What I hear most parents say at one stage or another is:
“It would be great to have some form of instruction guide with what to do when my child does x, y and z.”
You probably can relate to this statement?
My children are completely different and I would like two manuals please.
One for more sensitive children and one for more adventurous children.
We all have different children and they need an approach that suits them and yet is not too different from the other.
You are the best observer of your child that the world knows.
The dad has donated the sperm and the mother has (in most cases) carried the child in the womb.
And if you have adopted children, you are still the one who will have spent the most hours with them by the end of the week.
What we need to do is put on our glasses that take the judgement away and see them for who they are.
In my case for example:
I have a very high energy child who would love to spend all day outside playing.
My question is:
How can I cater for his or her needs without having to take them out of the current school system?
I have already suggested to teachers over the years to have a lot of movement breaks in class.
As you can imagine, it's not easy for teachers: with heavy curriculums to complete.
Unfortunately, in this current environment a child needs a psychologically trained professional in order to avail of this fundamental need in children during their physical development and growth.
You may have had similar thoughts and wondered what could be done about it?
By now, we are very familiar with the school system and its impact for life on our well-being.
You may wonder what this has to do with parenting?
And I believe - everything.
We need to come together with teachers of our kids’ schools and need to start open discussions on what we want for this next generation.
Our teachers are often younger than the age parents currently are.
(This is my observation only.)
What I mean by this is that there is such an enormous potential for changing “how it was always done”.
Luckily, our children are no longer beaten the way our generation was in school.
And of course not everybody was, but already observing somebody being pulled by the ears would cause you a lifetime of fear of authority.
The intimidation we have to overcome as parents is a mountain of work and self-reflection, which we never thought we needed to tackle.
I am thinking of starting a small group with parents who are interested and willing to start communication with their schools’ teachers and help each other: parents and teachers together.
Are you up for the challenge to improve our children’s school experience?
Please reply to effortlessparenting@gmail.com