Cracking the Code of "Education Lingo"

"I go into these meetings and I have no idea what they are saying!"

"The teacher uses words that I've never heard before."

"How do they expect me to know what they're talking about?"

This is just a sampling of the frustrations that parents have expressed to me. Have you ever gone into your child's school and felt like the teachers and staff were speaking a foreign language? If so, you're definitely not alone.

Like many other professions, educators have their own "lingo" that they use to discuss their work. They often pick up on these words and phrases through their years of training and in the classroom. Teachers can sometimes become so comfortable with this language that they forget those who aren't in the profession may not know what they mean. This can create big problems when educators and parents communicate.

As a parent, you have the right to know what's going on with your child's education, and part of that is understanding every word your child's teacher or education team is saying. If you don't understand something, don't be afraid to speak up and ask for clarification.

I recently heard that many parents were having to google words and phrases that their child's teacher and school were using. Sometimes, after long meetings at the school, parents would have to spend even longer searching for definitions online. I know many parents are already exhausted trying to navigate their child's schooling and make sure they receive the education they deserve. I wanted to relieve some of that stress by gathering definitions and explanations in the same place.

To help save you time and energy, I've created a bank of education terms and definitions that you can download for free and reference whenever you need to. It's organized by category and alphabetically to help you find what you're looking for quickly.

You can download the bank of terms here.

If you're searching for a term and you're unable to find it in the document, please don't hesitate to let me know. I would be happy to help you find a definition and to add it to the document for future downloads.

Have you experienced the frustration of being bombarded with words and phrases you don't understand while meeting with educators? We would love to hear about your experience in the comments.

Happy Learning!

Zoie