Oh, I wanted my child to have that teacher because she teaches an amazing unit on planets!I was only to understand later why her words flashed neon in my mind.
What they learn is secondary to how they learn...to learn.
Smart kids look smart because school is easy for them. Not rocket science, but wait--maybe it is.
Take the most befuddled kid in the class and put him exactly where his natural inclination lies (machines, bugs, cars, whatever) and he will shine so brightly that he can virtually become the teacher.Put me in a medical terms class alongside an experienced doctor and I will become so befuddled that I will give up. And I'll have that option because I am an adult, with the power to choose what I learn.
On top of all sorts of learners, teachers grapple with crazy learning standards. My generation learned to read with Dick and Jane, but teachers became so bored with the repetition that publishers, by the time I was teaching, introduced great literature--good news--but with 15-20 new words a week: an impossible standard. Today's kids, like electronics or not, have plenty of chances to keep simple in view even when the school cannot.
Parents, the truth about learning puts you in a critical driver's seat. If your kid is bright, the teacher will figure it out and do her best. We all want everyone to know how smart our kids are but we might want to let others discover that about our kids. Your best effort, if you feel the teacher isn't doing justice to your child's intelligence, is to supplement with family experiences and your own unit on planets.
If school is too hard for your child, get to work. Read to them, read to them, read to them. Then have them practice reading silently, silently, silently, in material that is so easy for them that they have it practically memorized. You will teach them that they are smart and capable and school will not look like such an impossible mountain to climb.
If your child's learning were a paint-by-number drawing, you hold at least half the paint colors. You are the secret to their humility (my kids never had permission to say they were bored, nor did it ever come out of my mouth about them or me), their confidence, their energy, and their stress level (with what is crammed into their after-school lives).
Be your child's hope that this world is not too hard, not too mean, not too impossible. Be the mirror that shines, We are in this together, school is one of our tools to help us learn, and I will be your biggest fan as you do your best. The school and I have your best interest at heart, so don't try to pit us as your parents against the teacher. We are for you...together.
Dick and Jane would have liked that happy world of learning that is yours to build.
Thanks, parents.
Image: Dick and Jane Series; original publisher: Scott Foresman.
Tomorrow: Homeschool vs Public School vs Private School.
Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.
