This is a somewhat ironic topic for me as my kids are preparing to start distance learning tomorrow. For my older two, the work is required, but for the younger ones, it’s optional. I’m glad of that because I am not cut out to be a teacher.

I tried to teach Miss Tadpole how to play the flute one time. It didn’t go well. I tried to teach the boys how to sign their names in cursive last week. That didn’t work out quite so well, either, but it went better than the flute instruction. My problems with teaching lie in the fact that I don’t know how to break things down so that kids understand. When I tried to teach Miss Tadpole how to play the flute, part of the problem was that the flute is second nature to me now, and when she’d ask a question about something, I couldn’t answer it because it was something that I just did.

That said, when Thumper came up to me and asked me what a closed syllable was, I was awfully glad I’d held onto my textbook from the Structure of English class I took in college. Page 47 was very, very helpful.

If you’re a teacher, do you have any helpful hints for parents who don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to teaching their kids? If you’re a teacher who is also a parent, how are you handling distance learning?

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