Here are a few suggestions:
1. Talk to your child before you attend the conference. Ask your child if there is anything they would like you to talk about with their teacher. This will give you an idea of their concerns and the issues you need to address.

2. E-mail any academic and social questions you have for the teacher. This will help your child’s teacher be prepared with necessary paperwork, data, or input from others within the school.

3. Take notes during the conference so you remember what is being said. If you don’t understand something, ask for clarification. If you run out of time, schedule another meeting.

These three simple suggestions should help make your parent-teacher conference a success.

Also, it is important to stay in touch not just at parent-teacher conference time but throughout the school year so you can discuss your child’s progress. In today’s world it is easy to send an e-mail to communicate your questions and concerns. As an educator and mother, I believe school and home need to work as a team. Meeting and communicating with your child’s teacher will build a partnership that is necessary for a positive and successful education.

Remember that teachers want their students (your child) to thrive and with your support great things happen.

Picture Book Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet by Diane de Groat Gilbert can’t wait to show off the one-of-a-kind Martian Space Pilot costume he’s made. But when it’s time to change for the school Halloween parade, he walks into a boys’ room filled with Martian Space Pilots. If things are bad enough, Gilbert opens up his costume bag to find he accidentally grabbed his little sister Lola’s pink ballerina outfit!	Grades 2-4 Geronimo Stilton Series It’s Halloween, You ‘Fraidy Mouse! Book #11 Geronimo Stilton is back, and it's Halloween. The only problem is Geronimo hates everything about the holiday! Follow Geronimo through a series of scary happenings as he researches his book about Halloween in graveyards, crypts, and scary prank stores.
Grades 5-7 The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore by Joan Lowery Nixon She spots the masked man in the dark, lonely parking lot--but too late. Grabbed, Christina is kidnapped and held for ransom. When her family pays, she thinks her ordeal is over. But then she realizes that her family thinks "she" planned the kidnapping. How will Christina prove her innocence?	Parent Resource Children: The Challenge By Rudolf Dreikurs A great book that comes highly recommended. It has 39 short chapters, each dealing with a different parenting issue with very practical solutions.