Statistics Canada has found that over the last several years, a significant share of Canadians report high levels of\u00a0stress<\/a>\u00a0on most days, including children as young as 15. This kind of stress has real consequences for our health, including a weaker immune system, high blood pressure and fewer years of life than we might like. It\u2019s especially true for those of us balancing work and caregiving. So, if you\u2019re also feeling overwhelmed, you\u2019re part of a very large group of people trying to hold it together.<\/p>\n Prioritize self-care, mindfulness and exercise, they say. Let go of perfection, we\u2019re told. It sounds lovely in theory. But in practice, someone still has to ensure the homework gets done, and done well enough to satisfy a system that rewards perfection.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which brings me to my next anxiety:\u00a0What future is this schoolwork actually preparing kids for?\u00a0<\/p>\n Sometimes I imagine what learning might feel like without all the stress.<\/p>\n My daughter\u2019s\u00a0Escales\u00a0<\/a>homework book includes a tidy chapter about some of the first teachers and schools in Nouvelle-France. The\u00a0Canadian Encyclopedia<\/a>\u00a0fills in the story, noting that early efforts weren\u2019t particularly widespread or successful, in part because learning happened primarily through experience and within families. As formal schooling expanded, it became more structured and increasingly focused on solving social challenges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In my own work, success rarely comes down to knowing a single right answer. Instead, it requires managing competing priorities, finding new solutions to complex problems, and adapting when things don\u2019t go as planned.<\/p>\n And yet most of the schoolwork coming home in backpacks still rewards recalling the right answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n If our future looks anything like the one we\u2019re promised, our kids will be surrounded by technology that can answer any question instantly, make breakfast, and then beam them into work every morning. In that world, the value can\u2019t just be in knowing the answer. It\u2019s in knowing how to use it to make real decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sometimes I imagine what learning might feel like without all the stress. Time to follow a curiosity instead of rushing to check something off a homework to-do list. Hearing from my kids that they spent the day exploring an idea in a hands-on way, while I sit feet-up on a terrasse, not thinking about the next due date.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n Some approaches are moving in that direction, bringing what\u2019s learned in the classroom into the real world through community engagement and cultural exploration. But for now, those kinds of experiences remain closer to a daydream than a daily reality for most families.\u00a0<\/p>\n Until that kind of learning becomes our reality, I\u2019ll be at my computer on Sunday mornings scheduling responses to school emails and mapping out homework assignments for the week. I\u2019ll try to stay one step ahead of the stress, even if it means catching up on messages, assignments and requests that came in days ago. It\u2019s not a perfect system, but it feels like the only way to keep things \u2014 and myself \u2014 from going off the rails.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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