My Mom, My Teacher

Overheard Son No 2 saying to Son No 1: "I don't like studying in school but I like studying at home."

I was touched. It is the highest accolade to me as an educator. And one that is most meaningful.

Well, Son No 2 is a cheerful and eager learner most of the time and it makes a difference - he's a joy to teach. But he does get bored and fidgety easily. Over time, I got to know his learning habits and what makes him tick.

I know, and worry, that in school, there is too much rote learning and not enough fun or thinking activities incorporated into the pedagogy. Sometimes, the children copy things blindly from the whiteboard, without a clue what it is all about.

As a trained educator, I am glad my child is able to benefit from my training. I try to supplement what is missing from school. Especially in the teaching of Science, my forte. Some of our memorable "lessons" include driving round SS2 looking out for plants and flowers that he has learnt in school, blowing into test-tubes filled with different levels of water to make tunes and planting seeds/watching seedlings grow.

In the learning of Malay, our bugbear, I use a heavy dosage of learner's psychology. Introduce, reinforce, assess, review. Maintain a conducive learning environment. Tailor worksheets to ensure success. On the last point, I would add that although I buy assessment books, I seldom use them wholesale. When I do (due to lack of time), I find them not very effective and sometimes, even demoralising. I like to prepare my own worksheets so that they are true reinforcement of what we learnt that day. The worksheets are also meant to build confidence, not to show deficiencies, which should have been corrected at the learning stage.

In part, our study session is another special one-on-one bonding time that is appreciated by both mummy and son. We share much laughter on most days. Of course, there have also been bad days but these are getting rarer as we adjust to each other's expectations. This status quo may not last - children change as they grow - but right now, I just want to enjoy the time that we have together.