If there’s one thing I’m proud of about being a mother is making that decision to be purely hands-on with my kids. And it’s not just in taking care of them physically but also emotionally and academically. I’ve always believed that the parents are the primary teachers of a child and I’ve taken that responsibility quite seriously.
Hence, when the girls started school, I’ve always made it a point to be abreast with what’s been happening to them in the academic world. This includes school performances and extra curricular activities. When they were still in preschool, it was easier and didn’t take much time to sit down and point out the lessons to them. However, now that the two older ones are in grade school, it becomes quite a task to balance time and effort between the two girls.
It’s a good thing that I started early with Nadine, when she was still in Grade One. So now, she has honed her study habits and can read and study on her own. She comes to me for questions, spelling and review after she has read her lessons. With this, I am able to concentrate more on Raya and help her in establishing her own study habits too.
It isn’t easy teaching your own kids. I know friends who have tried and have given up saying that they just fight. And so to keep the peace in their relationships, they would rather hire a tutor to teach their kids. Honestly, it really isn’t easy. It takes a lot of patience to keep your cool and make sure that they get the lessons well. But I think I’ve grown a lot in that aspect and I’m happy with how things have turned out for us.
Being Teacher Mommy, as Raya sometimes calls me, is a great bonding experience for the girls and me. We take time to sit down and discuss and learn together. Sometimes, I lose my cool and get angry but then a reality check will get me back on track. I know that the girls, likewise, appreciate that I do this for them.
Teaching them personally is also a great way to learn more about the kids. Recently, I’ve realized how different their learning curves are and therefore, need different approaches in dealing with each of them.
Nadine is more auditory. She can listen to the teacher in class, pick up the important aspects of the lesson and remember them during tests. We review at home for her tests and exams and she is able to grasp concepts easily. Because of this, she prefers to discuss rather than do exercises and practice skills. For example, in Math, I keep on reminding her that she needs to do the activities in order to get the Math theories. At times, she does it with much reluctance then she realizes how easy the lessons are actually. Slowly she is learning the importance of practice and learning.
Raya, on the other hand, is a visual learner. She needs to see the lessons graphically or illustratively in order to get the concepts right. I learned this when we were practicing her spelling lessons. I used to get so frustrated when she couldn’t spell the words correctly no matter how much practice we do. Then I decided to take each word one by one, letter by letter, writing it down and showing her what comes next. Only then did she start getting her spelling correctly. Raya is also more diligent in doing exercises. She likes practicing and practicing until she gets it right.
But what I love about my girls is that both of them are eager to learn. I love it when Nadine comes to me to tell me about the auditory aspects of the ear or the taste areas of the tongue. Or when Raya proudly shows off the areas of Luzon, Visayas and
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