I had tons to do. 
Quite a few tabs were open, on multiple windows – all the stuff i needed to finish reading.  
I also had to prep for a course that I am signed up for. 

It was a school holiday and I had told my kiddo, we had to get some study time. Left to his own devices, minecraft was taking over every conversation and every minute of our lives. We hadn’t done much study together since I decided I didn’t want him or me to waste time writing the stuff he had missed at school at home. I had to get his mind back to something academic. 
So I quickly printed a cambridge worksheet and asked to get him to get on with it?

Few secs later. ‘Mama, what is a passive form of a verb?‘

And then “How are connectives related to time? What is a connective?“

By now, the datesheet for another course of mine had come through. 
My list was growing longer and my mind was in a bit of a boggle.

These questions were bothering me but hell, it was my idea to give him this worksheet filled with stuff he had not covered anywhere. 

So I turned to google. 
Here you go, I said. 
“Ask google your questions. If you don’t understand the definition, ask for an example. And if you still don’t figure it, ask me.” 

The room quietened down. Every now and then google and he would have a conversation about what an alliteration or what a metaphor was. He heard the missy out and tada, the questions were getting answered.

I was replaced. And in a good way. 
I didn’t have to respond to mundane questions. 
He had the answers at his fingertips. 
He just needed to ask intelligent questions. 
And I needed to point him to resources, train him in how to organise his thoughts and structure the processes. My role had changed. 
We were now having to solve questions which were actually challenging, needed some amount of thought and the ability to draw connections. And the best part, we were doing it together!

We had spent a great deal of time together last month. With the many holidays and me helping him prep for the Wild Wisdom Quiz and the English Olympiad. I was missing it, but school work has always been drearily boring and repetitive, for both of us. 

In that hour I was able to see him have fun. Enjoy ‘thinking’ and using clues to figure his answers. And it was easy to see why classrooms COULD, no SHOULD move from the go-to-method of read, repeat, answer, write, repeat in the name of learning to actually allow for discovery. 

We should have fun, figuring things together or on our own. We should enjoy learning. 
Digging deeper or wondering why.  
Truly as partners, the child and me discovering things and making random connections. 
It should be okay when they come up with the answers in their own way and you by your methods. 

We should look forward to being replaced.