A Child's First Educator

Parents are a child’s first educator…we need to keep up even as they enter formal schooling. 

My son is already in 3rd grade. From the day he was born until his 1st day of preschool I was his first educator. I helped him learn how to roll over, crawl, walk, feed himself, potty-training etc. etc. etc. And when he started preschool…his first “formal” schooling I felt at a bit of a loss. 

Formal educators, teachers, typically speak a different language than most parents. As parents this sometimes makes us feel intimidated. Like we don’t know how to “educate” our children anymore because these trained professionals now have the job. But it is in the best interest of our children that we stay engaged or Education Enabled! In the same way that we are our child’s first educator, we are also their best advocate. 

I remember when my son started kindergarten the transition was hard. In fact, transitions had always been hard for him. He was impulsive and behind socially for his age and a “young” kindergarten student. However, based on where he was academically, our pediatrician agreed with us that if we held him back another year it would not be beneficial. As his first educators we had worked hard in all the ways we knew how to help with the transition. But it was still hard. 

Just a month in, we were sitting with his teacher in an after school meeting trying to help her get to know our son. And she was amazing…she walked a rough road with us. But it wasn’t perfect. Our super high energy boy was spending more and more of his recess time in the school office because he couldn’t learn to keep his hands to himself. I knew in my heart he needed that recess time but wasn’t sure how to get him there. As his first educator and best advocate I spoke up, I met with his teacher again and talked to school administration. In the end, we came up with a plan, together. He got to be out on the playground to see not only what he was missing  but how to play like other kids. But he walked with a recess aide so that his impulsive actions could be monitored. And guess what…he learned! There were steps forward and back, but he learned. 

I’m now working at his school and am surrounded everyday by educators. I even consider myself a quasi-educator of sorts. And educators don’t mean for it to be confusing. But let’s be honest, I’m a “retired” banker. And as a parent, I get the other side of the coin. I get that being Education Enabled as a parent takes hard work.  

I’m hoping to use this blog to help take some of the hard work and mystery out of being an Education Enabled parent. Some future topics I’m considering already are school choice (public vs charter vs private vs home), assessments, conferences…the list is endless. Enjoy and let me know if you have any suggestions.