The First Classroom
My first memories of reading come from sitting next to my mom on the couch and the lap of my grandfather in Tennessee. I remember the newspaper being thrown on the driveway and my parents spending weekend mornings reading all about the happenings back home. I also remember seeing my mom get up extra early to spend quiet time in the Word with the Lord before everyone else was awake.
The first classroom that taught me the importance and love of reading was my home.
I remember when I was maybe 6 or so and trying to secretly steal a pack of gum from the grocery store. My mom, of course, saw it and marched me right back into the store to hand it to the cashier and apologize.
The first classroom that taught me the importance of integrity and doing the right thing was my home.
I can also see clearly our toy room at home-an unfinished part of our basement that my little brother and I brought to life. We played national championship basketball games in that room, set up cities and towns with barbies, and of course, I taught class with my small chalkboard with my brother (or dolls) as my students. I was older and sometimes my brother just didn’t have a choice lol.
The first classroom that taught me the importance of creativity and not having to be entertained was my home.
I can picture my dad fumbling through the 500 keys on his keychain to get us into the school, turning on the lights and smelling that fresh scent of wooden gymnasium floor. I can still hear the sound of bouncing the first ball as the lights warmed up and nobody else around yet. I loved running through the halls of the school, even when we weren’t supposed to and now more than ever, I appreciate the early mornings my parents woke up and the nights we spent together late into the night celebrating wins and sitting in the losses after those long days of work for my parents, too. I appreciate being the daughter of Educators.
The first teachers that taught me hard work, passion, persistence, and dreaming big were my parents.
From a young age, I believe I’ve had a heart to serve, to teach, and to share. I come from a line of teachers. It wasn’t until 2006, though, that I decided to devote my professional life to teaching, loving, supporting and serving students. What a wild ride it’s been! I’m currently finishing my 18th year as an Educator and I absolutely count my two years of student teaching prior to these 16 years! Those were some of the most important, inspiring and formative years as an Educator that I still carry with me today.
I love the people dearly who helped build the foundation I continue to stand on.
What a gift it’s been to have worked with the students I’ve been blessed to know. I’ve served as a Special Education teacher, Regular Education teacher, an Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal and now a head Principal. I’ve served in suburban areas and in Urban areas, too. I’ve served in spaces where money wasn’t tight and other areas where it never seemed to be enough. I’ve taught in-person along with online courses and ‘regular’ times and ‘Covid’ times. I’ve taught at all grade levels during the summer and regular school year too, and very early on I’ve learned a few things:
The first and most important and impactful classroom our children will ever have is their home.
Teachers are critical pieces along the journey and our impact is immeasurable. BUT. Parents, we will always be the most impactful/influential teacher our children ever have.
The most important thing we can hand down to our children is the Faith.
Teaching, learning and schools continue to change over time so it’s critically important that our homes remain the constant, stronghold with God He’s intended for our homes to be all along.
Let me share some of the change that has taken place in our Educational system over time which has sparked change:
In the 1600’s, schools predominately taught Puritan values along with teaching students how to read the Bible as the main text. School was pretty much to serve young, rich, white males.
Horace Mann, born in the late 1700’s, became someone who reformed Education forever. Although he was a white male, he grew up poor so he wasn’t able to afford an Education. Education, afterall, was only for white males who could afford it. One, out of his many passions, was to create a way for those who were poor to access Education. He understood that our country couldn’t last without intelligent, educated, and hard-working people to keep it standing strong. To summarize, schools were significantly impacted forever during this time as he established the first ever public school and organized the first ever state board of education. Not everyone loved his radical ideas as access and the focus on the Bible would most likely decrease.
1896: Plessy v Ferguson changed schools.
1954: Brown v Board of Education changed schools.
1972: Title IX changed schools.
1974: Individuals with disabilities Education Act changed schools.
This is not an exhaustive list.
Today:
We have just under 100,000 public schools, right over 30,000 private schools, just under 10,000 charter schools
Over 50 million students
White, Black, Latino, African American, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander
Rich, Poor, Middle Class
Speaking a variety of languages
Different types of perspective, people, lenses, and belief systems fill our public schools. Public school truly is a reflection of our public. Schools have taken on quite a bit on its plate within the academic realm and outside the lines of academics, as well.
Since the Puritan era where the Bible was used as the main teaching resource even past the American Revolutionary War, the Bible has inched closer to disappearing from public schools altogether over time.
There continues to be dynamics, belief systems, laws, expectations and more that continue to impact our schools (for better or worse).
Change is beautiful. Change is inevitable. Growth comes from change and it can be amazing. In fact, I’d say that Public Schools continue to find itself in another crossroads of what they need to look like and entail. You might hear the term Real World Learning and Competency-Based Learning. You may see more college and career opportunities for your child depending on the district you’re in. The world has changed, and so, inevitably, our school system will, too. It’s a massive system to change and the changes being made continue to have additional focuses within each of these areas: academic growth, college/career growth, personal growth, behavioral growth, social growth, mental health, and much, much more. I agree (for better or worse) with my friend Courtney Bishop that “Public education is the heart of our communities-a place where kids find safety, connection, AND belonging”. However, living day in and out of this system for just shy of 20 years I see that our schools need our homes to be the the first classroom and for parents to be our students first teachers so schools can be the best versions of themselves to live out this statement well. Our students need to know and feel safety at home to know and feel safe at school. Our students benefit from connection and belonging at home so they can generalize what they’ve learned in a healthy way at school. Our schools reflect the temperature of our homes.
So I believe….
Our schools are strongest when our homes are strong.
