Rule 5:  You should have regular contact with school. It is even more important if your child is not achieving according to his ability. 

No doubt you’ve received midterm reports and report cards.  That information is a signal of your need to be involved in his education.  Again, if your child is doing well, you may not need to contact school. 

If the grades and commentary are not good, you MUST get more involved.  Contact the school immediately and begin an educational plan. Be the parent who wants to know the truth.  If you’re of the “Not My Kid” mentality, you can be certain your child will be ‘playing you’ every step of the way.  If your child knows you will believe the adult at school, she will think twice about conning you.  I know this first hand.

 A few years back, one of my students challenged me on a daily basis.  His smart mouth was something I could handle, but when it impacted the other students and his grades, I’d contact home.  It was refreshing to see his changed attitude the next day.  The parents believed me over their son. They provided a consequence, which forced a change in Junior’s behavior.    He returned to class the next day a different kid.  The student and I would even laugh that he wasn’t the kid from the day before.   Even now, I smile when I see those parents.  They were still able to impact their son no matter how big he was for his britches.  That’s parenting!

Severe cold sometimes mandates school closing.  Like any other operation, schools cannot cancel the day with every cold blast.   Therefore, it’s important that parents provide proper dress for the weather. It’s amazing the number of parents who scream about their child walking to school or waiting for the bus in severe weather, when those very children arrive at school in hoodies and flip-flops or bedroom slippers.  

It’s important to understand that the north gets extreme weather and as a parent you have a responsibility to make certain your child dress warmly. You can never guarantee the passage home will be warm.   Case in point, today I witnessed a kid crawling out of a snow covered ditch after his car slid off the road. He was wearing his pajamas.  Not the attire for cold weather, much less climbing through the snow bank. 

The kids may fight you about dressing warmly. You need to be the adult and insist.  Plenty of fashionable stuff is made for the cold weather.