To kindergarten teachers- how can we parents partner with you?

[Anonymous]

She is in school now. Her adoption is her story to tell, or not tell, as she sees fit. No one's business but hers.

[Anonymous]

The adoption, no one will care about. I have no idea when and how the adoption would even come up in a conversation with the teacher. As far as partnering with the teacher (I am not a teacher, but my child will be going into the first grade), I say volunteer if you can and if you can not (I could not), then donate as much as possible. When donations were asked for supplies, I always gave. I never emailed, talked to the teacher (except for that conference in the beginning of the year), or anything. It was not necessary. From working with my child at home, I could tell my child was learning and progressing.

[Anonymous]

Oh come on. Even the teachers and principals at our school acknowledged that a once a year conference toward the beginning of the year was not enough but was all the budget could allow. An email or two a year shouldn't make a parent a PITA.

[Anonymous]

With regards to adoption, some teachers are open to have parents come into to talk about their family's heritage (ie famlies come in to talk about their country of origin or talk about special holidays they celebrate) or to read a favorite story to the class. If your child feels comfortable talking about adoption maybe that could be a good time to do so, as a lot of children living with bio families have and an incomplete understanding or huge misconceptions about how adoption works since their understanding of it might come from the media.

However you need to make sure your kid is on board with talking about their personal history. It should be their call.

[Anonymous]

Don't use the word "partner" as a verb. It makes you look like a douche, and teachers hate douchey parents.