A Team Effort: Parent-Teacher Partnership Tips for Helping Your Online Student Succeed

April 21, 2023 byAlyssa Austin

4 min to read

A young girl in a pink sweater and turquoise headphones is sitting at her laptop with her father in a grey sweater working togther on her Connections Academy online class.

A positive parent-teacher relationship is important to your student's success. When parents and teachers work together in a positive and complementary way, the result is a student who feels supported and is better set up for academic success! This is especially true for online school students, where their learning and home life take place under the same roof. Read on to learn more about the importance of parent-teacher collaboration, and how you can help create strong, supportive relationships with your child’s teachers.

Why Is Parent-Teacher Collaboration Important?

Parent and teacher collaboration can make a huge difference not only in a student’s academic success, but also in their emotional and social development. Research has shown that taking a collaborative approach to the parent-teacher partnership can lead to students:

Developing of better work habits
Having a more positive attitude about school and learning
Improving grades
Learning better social skills
Having fewer behavioral problems
Being more adaptable when approaching new social situations

Simply put, the importance of parent-teacher collaboration cannot be understated.

5 Ways to Establish a Successful Parent-Teacher Collaboration for Online School Parents

So, how can you work with your online school student’s teachers to help create supportive and productive relationships that ultimately foster positive developments for your child? Here are some helpful tips for parent-teacher collaboration:

1. Communicate with your child’s teacher early and often.

The best way to get started is simply by letting your child’s teacher know that you’d like to be involved and take a hands-on role in their learning journey. Make time at the beginning of each school year to meet with your child’s online teachers, initiate positive relationships, and get a clear understanding of each teacher’s goals and expectations for your child. That way you can help your child stay accountable and work toward these expectations throughout the school year.

2. Establish supportive routines to create positive study & learning habits.

One of the best ways to be a partner in your child’s at-home learning experience is to take the lead in establishing online learning routines that will help set them up for success. Morning routines, homework routines, and even “disconnect from school” routines are all helpful ways to make sure your child has a framework for academic excellence.

3. Approach meetings and parent-teacher conferences in an active way.

Regular meetings with teachers are an expected part of your child’s academic journey. But don’t just approach these meetings as “something to go to”; rather, take an active role in preparing for and participating in these opportunities to communicate with your child’s learning leader. Ask how things are going from the teacher’s standpoint. Bring questions about how you can best support them. Share observations about your child’s strengths, weaknesses, successes and hurdles that you’ve seen them confront while they study. These are all great ways to take your involvement in a strong parent-teacher partnership to the next level.

4. Make sure you are on the same page.

As you start to take a more active role in being an education leader as your student’s Learning Coach, it’s important to make sure that you are taking actions that not only align with but also support the direction of their teacher. The best way to ensure this is through communicating regularly and proactively with your child’s teachers.

Learning Coach in a yellow sweater with her two daughters working on an Connections Academy online assignment on the solar system.

5. Be consistently involved.

As in all things, consistency is key in upholding strong parent-teacher collaboration. Make sure you are regularly checking in with both your child and their teachers to ensure that everything is progressing well in their academic journey. If you’re unsure of how you can best support your child in a specific class, project, or undertaking—ask!

How to Collaborate with Parents as a Teacher

In addition, it’s important for online teachers to play an active role in parent collaboration as well. Teachers should make strong efforts at the beginning of each school year to establish positive working relationships (and guidelines, expectations, and ideals for those relationships) with the parents of their students. Communication, collaboration, and support go both ways when it comes to successful parent-teacher relationships.

With these tips, you’ll be able to form a strong parent-teacher partnership and watch your online student flourish as a result! Learn more success tips for an ideal family-school partnership, and how to help your child succeed as an online student here.