Parents are such clever people

I was recently out shopping when a child who used to be in my class, shouted my name across the vegetables. I waved, but in an instant, child and her parent came across to talk to me. One of the joys of being a teacher is watching children we know well, growing up and succeeding.

In the meantime, after the usual courtesies and chat, Mandy, the mother, came to the point. Her good friend Belinda had a child who was not doing well at school, and was at her wit’s end trying to find the right help for her child. I asked the usual question about what the issues were and what followed was a detailed and highly descriptive learning journey for this child. This was a mother who KNEW her child very well: she had observed her child at work, watched her play, noted her child’s confusion, particularly with making sense of instructions and following through. If a television was playing in the background, it was pretty certain that Belinda’s daughter was unable to complete tasks.

I thought then, as I have thought many times over the years, that parents have such valuable information about their children. With that detailed information, a good speech pathologist would be so far ahead in identifying the issues preventing Belinda’s daughter from learning effectively. I guess the message from today was that Belinda was wise to be concerned, and wise to be asking around for help. That is one of the reasons we started 5energies©: we are a one-stop shop with an experienced speech pathologist, occupational therapist, educational psychologist and educators and a variety of strategies to help children.

That is also why we love parents as astute and observant as Belinda – parents are such clever people.