Children's School - Directors Corner

For Parents

Director's Corner
November 2001
Dr. Sharon Carver

During November, conferences provide an opportunity for parents and teachers to converse about the unique development of each child and the ways that both home and school interactions are facilitating growth. At the Children's School, our conferences are structured by the developmental objectives that are the focus of our program design. For the fall conference, teachers of 3 year olds will emphasize the first three domains of development and teachers of 4 year olds will emphasize the first four, while kindergarten teachers will cover all six domains. The primary reason for this difference in emphasis is that the preschoolers are in school for less than half as much time as the kindergartners and typically require a longer period of adjustment to the school environment and routine. Preschool teachers will distribute a copy of the more detailed form that they will use during the spring conference to provide parents with a broad sense of the program goals.

1. Self-Esteem & Independence - encouraging each child's pride in individual characteristics, families, experiences, and accomplishments and each child's responsibility for personal care, actions, and words.

2 . Interaction & Cooperation - promoting children's social skills for diverse adult and peer relations, including listening, turn-taking, following directions, rules and routines, group participation, care for shared materials, and conflict resolution.

3. Communication - facilitating comprehension and expression skills beginning with oral and progressing to written language.

4. Discovery & Exploration - fostering a positive attitude toward learning through questioning, observing, and experimenting with varied materials related to diverse themes.

5. Physical Capabilities - giving children opportunities to use their growing bodies to develop small and large motor skills and coordination.

6. Artistic Expression and Appreciation (formerly called Creativity) - cultivating each child's ability to express ideas and emotions through art, music, movement, and drama.

We encourage parents to prepare for their child(ren)'s conferences by considering the progress they have noted. One strategy is to identify one adjective to describe your child in each of the areas that will be discussed. Another is to recall one prototypical anecdote for each category. A third is to consider the school activities and events related to each area that your child has discussed with you. Finally you might specify one goal related to each domain that you would like to see your child achieve during the next six months. Sharing these thoughts with your child(ren)'s teacher(s) facilitates productive dialogue about the ways that your child is progressing in both home and school environments. It's always interesting to see the parallels that exist between the two contexts, as well as the distinct differences that are often evident.

In addition to the conference opportunity, I am available to discuss any questions or concerns you have about your child's development or about our program. Please feel free to stop me in the hall or call to schedule an appointment. We are privileged that you have entrusted your children's schooling to us and look forward to continued partnership in their education.