Sitting down to teach my children has made me respect the teachers so much more. Like all the other caregiving roles, it is draining; time-consuming and quite often it has nothing to show for the effort at the end of most days.
The change is incremental and very slow. It is only with perseverance and an ocean’s worth of patience that we can slowly feel that we are where we would like to be. This begs the question, is ‘educating’ worth it, and what does education mean to us?
Quite often it is not about making them get to the end product but ensuring they understand the process of getting there, building their perseverance to see a problem through and the determination to put forth their best work, even when nobody is watching.
Will it pay off? I honestly don’t know. Picture me trying to manage ‘middle baby bear’ melting down because she isn’t getting a maths sum, a ‘big baby bear’ who can’t be bothered to work, and a (potty trained) ‘baby bear’ who is crying because he desperately needs to go to the toilet. Pappa Bear swoops in at just the right moment and takes baby bear. I love Pappa Bear so much.
I’ve always been a fan of home education, yet we can ‘achieve’ more. But it is a painstakingly slow process which takes a lot of time and effort.
The syllabus has provided a structure, but we do not progress until we overcome some mental blocks and each child has their own. It is overcoming these mental blocks that feel like bigger achievements than the workbooks and worksheets that we plough through.
It is only three months into continuously spending time with Big Baby bear that I have had a chance to talk to her in a way that has created an impact.
For some time, everything stood still, Big Baby Bear looks at me with those big brown eyes of hers and I want her to see what I see in her, and to truly believe that she can do it, she only has to try. We hit a turning point in our learning journey together. That to me was a true education.
If educating is a moment of upliftment, it is the moment of connection that has enabled all the rest of the learning (and progress) to happen. School and teachers cannot guarantee an education if they have 30 children to connect to. School provides social diversity which I cannot.
Perhaps someone else will see something in my child that I have not seen, and as a result, stretch my child’s potential beyond what I imagine for them.
But that is only a fleeting wish of mine which has a very low chance of happening in a school setting. Perhaps if, and when I do have a chance and a choice, do I choose to keep the reins on my children’s education?
Aasiya I Versi
