As the year draws to a close, you may already be familiar with these questions from parents: “Who’s class will my child be in next year?”, “Will he/she be ok with the increased homework?”, “Will they be able to settle into a new routine?”, “Will they cope with another teacher?” Some parents ask these questions out of curiosity, some will try and ‘squeeze’ information out of you, and some ask out of genuine anxiety. As a teacher, it is important to identify this third group of parents – the ones who are genuinely concerned and worried about their child’s teacher/s for next year.

Here are a few tips for helping these parents “unworry”:

  • Engage in conversation with these parents and appropriately listen to their concerns

  • Give some specific examples of how their child has progressed in your class this year

  • Talk to them about how they and their child can prepare for the transition over the school holidays (make suggestions based on the individual child and his/her needs)

  • End the conversation with encouragement to the parents and on a positive note

A short conversation with anxious parents will really help to alleviate some of their concerns, and will help the end of your year to run more smoothly.

Enjoy the journey,

And more importantly,

Enjoy the moments.

🙂

Megan