PTM Can Change Your Child’s Future

All parents would have definitely attended PTMs. This is a very important tool if applied effectively. Attending PTM can make all the difference in your child’s personality. A child’s development is a complex phenomenon and demands independence, concentration, admiration, appreciation and attention from parents. Ultimately a confident child is every parent’s dream and desire.

Attending a parent-teacher meeting is an important step towards building that self-confidence in your child. It is a collaborative effort between the parents and the teachers which will light this path for the child. The PTM provides an important platform where the parent, teacher and child can work together to make for a self-confident child. Please note that it is not just an academic review. Here are some key pointers which will make the PTM a powerful tool to develop the child:

• The child should always accompany the parents for the meeting. He feels his parents care about him and take out time for him. He feels important when a teacher appreciates him in front of his parents. Even if a teacher complains about a child, it is important for the child to know that he is the focus of attention and every action is being noticed and corrected.
• An indisciplined child fears and does not want his parents and teachers to meet as he usually has a different image in school and at home. So if the parent informs the child in advance that they are going to meet the teachers, he will try not to be indisciplined for those 10-15 days to avoid complaints.
• If a teacher asks the child to carry his notebooks along with him on a PTM, he would work hard before the meeting to complete that work so as not to face any embarrassment. In fact notebooks are the only link between the school and home for a child. So they should always be carried to a PTM.
• Parents, especially the father, should always make sure not to scold the child in front of the teacher and his other friends waiting to meet the teacher, as every child has a self-respect.
• Both, parents and teachers, should discuss in front of the child and motivate him to do different activities that interest the child. Parents should meet the teacher in the next meeting to know about the changes and improvements of the child. Never forget to appreciate the child for whatever effort he has made during this time.
• Parents and teachers should always end the meeting on a positive note and by deciding all the possible steps to be taken. The child feels responsible to accomplish these goals.
• Though these measures may seem to be small and insignificant in comparison to what you are already doing for a child, but this is the icing on the cake that will make your child confident and change his growth trajectory for all times to come.
• All these efforts should start early in school life from Play School and never suddenly in secondary classes as a ‘wake-up alarm’.

Babita Singh

Section In-Charge