Attend your child’s sporting events, concerts, plays, etc.
9. Ask questions—find out all the information and don’t jump to conclusions and overreact to situations.  There are 2 (sometimes more) sides to every story.
10. Communicate with school about both positive and negative things.  Don’t contact school only about the bad things.
11. Use of a communication log or book for students with special needs can help teachers and parents understand what has happened with the student during the day or evening.
12. Ask questions and address situations right away.  Don’t ignore problems or wait for the issues to build up before discussing them.  The school won’t know if there is a problem if you don’t mention it, and they may be caught off guard with a huge issue that could have been “nipped in the bud” right away.

Ocotober is Parent Involvement Month in NH

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey. There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey.

There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. What exactly is parent involvement? It means different things to different people. For some, it is the fact that they attend all of their children's extracurricular events. For others, it is that they attend all of their child's IEP meetings.

Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!
Quick tips to become a more involved parent and improving communication:
Parent Involvement

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey. There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey.

There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. What exactly is parent involvement? It means different things to different people. For some, it is the fact that they attend all of their children's extracurricular events. For others, it is that they attend all of their child's IEP meetings.

Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!
Quick tips to become a more involved parent and improving communication:

1. Introduce yourself to the classroom teacher as soon as possible and discuss with them any special circumstances with your child.
2. Attend and participate in open houses, parent teacher conferences, IEP meetings and back to school nights.
3. Volunteer in the classroom if at all possible.
4. Check in with teachers using short chats, phone calls, or written notes.
5. Be proactive—if there is something going on with the child that will affect school performance let the teacher know before hand.
6. Take part in Parent Associations.
7. Be a chaperone of school events or field trips.
8. Attend your child’s sporting events, concerts, plays, etc.
9. Ask questions—find out all the information and don’t jump to conclusions and overreact to situations. There are 2 (sometimes more) sides to every story.
10. Communicate with school about both positive and negative things. Don’t contact school only about the bad things.
11. Use of a communication log or book for students with special needs can help teachers and parents understand what has happened with the student during the day or evening.
12. Ask questions and address situations right away. Don’t ignore problems or wait for the issues to build up before discussing them. The school won’t know if there is a problem if you don’t mention it, and they may be caught off guard with a huge issue that could have been “nipped in the bud” right away.