We are not obsolete, take the benefit of our age and experience....
They say 'wisdom comes with age' (and that's no joke). Granted a lot of us checked our wisdom out the door a long time ago but still......majority of us still have something going on upstairs.
AM
Saw a friend this morning and we got chatting. She was rushing to pick up her son so they can go to his university this morning. She had to see her son's Head of Faculty/ Faculty Adviser about changing her son's degree from Business Management to Business Marketing.
Funny thing is that she'd originally suggested he take up Marketing judging from where his interest lay but he wound't hear of it.
One year later, he can now see his mum's point of view and wants to change to Marketing. Mum's suggesting Digital Marketing as we are now in a digital age but wait for it.... he says NO! He wants to study Business Marketing. What is a mum to do....but to support his decision!!
PM
I ran into another parent and she told me she was sorting secondary school application for her son now in year 6. Her son has ideas about which secondary schools in the borough he wants to attend while his mum wants other schools.
His decision was based on the fact that he knew a few kids from his primary who were attending his choice of school so he won't be lonely but mum wants a school with proven academic excellence.
While I understand where her son is coming from, I am with mum on this....a lot of the schools in London are not what it used to be (largely because of government influences).
It brought me back to two years ago when my older son, now in year eight was about to enter secondary school. I took him to Alexandra Park School and Latymers School open days - absolutely impressed with the schools!
According to Ofsted:
1. Alexandra Park - is an outstanding school, students make rapid progress from their starting points, attainment is high and rising and a large number of students progress to the most competitive courses and universities.
2. The Latymer School - is excellent, with many outstanding features and provides excellent
value for money. Standards are very high compared with national averages in national tests for Year 9 pupils and in GCSE and A Level results.
Unfortunately, my son didn't want to go to any of these school, he wanted to go to a completely new school with no academic records or any records for that matter at the time - 'apart from that it was a new school with an amazing building, new facilities, new head teacher and staff '.
Being a mother hen - wanting the best for her chicks - I was adamant that he would go to one of these school. But, he came back to me with a well thought out, very constructive points as to why he should go to his choice of school. I couldn't ague any of his point...he was simply amazing.
That was when it dawned on me that what I have been teaching my kids - they have actually been absorbing.....there comes a day in your comfortable life when your kids will use your teaching to make you let them do what they want to do, and for me, that day had come. My son cleverly and logically thwarted every point I made for...the schools of my choice. I was simply proud and I immediately let him know too!
In the end, I agreed he could go to his chosen school, on one condition: 'He would work harder than he had ever done to achieve the same results had he attended any of my choice of schools' ............and because:
1. his year six teacher reminded me that kids do very well when they are happy at school and with excellent support at home.
2. I found out that one of the heads of department in the new school was my colleague when I was teaching in a secondary school in Enfield a few years back. I remember her as an excellent - talented - driven teacher with a very high level of subject knowledge and enthusiasm who makes her every lesson challenging and enjoyable for the kids; and I felt that if the teachers in his new school were half as good as her, then my son would be alright.
3. the school had modern facilities etc which makes for an excellent spring board for children's academic success
4. and finally, as the school is completely new, it would be working very hard to prove itself among the other giants.
So far, my son has continuously been making excellent academic and personal progress within and largely above national level and has been receiving a very broad education through an outstanding range of extracurricular activities and trips; and this is contributing to the great success in his academic performance and overall well being.
I am very proud of him and am also VERY PROUD OF ME - AS A MOTHER! So you see, we are not obsolete. Our guidance, experiences and wealth of knowledge is an amazing endless resource that children and young adults should do well to tap into.
© O. Okafor
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