The end of the school year is finally here, and I feel like we are crossing the finish line being held together with tape and glue. Last August, I wrote a blog post about what I hoped my kids would learn this school year. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t anything to do with academics. My hope was that they learned traits they could carry through their entire life. I wanted them to learn true empathy, emotional endurance, resilience, and that boredom would not kill them. I wanted them to know that it was okay not to be okay some days, and I even promised not to check their grades as long as they always asked for help when they needed it.
This week on the podcast, we revisited these goals for our kids and we asked our audience to tell us what non-academic lessons their kids took with them. In my opinion, everyone deserves a passing grade. I still think it’s incredible that on days when I couldn’t even “adult” they persevered and wrote book reports. If the tables were turned, I am not sure I would have been so strong.
Checking The Boxes
When we look back at this school year, we agree that our kids achieved most of the non-academic goals we set as a family. Each of them handled the year differently than I would have predicted. It was hard not to fall victim to boredom when your learning and friend interaction was through electronics. However, we learned that digital learning was helpful to other students who may have struggled before.
For example, one of our listeners shared that her son was really quiet in class before remote learning, because he was overshadowed by more dominant personalities. With the introduction of a mute button in the online classroom, he was finally able to be heard by his teacher and peers.
Other Life Lessons
We got so many good responses from our audience and we share our favorites on the podcast! What did your kids learn and what did you learn as a parent? Listen and let us know in the comments!
