E is for Education

As a teacher in a previous life I still take interest in all things education. My three are all at different stages of their school career and I love finding out what they are doing, of course as you will know from previous posts this sometimes proves difficult!
It is with interest that I have watched the advent of the new academies and am wondering what will become of them. It is clear the one size fits all approach isn't working but with fees for university rising and lack of availability of courses I have already begun to worry about what will happen when my kids come to think about their adult lives. By then I am sure everything will have changed again.

I wonder sometimes what will happen, at the moment I am lucky as the children enjoy going to school and despite not always telling me everything I'd like to know they seem to be making good progress and learning things, but it seems to me that education is so much more than this. Kids need fresh air and friends, perhaps the things Heather has found the hardest is learning to play with children her own age. She is great with kids that are smaller than her as she has younger siblings and is even quite good at relating to older children, but those in her own year she remains aloof from. It seems she can join in and play if she wishes but quite often she prefers her own company. She enjoys disappearing into fantasy worlds which seems Ok for her.

Matthew and Lucy on the other hand both love playing with children of their own age as well as older and younger ones. They actively seek children their own ages and miss their friends if they don't see them for a few weeks meaning lots more play dates and friends over than we ever had with Heather. I have noticed other differences as well, Heather does everything in painstaking detail whereas Matthew does everything as quickly as possible, convinced that this is the right approach.

Who knows where they will end up, I tend to see my job as a facilitator, giving them a wealth of experiences and allowing them to interpret the world in their own ways, that I think will be my greatest contribution to their education.