Start with Strengths

Sharing what your child does well allows teachers to use strengths to improve learning. Learn more.

Lean on Likes

Knowing what your child likes can help teachers encourage learning. Learn more.

Capture Concerns

An easy way to share a concern is to begin a sentence with “my child needs help with ...” Learn more.

Share Solutions

Share what you and other teachers have done to help. Learn more.

Tip: Children can begin to learn self-advocacy skills by helping to write the back-to-school letter. It's a good idea to ask your child how they see their strengths and needs and what they would like teachers to know about them.

Start with Strengths

Every child has unique strengths. When teachers know your child's strengths, they can use them to help your child learn.

For example:

• A child who knows basketball stats for all his favorite players may be able to use that strength to memorize math facts.
• A child who "lights up" when her favorite person comes in the room can use her strength to foster peer relationships.
• A child who wants to know everything about a favorite topic can encourage others to be curious.
  

Need Help Getting Started?

This Child Strengths Checklist from Understood gives examples of strengths you may recognize in your child.

Lean on Likes

Understanding what your child likes can help teachers in two ways:

• Teachers can use likes to help your child form friendships with students who have similar likes
• Teachers can expand on likes to encourage new learning.

For example:

• A child who likes art class may enjoy drawing pictures of science experiments.
• A child who likes sports may enjoy math problems using player stats.
• A child who likes a special character may enjoy reading stories about that character.
  

Tip: If you are just beginning with self-advocacy, this is a good place to involve your child. Learning to communicate likes and dislikes can be easier than communicating strengths and needs.

Likes to List

Some categories of likes include:

• Favorite class/subject
• Favorite activity (sports, dance, video games)
• Favorite book, movie or character
  

Capture Concerns

If your child has an individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan, learning concerns will already be included there. Still, it's helpful for teachers to understand concerns the way you see them - especially when concerns look different at home and school.

One way to share concerns is to start a sentence with, "my child needs help with ..." -- then be as specific as possible.

For example:

• My child needs help breaking assignments down into smaller chunks.
• My child needs reminders to ask for a break.
• My child can transition better when she knows what to expect.
  

Why Not a Diagnosis?

This section suggests sharing concerns using the phrase, "my child needs help with ..."

It may seem simpler to say, "my child has ADHD," or "my child has anxiety," -- but diagnoses can be very different from person to person. For example, one child with anxiety may be terrified of fire alarms while another struggles with separating from caregivers.

When you share specific needs, teachers can be more proactive with problem-solving in the classroom.

Share Solutions

Finally, it's a good idea to share solutions that have worked in the past. This section is different from the concerns you just shared. It lists different ways you or your child's other teachers have tried to meet needs.

For example:

• Need: Reminders to ask for a break
• Solution: A break card that sits on the desk

• Need: Knowing what to expect
• Solution: A daily visual schedule
  

Keep in mind that the solutions that worked at home or in other classrooms may not work in your child's new classroom. It's better to think of this section as a starting point in a conversation with your child's new teacher.

Delivering Your Letter

It's a good idea to make multiple copies of your letter and ask your child's teacher to share the copies with specials teachers and paraprofessionals.

CFK families have also recommended asking your child's teacher to keep a copy of the letter in the folder they share with substitute teachers.