Since I am calling parents often aways, it would be better to call them with a positive than to wait until a negative (I know I am WAY behind on this – it isn’t news to anyone).

This has been on my mind for years but the business of the school year is always making it impossible. I am overhauling everything anyway, so why not add this to the list? I am thinking right after school, when I am ususally too tired to do anything else.

A positive call can set the stage for lots of positives in the future. Here are some questions I might want to ask:

1. How would you describe your child’s interests and hobbies outside of school?
2. Are there any specific topics or subjects that your child particularly enjoys or has shown a keen interest in?
3. Have you noticed any particular strengths or talents in your child that you believe could be further developed through a project?
4. Are there any specific goals or aspirations your child has expressed for this term or the future?
5. Are there any concerns or challenges you would like to address this term, either academically or personally?
6. In your opinion, what kind of project or learning experience would best motivate and engage your child?
7. Are there any resources or materials that you think might be helpful for your child’s learning and project development?
8. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for projects that you think your child would be excited to pursue?

That is a bit much… hopefully I can distill that into a couple of questions that get to the core of the conversation.

I also want to plan how I will organize my correspondence – a quick note might be handy weeks/months/years later. New spreadsheet tab? When I add a tab to my main organizer, it tells me that I have created 60 tabs in the past 2.

That might be a tad excessive.