Thinking Our Way Back To School

Things are about to ramp up again, school-wise, if they haven’t already. Maybe your kid is the kind who gets genuinely excited, and eagerly puts together their school supplies and packs their lunch. Maybe your kid doesn’t want to talk about it and is clinging to the last days of summer. Maybe they’re about to go back online or start another year of home school.

Whatever their take on back-to-school is, why not drum up a little excitement with some big questions about education and learning? Empower the young minds in your house by inviting them into conversations that will paint school in a different light, one that goes beyond it being “just something we do.”

Here are some great ones to get you started:

·      If you could create the perfect school, what would it be like? What would be the most important parts of it?

·      What is the job of a teacher? How is it different from the job of a student?

·      Can anyone be a student, or do you have to be a certain age? Do we ever stop being students?

·      Does school have to happen in a classroom or a specific building? Where and how else can you learn?

·      What does it mean to learn something? How do you know when you’ve learned something? How do you feel?

·      How should we decide which subjects are important to teach at school? What important things can we learn from each of them?

·      Is there a way to make learning fair, so that everyone gets a chance at it?

·      Can you accidentally teach someone something, or is it something you have to do on purpose?

·      Do animals teach and learn the way humans do? How do we know? What might school look like for other creatures?

·      Are marks and grades the only way to show how much we’ve learned? What kinds of work makes you feel like you can really show what you know?

·      Are there important things that can’t be learned at school? Like what?

·      Is it okay to ask why you’re learning something? How might that help?  

School is a big deal, and rather than making it a source of nerves, why not make it something to explore and discuss? As is the case for many things, kids get a kick out of peeking behind the curtain and digging a little deeper into education. It might even motivate and empower them as learners, help them find their place in their school and get the most out of the coming year.

Happy learning, and happy thinking!