Bringing a child to school for the first time is a 鈥渟ignificant marker in the life of a family,鈥 says Ira Lit, a professor at the and director of STEP Elementary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 another version of empty nesting, when your last kid goes off to elementary school.鈥
Lit joined GSE Dean Dan Schwartz and Senior Lecturer Denise Pope on School鈥檚 In to talk about what families and teachers can do to make the transition easier for everyone鈥攊ncluding one idea that upends the traditional way parents and teachers connect.
Listen to the full episode at the link below, and find more episodes at . School鈥檚 In airs weekends on SiriusXM Insight channel 121.
Doing well by all kids
I鈥檓 a little skeptical about asking, 鈥淗ow can we get all the kids ready for school?鈥 School has to be ready for all the kids. There鈥檚 a lot we can do in schools so that we can be ready to help children who might already be reading when they enter kindergarten and children who haven鈥檛 looked at the alphabet yet and can鈥檛 write their name. We need to help all of them succeed to the best of their ability and be included in ways that make school an exciting and vibrant place for them.
We talk about first grade and second grade and kindergarten, as if it鈥檚 a thing. Kids come to us with very particular talents and skills and prior experiences, but really it鈥檚 just a random collection of individuals somewhat close in age, who have a very diverse set of backgrounds and experiences and tools. We鈥檝e got to be ready to help all of them.
Changing where teachers and families meet
Most of what we ask, for parents, is very school-oriented and school-focused. It almost always happens on school grounds, right? It鈥檚 on our turf. [If we鈥檙e] really partners, we鈥檝e got to do some of the work on their terms and on their turf.
There are often cultural and language barriers that we鈥檙e bridging. There might be geographical barriers that we鈥檙e bridging. Some folks might not be excited to have me come visit their home, but I could meet them at their favorite local coffee shop to talk about their family and aspirations for their child鈥攊n a way that they鈥檙e comfortable鈥攚ithout making them come to my office and my school classroom, where the power dynamic is all in my favor.
The implications of choosing a school
Schools focus on how to serve us as individuals, but they are also in service of society at large. As we take advantage of choice, we [need to] think about how that implicates the larger aims of school.
If I鈥檓 choosing to move to [a community] because I鈥檝e heard that their schools are fabulous, what about the families who don鈥檛 have that opportunity? Can I set aside some resources to contribute to a local library or to an education fund in a district where my kids don鈥檛 go to school? Most of the families that I talk to haven鈥檛 thought about that but appreciate it, if it鈥檚 offered in a gentle but thoughtful way. I鈥檇 like it if more people were thinking about the larger picture.
