Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you want to go? I love parent teacher conferences. I want to know what goes on in there all day!

My children tell me everything that goes on during the day at school, a lot of the time things the teacher isn't even aware of. Unless there is a concern academically or behaviorally, a conference isn't necessary.

Anonymous wrote:Most are online and under 15-20 mins. How is this a hardship?

As a parent, I find elementary grade P/T conferences to be shocking in how little information they reveal. OP sounds organized, on top of things, and good at prioritizing. The teacher will gain back 15 precious minutes of her day. Win-win.

-Ex teacher

I never scheduled the conferences as DD was always doing great academically. Figured it left more time for parents who had concerns.

Anonymous wrote:Most are online and under 15-20 mins. How is this a hardship?

Yeah agreed. It isn't like you have to take off work or something these days.

Most are online and under 15-20 mins. How is this a hardship?

I’ve heard from many teachers that the parents who don’t think they need to attend are the ones who actually, REALLY need to attend.

Anonymous wrote:For the first conference, the teacher usually asks questions of you about your child to get to understand them, and support them better.

There are so few opportunities to interact with teachers.

I often ask the teacher more about how the child is doing socially rather than have them walk through all the test scores and grades.

For the first conference, the teacher usually asks questions of you about your child to get to understand them, and support them better.

Are you really not at all curious about how your kid is doing? Also, as a former teacher she may have concerns she wants to discuss with you. The conference is the time to have that talk. You’re assuming it’s all fine, but you have no clue.

My kids’ teachers have said if we have no concerns, there is no need to sign up. Once, I just didn’t sign up and the teacher didn’t even mention it. The second time, I let the teacher know I had no concerns, but she persisted and asked to meet regarding my child’s test scores (so we met).

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you want to go? I love parent teacher conferences. I want to know what goes on in there all day!

+1

Why wouldn't you want to go? I love parent teacher conferences. I want to know what goes on in there all day!

Dear ____,

Thank you for this information. I don't believe I have anything to discuss with you about my DD at this time. Is there something I should be aware of on your end that needs a discussion? Let me know and I will definitely schedule a time.

Thanks so much for the invitation for a conference. We are so happy with how he/she is adjusting and don’t have any specific questions or concerns at this time. We are happy to sign up if there is specific information you’d like to share, otherwise we decline a conference right now.

We just got an email about signing up for parent/teacher conference. It is optional. I don’t have any concerns, but obviously if the teacher has something she would like to discuss I’d be more than happy to meet with her. Is there a way to ask if she feels like my DD needs one, otherwise I’m she would prefer not to have stay later for another conference.