The immediate excitement of having our children back in school has passed. Homework, tests, and the first grading session reports are now the topics of the day for many parents and their students.

            Questions on math, on grammar, on science, on government and history may be coming daily. Most of us are far removed from the subjects and may be somewhat less than comfortable in trying to help with homework and reviews for tests.

            It may be time for us, the parents, to go back to school ourselves. Here are some of the benefits, both to our children and to us.

First, by becoming students again, we can model learning for our children. Going back to school also creates a common thread of discussion with our children.

Second, taking a course or two gives us the opportunity to learn new skills. In the classroom, there are also new friends to be made.

Third, there is the feeling of freedom and of control over our lives that comes from choosing a subject, from doing something that is, quite simply, of interest to us. As we expand our horizons, we are also our own boss, doing something totally our way.

Finally, being in the classroom and working on projects with students barely out of their teens helps us learn to relate to a different generation, one that is just coming into the workforce. That alone makes us better employees or better managers at our own business.

No doubt going back to school will inspire some of the same anxieties that children have in going back to school, and in striving to succeed in their studies.

            I speak from personal experience. Some ten years ago, I returned to the Ohio State University to work on my doctorate degree. I had been a teacher and administrator for 20 years. While studying at the Columbus campus, I would also be filling a leadership role at the Ohio Department of Education.

But the anxiety over going back into the classroom as a student nearly froze me. Could I be successful in a class with students 20 years younger? Did I have it in me to study the way I had as an undergraduate at Miami University?

            It turned out to be a great experience. The skills learned in the workplace – for example, time management skills, and an ability to get to the heart of a subject – served me well. And it was refreshing to stretch my mind, learn new material, gain new perspectives. It was valuable to work with those younger students, a new generation, and to understand their interests and motivations.

Teachers at the Great Oaks campuses both appreciate and are sensitive to the needs of adult learners. In the Cincinnati region, there are also several community colleges and Cincinnati State. All are seeing more and more so-called nontraditional students – that  is, adults – all offer interesting opportunities for adults to learn a new subject or refresh their knowledge.

            Lifelong learning is essential to success in today’s economy. There is no better time to add to skills, even prepare for a new career, than today. There is no better way to do it than to return to school.