You know summer vacation is over when Back to
School ads start showing up on TV. When I was a kid, they made me nervous. I
knew my family would soon be dropping my siblings and me off at the local department
store, and we'd be expected to buy a year’s supply of school clothes.
It would have been less traumatic if our schools had uniforms, but they didn’t.
We were also taken to the “dime store” to buy school supplies. Teachers
didn’t give out lists in those day, we had to guess what we should buy. I never
liked back to school ads or the start of the school year because of this
anxiety.
School wasn’t scary for me though. I knew I would have a new
teacher (or several in secondary school), but they were usually friendly and
helpful. My schedule was never a problem either. My school planned ahead, and we had
an idea of our new courses before we left school in June. School lockers,
however, created some concern. I had a recurrent nightmare in which I forget my
locker combination over the weekend and had to go to the main office to ask for help. How
humiliating.
I liked the routine of going to school. There was a
place for everything and a set of rules that made learning easy. Home life wasn’t
as simple. I had no place to study. What I needed was a desk or table in a
quiet, well lit location in my home. Without this, I was left to study on the living room floor or on my bed in my bedroom. Neither spot was quiet or very bright.
I did create an after school routine for myself, however. When I
came home I made myself a snack while my mother readied herself to go to work,
I started my homework, but had to stop at 5:00 to begin making dinner. It had to be
on the table when my father came home from work. My siblings, my father and I
had dinner together during the workweek. After we finished, one of us kids did the dishes. I went to finish my
homework or study. I watched TV after my school work was complete.
My parents expected me to do well in school, but never encouraged me. They didn’t help set up a place for me to study, or ask if
I needed any help. I remember asking my father for assistance in algebra once, but he
was unable to explain it to me. I was on my own. I wasn’t urged to prepare for
college either. This was a time when girls were secretaries and boys went into
the military. My parents thought these options would provide steady employment. I had to argue when it was time to enroll in college.
It was different at school. I knew I wanted to be a
high school teacher from a very early age. My teachers told me what I needed to
do to prepare for college. I’m grateful they showed me the way. They gave me
the support I didn’t have at home. Students of all ages need to know what to
do to reach their goals. They need supplies and a quiet place to work or study. They should
have access to technology for research. They'll do much better with encouragement.
If you're a parent, you could make this happen. If you're a teacher, you're aware some
kids don’t have this at home. You should know what you do to support these kids can
make all the difference. It did for me and the thousands of students I taught
throughout my teaching career.
For more information on how to get to college and earn scholarships, you’ll want my new book, Free College
Awareness, coming this fall from Griffin Publishing. How to avoid
needing college loans; available soon to families of Pre-K through High School
students.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
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