We [PARENTS] Are Our Kid's Teachers

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It really starts at home. Over the past few weeks I’ve been concerned about Aiden’s learning in the classroom.  I’ll be honest and say I was more so concerned about the negative behaviors he was picking up from other children in his class that I noticed on the day we had a delay.  Over the past few weeks, I noticed an increase in tantrums, falling out, throwing things, saying no (amongst other rebuttals) and I’m like WHY? Realizing that he’s a toddler, it’s easy to point the finger and want there to be an external reason. That’s not to say that the behavior is not learned from his peers, but on the other hand, it very well could be. 

 

After I got over the negative behaviors, my anxiety-driven brain started tuning in to different things. For instance, any time I sit with him, he does not say the colors. When he’s home, everything is the color “red” and it’s driving me crazy. This is more so because I know he knows his colors. He learned them while he was at his previous daycare and knew them.


Taking a moment to review what our life has been like over the past few weeks, I realized—it could very well be because of me. I haven’t been reinforcing some of his learning at home like I used to. With the implementation of new routines, it is so easy for me to fall off of what I was doing previously—flashcards. I can sit here and feel guilty (and honestly, I definitely do a little bit) OR I can make changes, recreate those routines and merge them with our new ones.  We’re pulling out all stops, but not overkill.

 

My point is that we as parents have to do the work. We are our kid’s first teacher. We create the value in our kids to love or hate learning. If we don’t show them at home (this is for anything), we leave them to learn it by the outside world. Think about it long and hard, is that what we want?

 

So here’s my plan. I noticed that he needs time to wind down when we first arrive home. He’s over-stimulated from leaving school and also probably as exhausted as I was from the workday. What worked a week ago was our trip to the gym immediately after pickup from daycare. What didn’t work was coming straight home and trying to get him to eat dinner. It’s trial and error y’all, honestly.  So I’m just piecing it all together.


Anyway, the plan:

  • Wind down/TV time

  • Dinner

  • Playtime

  • Bathtime

  • Letters, Numbers or Colors

  • Story

  • Bedtime

 

This is just a framework and there’s definitely going to be some flexibility, especially when we insert the gym into the equation. The point of this post is to serve as a reminder that the work starts at home—I know I needed it!

 

What learning routines do you and your kids have at home? Comment them below!

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