As focused as many of us parents are on our children’s education, we can sometimes be slackers with our own. Just because we have managed to get through high school or even college does not mean that the learning and improvements stop. How can we set an example for our children if we just throw up our arms and say “I’m a bad speller” or “I can’t do math”? We can still work on improving our skills and encouraging our children while we do so.
I am not a naturally great speller. Fortunately, I do a lot of reading and writing and over time, my spelling skills have improved. I still make dorky mistakes and thank the universe for spell check in my lifetime, but all in all, I have worked on my spelling (and my math skills) in part because I am a parent. I do not know how often I read notes, e-mails and postings from parents with atrocious spelling. I’m not talking just a mis-used word or two or a typical mistake like typing “to” when you should type “too”—but perpetual and constant spelling errors. Sure, I know that spelling is not everything, but working on being better spellers or mastering basic math, or knowing some geography and history can help us to encourage and support our children in their own learning and education.
I don’t know about you, but I actually hope that my three children are smarter and more educated than I—but I also want to be able to keep up with them on most levels. As they have gone through school, this has meant my needing to fill in some of those gaps in my own education and working on my weaknesses—spelling, math, and basic science. After all, when we write notes to our children or jot that letter to the teacher, it WILL matter if we spell the words right…