Parent Teacher Conferences - Kew Gardens,NY

Is my child disruptive?
Obedient?
Helpful?
A bully?
On track with his academic work?
Does he follow directions?
When given a task, does he begin it right away without a second or third prompt?

Aw, cute. Pre-K conferences. LOL!

You'll probably get some artwork, some examples of his classwork, and the teacher will talk with you about his level of learning and social interaction. I'd just ask whatever comes to you, and, most importantly, "How can I be a support to your teaching at home?" Let DS's teacher know that you understand that you share a mission: Student success. Otherwise...just enjoy it. :-)

I think a good conference will give you a view into kiddo's strengths and challenges, or areas he needs more growth/support in. A balanced conference will focus on what the teachers see as areas where your child is doing well, likely some concrete information ("he really seems to enjoy the sand table/pretend play/ can identify XYZ") and a vision of what the next few months will look like. If there are any interventions the teachers are planning to employ, this is the time they should be explaining them so that you have an idea of what's going on. ("We notice Trevor is taking a long time getting himself ready to go outside, so we're going to start having him go out with the group and get finished out there.Hopefully, he'll learn to use the time to get ready while he's still indoors." -- this happened with my little guy, btw.) There is often focus on the areas of social development, self-help, how he moves through the day with the group and what things he seems drawn toward or is noticeably avoiding.

If you have no specific concerns, great. Otherwise, do write down any questions and take notes-- you might find something comes up in the conversation that you might want clarification on a few days later.

ETA: one thing I'm going to add here-- having sat on both sides of the conference table as teacher and parent-- sometimes we get rather concerning or distressing information about our kid. I'm not saying this to scare you, just to make you aware that sometimes teachers don't say anything beforehand. If you feel like you are getting overwhelming information, do your best to write down the pertinent bits and then ask "can I call you back in a few days when I've had a chance to think about this?" We had that experience and I really had to not react in that moment when we were told our kid was 'off'. It was useful-- if not entirely correct--information that was very hard to hear in the moment,but it was valuable that we were told. :)

If you have no specific issues or concerns just say 'we don't have any specific issues or concerns at this time. If we do what's the best way to communicate with you?'

The teacher will let you see what's been going on in the classroom and how your little one is doing. He/she will show examples of the work and address any concerns. He/she may give you things that you might need to work on at home to help in learning skills and ideas.

you may walk away saying "Oui, stop stressing my kid out, he's only 4"!!!

my hubby got REALLY mad at our youngest son's Kind. teacher because she said he didn't know his address or phone number AT BOTH CONFERENCES, both times hubby called across the room to our son and the kiddo rattled the information off. We got the feeling that she was documenting some other kid. Oh well, he's in the 7th grade now and we all lived through it!!!

I don't think it was one of those things where he just wouldn't perform when she asked him too, he's just never been that kind of kid.

M

Hi, F. B..
I'm a pre-K teacher, so what we do is to first introduce (new) parents to state standards and the work sampling checklist that aligns with it. (This is a state requirement.) We then review the different learning domains (Language Arts, science, Social Sciences, math, etc.), and discuss the child's progress; in my state, all 3-5's are on same standards, no differentiation, but we obviously expect 5's to do more than 3's. We usually have samples of their work, as we practice the Work Sampling system, that align with each learning domain and then discuss any issues or concerns that the parent has. Don't worry if you don't have anything right now; you may think of something as the conference goes on or you may just say, "I don't have anything," and that's okay, too! Most will just appreciate your attendance at the conference and showing that you have an interest in your child's progress. :)

Hi there -

My daughter is in 5K now and I didn't ask much during her pre-k conference, but I did see a list of Qs to ask (thru facebook or pinterest or something) this year, so I used some of those & the teacher said I had really good questions. Yes, don't overthink it, but it doesn't hurt to ask a few things...

Here is one link:
http://www.busykidshappymom.org/conference-tips/

And here are just some ideas for questions, that I spring-boarded off of:
https://www.care.com/a/20-questions-to-ask-during-a-paren...#

It really gave me a lot more insight this year vs last to have some specific questions and really try to evaluate where the teacher thought my daughter was socially, emotionally, etc. Was she using her full potential, what could we work with her more on, etc. She had a lot of insight that I may have missed out on.

Good info below.

Just remember this is not your only opportunity to discuss your child's progress with the teacher. This is just going to be about how he has adjusted to the new school year so far.

I think you should be more focused on behavior and adjustment than on anything academic. He's so young. All that really matters is if he does well in groups, makes friends, is reasonably attentive, and so on. Even if you should hear that he's "a little behind" on something, do not worry or feel you need to take action! He's so young and your attitude should be a "wait and see" approach.

The first one was where DD was, what she was working on, what they were working on in class, and anything good/bad we should know about. The one in the spring talked about her kindergarten readiness, as she was eligible for K that fall. This one is probably mostly about behavior and if they notice anything you should follow up on (like my cousin's daughter who falls on the Autism spectrum).

At this age just go and enjoy. They will likely just update you on his development, how he gets along with others, how his fine and gross motor skills are developing, stuff like that.

They always give me a filled out sheet with academic-type stuff - does he recognize shapes, letters, numbers, etc. And they show examples of his artwork.

I personally am less concerned with that, so I let them go over their academic spiel, and then I ask thing like - Does DS have friends? Does he play well with others? How does he solve conflicts with friends? Does he have trouble following the rules?

The main reason for these conferences if for your teacher to tell you how your kid is doing in school. At this point the teacher has had the time to assess your child. If there are concerns this is when the teacher will let you know, or just let you know your kid is right where they need to be. If you have questions, this is the time. Don't over think it.

Mine were about student integration and interaction in the classroom, handwriting skills/improvement, and concept grasping.

So I would focus around those topics. How does he do socially? Does he listen and pay attention? Is he understanding the stories they are teaching? Are his motor skills on par with others in his age group?...

At that age, conferences are really more about their interactions - just because they are so young. My dd;s preschool did a little writing too which they showed me, but overall, at that age, it's more about following directions, self regulation, etc.

We just had our first Pre-K conference. We talked about her behavior with the staff and other kids and the small concepts they were learning learning and how she did with them. We got a little report card where she was rated a 1-5 in 6 categories to let us know how on tract she was.