Give your child a childhood.
As a teacher, I've taught some amazing children. Some with incredible brains for maths, four year olds who could write for pages in perfect, grammatical sentences. But more and more, I'm teaching children with wonderful writing, wonderful spelling, wonderful grammar, and nothing at all to say.
They haven't been outside, they haven't had opportunities to be bored.
And it's nobody's fault - as parents, we feel a responsibility to entertain our little ones. We place our infants in devices and contraptions so they can see us at all times, we rattle toys, blow bubbles, take them out to the park and shops, to keep them entertained. We put them in front of the TV, or hand them an iPad to give ourselves a break, feeling that incredible guilt that only comes with parenthood, because we feel like we've failed when we see them cry, or feel frustrated.
As a result, these children come to school never having rolled down a grassy bank, never having felt the burning of quickly warmed hands after hours playing in the rain or snow, never having made a den from a cardboard box, or a sword from a cardboard tube. They haven't been bored enough to foster an imagination, they haven't been left to argue with siblings for long enough to learn empathy. They haven't been allowed to struggle for long enough to find out what it takes to persevere. They lack drive, passion, humility, and a sense of humour.
So allow your child to be bored. Tutoring him after school, providing constant entertainment at home, taxiing him to endless activities, or putting him in front of a screen cannot prepare him for the world he'll enter. Don't prioritise his happiness right now - look to the long term.
Send me a child with an imagination.
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