Parents As Part-Time Teachers: What Did You Learn In School Today?

What is most important?

Yes, the pandemic has changed everything.

Yes, you are now a part-time teacher on top of your other responsibilities.

Yes, your child must spend some or all of their school days at home.

Yes, your child has lessons to watch or participate in or attend, depending on what day of the week it is. (Does anyone even know what day it is today?)

Yes, your child has online assignments to complete and SUBMIT, and it is not easy for everyone.

Yes, your child’s grades, report cards, and GPA will be impacted.

Yes, your child misses friends and functions.

Yes, your child could be learning more if schools were open and fully functioning.

Yes, we all thought this would be a more temporary situation.

Yes, we are all wondering what impact this is going to have on their futures.

Take a breath.

What is most important?

I can tell you what is most important from an educator's point of view:

• We want our students to experiment and problem solve.
• We want our students to hear the points of view of others.
• We want our students to gather and analyze information that is important to them and their cause.
• We want our students to be able to communicate well and discuss a variety of topics.
• We want our students to be comfortable with technology.
• We want our students to be able to write to express themselves -what they know, what they wonder, and what they desire.

You can provide them with that opportunity.

What is most important?

Think about what is most important from a parent’s point of view:

• We want our children to see problems as challenges that can be solved.
• We want our children to be strong and resilient and know that they can get through hard things even when they aren’t working out the way we want them to.
• We want our children to set goals and work hard toward accomplishing them.
• We want our children to be caring and understand that what they do and say impacts others.

You can model these things for your children.

These most important things are your most important job… as their teacher and as their parent.

You are a parent and a part-time teacher. You can do your best at both. Focus on what is most important.

I don’t write this to minimize the struggle. I write this to encourage parents to give themselves a break so they can focus on what is most important.

Parents can’t expect themselves to become a master of all subject areas and distant learning platforms overnight. They still have their regular responsibilities to handle. The pandemic has also piled additional responsibilities and worries on top of them.

It is important to know that in times like this everything is not going to be perfect, but we can all feel good about doing our best and staying focused on what is most important.

Thanks for reading! If you want to read more encouraging words, funny stories, other stories, or some poems… check these out: