Parent Chat Recaps

Happy May! One of the busiest months, but the most fun! I love the extra events at Oakhill to celebrate the end of the year, highlight our students’ accomplishments, and prepare for a much needed break. I like to ask some of the students what their high’s and low’s from the year were and compare them to the events that I felt were memorable. I’m always surprised by the things that were deemed significant for our students because they are often things that I had forgotten happened … It just serves as a reminder that it isn’t always about the big, fancy stuff that we provide our kids. It truly is the small things that make the biggest impact. The safe, welcoming, and positive environment that is created in the classrooms here are the things that our students remember most!

So in the spirit of reflection, I wanted to recap one of my highlights of the year - Parent Chats! Parent Education is something that I have wanted to kick start for a while, but I hadn’t felt like I had all of the small details in place to start it at the “right time”. However, there are awesome people (like Sara Verwers) who find organic opportunities to take an idea and make it a reality! So for those that were unable to attend, I wanted to write a short recap of the topics we covered in case it sparks interest, and you want to learn more. 

Our first chat was about how to keep your child safe in a digital world. While we like to think we know everything about keeping our kids safe, there is so much to learn (constantly) about the internet, apps, communication abilities, the evolving information, etc. - and you just can’t know it all. However, arming yourself with open communication, parental controls, and strategies to monitor your child and their “digital tattoo” is an amazing start. Mrs. Verwers gave our 4th-8th grade students an anonymous survey that gathered information about how, when, and why they use their devices, who they talk to, and what types of safety precautions they take to protect themselves online. We shared the results with parents at our chat and it sparked such valuable conversations about how to talk about online safety like, what you need to know about various apps/games, which ones your child can chat with anyone (yes, anyone), and things to look out for. We also discussed the necessity of setting screen time limits, and creating a family tech plan together. All of our conversation circled back to determining your family values/expectations and starting the online safety talk with your kids. 

Our second chat stemmed from the first - How to Have Difficult Conversations With Your Kids. This topic is one that all parents need eventually. Whether it be about online safety, peer pressure, lying, and as they age, it evolves into even harder topics. Starting and having difficult and awkward conversations ’s a skill that parents must have. Parents avoid hard conversations for many reasons - fear of rejection or conflict, fear that they don’t have the skills to talk about “that stuff”, lack of time, or generational/cultural differences (the list goes on). However, if you don’t have these conversations with your kids, then who will? Parents have the opportunity to educate and prepare their kids for whatever life may throw at them. As they say, “knowledge is power” and your children aren’t born with the knowledge they need to navigate so many situations effectively on their own. In this chat, we discussed the 4 steps to having hard conversations, examples for how to start talking about the hard stuff, and even went through examples of topics. 

Our hope is that we can provide parents with the information they need to help their children navigate the evolving world we live in. As educators, we are in a unique position to just that and we want to make sure we are starting and continuing these valuable conversations. 

And with that, enjoy May and enjoy summer break! 

Mrs. P