Being a teacher, I of course, got sucked into both of these. And they both got so many thoughts flowing through my head I decided to blog and share my "two cents" on Education today.
The Round Table debate focused on should the Federal Government be as involved in Education, and I was very surprised when several people talked about Federal Education mattering less than the ADULTS in a child's life at home, in school, and on the playing field. There were several times throughout the debate that they referenced all adults and not just teachers. I was so happy when I heard this! For a long time, as a teacher, I felt very responsible for EVERYTHING my students were learning. I was very hard on myself when some students were not succeeding in my class. However, when I became a parent, my views on this changed, slightly. I know as a teacher it was important for me to provide an environment for all my students to learn and be successful. But in order to do that I needed my students to come to my classroom with background knowledge and skills to learn new things. When I was teaching I never really thought of any of it as parents responsibility, but now after 2 years of being a "teacher" to my child I now realize how incredibly important the parent's role is in our education system and in the future of our country. The round table also talked about character education and teaching social and emotional skills to kids so that they can become better learners in a classroom environment and how "teaching to the test" didn't allow time for these skills to be taught to students. And I found that in my classroom that was often true. So many students had so many other things "on their plate", emotionally, physically, mentally, that they could care less what the 5 steps of the scientific method are or how to multiply two digit numbers because they were worried if Mommy or Daddy was going to be home that night, if Daddy was going to yell and hurt mommy, or will there be anything to eat for dinner that night. And that I believe is where family plays an all important role in the education of our nation. If these students come to our classrooms with the burdens of their home life, it isn't that they can't learn, but our role as a teacher now becomes the role of the parent for them emotionally and less about providing them with knowledge and skills to be successful but more about providing them with skills to simply survive!
I know I spend ALOT of time with my daughter. I am fortunate to be able to do that. I have found throughout my time at home with her, how everyday moments and activities can ALWAYS become learning experiences. I am NOT writing this to toot my own horn, but many people often ask me how much I work with her on things like alphabet or number recognition (she just turned 2), and I can honestly tell you I don't sit down and say ok today we are going to learn to count to 20. If a parent takes the time to play and spend time with their children they will find how easy it is to incorporate so many skills like those into everyday life. My opinion is that parents don't spend enough QUALITY time with their children, and I believe it is because of what our society has become. "Family night" for some families has now become turn on the TV and sit on the couch together! I know that the economy is terrible and many parents need to work one, two, three jobs to support their family. But I also know that some of those same parents will then use their free time on a Saturday night to be out to dinner, bar, on vacation with their friends. I know this is not true for all families, and I know that parents need nights to themselves too. But I feel that, that time will come, right now your responsibilty as a parent is raising your children, not pawning them off on someone else to do it for you.
I know that there are problems with Federal and State Education, and schools now do "teach to the test" which I absolutely hated as a teacher, but I also feel that MANY of the education problems our country has stem from the lack of parent responsibility for their children. There are many stay at home and working parents out there, that have dedicated their lives RIGHT NOW to raising their children, and they do a phenomanal job at it. Every moment they have with their children is spent with their children and not doing whatever it is they feel like doing that day. Over the past 2 years I have heard so many comments about how I need to leave my daughter more often and have time for myself. I am sorry, but I didn't choose to have children to have time for myself! My time is now set aside for raising my kids, and maybe occasionally having a night out with my husband (which I feel also helps in raising kids). My child is not perfect and I am not the perfect parent, but my child is my FIRST priority in my life.
I could write a book about this, and again this is just my OPINION. And I know there are exceptions to all the situations I talked about. There are so many great parents out there, who work really hard to do everything for their children. It is not always about spending EVERY minute with your child, but spend QUALITY minutes with your child!
