When Should You Contact The School?
If You Are Not Seeing Evidence of The IEP Being Followed
When and how your child is receiving accommodations should not be a mystery. When your child gets a test or assignment back the accommodations should be listed when you receive the mark back. Your child, if over 7 years old, should be able to articulate other accommodations such as access to the resource room or preferred seating. Before more lengthy conversations happen, it is prudent to reach out and ask when and where your child has been receiving conversations. Accommodations should be clearly articulate to the parents most of the time.
If the answer you doesn’t soothe your concerns, involve the SERT (special education resource teacher) or LRT (learning resource teacher) in a face to face meeting.
If Your Child Is Not Able to Tell You What You Need to Know
ADHD, Executive Functioning, Auditory Processing Disorder and memory issues, may impair your child’s ability to communicate homework and classroom expectations. If your child has these issues, make sure the child’s teacher is aware of the communication break down and come up with a plan to mitigate these issues.
For one of my clients, for example, we ask that the student use technology and organizational strategies to tell their tutor what is going on in class. As a safety net, the teacher emails us each Friday to fill us in on anything we may have missed so our student doesn’t fall too far behind.
If You Are Not Receiving Assessments Regularly
Assessment is arguably the most important part of the learning process. Children can learn best from constructive feedback that they are able to build upon. As tutors we use our students assessment to inform our practice. Furthermore, assessment can indicate trends in a child’s growth in development. If you are not receiving regular assessment for your child, contact the child’s teacher can request to see some samples of their work.
As parents, being proactive and not waiting for a problem can be key to achieving growth in your child. Don’t be afraid to contact the school before there is a problem.