Getting them to study

Till not long ago, I would wonder why moms would get themselves so involved in the intricate details about what chapters their kids were studying. I was clearly quite clueless, till my son had his first few tests and I came to the realisation that he needed some guidance.

So I opened his text books for the first time and quite frankly enjoyed reading a lot of the stuff all over again. Some of it came back, some of it sounded Greek.

But as any mother would tell you, teaching your kids academics is no child’s play.
No matter how great a communication you share with your child, when you start instructional learning, there are many walls that seem to creep up.

There are tears, there are raised voices, and invariably you will hear most mothers say – “Maybe I was a bit too harsh, maybe I couldn’t understand why he didn’t already know these concepts, maybe I was just plain mad at what the teachers were teaching these kids.” I don’t know.

The bottomline is that this seems an area that’s a struggle. And as a parent you feel horribly guilty for not being in control.

What followed was a long session of studying, elation at getting things right, and a lot of, “We need to do this more regularly”.

This brings me to my next question. Shall we follow this trend that’s the easiest route out – just start tuitions for your child. It’s a very tempting option.

Then as a parent, you get someone else who is probably far more competent than you and far more in touch with what’s being taught in schools these days.
I could then enjoy my child, and not have to subject myself to taking on his academics as a project.

The other part of you as a parent says – why would you get a 12-year-old to be dependant on tutors at such a young age, when they should work hard and apply their minds.
After all, in our time there was no question of having teachers come home after school at such a young age.

I am a bit confused…Any thoughts?