As expected as students get older, they become more responsible for keeping track of their school materials, homework, permission slips, lunch, and notes from home. We also understand that children and adults forget, misplace and lose things. As teachers, we encourage students to unpack their backpacks first thing in the morning and to check to be sure they have the things they need. We hope the self satisfaction and recognition they receive when turning things in reinforces positive habits. In addition, students are positively reinforced for coming to us early in the day if they have forgotten or don’t have an assignment or something else. At that point, if the child has a plan for how to handle the situation, we typically congratulate him or her and look forward to seeing whatever it is that’s missing. If the child doesn’t have a plan, we are likely to ask if he or she needs help coming up with a plan for how s/he will handle the situation. Our approach becomes more individualized depending on the frequency with which a child forgets and the attitude a student conveys. While phoning home is an option, we try to limit this.
We recommend that you talk with your child about how he or she handles situations that involve forgetting – it is a life skill that requires strategies. We hope that our responses are both understanding and encouraging. Furthermore, we hope you’ll agree that it’s important for students to care about their work and to be able to handle mistakes.
We recommend that you talk with your child about how he or she handles situations that involve forgetting – it is a life skill that requires strategies. We hope that our responses are both understanding and encouraging. Furthermore, we hope you’ll agree that it’s important for students to care about their work and to be able to handle mistakes.