What do teachers look for on home visits?

[Areyoubeingservedhen]

If they arrive to a massive local authority tower block do they write that kid off?
What if they have loads of books but the parents are out at work all the time and never get chance to read to their kids?
Just curious really!

I think you have the wrong idea of what a home visit is for.

What is it for? It's not a thing that happened around here when DD started school.

It's more for the child, to see their teacher, to have a small opportunity to talk 1:1 before they're thrown into a class of 26.

It also gives you a chance to explain anything you feel would be beneficial for them to know.

Eg: hates loud noises. Can't say the word green. Not sure about puppets etc etc

Thanks. Sounds reasonable.

They don’t ‘look for’ anything except to give the child an opportunity to get to know the teacher in their own home, and get to know the child in a relaxed 1-2-1 way, and give the parent an opportunity to talk about anything that is concerning them. It’s a nice thing to do, IMO.

And optional, of course.

I thought it was an odd concept. But then it happened, and my child was proper chuffed to have his teacher visit. He really opened up in a way he wouldn’t have done if we’d have had the meeting at school.

I asked a teacher friend this. He said basically unless they walk in and trip over a pile of needles and find the parent high while the kid plays with knives, you don't need to worry.
He unfortunately taught in an area where this sort of thing did happen and teachers did have to refer to social services.

We’ll have one coming up next year. I think my 3 year old will be delighted to have the teacher round but I’m really interested to know how that then affects the impression of the child and their abilities. I’m sure there must be an element of unconscious bias based on the set-up at home however much you’d try to avoid making judgements.

Userzzzz but that would be the case even without the home visit.

Kids reveal every aspect of their home lives, sometimes with added flourish or misunderstandings, there are so many ‘signifiers ‘ - look at the responses to so many baby names.

My guess is that teachers have seen it all. And child’s progress and ability is documented to the Nth degree, whatever the prejudices.

The teachers I know are a lot less prone to prejudice, discrimination and judginess than I see amongst many MNers.

But it’s your choice: the visits are fully optional.

nothing at all. it's a great opportunity to get to know the parents a d meet the children in their comfortable setting. .... I also got loads of ideas for how to decorate my house 😉

BlouseAndSkirt I’m not bothered in the slightest by the visits. I just think it must be quite interesting for the teachers. As you say there are so many markers already but home environment must be such a big one.