My daughter - teacher

My daughter is homeschooled. I'm the teacher. She's the student.

Yesterday she suggested we switch roles.
I'm the student. She's my personal strict but fair teacher.

I agreed... with some apprehension (remembering some moments from yoga classes she gave us in the past...)

Spoiler: pedagogy will never be the same.

We started at 10 a.m. sharp. Well, we don't count five minutes, right? Discipline.

She gives me words to practice pronunciation:
- "King." Look, no "g" at the end. I said NO "g"!
"Wings." Another "g"? How many times?!

Then she dives into Google and commands it to find words ending with "ng."

I feel like a foreigner who just saw the English alphabet yesterday. I turn to my teacher:
- Teacher, why didn't you ask me at the beginning how I'm feeling today?

Rolling her eyes, my teacher says:
- Mooooom. It's a school!
A pause.
- Fine, go ahead, how ARE you feeling today?

I shared. Honestly. In details.

Then I try to rewire her neural resistance to writing (I'm a mom, I have to try):
- Are we going to write? I love writing so much...

She looks at me with a slight squint:
- Well, if you love it, write. Just not in cursive. And in English.
Then she adds:
- Write about what you're feeling! One-third of a page in Russian, one-third in English, one-third in Spanish. Just not in cursive.

Okay. I write. I try. Legibly. Well, as legibly as it gets. In Russian. In cursive. I decide to forget about the language-switching thing and let my teacher practice her Russian reading. I turn in my work.

She grabs her phone, after identifying the language snaps a photo of my text, and seconds later reads the Google Translate version in English, looking at me like, "Well, did you finish writing?"

Then comes the best part.
My teacher sits down at the keyboard exclaiming solemnly: "Now we will learn music!" and plays. For about an hour. On different instruments. In the flow. With soul.

I sit there thinking: is this a music lesson, or am I just lucky?

After that I see my teacher's heels sparkling in a cartwheel across the room with a very satisfied smile:
- I'm going to play with dolls now. In MY school, we're going to procrastinate and play a lot!

After about an hour of playing with the dolls.
Me:
- Can I watch the recording of your social skills lesson? My laptop can't handle it...

She says sternly, like a principal with 40 years of experience:
- Only after math!

And gives me two problems:
One multiplication. One division.

I obediently solved them. She quickly checks them. On a calculator, of course. Nods approvingly and gives me a piece of candy. For diligence. And her laptop.

So this is how I learn now.
Strictly, but with music, procrastination, and candy.

What about you, parents, have you ever consciously tried switching roles with your kids?

It can be eye-opening. And fun. 😁