It can be helpful for children faced with a non-favorite new teacher to practice expressing themselves to their parent first.
Kate Halim
It can be worrisome when your child doesn’t like his or her new teacher at the beginning of a new school term. Sometimes, they might like whoever the new teacher is and look forward to being in their class and at other times, they just don’t want to be close to the person.
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Not liking a teacher is not the worst thing that can happen to your child. In fact, it can even be a positive, teachable moment. During the course of your child’s life, they are bound to meet people that they simply do not care for.
Learning how to work with people they dislike helps children develop interpersonal skills and teach them to be adaptable. If your child is less than thrilled about their prospective teacher, here’s how you can help.
Keep your opinion to yourself
You might also have a negative reaction to a particular teacher in your child’s school, but whatever you do, don’t express this to your child. Children will take on the opinions of their parents quite easily. Try to remain positive about the teacher, and don’t reveal you don’t like their teacher.
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Listen to your child’s concerns
Although it’s a good idea to remain impartial and not reveal your particular feelings about a new teacher, it’s also important not to dismiss your child’s real feelings. They may be scared or anxious about the changes a new teacher and class might bring, and they need to feel safe to discuss their feelings with you.
Schedule a meeting
As a dad, you can address the problem at the source and schedule a meeting at the school. Often, children who don’t like their teachers feel their teachers don’t like them, so helping child, teacher and parent all be on the same page with expectations for behavior, education and classroom rules is helpful to ease your child’s upset feelings toward his or her teacher.
Remind your child of their past achievements
Sometimes, your child may just be feeling general anxiety and nervousness about the unknown of a new school year and a new class. It can be helpful to remind your child of all the ways they have overcome problems in the past.
Model conversations
It can be helpful for children faced with a non-favorite new teacher to practice expressing themselves to their parent first. The best strategy is to model for children how to have difficult conversations with their teachers in order to improve the relationship. It’s more helpful to try to improve the situation rather than to remove your kid from it.
Give it time
Not liking a new teacher could simply be a temporary problem that will resolve itself once your child settles in and gets used to their new class. Like any other type of relationship, this one also takes time and work to build trust. As time passes, your child will start to be more comfortable and like their teacher. In addition, with time, the teacher also gets to know your child.
Share just how special your child is
It can help to share special information about your child and their interests with their new teacher. This can help your child to begin to build a relationship with their new educator. Fathers should make a point of sharing information about their child’s interests, hobbies and personality with their teachers. These insights provide teachers with a small but more complete picture of who the child is.