Parents: Prepare for the School Year

School will be starting soon for our kids. I have worked in schools for the past few years as an aide and as a teacher. While parents are buying school supplies, filling out paperwork, and making sure that their kids have all they need to head back to school, teachers are also busy.

As a teacher and an aide, back-to-school time was stressful. Classrooms had to be set up, training had to be completed, and schedules had to be prepared for my students and my own children.

I prayed that I would have supportive parents every year. One of the biggest blessings was having parents who supported me and worked with me to ensure the success of their children.

Parents, you have an awesome gift of being able to teach your children. Teaching is not confined to the classroom. There are teaching opportunities everywhere in this world. My children were also homeschooled for a while, and I love real-world education. This doesn’t mean buying the newest learning program or sitting your child in front of flash cards all day and hoping they memorize what is on them. This means getting out and exploring the world.

Follow what your children are learning in school. When my children are learning how to measure things for math, we measure everything! When my children were learning to write in cursive, we wrote letters to deployed service members and even the patent office to ask questions. When my children were learning about various historical events, we visited the local museum and wrote a letter to the Museum of Natural History to ask a question. My kids love getting mail and letters back from these places!

In their early years of school, we counted everywhere we went. We counted the lines on the road when riding our bikes. We counted bananas while shopping at the grocery store. When they were learning their letters and letter sounds, they had to use that in order to find their favorite cereal at the commissary.

My children are always learning, but most of the time, they don’t even realize they are learning.

I was blessed to have an incredible group of parents the last time I taught Pre-K. They were involved, caring, and supportive. They worked with me to help their children succeed. When they had concerns, they came to me and asked questions. They realized that, as their child’s teacher, I was on the same team as they were. I wanted their children to be happy and successful.

We didn’t push to make sure that every child was on the same level. We realized that children learn differently, and every student that year grew, not just physically but educationally. They weren’t all on the same education level, but they had all improved.

I was also blessed to have incredible mentors, teachers who taught me how to have fun in the classroom.

I love keeping up with my former students. Those children were and still are a big part of my life. I loved them. I would protect them. I loved seeing them smile. Their happiness and love of learning was my greatest source of professional inspiration.

So, here’s my advice to parents:

1. Realize how important you are to your child’s education. Learning is not confined to inside the walls of a classroom.

2. Be on the same team as your child’s teacher and work together. You both want to see your child happy and successful.

3. Ask questions when you have concerns. It’s not being a “hovering parent” to contact your child’s teacher; it’s being a good parent.

4. Read with your child. It doesn’t matter if it’s books, signs, or menus. Read at home, read at the library, read at the store, read everywhere!

5. Keep up with your child’s lessons and find ways to incorporate them into your everyday life.

The best gift I ever received as a teacher was a handwritten note that read, “Thank you for everything. Thank you for teaching my child. Thank you for making school fun for my child. Thank you for loving my child.”

I’m not teaching this year. I decided to take the time off to focus on my health while battling cancer for the second time. But, I find myself a bit sad that I am not preparing a classroom right now or working as an aide to help other teachers prepare their classrooms. I will miss the kids.

I wish you all a successful school year. I hope you find ways to make learning fun at your house and in your community.

How do you make learning fun for your children outside the classroom? Share with us!