Yes, the kids are back in school again and even preparing for their first term examinations in a few days time. Schools actually resumed early October but they had to go back home because of civil unrest arising from protests by youths in my country, Nigeria.
Nevertheless, they have been called back for over a month now and their studies seemed to have progressed speedily as all hands are on deck to ensure students make up for delays and lost school time during the lockdown period.
Although, some private schools could afford e-learning platforms others couldn’t especially kids in the public schools. The importance of narrowing drastically the digital divide between low income families and communities and high income families and communities is still relatively a new concept in my country. And so less privileged kids suffer in relation to their contemporaries from middle income homes and rich families.
Anyway, that’s the scenario we all face right now. But as single mothers, we owe it to ourselves and our kids to do the best we can to help advance and further their education.
The importance of schooling your kids even if they are home schooled cannot be overemphasized. It is essential you provide all that they need even if you have to come out of your comfort zone to do it.
Spend time with them as they do their homework especially for the younger kids in lower grades. As for your teens, you can just supervise them. Ask them questions about their classes, teachers and find out if they have homework that needs to be done. Also you can be abreast with their school work by keeping track of their continuous assessment tests.
I do that with my teenage son every time. I ask relevant questions about his school work and follow up on his assignments and homework. I even go as far as checking his notes to see if they are up to date.
When he was much younger in primary( grade) school and junior high school( he is now in senior high school), I would make out time to do extra lessons with him especially in subjects he was finding a little bit difficult. And the results were tremendous. He was always tops in his class with God’s help.
This trend and position he has maintained all through junior high school, and even now as a senior high school student. It is highly important as parents that we get actively involved in our children’s education.
I am not talking about just doling out cash to pay tuition, books and every other thing money can buy. As a mother, you need to know what and how they are faring academically.
Even if it looks like you’re invading their space, that’s very common with teens, it’s still very important that you make them understand that as long as you’re paying the bills, they have a responsibility to work hard and not waste financial resources by playing with their future. Instead they should be grateful for the opportunity that they have gotten.
Look out for opportunities to challenge them to go forward. Competitions like the science, mathematics, art, cooking etc. you can encourage them to take part in to help boost their confidence and encourage them to work harder.
Platforms like these will help them come together with their contemporaries from other schools and even other countries, and this often broadens their knowledge base and helps them improve on their competitive edge.
I know it can be hard sometimes to do all the things I have mentioned above. But it will be worth it in a short while and in the long run if we just consistently and persistently take on our roles and responsibilities as mothers in spite of the challenges we might be facing right now.
Remember, your labour of love can never be lost or be in vain!
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