It’s strange how much children change your perspective. One day you’re staying out late with your friends and putting aside money for a jetski. Then — the next thing you know — you’re reading parenting blogs and wondering how children’s clothes could possibly cost so much — among many other things.
Why? As a parent, you don’t do the things you do because you have to. You do them because you care. You care more than you ever have about anything in your entire life. And so you throw yourself into all manner of parent-child programs with almost reckless abandon, stopping (only briefly) to wonder if you are actually doing enough.
But what do you do as a parent when you seem to run out of options? A friend of mine found herself asking that exact question when her four-and-a-half year old son (who was very excited about starting school) was wait-listed at every preschool in her area. Even when she expanded her search to schools rather far away, she still came up empty handed. In situations like these, we can either get frustrated and blame the system, or we can step up and do the job ourselves.
So she hopped online and started researching activities that she could do with her toddler to help him have a preschool experience without ever setting foot in a preschool. The resources are certainly there — all she had to do was look for them. In fact, many of the sites she found were maintained by teachers who wanted to help parents, like Preschool Express by Jean Warren.
Going the extra mile is what parents do, but it’s also what good teachers do on an almost daily basis. They use their free time and (in many cases) their own money to bring new resources into the classroom for their students; for our children. Perhaps I am biased because both my parents are teachers, but I’m sure almost everybody can remember numerous teachers who did exactly that for them.
More than likely, there would have been any number of teachers in her area that would gladly have taken on an extra student if they knew the situation. But teachers have rules to follow just like you and I. Instead of criticizing the system, parents must remember that there will plenty of teachers going the extra mile for their child throughout his or her life. It all comes out in the wash, trust me.
The rest is up to us, as adults and parents. After all, there are three participants in the education of any individual: the teacher, the parent, and the student. If we expect teachers to succeed, we need to both appreciate their contributions and make some ourselves. And showing our kids that we’re willing to put in the time might prove to them that it’s worth it for them to do the same.
About the author: John J. Walters is Director of Marketing for TestSoup, the premier provider of online and mobile test prep solutions.
Great post! I’m a mom and a former teacher.
Mandi thank you for your comment, hopefully we can connect via Twitter as well.
Really enjoyed this post, John. Thanks for posting Eric. We are parents of 3, and my wife is also a teacher. It’s great to see parents and teachers getting a bump up here, as it is my belief that, overall, most parents and teachers have the best interests of children at heart! I KNOW we do!
You touch on a few very important subject there John, first, the role of a responsible parent, second the role of a responsible teacher, the role of the student herself and of course the system.
Although, I try to avoid criticizing the system here, I just cannot ignore the kind of pressure the system is putting on all three participants you have mentioned. I worked as a teaching assistant for a while and kind of realize how tough of a job teaching is, regardless of the grade you are teaching, each grade has its own challenges.
Teachers unfortunately are getting squeezed with all current budget issues, students of course have to deal with all extra students getting crammed into the classroom, and it is getting harder for parents to get their kids in higher education. Education cost (as per to the National Center for Education Statistics) almost tripled in the past 10 years.
What does all that mean? Exactly what you have pointed out in your post here, “the extra mile”. As a parent, I have two options, either to just go business as usual despite the changes that keep happening every day in the Education system (good or bad), or just take that extra mile. Each can take that extra mile her own way, some may prefer to do some community volunteer time (my wife does it all the time), some see that extra mile as building a saving plan for the child college education (Oh, that’s me!
), and some may just advocate the change in the system through the school district, or whatever other appropriate channels. In any case, to me, and for the sake of my children’s future, standing still in not an option!
Glad people have been enjoying this post — I wrote it from the heart.
You bring up a great point, Mohamed: that “the extra mile” is different depending on the circumstance. The important thing is that we take on the challenge, regardless of what it is. Our children’s future is at stake.