In 2001, when the Parents as Teachers National Center in St. Louis, Missouri created the first Parents as Teachers Day in 2001, it was not expected that so many people would be able to celebrate this day in 2020.

This day, November 8, is when parents are encouraged to join forces to support children in their educational goals. It is what they’ve been doing one-on-one since March, with the added challenges of a pandemic.

For most parents, until recently they mostly handled what to teach their kids outside of school while teachers focused on the educational side. Every parent continues to teach important things that are not scholastic, like having routines, safety, the importance of things, and defense. Children don’t always know why parents teach them things like these common sense lessons, but parents want to make sure their offspring know right from wrong and they want to make sure they know safety rules and more.

This day was created for both parents and teachers to come together to participate in whatever way they can, and this year that collaboration is more important than others. Students should take a moment to thank their first teachers, their own parents, on this special holiday.