Distance Learning Curve

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, there was clearly a right and a wrong way to do school.  The right way involved sitting still, listening to the teacher, and more often than not, being rewarded for reaching the “right” answer. 



The wrong way looked like disruption, wiggling, and feeling the resentment of peers as the teacher had to, once again, address interruption of everyone else’s learning.  



We are in uncharted territory right now, with our kids at home, being responsible for both their care and academic learning. On days when I am particularly stressed, it’s easy for me to slip back into my conditioning and expect my children to learn the way I want them to. I fall into the trap that what my child knows and how well she learns is a reflection of me and my success as her parent and teacher. 

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Luckily, on my parenting journey, I have been empowered by a network of educational professionals to help me recognize my way is not always my child’s best way.  One of these networks is our Take Note Studio community. I love watching adults who are new to Kindermusik classes (and I speak from experience here) because almost all of them expect their child to copy exactly what the teacher does.  God bless those little kids; they know what they are doing, and that their learning and exploring is welcome, no matter what it looks like.  I love watching that dynamic play out, adults pining to follow the rules, while the little one fully embraces their version of shaking an egg, hiding under a scarf, or taking a quick lap around the room to check out the pictures on the wall.  Without fail, after the first few minutes of class the adult relaxes and just enjoys watching their child learn. And it helps remind me now, in the middle of this distance learning, that my daughter can be free to explore, and I can be free to put down the reins, and that we will all come out okay.
I am reminded of the quote by John Dewey, American philosopher, “I believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing.”

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I marvel at how much we are all learning during this time, and sometimes I wonder what life will look like on the other side.  Luckily, my time as a parent in Kindermusik classes and an educator at our studio has helped me recognize the limits of my own conditioning and expectations, which in turn allows me to empower my children and students to embrace the way they learn best.  And that our community will be there for them, every step of the way.

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