Having written documentation will help you to process the information later after your emotions have cooled down. It will also help make sure that you and the school are on the same page about the incident(s) leading up to the suspension.
It’s best that your child doesn’t attend this meeting to avoid sending the message that you don’t support the school’s decision.
Depending on what time of day the suspension occurred, you may want to go home and prepare dinner before you talk, or you might want to stop somewhere and eat lunch. Focusing on an activity will help you to be calm and it will give your child time to reflect.
If your child’s story is very different from the school’s, try to find other students or teachers who witnessed the event to find out what really happened.
Try asking, “I know you got upset when you were told to sit down in class, but it seems like something else might be bothering you. Can we talk about it?”
Ask your child to walk back through the steps leading up to the incident. When they get to the part where they misbehaved, stop and ask, “Can you describe exactly how you were feeling right then? How could you have expressed that instead of what you did?”
Tell your child something like, “Even though you got in trouble at school, I still love you. I know you acted out because you were feeling very upset. Everyone gets upset sometimes, and that’s okay, but your behavior was not okay. "
Try to stick as closely as possible to the meal times your child would have if they were at school. Plan out a schedule where your child eats breakfast, works on school assignments, eats lunch at their regular time, then helps out around the house in the afternoon.
