Parent-Teacher Conference Preparations: Tips for parents

A parent-teacher conference is the most productive way to exchange the current academic or emotional state of your child with his or her teacher, and to find enrichment or intervention strategies to support students' learning. However, such a meeting can be stressful for parents, though always helpful. Usually, it often lasts not so long with a lot to discuss. As a result, parents who want to get the lowdown on how their children are doing have to prepare ahead of time. 

Go and get a grip on what needs to be settled down first before a parent-teacher conference and a specific tool to boost your productivity.

1. Preparations for a parent-teacher conference 

• Parent-teacher conference request template

• Questions to ask at a parent-teacher conference

2. A practical tool to help request form filling

Preparations for a parent-teacher conference

Becoming a grown-up, you have to take the responsibility to be well-engaged in the conference instead of being an audience. What’s more, there are two certain aspects that should be considered advanced as parents.

Parent-teacher conference request template

A parent-teacher conference is a short meeting between you and your child’s teacher. It is an opportunity to share students' academic progress and growth based on testing data, assessments, portfolios, and assignments in class and discuss their strengths, needs, behaviors, and learning styles at home, rather than the formalistic class setting. 

In case of time conflict between parents and teachers, be sure to send a parent-teacher conference request first. Time is money, and a clear request for a parent-teacher conference form is indispensable for an efficient meeting. In a fully editable parent-teacher conference request with PDF Reader Pro, you could fill in the chosen teachers of different subjects and leave your personal information for future contacts. After sending it to specific teachers, the teachers will make sure of the time agenda and try to schedule an acceptable time for both. Moreover, Parents will be informed to attend the meeting.

Questions to ask at a parent-teacher conference

Teachers have a lot of students and parents trying to talk to them during any given school day, so it’s important to make a checklist of questions in advance to get the most out of parent-teacher conferences. Below are some recommended questions for you to take as reference in conversations with your child’s teachers.

• Q1: What can we do to help each other and simplify our work as a team for my child’s growth?

• Q2: Which subject is emerging as my child’s strongest this year? Which subject still needs more progress?

• Q3: What are the necessary skills for university that you think are still a “growth area” for my child?

• Q4: What can I do at home to boost growth in a more fun and stimulating way?

• Q5: Which way can I take to broaden my child’s learning experience in your subject area (or overall) at home?

• Q6: What questions would you suggest to ask my child every day after school to stay informed about their performance?

• Q7: What is your schedule for quizzes or tests?

• Q8: What have you observed, both negative and positive, pertaining to my child’s classroom behaviors? Are they polite and respectful to teachers and students?

• Q9: What do you think of things we could do at home to improve my child's social skills?

• Q10: What are your concerns about my child?

Attending parent-teacher conferences and asking insightful questions can help you stay on top of your child’s performance, skills, challenges, and behavior in the classroom. It is especially important to make the most of this time to talk with the teacher and to find more ways for your child's growth both in study and in daily life.

A practical tool to help request form filling

In the respects of parent-teacher conference request form filling, PDF Reader Pro is definitely the optimal solution. This basic tool is a lifesaver when it comes to completing forms or any other PDF with empty fields. The following fields are supported:

• Text fields - just click on the field to start typing;

• Checkbox and radio button - click the appropriate box to make a selection;

• Numbers fields - type the numbers in the numeric form fields; 

• Support forms created in Adobe Acrobat or similar.

Also, PDF Reader Pro has prepared a fully free and easy-to-print parent-teacher conference request template for everyone to view and download. More significantly, PDF Reader Pro enables you to fill out and customize multiple forms. Don’t hesitate to get PDF Reader Pro for a better form filling and creating experience. And download is free.