COVID-19
Dear Parents in Durrow NS,
Today, our teachers are handing out school books to our children. This is not a signal from us that you have to turn your home into a mini school. Don't over worry about your child's learning. Worry about your children. They need your love, your calm, your courage, your sense of humour, your patience and your gentleness. The rest will take care of itself.
What is contained in the books you brought home on March 23rd is more work than learning. It is busy, time-filling, completion of often publisher-defined tasks. You’ll know what I mean when you assign a piece of the workbook or Maths book that your child has not covered or they don't yet fully understand. This may lead to unnecessary conflict. Who wants that at a time like this? There’s enough stress out there for all of us without creating more with a pile of school work.
My hope would be that you parents would be empowered to make a choice to complete the work, some of the work, all of the work… or not. You can choose to provide learning experiences or you can choose to have your child complete chunks of school work. Try to strike an agreed balance with your child.
Encourage them to read without forcing them to read. Where possible, find reading material that directly relates to your child’s interests and enthusiasms. If you show interest in what your child is interested in then real learning opportunities will appear.
I honestly can’t remember one thing I read or learned from a school book. I can remember Johnny Cougar the wrestler from the comic, The Tiger. Each week my father would look to see who he was fighting next and tell me that this week he’d meet his end. But that American Indian always seemed to beat the odds. I also read my older sister Maureen’s Bunty and Judy… a great start on my life-long learning journey about girls. Now, that was a weekly read that served me well in life… or maybe not!
It is impossible for your child to not be learning while living life and doing things they enjoy, especially when it involves you and their siblings.
So, don’t turn your home into a mini school and yourself into the pretend teacher.
Do follow your child's interests; play their video games with them and talk about them, read and critique their History and Geography books with them, use a cúpla focal timpeall and tí, let them cook a meal with you as their assistant, pay them with real money for doing jobs around the house and garden.
Even when they look like they are doing nothing their minds may be processing information, resting or decompressing, all of which are required in order to learn.
Dear Parents, I offer the advice in utter humility and sympathy for what you are all going through. You are the best judge of what your child needs, emotionally and educationally – not me or my staff. You have the added health, well-being and financial worries.
Please God we will soon overcome the contagion that is sweeping over our land and resume our normal lives.
In the interim, keep sane and safe,
Frank and Staff.
Dear Parents in Durrow NS,
Today, our teachers are handing out school books to our children. This is not a signal from us that you have to turn your home into a mini school. Don't over worry about your child's learning. Worry about your children. They need your love, your calm, your courage, your sense of humour, your patience and your gentleness. The rest will take care of itself.
What is contained in the books you brought home on March 23rd is more work than learning. It is busy, time-filling, completion of often publisher-defined tasks. You’ll know what I mean when you assign a piece of the workbook or Maths book that your child has not covered or they don't yet fully understand. This may lead to unnecessary conflict. Who wants that at a time like this? There’s enough stress out there for all of us without creating more with a pile of school work.
My hope would be that you parents would be empowered to make a choice to complete the work, some of the work, all of the work… or not. You can choose to provide learning experiences or you can choose to have your child complete chunks of school work. Try to strike an agreed balance with your child.
Encourage them to read without forcing them to read. Where possible, find reading material that directly relates to your child’s interests and enthusiasms. If you show interest in what your child is interested in then real learning opportunities will appear.
I honestly can’t remember one thing I read or learned from a school book. I can remember Johnny Cougar the wrestler from the comic, The Tiger. Each week my father would look to see who he was fighting next and tell me that this week he’d meet his end. But that American Indian always seemed to beat the odds. I also read my older sister Maureen’s Bunty and Judy… a great start on my life-long learning journey about girls. Now, that was a weekly read that served me well in life… or maybe not!
It is impossible for your child to not be learning while living life and doing things they enjoy, especially when it involves you and their siblings.
So, don’t turn your home into a mini school and yourself into the pretend teacher.
Do follow your child's interests; play their video games with them and talk about them, read and critique their History and Geography books with them, use a cúpla focal timpeall and tí, let them cook a meal with you as their assistant, pay them with real money for doing jobs around the house and garden.
Even when they look like they are doing nothing their minds may be processing information, resting or decompressing, all of which are required in order to learn.
Dear Parents, I offer the advice in utter humility and sympathy for what you are all going through. You are the best judge of what your child needs, emotionally and educationally – not me or my staff. You have the added health, well-being and financial worries.
Please God we will soon overcome the contagion that is sweeping over our land and resume our normal lives.
In the interim, keep sane and safe,
Frank and Staff.
