The African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” appeared to be everywhere in popular culture almost as soon as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton used it for the basis of a book by the same name published in 1996. I never realized the validity of these words until my own daughter started kindergarten 10 years later.
My husband and I were among the dozens of parents who turned out for that seasonably warm first day of school. Even those with older children, already kindergarten “veterans,” walked their children to Mr. Turner's classroom door and stood huddled together in anticipation.
The call for parent volunteers went out immediately in the form of a sign up sheet posted on the outside wall next to the door. I never imagined myself in the role of “class mom” even after I had children and decided to write from home.
But on that first day, after most parents finally kissed their little ones farewell, I stayed behind. Those first 3 ｽ hours of school were filled with more than 20 children going about the business of being official kindergarteners. There was some dancing to get the wiggles out, there was a story to ease their minds about the first day of school, and there were projects, projects and more projects.
This is where the parent helpers were to come in handy.
Everyday in Barcelona's class, there is an hour or more dedicated to what has been dubbed “workshop” time. It is during this period when children rotate between four to five different stations to work on everything from writing their letters to reading to creating art to performing scientific experiments. At times, the children perform these necessary tasks with the precision of well-tuned machinery. At other times, chaos reigns supreme as they struggle to stay on task.
I volunteered more than once that first week of school in part due to my own separation anxiety, but mostly to aid Mr. Turner and his teaching partner with the daily juggling of active learning. Finally, another mom and I agreed to take turns watching our younger offspring so the other could volunteer in the classroom only once a week (something I was happy to sign up to do after that exhaustive first few days).
It was surprising how quickly I learned the names and faces of all the 22 kindergarteners in my daughter's class. It probably didn't hurt I already knew a few from preschool. Each child presented a unique personality from the offset and each brought with them to kindergarten some strengths – as well as a few weaknesses.
I remember early on in the school year when one particularly advanced child turned to her peer and asked, “How old are you anyway?”
The quiet girl replied somewhat timidly, “I'm 6 years old.”
“Then why are you scribbling?” asked the girl who carefully colored within the lines on the page in front of her.
I was appalled, but truth be told I was also surprised how much the some children struggled to hold crayons and scissors while others already appeared to be masters of these skills, a few of them already budding artists. I quickly assured both girls they were doing their projects correctly and later slunk over to Mr. Turner for advice. How much should a parent volunteer say or do in these situations? I asked.
Six months later, my child volunteered me to work the dreaded workbook table where children practice writing upper case and lower case letters and try their hand at sounding out and writing down words. One of the students, who started the school year not speaking much English, was among the group of children still writing down only the starting sounds of the words. At Mr. Turner's encouragement, I asked this student to sound out word one word, then another until he completed both pages in his workbook.
I probably could not have been more excited if it had been my own child and I was bubbling over all day as a result!
There is no question in my that mind teachers are people who answer a special calling. Their ability to instruct a group of children – with learning styles and abilities at opposite ends of the spectrum – continues to amaze me. And the patience with which they handle the occasional unruly child and classroom dispute is also admirable as I myself struggle daily with two of own bickering children at home.
At the same time I realize what an important role parents play in the learning process. Those of us who are lucky enough to help in the classroom and those who make time to sit down and do assignments with our children at home have front-row seats. We can applaud all the children's accomplishments, for we are part of the village it takes to raise a child – not just our own.
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