Parent-Teacher Meeting: Questions You Should Ask Your Child's Teacher

It's no secret that parental involvement in a child's education leads to better grades and behaviour. And one of the tenets of effective parental involvement is a good parent-teacher relationship. Your child spends a sizable portion of their life at school, and the effect their teachers have on them is long-lasting and lays the foundation for success later in their life.

Building trust between parents and teachers is the cornerstone of having an effective and harmonious parent-teacher relationship. In a study titled 'Trust and the Family-School Relationship: Examination of Parent-Teacher Differences in Elementary and Secondary Grades,' by Kimberly S Adams and Sandra L Christenson, published by the Journal of School Psychology in 2010, having a good parent-teacher relationship based on trust resulted in better school performance. The study states, 'Trust between parents and teachers is a vital element in building and maintaining the family-school relationship. Improving home-school communication was identified as a primary way to enhance trust. Also, the perceived quality of family-school interaction was a better predictor of trust than was the frequency of contact or demographic variables. Trust was positively correlated with three indicators of school performance.'

So, parent-teacher meetings must be seen as a platform to communicate and build a trusting relationship between the parent and the teacher, where the primary concern is the well-being and the development of the child.

Asking the right questions of your child's teacher is one way of doing so. We give you some questions you could ask at a parent-teacher meeting:

About your child

1. What strengths do you see in my child?
2. What limitations do you see in my child?
3. How is my child in general, happy/fussy/moody, etc.?
4. How is my child's behavior at school?
5. What skills and abilities does my child have?

About your child's academics

1. Is my child meeting the class academic goals?
2. Is my child performing to their fullest potential?
3. In what areas does my child need extra help?
4. How could we provide that extra help?
5. Is my child better in one subject than the others?

About your child's social skills

1. How does my child interact with elders and peers?
2. Does my child communicate freely with you?
3. Are there any challenges while communicating with my child?
4. Does my child have disagreements with other children often?
5. Could we work together to build my child's social skills?

About homework

1. How is my child doing with homework?
2. Can I share my concerns with you regarding the school's homework policy?
3. How much time, in your opinion, must I allot in a day for my child's homework?
4. What if my child has doubts about homework that has to be submitted the next day?

About your involvement

1. How can I help my child set academic goals?
2. How can I help my child meet their academic goals?
3. How can I help my child build an interest in a subject they avoid studying?
4. How can I best support what you are teaching my child at school?

About specific sensitive issues

1. Can I share with you some of my concerns?
2. Can you explain to me what happened?
3. Can you help me understand what is expected of my child?
4. Can you advise me on how to deal with this situation?
5. Could you help me tackle this problem?

If you want to approach a teacher after school hours for a problem your child is facing, follow the school protocols. If you respect and appreciate a teacher's work and space, they will also be more understanding of your parental problems.

A parent-teacher partnership is one of the most valuable relationships you'll develop in your life, so make sure to nurture and respect it.

Last updated on: August 14, 2025