Communication

3. Levels and forms of parental involvement

3.3. Contents I wish to communicate about with my child’s teacher/carer

ACTIVITY		45 minutes
	Should I do the activity alone?	If you are in a two-parent family, try to do the activity together. Invite your child as well.
	After completing the activity…	I should be able to: Identify specific topics relevant for me/us as parent(s) and for my child to be discussed with my child's teacher(s)/carer(s) regarding him/her and other issues of the school or setting functioning. Be aware of my/our own needs for communicating with the school/setting. Think about when and how to discuss those issues with the teacher(s)/carer(s).
	Before I start, what will I need to do this activity?	Sheets of paper and pencils.
What do I have to do? You (and if possible, you together with your child) should write a list with relevant topics you would like to discuss with your child' teacher(s)/carer(s) keeping in mind the reasons for doing that. For example, tips for helping children with homework, your child’s feelings about the school/setting, examples of possible parent/child activities related to what is being learned at school/setting, what type of activities/methodology help him/her the most to learn, what kind of school/setting menu he/she would like to have, what behaviour rules he/she would like to introduce and observe, etc. Discuss those topics with your child and order them according to the priority both of you think they have for you, adding the reasons for that. Write a proposal to address the tree first topics you chose in step 2 taking into account: 1) When will it happen, 2) where will it happen; 3) who will be involved and 4) what you will do. Try to put your proposals into practice for each topic and see what happens! Then, you can try new and different topics...... In the link you find an example of a list of topics templates.
	What to do next?	We will help each other if we share some key ideas to the forum. Any insight you learned from? Was it helpful? Are you feeling especially happy or worried about something related? Will you apply it in your daily routine? …?