Note: I originally wrote this article for the Smart Parenting Philippines website. 🙂
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Starting the school year right doesn’t just involve preparing your home to be more conducive for learning – it also means knowing how to deal with those who will be responsible for your kid when they’re in school. This includes the teachers, as well as the school administration.
Cheryl Golangco, a preschool teacher at Makati Hope Christian School and the owner of LittleRunningTeacher.com, says that each school usually has its own ideas on how to make a school year “great,” though these are not necessarily the same as the parents’ own ideas.
Nonetheless, Cheryl says that parents should feel free to share their thoughts in a very calm and open environment. “There’s a tendency for parents to get mad (when things don’t go as they expect them) but please don’t!” she adds. “Communicate with the school as often as you need. You have the right to get updates at least once every two weeks or per month.”
Educator Myra Mabugat-Menguito, who draws from her many years of experience working with families and schools through the CFC Educational Foundation, Inc., says when parents and school administration commit to “start off at the right foot” at the beginning of the school year, the school is actually giving the parents the chance to be their children’s primary educators, because that’s what they really are in the first place.
“It’s also about parents accepting that role/responsibility, because it is such a privilege to be our children’s primary educators,” adds Myra, who is also mom to Paola Maria, 13; Joaquin, 8; and Tanya Maria, 4. “Thus, starting off at the right foot entails collaboration between the home and school. It is about always coordinating and cooperating with the school by attending functions, seminars, and all other activities initiated by them, as much as possible.”
