Sending Kids Back to School?

I have to start with a disclosure.  My dad had a natural inclination that parents should not teach their children things that are taught in school.  This didn't always make sense to me.  Maybe it was because he taught me so many life lessons that often more valuable than what I learned in school. Maybe that was the point. He wanted the school system to be responsible for traditional academics and he wanted parents to be responsible for moral and ethical development of their children.

It wasn't that he wouldn't get involved with my education.  When I asked for help with homework, he would make sure I had the tools I needed to figure it out on my own.  Also, our school system had a policy that in elementary school, children who lived within town limits couldn't have their lunch at school.  That was fine in the warm months but my dad thought it was cruel  when the temperature got below a certain number or when it was snowing creating drifts higher than me.  He went to a school board meeting and took me as Exhibit A.  I remember my dad making the point, several times, that my fat little legs couldn't walk that far in inclement conditions. He succeeded in allowing "town kids" to bring a bag lunch in certain conditions.  The first time it happened no one thanked my fat little legs for making it happen.

I really think my dad had a hidden agenda.  When it came to teaching me to drive, that wasn't going to happen and I had to take driver's education.  It all made sense at that point.  It wasn't so much that he didn't want to teach me to drive, he just knew that if my mom taught me to drive, one of us was not coming out alive.

Anyway, I don't have any school-age children, but I so wish I did.  However, I have my partner and he didn't learn a great deal outside of school while he was growing up.  There have been so many learning opportunities.

Andrew has always struggled with math.  I made the realization while we were staying home is that he struggled with math because he didn't understand the application in every day life. It just so happened that while we were at home, we had a package of "expensive" toilet paper and a package of "cheap" toilet paper.  We figured out the actual cost/roll and how long each roll lasted for us.  We used this to figure out the "value" of each roll.  It turn out that the expensive toilet paper gave more value and, in reality, cost less per roll because it lasted longer.  The more times we have done practical applications of math, the more he is seeing the value of math and the more he enjoys it.  He has become a much more discerning shopper.  He has become better at keeping to budget, has learned that sometimes a bargain really isn't, has learned that there is no such thing as a free lunch; and has learned that just because you have money in investments at 5.6%, it doesn't make sense having credit card balance accumulating interest at 12.99%.  I have got him to stop and calculate how many hours of work it will cost for him to make a purchase and then using that information to decide if it is worth it or not. He has been able to calculate wealth in ways that have nothing to do with money. 

I have also taught him about home economics.  It has always amazed me that he didn't know how to cook.  Mind you, he lived on bread, cheese, and milk so it wasn't a big deal to him.  One time, he ventured out and tried to make one of those "sidekick" pasta dishes.  It called for milk and he was out of milk so replaced it with french vanilla coffee cream.  So, while we have been sheltering in place, I taught him about substitutions that were acceptable and those which weren't.  I am not a chef so we are not talking high level cooking, but he literally had no idea how to make things like mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs.  Things that the name was literally the recipe.  How to clean things.  How frequently to clean things.  How to care for plants.  There is so much that you can teach from home. 

We have watched some incredible documentaries and series on Netflix.  I have taken notes as we are watching and we end up discussing the ethical dilemmas faced in each one for hours.  Doing this has only wetted our appetite more for more learning.  We have watched a lot of revisionist history and debated that.  Even when we watch something designed only to entertain, we don't watch if we can't determine a take-home message. 

We have gone on many walking adventures and have discovered hidden gems of historical significance to Winnipeg.  This has led us to more research and more knowledge. 

We have had good conversations with individuals who are experiencing residential insecurity.  We have discovered, that out of the six we met, three prefer the term residential insecurity because they find that term less judgmental.  The other three preferred the term "homeless" because they didn't believe sugar-coating things and they also felt it diminished their situation.  Either way, all 6 people had very different journeys and we are learned from each one of them. 

During our walks, there were natural conversations about population and about eco-systems.  Are man-made lakes a good thing or a bad thing?  How come connecting with mother nature is so soothing? 

We learned the difference between needs and wants. 

I understand sending children back to school is complicated.  Child care is an issue.  Safety is an issue.  To name only two. 

Again, I don't have school-aged children so I don't have much vested interest in what happens.  But, I do have one hope.

For those that have been home-schooling their children at home and are finding it more than frustrating, I get it.  My dad wouldn't have done it. 

However, even if kids go back to school, take advantage of their time out to school to keep teaching them other things.  Opportunities for learning are everywhere.