Children at Work
Normally when I write about children at work, I am referring to my students working hard in school on various tasks as they learn. Today, however, I am referring to children actually being at WORK - jobs and careers of their parents. Take Your Child to Work Day was today, and you could definitely tell in my classroom. Of my 22 students, 11 were in school and 10 were at work with their parents. (One was at Disney World, but that's besides the point.) I started to reflect on what this day means for my students and their learning. What could they gain from a day like this?
I'm not perfect, and I will be honest. I had the thought of, "Ugh, these students are going to miss so much learning today, and I have to catch them up tomorrow." It's easy to get stuck in the whirlwind of the day job and forget the bigger picture, so I tried to remind myself of the value of Take Your Child to Work Day. I considered it from a teacher, student, and parent perspective. Spoiler alert: I could only think of good things.
What's so great about Take Your Child to Work Day?
It shows children the importance of their education. They see that they need to learn and grow in school to be able to eventually establish a career.
Children get to see the "work side" of their parents and see all of the hard work that their parents do while they are at school. This also shows the work-life balance.
Children can explore viable career opportunities, seeing what they like and don't like.
The experience can inspire leadership as children see their parents being leaders.
It is a bonding experience for children and their parents.
Children recognize that their parents are still learning and that learning is a lifelong experience.
From a teacher perspective, the greatest benefit that Take Your Child to Work Day has to offer is providing an authentic learning experience. Students can practice skills in school, but this experience is REAL and takes the learning beyond the four walls of the classroom. Sometimes students (and teachers) forget that school is not about grades or knowing 2+2, but that it's about gaining all of the knowledge and experience possible to succeed. All I want for my students is continuous learning and growth that leads to a successful life. When I was stuck on the thought that my students would be missing learning at school, I needed to take into account all of the learning they will gain from this one day. My students that were absent today may have missed a lesson on converting units of customary measurement, but the lessons they learned were greater.
Take Your Child to Work Day is a valuable, memorable learning experience, and I hope all of my students get to experience this wonderful opportunity. (Just please remind me that next year when I start complaining about half of my class being absent.)
