Although the sun is hot and backyard barbeques and pool parties are in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about something most children dread: Back-To-School.
Have you ever stopped to consider why children seem to hate this time of year so much? On the surface, it might seem like kids just don’t want to go back to a structured environment. Dig a little deeper though, and with most children, you’ll discover that the reason they dread it is because education tends to be a classic example of delayed gratification.
During the summer, when a child goes out and plays with their friends, the result of that action is immediately apparent to them. But when you put that same child in the classroom, they will struggle to connect hypothetical future benefits (like college or getting a job) to the routine of formal education.
Have you ever struggled getting up to go to work in the morning? Likely, the answer is yes. And if you’ve been in that situation, you know that the motivation to go to work on any given day is the knowledge that, although delayed, the work will reap tangible benefits. That is the key to changing a child’s perspective on school and education in general.
This summer, it’s time to try something different. It’s time to reshape how our children see education, so that from the first moment back in the classroom they are ready and willing to learn. But how?
There are three main areas on which to focus: classroom education, homework, and knowledge reinforcement.
When children complain during the summer that, “I don’t want to go back to school,” they might actually be saying that they cannot see how the return-on-investment of school is greater than the returns they receive when playing freely with their friends. Kids love playing games, and it’s from this perspective that you can reshape how a child sees school.
What if school was fun? Why can’t it be? The difference between enjoying a circumstance and dreading it is simply resetting the expectation regarding it. Kids love games and puzzles. Well, school is a type of puzzle, when framed correctly. And, from the right view, school is a lot like a game.
So, what if…
During the weeks leading up to school, you start talking to your child(ren) about the game that is school. There are all sorts of games that a student can play in their mind to make the school day more engaging. A few possible games students can play are:
-See how many classes in a row that they can be the first to their seat.
-Record the number of kind things that they do for classmates in a given week, and use that as a “score” to beat the next week.
-Try to get every answer correct to every question that a teacher asks (students should do this in their heads, not out loud). Try to beat that score tomorrow.
-Pick a word, and count the number of times a teacher says that word in a week.
These examples illustrate the point that a game doesn’t need to be fun all the time–a good game can be a simple distraction from a challenging task. And while students certainly need to pay attention in class, the games listed here are all games that will actively engage a student with the lesson being taught. It doesn’t take much to get a student invested in classroom activity once they realize that it doesn’t have to be boring and dull.
Homework is a word that stirs up fear in the hearts of many students. It appears to fly in the face of what kids want–a good time. But as a parent, you know that homework (OK, maybe not all homework) has value because you know that repetition is the only way to master new things. You know that when you drill your child on math facts, you are giving them a great gift, even if they hate it now.
The task, then, is to reframe how your child(ren) see(s) homework. Since the value of homework is not in the work itself, but in the mastery of the material, you can use this to your advantage. Children can be taught that since homework is a part of school and life that they can’t escape, the better they are at the skill of “homeworking”, the more quickly they can complete their work and get back to their primary purpose of having a good time.
This will take a lot of repetition before a child will believe it, but don’t give up–you will win in the end. Your child(ren) will learn from this reframing that homework isn’t the source of misery, but is instead the pathway to having fun.
Finally, much of the difficulty that parents and teachers have in getting students to invest in their own education is because of the way in which children see education in general. If you use the word ‘education’ in front of many children, you will likely get an eye roll, because that child will misinterpret what you are saying–they think you mean toil and labor, when what you really mean is “opportunity.”
Education is nothing more than exposure to the world around us. The more exposure to the world, the more easily a person can move through that world. And so, we need to refresh the idea of education. It is not stale and dry and boring. It is alive and vibrant. The world is a beautiful, startling place, and education is the key to unlocking the secrets of the world. Education doesn’t have to mean homework–it can mean planting flowers in a garden to learn about the life cycle. Or it can be fixing a skateboard. Or learning to cook a delicious meal.
So, what if…
Over the next few weeks, you take your child(ren) somewhere that’s new to all of you. Let them watch you learn something new, and model for them how exciting it is to figure out a new piece of the puzzle. Talk to them about the beauty of the world, and the satisfaction found in exploring new things. Show them the wonder in your eyes when you see a beautiful sunset. But more than anything else, give them the gift of space to explore the world. As they begin to discover things on their own, children naturally begin to embrace learning. And from loving learning “out there”, it’s a small step to loving learning in the classroom.
As a parent, it’s up to you to reset how your student(s) see school, reframe how they view homework, and refresh how they experience learning. This might seem like a daunting task, and in a way it is. Reshaping your student’s view of the entire educational experience will take a great deal of time and effort. However, the gift you can give a child by teaching them to be lifelong learners is a return-on-investment beyond your wildest dreams. If you can give a child the gift of loving learning, you have given them the very best foundation for the future they will pursue. It will be challenging, but you will make it. Relax, you’re a parent. You’ve got this.
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