Should I Tell My Child’s New Teacher About Last Year’s Struggles?
A new school year can feel like a fresh start.
New teacher. New classroom. New expectations.
And if your child struggled last year, you may find yourself wondering:
Should I tell the new teacher everything now?
Or...
Should I stay quiet and see how things go?
A lot of parents worry that sharing too much will cause a teacher to form an opinion about their child before really getting to know them.
At the same time, you don't want to spend six weeks watching the same problems happen all over again.
So what's the right approach?
You don't have to choose between saying nothing and saying everything
Your child's new teacher probably doesn't need a long history of every difficult homework night, tutoring session, low test grade, or concern you've ever had.
But a few pieces of information can be genuinely helpful.
You might share something like:
“Reading became increasingly difficult for her last year, particularly as the material got harder.”
“He understands the material, but organization and turning in assignments were a major challenge.”
“Writing assignments tend to take her significantly longer than we would expect.”
“He became very anxious around tests last year even when he knew the material.”
You're giving the teacher something specific to watch for without telling them what conclusion to reach.
What should I ask the teacher to look for?
Instead of simply asking, “Do you think something is wrong?”, ask about specific behaviors.
For example:
Does my child require more prompting than other students?
Are they finishing classwork?
How does their reading compare with what you're seeing from classmates?
Do they understand directions the first time?
How long does writing seem to take?
Are they participating?
Do they seem distracted or overwhelmed?
Are they making careless mistakes?
Are they keeping track of materials and assignments?
Does their classroom performance seem consistent with what they appear to understand?
Those answers are often much more useful than simply hearing, “They're doing fine.”
But what if the teacher doesn't see it?
This is where parents can become confused.
Your child may struggle significantly at home while appearing relatively successful at school.
That doesn't necessarily mean you're imagining the problem.
Some children hold themselves together during the school day and fall apart at home.
Some are bright enough to compensate for weaknesses.
Some work very slowly but still finish.
Some children with ADHD or executive functioning difficulties aren't disruptive at all.
Others have subtle reading or writing weaknesses that become more noticeable only as academic demands increase.
And some children are doing well because an enormous amount of support is happening outside of school.
If organization, initiation, time management, or independence are major concerns, you may want to read more about Executive Functioning Evaluations.
If you're seeing persistent problems with reading, spelling, decoding, or reading fluency, Dyslexia Evaluations may also help you understand what to look for.
Give the teacher information — but also gather information
Think of the beginning of the school year as an opportunity to collect another piece of the puzzle.
You know what happened last year.
You know what happens at home.
The new teacher can tell you what they're seeing in a different classroom with different demands.
Those observations can be extremely valuable.
But they aren't the only information that matters.
What if I'm still concerned even if the teacher isn't?
You don't necessarily need to wait until a teacher raises the same concern.
A Neuropsychological Evaluation looks more broadly at how a child learns and can examine areas such as attention, executive functioning, memory, processing, reading, writing, mathematics, and emotional functioning.
This can be especially helpful when a child seems capable but something about school simply doesn't add up.
And if your child has already undergone school testing but you still have unanswered questions, read School vs. Private Evaluations to understand how the purposes of these evaluations can differ.
The bottom line
Tell the teacher enough to help them know what to watch for.
Then pay attention to what happens.
A new teacher can provide valuable information.
But you don't have to erase everything you learned about your child last year just because the calendar says September.
Concerned about a pattern that has continued across school years? Learn more about comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations.
