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Morning News

Parentscenter.com Executive Editor Offers Advice on How parents can be Advocates for Their Children at School

Aired October 2, 2000 - 11:47 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now it is time to talk kids and school. New school year is just about a few weeks old, and that means it is a good time to talk about what it is time to do for you, your kids, and your teacher.

Joining us from New York with some advice on how parents can be advocates for their children at school: Linda Murray. She is executive editor of a new Web site called Parentscenter.com.

Linda, good to see you.

LINDA MURRAY, PARENTSCENTER.COM: Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: What is Parentcenter.com?

MURRAY: Parentscenter.com is a brand-new Web site. We launched it this week. It is brought to you by the people who did Babycenter.com, and it is geared to the parents of kids aged 2-8.

KAGAN: And so the ideas is, when you are frustrated and have a problem, and you don't know where to turn, you write in and get some advice?

MURRAY: It's a Web site. So you log on, we are there 24 hours a day. If you have problems with school, or behavior problems with your kids, you need fun activities to do, you are concerned about a health issue. We have all of that information on the site.

KAGAN: Here is a basic one for you. So school for most people is about a month old.

MURRAY: Right.

KAGAN: If you have a checklist of going through the school year, now is a good time to do what?

MURRAY: Now is a good time to take your teachers's temperature actually. We just did a whole new area on Parentscenter.com about checking out your teacher this time of the year. I think a big problem is that a lot of parents wait until the parent-teacher conference, which usually doesn't happen for another two or three weeks. And at that point, sometimes it is too late, and the teacher has a lot of things that they want to tell you about your child. But now is a good time to go in, and say hello, get to know the teacher, talk to them about some problems that your child may be having, and just see what is going on.

KAGAN: Speaking of going on-line, is it a good idea to have an e-mail relationship good with your child's teacher?

MURRAY: That is a great idea. If your teacher is on-line, that is a great way to keep in touch. You can do it daily, you can do it weekly, they can get back to you at the end of the day, or whenever they have a few minutes, you can do it whenever you have time. I think that it's a lot more convenient than phone calls, or having to stop by the school. So e-mail is a great idea.

KAGAN: Let's talk about some specific problems that parents might be having, especially parents of young ones going to kindergarten and the early grades there. Your child comes home and says: I hate my teacher. What do you do?

MURRAY: That happens. I think that the first thing that you do is really talk to that child a little bit more and find out what is going on. I think sometimes they say they hate the teacher, and it's really not the teacher, it's that there is a kid at school that might be bothering them, or maybe there is something about the work.

So you talk to the child, you ask them some more specific questions. You don't say: Why do you hate the teacher?

You say: How does the teacher treat you? or what does the teacher do in class that bothers you?

You just ask very specific questions and try to find out what is going on.

Then I think you try to talk to other parents in the classroom, if you know the parents of other students, to see if their kids maybe are having the same problems, sort of check out the story. It's not that your child is lying to you, but it is always great to get a little bit more information from other parents.

KAGAN: Check your source.

MURRAY: Yes, absolutely. And lastly, call the teacher, and see if you can go in and have a five or 10 minute conversation with her, and see what she has to say. Maybe there is something going on in the class. Maybe there is something you can work on together to help your child out.

KAGAN: Quick one about kindergarten. I have at least three or four friends who have their kids -- their oldest child starting kindergarten this year. All parents amazed about the big difference that kindergarten takes on the kids, the toll it takes, versus pre- school or day care, where the kids have been before, both in terms of the length of the day and the social responsibilities. It's just a lot for a 5 or 6-year-old. MURRAY: I think that is the first time kids are really getting some academic training. They are asked to sit still a lot longer. The day is longer. So they are spending more time away from you. Preschool is a lot about playing to learn. And I think kindergarten is the first time where your kids are going to get some academic training. And that can be hard on a child.

And there are lot of little things you can do to help out. You can put little notes in their lunch box. You can put a little picture of yourself in there to sort of help them get through the day.

KAGAN: Some good tips. I am sure we will find more on Parentscenter.com.

MURRAY: Yes you will.

KAGAN: Linda Murray, thank you for joining us this morning.

MURRAY: Thanks.

KAGAN: Have a great school year.

MURRAY: You too.

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