Parenting Literacy. . . . what is it? My definition of parenting literacy is:
Parents who possess the awareness and skills to thoughtfully
and intentionally raise their children to be:
• Aware of themselves and the world around them
• Emotionally intelligent, and physically healthy
• Of a happy disposition ready to learn, grow and thrive
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? Any of us who are parents know it is not. Parenting is the best, hardest job there is. So much to do. So much to think about. All. The. Time. It never ends, but as some would say, that's what we signed up for, right? As teachers we know what we see. We see it all, the great, the good, the mediocre, and the downright ugly. We have such a unique perspective. Many of us are parents, so we truly know the struggle. But... since many of us are parents, we know that it takes self-discipline, selflessness, patience and self introspection to try and get it right most of the time.
So many things we would like to share and instill in parents of our students, but there is no way we have the time to do it.
After many years of seeing examples of amazing parents and just as many examples of not-so-amazing parents, I wrote a
school-year-long series of articles for teachers to send home each week with their students. With the hope that every now and then parents who might need a dose of parenting literacy will open up a back pack to find some parenting inspiration! I know you can't force it, but with the weekly consistency they might just look forward to knowing that their shot of parenting literacy is coming each week!
I have heard from hundreds of teachers and several administrators that their parents are pleased to be given some support and the struggles they face. I love to think of these articles as "Close Reading for Parents"! The articles are not progressive - send them home out of order if you need to in order to address certain issues as they arrive. It's never too late to start! Parents would appreciate getting them any time you start sending them home!
