On Episode 2 of The Burnt Pancakes Podcast I sat down with my good friends Lisa and Jennifer. We all met when we taught elementary school together BEFORE any of us had our own kids in school.
With 8 kids between us and 6 of them in school, we now have some opinions about the teachers we were back then.
Being on the parent side of school has shown us that there are definitely things we would have done differently as those teachers back then and we aren’t ashamed to admit it.
Here is a list of the top things we learned since becoming moms of school aged children:
1. Kids don’t need homework. Although it is great to reinforce learning and share with parents what your child is working on, it generally takes up precious time at home when kids need a break, need time for extra curricular activities or just to be with their family.
2. Reading logs cause parents more stress than necessary. While the three of us all believe reading at home is crucial, requiring parents and kids to fill out a log is too much. Trust me, parents usually lie on the log anyway.
3. Taking a personal day to be with family is not only ok but totally acceptable. As parents we have learned that days spent as a family are so much more memorable than a day of school.
4. Boys are active creatures and sitting in a classroom is sometimes hard for them. They need to be moving around or else they “get in trouble.” We all agree that we made our students sit for way too long without a break.
5. Now that we all have boys of our own, we can totally understand that potty humor is in fact funny to them and they just can’t help themselves.
6. We all wish we had sent more positive emails to our families. It’s easy to call out behavior issues or academic struggles but sending a positive note can be huge.
7. It is crucial to get the whole story when your child comes home and tells you something. I have personally learned to question every detail my child tells me (listen to the episode to hear my funny story).
8. As parents we totally appreciate our child’s teacher. No matter if you think they are amazing or not, they are with your child a majority of their day and should hear and feel your gratitude for them.
Listen to the full episode:
