Opinions.....are parents best teachers?

 I read this question earlier.  

I don't think that has a blanket answer.  There are too many variables.  It depends on the child.  It depends on the parent.  It depends on the situation.

Given the COVID issue and so many kids "home schooling" now, I can see reason for question, but it's so much deeper than that. 

I would love to say I think parents are the best teachers, but what if a parent has no idea what to do? I would like to think that their school teachers could help overcome some of that and make the difference for that person. Otherwise, everybody would be destined to repeat the same cycles over and over again.  Nobody would ever be able to improve our communities because we would be limited to what our parents were able to do for us.  Or willing, whichever the case may be.

That said, my parents were definitely my best teachers.  

I hope that one day my child will say I was a best teacher.  I definitely tried to teach. So much true learning is more than a classroom. It's about critical thinking skills.  It's about experiences. It's about emotions and relationships.  It's also about knowledge, but how much more important it is to know how to find answers than remembering answers.  

Thank God for that.  My memory isn't what it used to be. However, I do know how and where to find some answers.  Hopefully that counts.

My mom used to teach me all kinds of things.  She taught me to read at 2.  She was persistent with her technique in how to teach me to do things. My dad taught me values.  My mom taught me what I got from playing at times. She taught me to look up answers. It was nothing for me to sit in living room floor looking up random information in an encyclopedia.  I can't imagine if google had been around in my childhood.  

We took our child many places, experiencing things, pointing out valuable things.  My husband will occasionally complain about our daughter being just like me.  I taught her that.  There are worse things that could happen.  Our life was a big field trip.  She didn't do great at school in memorization activities, but was great hands on.  Our field trips taught her much.  She will occasionally bring up something she learned on family outing that was fun.  

Play is our childs most important work.  

I'd like to think I'm a good teacher, but I'm certainly not willing to rely on me alone to be what has my daughter succeed or not.  I'm not so vain I don't think others have value.

Life really is a learning adventure until the day we die.  It's not just for kids.