Consider your child’s holistic development during the upper primary parent-teacher meeting, even as there’s a greater focus on academics leading up to PSLE. As with the kindergarten and lower primary posts, we’ve also included a downloadable checklist for you to pick your top few questions.
Academic Focus
Before the upper primary parent-teacher meeting, discuss with your child any subjects that they feel is of greatest concern. During the meeting, ask about any learning gaps, ways to improve exam techniques, and perhaps aligning on the streams and tracks. At the same time, clarify if your child does their assignments independently and if they can manage their worksheets and deadlines.
For those in Primary 5 and 6, questions could include how your child is handling tests regarding their stamina and pacing and any areas to score quick wins. Additionally, you may want to find out if your child is on track to meeting their AL score targets.
Social-Emotional Well-Being and Self-Management
Other skills that you could ask your child’s teacher about include their observations about your child’s time management, task initiation, ownership of learning and digital literacy. Another aspect include their overall social-emotional well-being, such as excessive test anxiety, and conflict resolution between their peers. Do also check with the teacher if your child has shown any signs of being left out, or if they are excluding their peers.
It may also be a great idea to ask your teacher in which area your child has shown the greatest improvement. Wrap up the meeting knowing which learning gaps to address, especially by introducing a specific routine or habit at home to improve your child’s academic development. Some examples include attention training, or routine-building, and creative problem solving.