Happy Teacher's Day

(Letitia's NOT in the pic!)

Just celebrated "Teacher's Day" Singapore style. This special day is a government ordained day where the teachers get a day off from school and the schools will have parties (with food, nibblies, cakes etc) to say "thank-you" to the poor exhausted teachers. Even the commercial world is banking on products that are pretty "once off" (er, useless) (Okay, I got sucked in too, I bought some paper clips and a cloth rose for each of Letitia & Mathena's teachers! Forgive me!)

Teachers are under valued everywhere (Australia should have a school holiday as well!) As the society progresses, the role of the parents as the key/main educator to a child decreases with increase in parents working harder and harder. You see, our children gets the best of everything. Both parents work to give the kids a better quality of life. Both parents pay premium for the best care (infant stage), best gyms and music classes (toddler), best training (preschooler) and later the most prestigious and reputable school (school years). Kids are now ushered to schools earlier and earlier in their lives as they are not getting the proper stimulation at home.

One may say, our children lack NOTHING... except maybe the presence of their parents.

Deuteronomy 6:7 (The chapter on the Commandments!)

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
(they are more verses re parenting etc)

In the bible, it was never intended for parents to let other people bring up and train their children. It was only when education was institutionalise that the role of "teaching' was transfered to our educators. This is a whole topic on homeschooling...which there's plenty to read about, if you just google it!

My deepest concern is the basic and general role of a mother/father. The above verse clearly states that to REALLY instill GOD's life into our kids, it's the day to day, hour by hour and repetitive ways that we train into our kids. Putting it into our normal terms, verse 7 seems like the "mommy and daddy moments with our kids", the morning and evening cuddles in bed before we send them off to slumber, the book reading hours we spent talking about the books etc. This is WHEN we instill REAL stuff into our kids. Another words, WE (as parents) are the primary educators of our offsprings during the normal hours of the day.

In the same reality our kids are OUR gifts from God. He gave them to US, not the teachers, not the grandparents, not the education system. When we receive a present, we do not palm it off to someone else thinking that "it'll be better with you"! I do recognise the tough stuff eg. Chinese language, Trigonometry etc that creeps in, needing external reinforcements (tutors) or school teachers. At the first 8 years of our children's life, the key areas are reading, moral, writing, character, maths, virtues, Godliness and comprehension.

Teachers here are VERY stressed. I observed that the parents involvements level is near ZERO. I offered to help out and the school system was taken aback. On days where parents are invited, the parents are happy to stand by the sideline and just watch. The teachers have to ask, before anyone will move towards helping. The teachers have to juggle 20 in a class, yelling, rebuking at the same time, run some sort of routine/schedule. Kids will be kids. They can only do what they like and what they see as FUN! If most kids are not given boundaries and rules at home, can you imagine the havoc they will create in school?!? Who gets to "retrain' them? The poor tired and frustrated teacher.

Where do you stand in this matter? Do you see yourself as the key person bringing up a wholesome Godly child? Do you see yourself "just" as the provider? Have you given up on the journey altogether? Have you appreciated the teacher of your child? How do you practically help this amazing person (who juggles 20 kids for 5 hrs a day!)