An Apple for the Teacher

A teacher told me that sending our kids to school was a "privilege" and we should be "thankful for it". This was in response to me questioning the 4-day school week New Boston is implementing.

I had to school her.

Here is my response:

That might be the case if our kids didn't get truancy records for not attending; and, the parents didn't have CPS called on them when they decide to keep their child at home. Furthermore, we, as parents, have NO SAY as to the what you teach our child in the curriculum 90% of the time! A "privilege", teacher, is not something that is MANDATORY.

Driving is a "privilege." Getting your child an education in public schools is government mandated.

Have you ever home-schooled? I did. I was threatened when I took my child out of school. I had to jump through all kinds of hoops just to have the PRIVILEGE of teaching him at HOME.

So, with that said, you TEACHERS need to understand that we as PARENTS want what is best for our CHILDREN, NOT what is best for YOU.

The PRIVILEGE, as I see it, is that YOU get to teach our CHILDREN.

You ASKED to work there. You were ACCEPTED to the job. If you don't like your job, go look for another one.

Life is Learning

Seriously, no one needs a college education to make good money. They just need to know how to educate themselves.

When I home-schooled my boys, I taught them that knowing the answers was a good thing; but, the BETTER thing was to know how to find the answers that you do not know!

I tried to focus on teaching them that more.

When I was a young mom and I was looking for help, often I would find myself without the help I needed because I didn't know how to ask the right questions. I didn't know what questions were right. I felt like if I asked, sometimes I would sound stupid, and I didn't want anyone to think I was dumb.

Thankfully, I was able to remember a teacher I had in sixth grade, who always started the class by saying, "The only stupid question is the one that you don't ask." Now, I ask all kinds of questions. If the person I am asking doesn't know the answer, I ask them who I could talk to that WOULD know the answer. I have learned to ask follow up questions, and I have learned that ignorance is only temporary, and that there is NO SUCH THING as IMPOSSIBLE.

The truth is, we are ALL dumb. Not one of us knows everything there is to know.

People have said they thought I was very smart. I've had people praise my intelligence and assume I could put a computer together from scratch because I was so smart.

The truth is, I know how to push buttons and read directions. That is ALL I know. I know that if I push the "enter" button, it's going post it. That is ALL I KNOW.

If I want to be a Call Center Specialist (something I have never done) over the computer (using equipment I have never used on the computer) then I have LEARN how (not KNOW how). So, I did that. I pushed buttons, and read directions, and I am still taking courses provided by the platform I am using to learn more as I go. And, best of all, it is all FREE!

As a home-school mom, I had to learn what my kids were learning as they learned it. I had to guide them with teacher's aids that explained how to teach them each lesson. I didn't need a college education to teach my kids, I just needed an education that taught me how to LEARN.

One of the things I most remember my Granddaddy Freeman saying all the time was "If you ever stop learning, then you've stopped living." He encouraged me to try to learn something new, even if it is small, to experience something new, to grow a little EVERY DAY.

Life isn't about getting to a place where you know it all. No. Life is getting to the place where you can be humble enough to realize you don't know enough, and be willing to learn more.