Don’t Wait For Someone Else to Teach Your Child

Don’t wait. Always be learning. One easy way to do that is to spend time with your child talking and asking questions. You’ll soon find out what they know and don’t know. From there, you teach, you show, you guide. And you DON’T STOP.

In fact, you might not realize it, but you have been teaching your child from DAY ONE. It is only in relatively recent history we’ve come to this idea that children must have daytime childcare for Mother’s Day Out programs, Day Care, Preschool, and K-12 schooling. My mother and her generation certainly didn’t go to those pre-k programs when they were children, and her parents before her didn’t go through 12th grade either. I never attended daycares or preK; I distinctly remember staying with my mother or sometimes my grandmother in those preK years.

For my own children, only one child truly experienced part time preschool for more than one semester. Another child only went for one semester part time, and the last child didn’t attend AT ALL. There is no difference from their intelligence or social ability from those three experiences.

With that said, to inexperienced parents, having a preK experience can be helpful to awaken them to a potential learning issue their child has. The teachers see all the children and notice if one is a bit more slow or having abnormal challenges. Usually, the parents are made aware. This can be quite handy to find out before starting official school. However, I can say that if mothers are together with other mothers of other children, they are likely to talk about common benchmarks and notice if there is something that needs intervention, which accomplishes the same thing.

But don’t wait for problems to solve themselves. Don’t wait for the school to solve the problem for you. So many times I see parents vent frustrations in online forums. Maybe their child has a 504 plan or an IEP. Certainly, I understand the schools should be held accountable for following those plans. However, I would advise any parent to not wait and expect the school to do it all. They will likely be disappointed.

As the parent, YOU are the constant in your child’s life. You are there each and every year—no matter how schools are rezoned, no matter what teachers your child gets. Know what your child needs, and do your research.

Let me assure you that as your child goes through school, not every teacher he or she encounters will have all the answers—just like you can’t possibly have all the answers either. So, let me pose a question to you:

Who is more likely to give their heart and soul into finding answers and solutions for a child in need: the parent or a teacher?"

Naturally, since you are an involved parent (you are reading this article, after all), YOU are more likely than a teacher to be persistent and find answers.

For some parents that I have met through tutoring, they brought their children to me. They didn’t just drop them off. They came. They sat. They observed. They asked questions. (This rarely happens in a school setting.)

At some point, right after the first tutoring session or perhaps weeks in, the parent decided to follow my advice and take charge of their authority. They decided to make a difference academically at home. For the younger children, it might be working with letters and sounds and learning to read. For the older children, it might be consistent practice of learning math facts or finding additional practice in whatever area the child is struggling in at school. And guess what? They saw growth and success!

You see, the parents had the power ALL ALONG. I was an encourager or a catalyst. Once the parents stopped waiting on someone else (be that me or the teacher at school), they were able to make more positive change in a shorter amount of time.

Goals were met, challenges were overcome, and in the end, the parent and the child learned a lesson:

We can find out the practice we need

and follow through to meet our goals.

I’d call that a life skill lesson, wouldn’t you? The child will remember that in years to come. The parent will remember the next time an academic challenge comes up and think, “I can do this. I can find the answers. I can follow through. I am my child’s most influential teacher.”

So is this post meant to be negative toward teachers or tutors? Not at all! It’s meant to EMPOWER YOU, the parent! You are the one living with your child, able to follow through with rewards and consistent practice.

So, whether you send your child to someone else for their education or not, YOU are the one in charge. You can find the answers and carry out a plan. Do not wait on anyone else. You have a vested interest in your child more than anyone else. It’s ok to enlist someone else for help, but stay involved. You are making a difference.