Time for Meaningful Learning

I have seen this little message floating around social media and I can't even tell you how much I agree with it!

First, a little disclaimer:  I believe education is absolutely important. I think our kids still doing their e-learning/remote learning is so important to make sure they aren't losing skills. I think our teachers are still working to provide important opportunities for our students the best they can in these uncharted waters. I am not at all saying to dismiss student's school work!  

Second disclaimer: E-Learning is a struggle in our home for the little one (thank goodness the high schooler is independent and can manage her own learning). He is a social butterfly. He can hardly sit still and would love to just run around outside all day (shirtless) or jump and flip on the trampoline all day. He feels lonely and is missing all the social interactions. This mama has a full course load this semester and is scheduled to student teach in the fall, so the pressure is on full blast to not fail a course. Also, I love pinterest and ideally I would be the perfect pinterest mom. But truthfully, our house is loud and life is chaotic, I'm exhausted, have been rocking yoga pants and the messy (dirty) mom bun and I hope that writing this will also help me accomplish some of the preachy mom things below.

In case you don't know, I am in a teacher prep program.  Currently on my last prep course (woot woot) although I still some general and minor courses I'm also finishing up.

No matter the content that we are learning, our professors, our textbooks and any supplemental sources we are using stress that teaching should be engaging and meaningful.  Meaningful how?  Meaningful that it is connected to real-life situations that our children will use one day with the hopes that they can transfer what they learned inside the classroom to experiences outside of the classroom.  

When I look at this list by the unknown author, I see a list of things that are both engaging and/or meaningful.  Yes, students get summers off but how many parents are still working and children are home with older siblings, a babysitter or at summer camp?  Children don't often get the time these days to be bored.  And boredom leads to imaginative thoughts which lead to creativity and exploration!  (And hopefully some learning.)  

We are always in such a hurry, on the go, or distracted that how many parents have the chance to slow down and make those 1 on 1 connections?  How many have the time to teach their kids to help start the oven, or make the family's favorite dish or a favorite recipe?  How many are impatient due to the hectic lives we live and just do it all ourselves?  How many of us are in such a routine of cleaning and doing laundry that we don't slow down and teach our kids how to wash their own clothes?  These are life skills that we hardly have time to slow down and teach our own kids.  These are also skills that aren't taught in the classroom.  

What if we helped our kids to notice that you are sheltering in place and practicing social distancing to keep your families safe and healthy as well as keeping others healthy. We are already practicing selfless acts, why not explain this to them and help them develop empathetic thinking.  Why not tell them about the people who still have to go out into the real world to work.  The grocery store workers, the nurses, the doctors, paramedics, police officers, paramedics, and firemen.  Let's teach them about the importance of being a community worker and a real hero, and not just wanting to be a millionaire (insert sport) player when they grow up.

Lastly, let's make sure that they see that while their teachers are also at home, they are still lesson planning and making sure our students are getting learning in.  Let's help them see (and I hope you already do) that their teachers care immensely about OUR kids.   That they are still rooting and cheering them on from the sidelines, sending over those activities and finding meaningful, engaging content to help keep students (who are ALL on different playing fields by the way) from falling too far behind.

So keep your kids on task doing the best they can in school learning, but also let's appreciate all the other hands-on, real-life, meaningful and engaging things they are doing and learning aside from schoolwork. They will remember these times we are in forever. They may not remember the addition worksheets their teacher sent or the writing prompts, but they will remember that this is the time mom taught them how to bake. And this was the time that mom made them start washing their own laundry. And this was the time that although there were no assessments and no state testing, his teacher was still on the other side of the camera conducting zoom meetings and lessons and asking how they were.

Their teachers will get them on track next year. All our kids are in the same boat, they will all be a little behind academically. But let's get them ahead in life skills.