Editor's Note: Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman is the founder and executive director of the School for Language and Communication Development in Glen Cove.

Not only do parents need to think about what their children will experience the first day of school, parents also need to review their expectations for the upcoming year. 

Most parents whose children are attending public school have had a limited opportunity to sit in a regular classroom and observe the instructional process.  Classrooms are not ideal places because there are so many different types of learners and the demand for teacher attention is very great. Most teachers have a clear plan about how they are going to organize the classroom and create subgroups for Math, Reading, Social Studies and Science. General education is all about group instruction and peer facilitation. 

It is very difficult for the general education teacher to provide individualized instruction when there are so many children in the classroom with such a wide variety of learning abilities.

Having said all of this, what are you expecting from your child this year? Do you have realistic expectations about his social and academic performances?

Perhaps one of the best things that you could do at the beginning of the school year is to make an appointment with your child's teacher. It may be too soon in September for her to give you very much feedback other than initial impressions but you can certainly provide her with your feelings and impressions about how your child is performing in school. You could also ask her to meet with you on some regular basis. The ongoing dialogues between teachers and parents create a working relationship which will be of great benefit to the child. Consider that the teacher does not see your child at home and you as the parent do not see the child in school.  If parents and teachers have very different perceptions of the child, the educational goals which are generated may result in conflicting expectations.

Although children are extremely adaptable, there are going to be times when children are not functioning at their best and their grades are negatively affected.  At these times, children need support from parents and teachers who can work together to determine what the underlying issues are for the child. Learning cannot always occur at a steady pace. There are ups and downs in children's school performances which are affected by events at home. Problems at home will have a direct impact on how the child is performing in school.

In addition, there may be issues in school which parents are not aware of. What if the child feels isolated because he doesn't have any friends? What if there has been an incident of bullying? These problems can only be uncovered when there is an open communication between parents and teachers.