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Parents can help make learning fun for students


❤ Pam Zeedyk


P


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education.


resident Obama has recently urged parents to take a greater role in their children’s In my classroom,


students are most successful when they have the magic formula of teacher, student and parent working in harmony. As a life-long learner, I know that it was my mother, Pauline Voss, who inspired me most to learn, and to share a passion for knowledge with others. Although she did not possess even a high school diploma, my mother demanded nothing but our best effort in school, and worked beside my sister Carol and me for academic achievement. Momma had a knack for making


a face and delivering a one-liner sure to knock you down. She punctuated her acid performance with a raucous belly laugh that would shame a truck driver. This was the skill she used in assisting us with our spelling words and vocabulary. I can’t tell you what was on television Thursday evenings, because Carol and I were glued to the performance at the dining room table. Momma would look at the list of words, think for a moment, then came the wind-up: face, wild hand gesture and some hilarious phonetic pronunciation. What followed was that eerie ozone silence between bolt of lightning and thunderclap. My sister and I were momentarily paralyzed in awe of the performance, then we convulsed in laughter. This exquisite performance


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allowed us to have total recall of our lessons, but could bring some discomfort in school. Apparently, while really thinking about the proper spelling or definition of a word, we would subconsciously repeat the facial contortions of Momma. I have never had the nerve to ask Carol, but I remember several teachers casting weary glances my way during testing. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of attending an educational in-service, and the facilitator thought she was presenting a new concept: act-out the vocabulary words. I exited the room as tears streamed down my face in an attempt to swallow my


own peals of laughter. I didn’t need this training. I learned the skill at the feet of a master. As our education needs


increased, so did Momma’s repertoire. We learned to read music by watching Momma hold her arm at the position required to hit the note on an imaginary slide trombone, because that was her instrument. Fractions were taught by trying out new recipes, money counting was achieved by running errands at the local grocery store. In high school, Momma produced a typewriter that weighed a ton, and began typing our essays. She sat in the car and crocheted while we practiced in the marching band, and would later work the stitches in rhythm to the songs we were trying to memorize as we screeched and tweeted on instruments. If you are asking if Momma


wasted her talents outside of a classroom, think again. She knew her role as parent: give validation to the student and relevance to the learning. Momma always praised us for our efforts by taking part and made our new skills relevant to a real-world application. Not counting the prehistoric typewriter, Momma didn’t require any special materials or outside training. She simply adapted her life to ours and wrapped our education in the comfort of familiarity. Her sincerity in helping children succeed shone through our success. I urge parents to invite themselves


into the learning process. Volunteer to help at home and school. Provide kids with the safety of your own risk-taking. Don’t be afraid to make learning downright fun. Show children what you do and relate it to their new learning. Lavish praise on every attempt students make, and delight in every success. This added layer of support will elevate your child’s self-esteem and desire to learn. You will find with an investment of your time and enthusiasm will reap a bounty of improved scores. And then, you too, will possess the magic of Momma.


This is dedicated to Pauline Voss on the first anniversary of her death.


❤


Pamela K. Zeedyk is an educator at the Crane School District. She can be reached at dutchman_216@msn.com.


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