Talking to pre-school staff

As many of you will know, I’m not the most pro-active person in putting myself forward and speaking up. This seems to follow through to talking to playgroup leaders and nursery school staff. I can manage the quick drop-off ‘notes’, such as ‘She didn’t sleep well last night, so might be a bit grumpy.’ ‘I’ve packed two changes of clothes, just in case.’ ‘My mum will be dropping her off, tomorrow.’ But I find it difficult to ask questions about how she’s doing or tell them about her progress at home.

It seems that children can often behave quite differently in pre-school and school to at home. A talkative energetic child can be almost silent at pre-school. A quiet, sensitive child can run around and be boisterous in the different environment. And frequently our children don’t show their genius at school, only to us. (Though perhaps that’s down to our perceptions!) I know children who can read fluently at home and do pages and pages of sums, but their teachers have no idea and send them home with books way below their level. And, of course, there are children who need extra help with certain tasks, but their teachers don’t know about it or are not fully aware of the best way to help them.

So how do we impart the necessary information? How do we find out what we need to find out? Rosemary’s playgroup has something called Wow vouchers, on which you can write when they’ve done something momentous at home to put in their folder at playgroup. And you’re supposed to be able to look at the folder any time. (I don’t actually know where the folder is, but I’m sure I could find out, easily.)

The staff are very approachable at both places, but the problem is time. Everyone wants to talk to them at drop-off and pick-up. You can usually get in a quick mention of essential information, but there’s no time to have a full-on discussion about anything. Chris often mentions things at pick-up, some of which is taken on board, but much of which seems not to be.

What I think I would like is a parents’ evening, like you get at school, with the opportunity to have a proper talk about everything, not a rushed conversation where you are both trying to make yourself heard over the shouts and screams of small children.

Do any of you have strategies for information exchange with pre-school staff? Do you use the Wow vouchers, or equivalent? Is there anything that you’d like to talk about, but can’t manage to?