Our schools are strongest when communities don’t rely on our schools, but partner with our schools to create the best experiences for students.
Our students are most successful when their homes are their first classrooms and parents are their first and best teachers.
Our schools continue to process what teaching, learning, ‘school’ should look like. Even in the midst of educational changes, I continue to get questions like…
Why aren’t my children learning cursive? Why is my child in (whatever grade) and still doesn’t capitalize and punctuate how I think they should? Are schools even teaching History anymore? Those books are allowed in schools for students to read? What is this math anyway? So, we don’t teach phonics any longer? Why does it seem the laptop is replacing teaching and learning all day? Y’all, the list goes on…
Here is where my experience and discernment has led me with these questions:
Identify the values/foundational things we believe our children need to walk away with by the time they leave our homes after high school. Parents, we need to be intentional with teaching our children and exposing our children to those things. Partner with teachers and schools, but do not depend on schools for all of these things. Teach our children these things.
Yes, there’s a chance our child’s school won’t teach cursive. So, we teach them at home. There’s a chance our students get left behind with reading if they aren’t equipped to handle the rigor. So, we prepare them at home. There’s a chance students don’t learn true history and definitely not history through a Biblical lens, so we do that work at home. Our students may or may not find that creative spark or passion at school, so we ignite that within our homes. We have put too much on the plates of schools to be responsible for and expect schools to be able to do it all well. When home isn’t the first classroom, it makes the already hard work, even more difficult, dare I say seemingly impossible at times. Again, partner with teachers and schools, but do not depend on schools for all of these things.
What does teaching our students the Word look like? I believe that if our children aren’t being taught how to spend time in the Word, they won’t know it. In the nearly 100,000 public schools, our students have zero to very minimal teaching of Scripture. Sunday’s alone are not enough to help our kids develop their own habits to build their spiritual muscles. They need to see us, partner with us, and have time throughout the week to develop those muscles of their spiritual walk. Where do they build these muscles? Home. In every school I’ve been part of, I can see the fruit of our homes because that’s what our schools reflect. That’s what our community reflects. That’s what our society reflects.
But Kassie, this stresses me out. I don’t have time to be a full-time teacher and by the way I am NOT a teacher. When and how am I supposed to do this?
I hear you.
And…
We make time for the things we care about. We find a way and we make a way. Here are a few tips that help me along the way:
Make a list of things we really want our children walking away with when it’s all said and done, before they walk across that stage their senior year of high school.
Focus on one thing at a time (or whatever you have capacity for) as we’re teaching our children in the midst of busy.
Each summer, our girls walk away with a new skill. Some they enjoy, and others not so much, but they have the skill. Take a period of time and think of one thing to learn together with our girls.
We focus on one Bible study at a time and schedule regular rhythms of that on our calendar throughout the year. We approach this seasonally as a family. We typically have a group Bible study each summer and in the Spring. We also carry on family studies throughout the year, but they adjust due to busy schedules. Plan for a regular rhythm for a month. Reflect on that rhythm and adjust as needed.
Within the beautiful pages of the book, “On the Upbringing of Children”, Bishop Irenaius writes, “Most often, the books available focus entirely on the child’s adjustment to this world and blithely ignore his moral and spiritual development. There is precious little available to help parents prepare the child to become a citizen of Heaven. But what other goal of child-raising can even take a close second to this paramount objective? It was not that long ago that pious parents raised their children to become Saints, to serve God in this world and the next. Perhaps only two generations ago, parents were still raising Saints…. But the success of anti-Christianity in our time has been so complete that concern for one’s own salvation is considered, at best, a harmless eccentricity, while concern for one’s children’s salvation is sometimes even considered dangerous by foward-looking educators….God forbid that we should be called upon to answer for children whom we have prepared to go to college, but not to confess their faith in a hostile environment.”
Look at the periods of time when you just have time. Do the thing that takes more time to do.
Plant the garden. Heck, start with herbs. This took us more time, but when we have chunks of time, we try to use that time to make time for the things that take more time. (That’s a lot of times here, huh?)
Have fun. If any of this is a hassle, just try to focus on one thing at a time. Celebrate each step along the way.
Stay as involved as possible with our children’s schools. Send that email to her teacher. Show up to parent conferences and the classroom party. Exchange numbers with her friends mom and stay involved. Pray for Godly teachers and adults to surround her every step of the journey.
When it comes to learning, I was reminded what Scripture tells us. Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction”. If the Word isn’t being taught in most schools, where are our students gaining Wisdom? In Psalms there are commandments for “ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. They they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep His commands (78:5-7).
Our schools and our country “needs mothers and fathers who are committed to train their children. It needs schoolteachers who live lives of principle and are not afraid to impart those principles. It needs husbands who love their wives and wives who respect and honor their husbands. It needs businesspeople who will not lie. It needs lawyers who triumph only in the truth. It needs public servants and not politicians. It needs pastors and priests who will not pander for popularity among their parishioners by trading God’s timeless truth for the tawdry self-interest or self-help doctrines. It needs men and women of character, of courage, and of compassion. It needs a new you and a new me” (Crismier 20-21).
“…America is at risk..and..her foundations are cracking (Crismier, 25). It’s hard work, but man it is the most worth it work you will ever pour into and it all begins in the first classroom, home.
Let’s turn our Eyes to Jesus because it’s all for His Glory.
In love,
Kassie Leigh
Resources:
A Relevant History of Public Education in the United States: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/a-relevant-history-of-public-education-in-the-united-states
Riser-Kositsky, “Education Statistics: Facts about American Schools,” Education Week, 2021)
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