What do you do when your child comes home from school and announces, “I hate my teacher?” Here are some tips:
• First, don’t panic. Teachers and principals are familiar with this problem and will usually work with your family to help solve it.
• Talk with your child. Find out as much as you can about why your child doesn’t like the teacher. Don’t assume everything your child tells you is right . . . or wrong. Listen and take notes.
• Ask for a meeting with your child’s teacher. This will give you a chance to get a sense of what the teacher is like.
• At the meeting, be open and honest. Often, you can solve the problem just by opening the lines of communication.
• During the meeting, try to be supportive of your child, while also understanding the teacher’s responsibility for helping all children learn. Let the teacher know that you understand that teaching is a difficult job.
• If meeting with the teacher doesn’t work, ask for a meeting with the teacher and principal together.
The key is to build understanding and communication among everyone involved.
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