 Old MacDonald had a school, A-E-I-O-U. All done, Old MacDonald. Can you read me the words today in our Up family, Aiden? As we move toward an inclusive education system where each student is successful, it's key for teachers to understand, support and collaborate with parents. Aiden, thank you for reading that. That was a good reminder of our Up family. I can't believe how awesome of a year Aiden has really had. Coming from our last year of Puff, having autism and being in the regular classroom has just been so important for us and to see how well he's done and now to get him ready for grade one and take all the extra things that we don't do with neurotypical kids, to prep him more so that he has success in grade one, that it's just nice that we're able to talk and that we can set that up for him for sure. Parents are powerful partners and an invaluable resource to teachers, providing them with information and insight about their child and what works best for that child in terms of learning and positive behavior supports. We're going through it right now and it's cool and you know you have safety and all those things that surround that too. So we're just trying to stop any of that functional behavior that's not functional and redirect him and if it's something that's thrown, he has to then pick it up and say sorry. We really need to understand the challenges that parents face and be empathetic to that and then we can be truly helpful. And that he's all done whatever he's doing. So all done is the language you're using and that is what we're using at school as well. We as teachers need to listen to parents because they know their children best. We have a very interdependent relationship where if we're listening to them and they're listening to us, the child will succeed. Do I combine those two? Yeah, we don't have both. So just use margarine and do two-thirds plus two-thirds. So a cup and a third of margarine. So what were you doing? Parents are the first teachers of their children and this rule continues after children begin formal instruction at school. Ben, what are you doing? Watching girls. Watching girls for hours. No, we have not, you idiot mom. Hey, hey, what's going on guys? Parents are actively teaching attitudes, beliefs, values and skills. They provide experiences that schools cannot. No, we have not. Abby, how much time is left in this episode? Like half an hour. Ben, can you wait half an hour and let her finish this? Parents of children with diverse learning needs often have developed extensive activities through which they support their child's development. You are an awesome breaker. Thank you. I feel that it's important to be able to communicate with Ben's teachers to express to them who he is as a person and what his special needs are because I have an understanding as a mom, what he needs at home. It's great to be able to collaborate with the teachers and express to them how we can work together and help him in the school environment. Right. Yeah, I've got, I'm kind of looking at pairing the kids up. You know, someone gets to take notes and stuff like that and then we'll be having like video cameras and whatever so the kids can share and pair off and stuff like that. Will he be alright like with that kind of stuff? He does, he's going to love the cameras. The one issue is with partnering up, a lot of times he gets left out when the kids are left up on their own to do the partnering up so if there's any way we could select a partner for him beforehand, somebody that you think might... Successful. And that's the key word, successful collaboration between the parents and the schools. It's so important. It actually maximizes the child's development and learning. Parents know their children, teachers know the curriculum and understand teaching and learning by committing to collaborating both can identify strengths of the child and focus on collaborating in areas where their knowledge overlaps. It's clear rules about that and time limits as far as who gets the camera for how long and if he knows beforehand he gets it for 10 minutes and has to give it up, he does a lot better. At first I was apprehensive about working with parents but I've come to welcome and embrace our relationship. I think it's about developing a mutual respect for what we each bring to the table. Scott's a very rigid thinker. Parents and teachers both have their roles in working with children. The challenge and the reward is for teachers and parents to negotiate supportive, mutually beneficial and rewarding ways to work together. Being an advocate for their child is always the role of the parent and it is ongoing. Whether it's a new class or a new school or a new challenge they may face it is always the role of the parent to place the advocate for what their child needs. As educators we honor this role and see it as an expression of the unconditional love of a parent for a child. We do our best to work together with parents building on strengths and providing the best educational program to maximize learning and development. I can't really see in front of me and I really don't know what I'm doing but my co-piles asleep.