School - how much should they inform parents about what kids are doing?

[IsabelC]

I am in the throes of my first ever experience of being a school parent, and still trying to sort out the basics.

 

I have a million things I'd like to ask or discuss with the teachers, but I need to pace myself so I don't end up being the parent they all hate, with comments and questions twice a day!

 

SO, would some of you experienced school-moms please help?

 

For my 4yo kinder child, the teacher gave me an information sheet outlining the general daily routine. I know what time morning snack, outdoor play and stories happen, and which day the kids go to the library. With my 4th and 2nd graders, I don't even have that. I would have ideally liked to get a complete list of all subjects, curriculum resources and topics of study for the year. I don't mean lesson plans for every hour of the day, but I'd like to know what week they'll be doing long division, what phonics curriculum they follow, what area of science they're doing, that kind of thing.

 

Do you think it would be fine and reasonable to request this kind of info?

Or would that be outrageously nosy and interfering?

 

Maybe I'm over involved (paranoid!) but I seriously can't fathom how most parents could just send their kids to school every day and have almost no idea what they're going to be up to.

 

Conversation on the way home yesterday was full of exchanges like this.

Her: we did a picture and some kids did a number worksheet.

Me: Oh OK, so there were different activities for different groups? (thinking: what? why? have they been put into ability groups? is she in the bottom group? how did the teacher determine this? was it fair? should I go in and ask about it?)

Her: Yep. Apparently we'll be swapping tomorrow.

Me: Right. (thinking: oh thank goodness for that. She hasn't been branded as dumb on her first day. Must keep an eye on it though.)

 

Guess I just need to take a few deep breaths and trust that the school isn't going to be torturing the kids.

[MooCow]

When my kids were in public grade school, their teachers would either send home

a weekly schedule that included things they were doing, projects, spelling words,

general notes/reminders to parents or post it to their class website.

[Nart]

Here they have a "Back to School Night" the second week of school and the teacher explains what they will be doing, outlines the schedule, reviews classroom procedures, etc.

I volunteered for an hour on two different days to get a sense of what goes on in the classroom. I only get a glimpse of what my son does because he comes home with a whole bunch of papers on Friday. So far it looks like he is having fun doing art, socializing, and singing, but academically I am not sure how much he really has a chance to practice reading on his level (he reads at a second grade level). The teacher told me she was grouping him with another reader in the class but I am still not clear how often that happens.

[Arcadia]

Maybe I'm over involved (paranoid!) but I seriously can't fathom how most parents could just send their kids to school every day and have almost no idea what they're going to be up to.

 

I can :) I just do not see a need to. I refer to the standards for where we are now for my children as well as the standards back home in case we move back.

 

Anyway Tasmanian (AU) curriculum page for Health, Arts, IT, Foreign Languages, Vocational and Applied Learning

Australia curriculum page for English, Math, Science and History

 

ETA:

The schools here send home a weekly newsletter with a rough idea of what is going to be covered. I just do not need to know the teacher's daily curriculum plan.

[SKL]

I would like to know more as well, so I could prepare my kid better for the challenging stuff. My kid also does better when she knows what's going to happen when. I think the teacher keeps things "flexible," though, and doesn't really follow a schedule the way I'd picture it.

 

We have access online to some limited information about the curriculum, but I never really know exactly what they are about to do until it's late for me to get involved. The exception is the Monday "note" the teacher sends with the week's spelling words, reading vocab, memory verses, and whether they are about to have a test in science/health/social studies. Other than that, I only find stuff out after the fact.

[Uff Da!]

nm

[jenbrdsly]

Here's a piece from my blog that I wrote for teachers about Home School Communication. Basically, I think teachers should send out one email or classroom newsletter a week.

[mathnerd]

In our school we have a "Back to school night" in the first few weeks of school where the teacher mentions all the curriculum they use, any projects that need to be done, field trips, schedules, disciplinary processes etc. And at the beginning of each month, there is an emailed newsletter to all parents detailing what they will learn in the following weeks. An example:

Math: Students are learning about… addition and subtraction

Reading: Students are learning about… beginning, middle, and end

Social Studies: Students are learning about… Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents

This is standard operating procedure over here, but I see that you live in Tasmania. I am pretty sure that if you wait a couple of weeks, you will get more information on similar procedures from your school or the teachers and also about any goal setting parent-teacher conferences that are coming up. So, I would suggest waiting a couple of weeks and if by then, you don't hear anything, then you may want to approach them for more information.

[Laura Corin]

I wouldn't expect that kind of detail (what week they will be tackling long division, etc.) I think that the first year Hobbes' teacher issued a list of topics to be learned over the year (we will be covering these areas of grammar, those parts of maths, these novels, these topics in science, etc). I haven't seen any list like that since. An email is sent out weekly that shows sports fixtures, concerts, school trips, etc. for the whole school.

 

I'd hope to know how the class was organised more generally (how they are dealing with different levels within the class, etc.). The boys' school is good about answering questions, but I've only asked when there seemed to be something going wrong. In addition to the annual parents' night, I think I've requested a total of three meetings with teachers over the last two years, plus had a couple of quick words with teachers when I've bumped into them casually.

 

Best of luck

 

Laura

[Roadrunner]

In my school you can figure out what curruculum they are using during back to school

night. I have a pretty good sence of what they are studying by reading through worksheets they bring home.

[mom2lydia]

My daughter's teacher sends home a weekly newsletter on Friday. It covers each subject and what they discussed in it for the week as well as the next week what is going to be done. The bottom has notes from teh teacher like make sure kids have coat, gloves, hat, scarves as recess will be outside as long as the weather permits it or up coming events etc. The back has spelling words for the next week. They have a website for the class but it isn't updated often so the newsletters and any other letters the teacher sends home are primary communications for the week. Sometimes she sends home notes not on Friday, like right now the kids are doing research projects on an animal of their choice. She sent home a special letter about that explaining what is expected from the written and oral presentations as well as the rubrics she will use to grade. It's mostly being done at school but can be worked on at home as well.

[kiwik]

I'm in new Zealand. My son started school last April. The only info was a brief note at the top of the homework sheet for the week. We go to the library on Tuesday, field trip on Friday, news (show and tell) on Thursday. The curriculum is very hard to determine from the national documents and there are no actual textbooks. I wish I could volunteer but I work. The school is good about general stuff - breaks, assemblies, sports days etc though but I think what you want is unlikely.

[magnificent_baby]

As each grade progresses, I get less and less info. For my K and 1st, I get a newsletter every other week that details what they are working on. It's wonderful. For my 3rd grader, it's barely any information. This year, I'm confident with her teacher so I don't worry too much. (2nd grade was a different story, and thus why we homeschooled but they are all in ps now). I try to not worry about what my 3rd grader is doing in math, as we continue CLE at home.

 

I would make a list of specific questions and discuss at conferences.