Part of an occasional series on the first year of elementary school, through the eyes of Rachel Scharf
Parent-teacher conference remains time-honored tradition
On conference night, parents’ favorite subject is how their child is adjusting to school
Amy and Peter Scharf settled into red, kindergarten-size chairs across the blue table from their daughter’s teacher.
Rebecca Holmes wasted no time in telling them about 5-year-old Rachel, who has been in kindergarten nearly three months.
It was parent-teacher conference night at West Seneca West Elementary School, and Holmes had 20 minutes to make the school-home connection that would help Rachel succeed for the rest of the year.
The conference is a time-honored tradition, and, especially with the drastic changes in classrooms over the last two decades, one that schools continue to value.
“All of the research that we have read on the importance of parent involvement in children’s education speaks very loudly in support of increasing the partnership between the home and school,” said Wendy A. Paterson, chairwoman of the elementary education and reading department at Buffalo State College.
Some schools, like Lindbergh Elementary in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District, have added children to the conferences.
“It makes communication at home work, as well, because [parents and children are] hearing the same thing from the classroom teacher. They’re on the same field,” said Principal Michael Muscarella.
Whatever the format, the parent-teacher conference provides a chance for parents and teacher to talk about a common goal: the success of the student.
Despite a day in the classroom and an evening of conferences, Holmes remained focused on Rachel as she showed her parents her report card and examples of her work.
“This is where she should be, this is where she is,” Holmes said, as she pointed to each section of the report card showing where students are expected to be performing, and the column listing whether they are beginning, developing or secure in a skill.
The Scharfs were pleased with Rachel’s progress, which is ahead of expectations in some areas.
“She’s not perfect, there are a couple places where she is supposed to be developing or secure, and she was actually beginning,” Amy Scarf said.
“I was shocked because I didn’t know she hadn’t gone to preschool,” Holmes told the Scharfs. “She definitely has some support from home because she’s doing well.”
Holmes also gave the Scharfs a progress report from the speech and language teacher, who Rachel sees twice a week.
“We work hard with our teachers to make them understand it’s not a time for them to tell a parent what to do,” Paterson said. “It’s a time for parents to learn what’s going on in school.”
Holmes deftly walked the Scharfs through the kindergarten curriculum, talking about identifying sight words, writing and math.
“We have 20 minutes of small group centers, 20 minutes whole group, and that focuses mainly around phonics right now. We talk about putting the sounds together, c-at, cat,” she said.
She showed them a story Rachel had written, with inventive spelling, about her hamster dying.
“Did this just happen?” Holmes asked.
“It did,” Amy Scharf said. “They just found out Friday night. We found it Thursday night, and we waited until Friday after school to tell them.”
Peter Scharf thanked Holmes for getting back to him about a timeout that Rachel had gotten for clapping the erasers together after being told not to.
She said nothing until bed time that day, then she told her father she had a bad day and burst into tears.
“She started saying something about an eraser and this and that, and a timeout,” Scharf said.
“We talk about it when they make a mistake, and about making a better choice. We don’t dwell on it, and I certainly don’t write home about it,” Holmes said of the minor infraction. “It is Rachel’s personality, because she’s always trying her best and when she makes a mistake she’s upset.”
The Scharfs brought up their concern over Rachel’s progress learning sight words.
“Whenever we go through it, I feel bad. I know she knows them, but she doesn’t like to . . . she’ll just throw words out to me, like she’s guessing,” Amy Scharf said.
“Maybe it’s that she just needs more practice with them. When I tested her, she knew 15 out of 25. We’re going to have 25 new sight words every marking period, because our goal is at the end of the year to reach the 100 words they’ll be seeing in first grade,” Holmes said.
Parents should not be intimidated by teachers or afraid to ask questions, Paterson said.
“It doesn’t make them look stupid. It makes them look involved,” she said.
She said parents should approach a parent-teacher conference as they would a checkup with the doctor, by making a list of observations and questions about the curriculum and the child’s performance.
“Parents need to be much braver about what they bring to the school. They are a huge influence on their children,” she said.
“One of the things about teachers is you can always know how a teacher is by how the children come home. If the children come home excited that they’re learning and they’re excited about what they’re doing in school and they’re happy, you know the teacher is doing her job and doing it well,” Peter Scharf said.
Rachel, he added, is excited when she comes home.
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