If you want to be prepared to to help your child do well in school, it is important that you have good relationships with all of the people who intersect with your child’s life at school and after school. They will help you prepare a plan for your child by guiding you with information about your child’s development and behavior. Here are some examples of people with whom you should have sound relationships, as well as a few tricks you can use to put yourself in a position to interact with them if you are not overtly social:
1. The parents of your child’s friends. One way to get to know other parents is to offer to drive for the car pool to movies or play dates. Call ahead of time and chat about the arrangements. Then, when you pick up a child, get out of the car, go to the door, and introduce yourself to the parents. Every mother loves to hear compliments about her child, so when you return, let her know if her son or daughter was polite and you will have a friend in her before you know it.
2. Teachers. Volunteer in the classroom, go to every conference and open house, attend class performances, chaperone on field trips, and join the PTA. Every teacher can use some help and some empathy. One act of kindness or a kind word to a teacher who devotes herself to your child for a year can go a long way.
3. Youth workers. Scoutmasters and church youth leaders can build confidence in your child outside of school. Get to know them by volunteering to help with trips, events, and food. Again, a little help or a kind word may open the door to a mentoring relationship for your child.
4. Coaches and instructors. These sacrificial, often volunteer people are always in need of help, and you can learn lots of interesting tidbits about your child tacked onto short conversations about Gatorade, coolers, and car pool caravans. And if you go to practices and games, you can meet the moms of your child’s teammates. I have developed many a bleacher friendship with moms after years of sitting on benches together! In fact, we often had so many great conversations that our team would score and we would look up in laughter and say, “Uh-oh—was that your son or mine?” But the relationship was definitely worth missing a shot or two.
