It is not unnatural to receive an occasional note from your child’s teacher that may appear as a complaint. But what you, as a parent, first need to identify is that the word “complaint” is a harsh and negative word that immediately makes the mind defensive. The teachers of the best school in Sonepat will always want the best for your child. So, if the notes read something like “he is frequently late to class” or “she is presently quite inattentive”, you must understand that these are simply negative feedback from the teachers that are asking you to get involved and take prompt action. Once you stop treating them as complaints, you will automatically become more receptive and instead of playing blame games, you can actually help and counsel your child.

Now that your initial role is fairly established, here are a few ways in which you can guide your child on the occasion when the teacher sends negative feedback about your child.

1. Talk with the teacher to find out more about the issue

You must not assume the root cause of the problem by simply reading the note. You cannot just conclude that the reason why your child is inattentive in class is that he/she watches too much TV at home. It may so happen that the student is not receiving enough sleep at home or he/she may have simply lost motivation to pursue that subject and the only way to find the right cause is to contact the source of the negative feedback. Make an appointment with your child’s teacher and discuss the problem. Try to come up with solutions together rather than single-handedly dealing with the same.

2. Talk to your child next regarding the issue

Once you know the teacher’s side of the story, you should sit down with your child and hear him/her out. You must refrain from coming back home and start imposing sanctions like less TV for the next one week or no music classes until marks improve. Authoritative parenting rarely works when your child already knows that you have received a note from the teacher. The best way you can deal with the situation is to let your child have some space to express his/her feelings. Ask the student what is the reason for his/her inattentiveness or being late. Also, take the child’s opinion on how he/she thinks that you can help.

3. Impose rules but also explain your stance

The teachers of the top school in Sonepat will share meaningful insights with you as to what might be the reasons leading to negative feedback. And there will be times when you will not get a satisfactory answer from your child. In such situations, you will need to impose rules but do not leave them there. Make your stance clear and try to follow it yourself. Say something like – it has come to my notice that you stand outside the classroom’s entrance and wait for your friends to arrive. Hence you end up being late. For this reason, I am having to cut down on your friend’s meeting time and you can have the freedom back once you can show me that you are on time for your class for at least a month. This strategy is always better than “no more meeting friends outside school from today”.

4. Give your child some time to improve

Every behavioural change is a transition. It does not happen in a day. So, just as the inattentiveness took some time to take shape in your child, it is also going to take that much time to bring the attention back to class. Your child needs time to identify the issue, understand its implications, slowly modify his/her behaviour, and then show improvement. Be patient with your child. Constantly talk to him/her and the school teacher. Impose rules and take them away and all the while, track your child’s improvement. You must also believe in your mind that your child will improve. All he/she needs is some time.

The top boarding schools in Sonepat like the Swarnprastha Public School maintain a healthy relationship between their parents and teachers to effectively guide the children in such a manner. At SPS, it is about enabling the parents to counsel their child right and being involved with the student and his/her teachers. Swarnprastha also houses a working counselling department to help its students and parents overcome behavioural obstacles and ensure better development. Your child will readily listen to you. You are the best supervisor he/she will ever have. So, work with your child’s teacher, interpret their feedback right, and help the student to constantly improve in life.