Today was my parent teacher conference for Lucy. Lucy, our only child, is 7 ½ and in the second grade.

She is definitely not perfect but a good kid who tends to do well in school. Each parent has about 25 minutes with the teacher and I wanted to make sure I made the most of the time I was given.

I decided to try what I think may be the most important Buttoned Up principle to this task….focus on the important stuff…the classic 80/20 rule.

I put together a list of our (me and my husband, Adam’s) questions ahead of time that were most important to us to get answered.

Here is my list. It may help you in prepping for your next teacher conference:

1. Don’t’ forget to bring a pen and pad of paper to jot down notes and remember items
2. How is my child doing?
3. Is she working up to her ability and if not, why not and what is the action plan?
4. What is my child like in class?
5. What is my child like socially in school? Does she have friends, etc..?
6. What are Lucy’s strength and weaknesses? What can we do to work on some of her weaknesses?
7. What types of things will Lucy be doing over the next 3 to 6 months in key subjects like math, reading, social studies?
8. What are the expectations on homework?
9. Is there anything else you think we should know?

The conference went well and unlike my teacher chat last year, I felt like I got the most out of the time with the teacher and left with a small list of things we are both going to do together to help Lucy improve in some key areas.

Would love to hear if you have other key questions or advice on this subject. Lucy is only in second grade so I have a lot more of these to attend.