Parents have an equal role as teachers in shaping the future of children. Home is the first school a child attends, but it differs from the actual one in many aspects. Knowingly or unknowingly we (parents) take up the role of a teacher early on in the lives of children guiding and protecting them every step of the way.
We take up the part of a nutritionist when the child refuses to eat healthy food; we become sports trainer when the child steps into the playground for the first time and every time; we act as principal guiding the child when he/she commits a mistake; we embrace many positions, prevalent and commonly-known to educational institutions, intending to see our children transcend mentally and physically—but we can only do so much to ensure the children’s overall development. This is where schools come into the picture. Schools partially take the responsibility of parenting and proactively constructing morals and values on the fundamental foundations laid by the parents, thereby making the children intellectuals and better human beings.
Since the epoch of “gurukul”, educational institutions have been a notion fixated on helping students achieve their true potential both academically and non-academically by concentrating on intellectual sophistication, empirical knowledge, metacognition. . . The teaching practices in schools regularly change and evolve but stay upright on the aesthetics set strong by parents at home.
There Is More To Education Than Math, Physics, Chemistry. . .
Education is more than just teaching career-giving fundamental subjects: Maths, physics, chemistry. . .World educational experts strongly advise parents and schools to focus on personality development along with the academic development of children. Good personality traits are underlying factors that uplift academics amongst students.
For instance, punctuality is one of the most valued and essential characteristics needed in the world. There are organisations built on this very ideology, they insist as well as look up to the punctual individuals to lead the way. This is why schools always prioritise punctuality. If the student is punctual to the school, he is punctual in life! The schools do their part in installing this quality in children, but it can only be achieved if parents make sure to emphasise it at home by bringing children to school on time. Likewise, from discipline to respect, obedience to self-righteousness, teaching the importance of human rights to responsibilities, all the moral, ethical and social characteristic features first begin to develop in children at home.
With normative educational philosophy as a part of the school’s objectives, Meru International School focuses on educational perennialism as well as essentialism (Perennialism focuses on personal development, whereas essentialism focuses on essential skills.) Thereby encouraging parents to actively take part and teach the values that are of everlasting and relevant to all people everywhere, and emphasise on principles. Since we are humans, we should be taught first about humans, rather than machines or techniques, and about liberal and citizenship.
An Example Of How Learning Begins At Home
For a long time, we have been taught to memorize. Memorizing information and focusing on the matter in textbooks and lectures does not develop rational thoughts. Meru strongly believes in imparting learning through the development of meaningful conceptual thinking and judgement using broad analysis. How to achieve that? How can parents help? Books. Yes! Books are the most significant possessions of humans. When parents encourage students to read books, they are providing them with the resources to excel in school as well as life.
“Great books are great teachers; they are showing us every day what ordinary people are capable of. These books come out of ignorant, inquiring humanity. They are usually the first announcements for success in learning. Most of them were written for, and addressed to, ordinary people” said Robert Hutchins, an American educational philosopher.
With a vast library containing diverse books—from fiction to science, from philosophy to poetry—Meru sophisticates students with abundant resources to cherish words in this smartphone-driven world and make reading a habit.
