Ways You Can Support Your Child’s Teacher

1. Learn about and embrace the principles of Waldorf education. We grow stronger as a community when we are working together and informed. The more we know about Waldorf methods, the better equipped we will be to support the education we’ve chosen for our children.

2. Communicate with teachers regularly, both with your concerns and your positive comments about what your child is learning. Teachers want and need to hear from parents about how various aspects of the curriculum unfold within each child. If you have particular concerns, voice them early. If you notice specific changes, positive or negative, in your child at home, make these known to the teacher.

3. Create a home environment that supports the teachers’ work. Encourage children to play imaginatively, and avoid relying on television to passively learn or entertain. Visual images on television and in films can interfere with a child’s imaginative capacities and contribute to disruptive behavior. Limiting and eliminating television, on the other hand, has no adverse affects.

4. Make sure children arrive on time and properly dressed for the weather. Unless the weather is dangerously wet or cold, children will play outside everyday, rain, snow, or shine. In addition to appropriate clothing layers, some class teachers ask that students have an indoor pair of soft-soled shoes to wear when inside the classroom. Please avoid open-backed shoes, which limit mobility.

5. Volunteer to assist with special activities such as class field trips, plays and fundraisers. There are several ways to learn about volunteer opportunities at the school: ask your classroom teacher, check the ‘Tuesday’ and bulletin board, or visit the website for project ideas. Don’t wait for someone to contact you. Ask the office staff or teachers what you can do to help. And, be sure to record your hours in the volunteer log in the front office.

6. Help with classroom projects such as painting, decorating, cleaning, and moving. We save money on cleaning, painting, general repairs, and other classroom maintenance by tapping into the talents of our parent body. Parents do things well, and this contributes to the safety and beauty of our classrooms and campus. Working in this way also contributes toward the required volunteer hours.

7. Inform the teacher. If there is anything special going on with your child or if there are major changes in the home (death of a loved-one or pet, new baby, etc.) or if he/she will be absent from the school for more than one day, please notify the teacher.

8. Provide a regular time and space for homework.

9. Take an interest in all subjects, not just the main lessons. Your interest in the subjects will communicate their importance to your child. Find out how the stories of the day live in your child by being available for conversation during quiet moments. Children often cannot or will not provide information on demand. Simply asking, “How was your day?” almost always provokes a monosyllabic response.