How the Child is Educated is the Job of Both the Teacher and the Parent

The education of a child is a responsibility shared by both parents and educators. I grew up and was raised in a society where parents send their children to school, and once children are on that school age, the heavy load of educating the child falls on the shoulder of the teacher. Suddenly, parents become the secondary educator, a backup if you will. This, I think, is one of the biggest hindrances in today's education. The moment the parents pass on the torch to the teachers and hand over the responsibility of teaching their children.

I am not undermining the capability of the teachers. These are highly respectable individuals who dedicated a huge amount of time of their life in studying about children's education, learning what to teach and how to teach them. I have all the respect and admiration to all our educators, but their job is not going to be easy if they are left alone.

First of all, before sending the children to school, they need to be taught the basics. Not the basics like reading or writing (although it wouldn't hurt if the kid already knows that before handing them over to school). The basics like learning to love the beauty and goodness of learning for the sake of learning. If parents were to pass the children over to the teacher's care, the least we can do is to at least give the teacher some break by instilling good studying habits among our children. I know during the early years, youtube videos and kiddie series seem to be a great way of distracting our toddlers so that we can do the work around the house. And it's fine. My kid started learning rhymes and reading and maths in videos too. But most of all, she learned to love the idea of discovering new things in the backyard. She was wowed by the spectrum of colors on the soap bubbles we blew. She learned about rain and the colors of nature when I was homesteading with her. I made it a point that reading equals fun. I read aloud to her, I let her gobble up her picture books (literally.)

Good manners and right conduct starts at home. Parents have varying reactions when the word discipline is mentioned. Some think it's some sort of strict, unenjoyable, and painful process. Some believe it involves a lot of castigation and really stern punishments. But really, all it is, is proper formation of healthy habits - mentally, physically, emotionally, wholistically. I wrote several posts about the discipline of habit already, and I mentioned in my posts that the habit formation is an important tool that parents and educators can use in teaching children. Students who develop the habit of focusing their attention to the teacher or to the task at hand will learn more and thus enjoy learning more. A kid who developed the habit of respectfulness will show respect to people who are authorized to be their educator. Children who were trained with the habit of cleanliness and orderliness are more likely to keep the schoolroom tidy after they used it, and we all know that a clean schoolroom is less stressful for both the teacher and the learner.

I must admit, even I (who has been planning on homeschooling my child from the very beginning) thought of sending my kid to pre-school just so she could learn how to read and write. I thought I would just swoop in once she's already acquired those skills. I was one of those parents who unconsciously thought that the job of teaching my child the difficult parts of schooling and education should be done by teachers. Why not? They are the professionals. This is what they prepared for.

But whether you are homeschooling or not, the parent should still have the say when it comes to how their children are taught. Now I'm not saying that parents should demand that the teacher teach their children the way they want it to. Parents need to ensure that children are open to learning once they are sent to schools, and teachers need to ensure that there is continuity when it comes to the habits that were formed at home. If my kid is not homeschooled, the one thing I will be looking for in a school is the method of which they teach children. So far, I haven't seen a traditional school that employs the Charlotte Mason Method of teaching. It's totally understandable. The CM method, while it is enjoyable to the child, is undoubtedly draining to the teacher. So I am praying to all the gods in the universe that we continue to homeschool the way we homeschool for as long as we can. Because if we do transfer to traditional schooling, while it's not the worst thing in the world, would be a little bit more challenging because then, I will have to deal with teachers and PTAs because whether I like it or not, to give my daughter the best education, I will have to work together with the teacher. Because like I said, educating the children is a responsibility that needs to be done together by the parent and the educator.