Read to your children. Read them anything! If they have hearing issues, sign to them. Text messages, newspaper articles, facebook messages, books, food packaging, road signs, bank statements, movie subtitles, literally anything works. Expose them to as much language as possible. They pick up on things quickly (even in early utero) so even if you have reading insecurities yourself, you can also find recordings and listen along with them.

Teachers often discuss how to close achievement gaps and give children more advantages and one of the more simple ways to do that is by modeling for them and explaining. My father told me one day that he didn’t have time to show one of his grandchildren “every little thing”. My response to that was “well them how do you expect him to know it?” My father is from a time of “do as I say and not as I do” which if I’m honest, I always knew was bullshit. He has many talents and does an amazing job of making them look like gifts he never had to work on. I began to realize that maybe he didn’t know HOW to explain things and would rather hope his audience could just match his model. I also began to wonder how many other people did the same thing. I realized, being a special educator gave me a unique perspective on our conversation just like him being a grandparent gave him a unique perspective. I recall his version of parenting as he was indeed my father. I remember practically racing behind him trying to fill his long stride with my tiny 2 year old feet. I remember long mornings at the breakfast table doing long division problems and long evenings at the dinner table not being able to leave until I finished my food. He never explained that daily repetition of math problems would one day yield a minor in math, nor did he mention the food he prepared was a recipe from his grandmuddah; he just enforced his will and let it be done. I often think about if he chose a different approach how things may have turned out differently. I decided to use the approach I wish he’d taken. Coaching children into making their own good choices takes more time on the front end, but it’s worth it. Each school year begins with an uphill battle and ends with a job well done. I often imagine how much more we could do if each child enters with more words and things explained to them.