The pre-school teache is coming to my house in July to check whats my DD is like with her own terrority at home

[Biglips]

is this right?

as this is what the teacher verbally said to me and then a week after that we will go to her preschool for my dd to meet everyone who will be starting at the same time as her

[nailpolish]

how strange

[Biglips]

thats what one of the mn said too ......

[Ticklemonster]

They do that here as well.

[Twinkie1]

DDs teacher camje to see her at home - thought it was a really nice gesture to be honest and was nice that DD got to meet her alone.

[TooTicky]

Odd.

[Greensleeves]

Yes, ds1's teacher did this, it's common practice around here. I was a bit nervous (am antisocial) but it was fine and they were lovely.

[Ticklemonster]

I have copied and pasted this from a website I found:-


For parents with no prior link to the school, entering school premises and meeting teachers can be a daunting prospect, particularly if their own experiences of education were less than positive. Parents may feel more secure and in control in their own homes, and therefore able to talk more freely. In familiar surroundings, they may also find it easier to remember important facts about their children?s medical history, their likes and dislikes and their routines.
Children can find a new school frightening. A home visit enables a first meeting between child and teacher in an environment that is safe, and where the child feels in control. Once the child has started school, teachers or nursery nurses can mention a particular aspect of the visit as a starting point for conversation. This may help children feel that adults know a little about them. Recognising a friendly adult face as soon as they enter the classroom can also help children to settle more quickly.



Home visits provide an opportunity for one-to-one interaction with the family, at a time that suits that family. They should enable an exchange of information between parents, school staff and children, and may also provide a starting point for practitioners to understand family background, including the cultural background.



For children, a visit carried out by ?their? teacher shows that they are important, and means that some faces will be familiar when they start school. For parents, a home visit provides an opportunity to talk about their child and the school, to voice concerns, to clear up misunderstandings, and to lessen worries and fears.



For parents and children, a visit gives them the opportunity to meet the teacher/s in a safe environment, where they feel confident and at ease.



For teachers and support staff, a visit provides the opportunity to:

establish early, positive contact
see children in their own familiar settings
meet other family members, people and pets who are important to the children
understand the problems that children might encounter at school, and also to appreciate the wealth of learning that goes on in the home.
This all helps to get a fuller picture of the children. Professionals can gain much from observing a child where he or she feels settled and in control.

[nailpolish]

i think this is a bit OTT

[Biglips]

ooh thanks ticklemonster

and im glad im not the one who is having/had a preschool home check..

[Biglips]

one told me that it poss that they are checking to see if you do live there at the addy i gave them!.

[Hattie2]

Sounds like what they do at my dd's preschool - we had a couple of hours at the preschool with the others who would be starting at the same time about a month before she started and then a home visit a couple of weeks later

[earlgrey]

Bl**dy hell. Scareeeeeey.

But I do remember my sister must've done it when she was teaching, as the mother offered to come in and help out in my sister's class. When the little boy misbehaved while my sister was there, this huge threatening stick was waved in front of this pre-reception child.

Needless to say my sister thanked her for her kind offer ..........

[earlgrey]

I'd have to get an industrial sandblaster/hire a skip if that happened to me!

[Blu]

It's not to do with any sort of checking - some schools do check, but they don't send out teachers and TAs to do it!

It's standard practice in DS's school. The recepeption teacher came for a visit before he started, and it was brilliant. All the children had been able to spend time with the teacher and get to know her before the din of the first day in the classroom, it gave the teacher and I a little time to exchange any questions, she got to know some things about DS which helped her settle him, or know what his needs would be - very few crying children in DS's reception on the first day!

If you think it's OTT it isn't compulsory!

[Littlefish]

Happens in a lot of places.

When the teacher came to visit my sister's twins, they started brandishing pretend guns at the teacher and shouted - "you're dead, I've killed you".

What a first impression

[Biglips]

Littlrefish -

just let hope my bossy bum dd will outgrown the "mine" "mine" "mine" situation by the time she starts the preschool - she be dead on 3

[yomellamoHelly]

Hapened here the week before ds started. Think it was good for them to meet on familiar/safe ground beforehand.

[Blu]

When the teacher visited my friend, she asked the little boy to show her his favourite book (he had said he like looking at books). He disappeared and returned with the Argos catalogue.

[oxocube]

I had to do 'home visits' as a Reception teacher in South London. I was torn really between seeing it as a positive home/school link, meeting the parents on their own territory, kids at ease etc etc and the fact that I would HATE this from my own kids' teachers! I would feel like I was being judged (which I know from experience is not the issue at all)

[oxocube]

Blu would have wet myself

[Kelly1978]

I had this with dd, it was rather nice.

[Crotchety]

We have had this twice now and it's fine. It's also an incentive to get the house vaguely tidy...Two teachers come from our school and one plays with the child while the other talks to me about the paperwork and so on. Slightly peturbed when DS2 invited them both up to his bedroom to see the giant dalek poster but that was fine...They said they get to see an awful lot of pristine living rooms.

[oxocube]

The first school I worked at, straight out of teacher training, was in a v deprived area in North London. I was full of bright ideas like going on home visits to get to know the kids and parents and was surprised that I was told that the school did not encourage this. It turned out that many of the homes were so poor that the parents were against the idea as they felt judged. It was a v druggy area, very few resident fathers, lots of new 'uncles' who changed regularly, lots of teenage truants hanging out at home.

You can see why they wouldn't want some green college kid turning up on their doorstep, TBH

[fannyannie]

they do that at the nursery that DS1 went to - which DS2 will also hopefully be going to in September. Can't remember their exact reasons for doing it now (DS1 now in YR1) but they've been doing it for a few years now and seem to thinks it helps - and I don't have a problem with it either. Was actually quite nice to meet DS1's group teacher on a one-to-one before he started.

[MrsSpoon]

The nursery teacher does this at DS2's nursery, so we have had this visit twice now. It is a bit odd TBH and I know they say you can turn it down but I then wonder 'what will they think?', 'do they think we've got something to hide?' so have just allowed it to happen both times, both times when the teacher visited she read a story with DS which was nice.