Mothers Matter

Happy Mother’s Day! May is a fantastic month to take a look at the benefits and blessings of motherhood. While raising children can certainly bring about a few gray hairs, it may be encouraging to focus on the benefits of moms in education. What role do mothers play in their children’s schooling? Is a mother necessary to the process of helping a child to learn? Research consistently shows that children who have loving, invested parents do better in the classroom. In fact, a caring mother is capable, invested, and will persevere throughout her child’s education—and that’s a tough list for anyone to live up to!

Mothers are quite capable and can readily assess the needs of their children with a depth and accuracy that no one else can match. Mothers also determine student accountability. Having constant contact with their little ones, mothers can go the extra mile to ensure that their kids complete the tasks that are assigned to them. In schooling, consistent assessment through the years and accountability ensures educational success!

Mothers are intimately invested. Loving them through all the bumps and bruises, the whimsy and whining, the challenges and chores forges a powerful link between mothers and their children. Ultimately, mothers are powerful advocates for their children, willing to make incredible sacrifices so that their sons and daughters get what they need in their education. A mother’s investment in her children reaps benefits long after her sons and daughters have grown and gone.

Mothers are education’s long-term solution. At the end of the day, no single classroom teacher or well-meaning mentor will have the depth of impact that a mother will have with years of influence. They are experts on their own children because they have spent the years building relationships with them, an investment that they are not about to give up. A child who has an excellent education will more than likely have benefitted because of his mother. If schooling is to be effective for generations to come, mothers must be a part of the solution.

In his talk, Mastery Learning, Ability Development, and Individualized Education, Andrew mentions Dr. Suzuki’s observation that mothers have a powerful role to play in teaching their children language. The reason for this, he says, is that mothers have two things that nobody else has enough of: love and time. With the blessing and benefit of a mother, a child’s education can flourish, and with the blessing and benefit of motherhood, future generations can change the world!