Project Parent!

A parent had once joked how the beginning of the school academic year was like preparing for running another marathon! The routine work of having a child up and ready while helping him/her cope with changes in terms of new circle of friends perhaps or introduction of new subjects, supervising homework, election of extracurricular activities, accompanying children to those activities.. The list is seemingly endless. What undoubtedly though, gets many a parents’ goat are the myriad school projects that begin as soon as the commencement of the academic session.

Science projects for developing a volcano perhaps or preparing children for an internal competition, and the most dreaded ones of dressing the child up for role play (as a cow, planet, astronaut, fire engine..). Typically every standard until the early primary grades from preschool onward have these dressing up role plays. And while it is an opportunity for some very creatively inclined parents to dress their children up the majority most working couples or those not endowed with much creative prowess nor the will tend to make a swift dart to costume rental shops. Not long ago, one parent had remarked, funnily enough, that she has a costume rental professional on speed dial!

As funny these narratives may seem, I am not entirely without empathy and I certainly don’t believing in quelling opinions for that matter. In fact, I believe schools should encourage it. Have a healthy channel developed between the parents and the school. It may be far easier to sit in an isolated cabin so the voices that reach you are the faintest ones or the most familiar ones that didn’t need to drown. However, if one acknowledges the role of the parents and its importance in helping in achieving learning and behavioural outcomes in a child, the importance of involving parents while making them realise their role and the significance of it cannot be emphasized enough.

Any school programme is heavily dependent on the parents of course for success of its curriculum based objectives.  So what the parent may see as making or sourcing a cow costume is actually about getting a child understand the difference of a cow vis a vis a goat or a buffalo. Also, at least in the current day curriculum being followed by respectable schools, the curriculum isn’t taught in isolation. Research has indicated the tremendous impact parental involvement has proven in terms of learning outcomes and its success.

Getting a costume ready and helping the child revise the lines or give them to him/her gets beyond just making a costume. Here, you help connecting with your child with a part that she does without you (going to school – especially in the initial years), thereby acknowledging her milestones and achievements which act as a morale booster for the child. S/he feels accountable for the number of hours she puts into school or any other activity. This role should progress as a healthy one with a minimal amount of dependence on the child to get the project done but not in any way to dream bigger or look for answers that evade them. But not by providing with the solutions.

Years later, when they are ready to leave the beautiful nest you had created not only should they soar but also know that at times some flights need to be taken independently and some as a flock, and that their journey is important!