Parents as teachers

“Did you know that, in the New Normal, parents will become more involved in their children’s daily studies?” This was the remark I heard last week from a cousin. Her remarks must have stemmed from a recent pronouncement by President Duterte that schoolchildren will not return to their classrooms until a vaccine against COVID 19 has been developed and become available.

This means our children will be home-schooled. For places where children have gadgets and good connectivity to the Internet, they will be participating in online lessons. For those without this capability, their respective schools will be providing them with learning modules which will be distributed through barangay centers. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said television and radio will also be tapped to supplement the distance learning model of the New Normal.

“Parents fully involved in their children’s daily studies is not new – we are just going back to the way it was done before,” I told my cousin.

I did not pluck that answer from thin air. That is a fact. The best evidence is our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, himself.

Weren’t we taught in our elementary school social studies that Dr. Rizal’s first teacher was his mother, Doña Teodora Alonzo Realonda?

The story goes that young Rizal was studying with his mother one evening. When she noticed that her son was not paying attention to his homework. He was instead watching a moth hovering around the lamp at his study table. This led the hero’s mother to tell him the tale of two moths – a mother moth and her son.

The tale went like this: The mother moth noticed that her young son was flying too close to a burning lamp. She warned her son not to fly too close. The young moth, however, did not heed his mother’s warning. He flew too close and the flame devoured him. He dropped, lifeless.

We are not sure if that tale of the moths got the young Rizal to finally pay attention to his first teacher and to his homework. What we are sure about is that his mother was fully involved in his early education.

In a way, Dr. Rizal’s mother may be called a “pioneer” in homeschooling.

My wife and I have been exchanging notes with some close friends regarding the prospect of levelling up our involvement in the education of our children. True, we religiously help our kids with their assignments and projects, and we check on their fidelity to their homework.

In the New Normal, much more will be required of us.

We will be required to be more available, more accessible, and more committed to our young learners who will be at home with us until – according to the President – the COVID 19 virus is defeated with certainty.

There are parents who are worried about this. Understandable. Before the New Normal, we seem to have delegated to our schools much of this responsibility. It is being given back to us by circumstances and there are parents who may not be comfortable with this arrangement.

Despite the discomfort, my wife and I are ready to embrace this role under the New Normal – a return to the way children were raised in the past. We have realized that the pros far outweigh the cons. Consider the following:

Our children will enjoy the best teacher-student ratio. In our public schools, the norm is 40 students to one teacher. It’s about 30 to one in a private school. We have two children. That means my wife and I will achieve a one-to-one student-teacher ratio.

We can adjust their curriculum to suit their learning needs. Since we will be the ones to guide them in their daily sessions, our discussion of the subject matter can immediately focus on the real-life application of their lessons.

We shall see first-hand their development. Since we will be with them in their learning journey, we will enjoy the privilege of seeing their progress.

We get to spend real quality time with our children. It is said that our children value most their moments spent with us. Among them are the times we played with them, expressed our affirmation and affection, and the times we took care of them when they are sick.

Now, we have more moments to add to their repository of fond memories: The time we spend helping them discover knowledge and to apply these to real-life situations.

The bond between Dr. Rizal and his mother has been looked up to as a model for the mother-son relationship. Some historical analysts say Dr. Rizal’s character and genius were nurtured by his mother.

It pays to have one’s parents as his or her first teachers.

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