DUBAI: As a young boy, Michael never sat still. He never closed his mouth. He was always jumping around. “He’s a boy,” his mum Debbie Phelps said.
Fast forward to 2016. At the Rio Olympic Games, Michael Phelps, now age 31, won his 23rd Olympic gold. His astounding swimming record made him the most decorated Olympian of all time. It did not come easy. At preschool, teachers complained: Michael couldn’t stay quiet, wouldn’t sit at circle time, didn’t keep his hands to himself, was giggling and laughing and nudging kids for attention.
At age 9, in fifth grade, given his lack of focus and fidgety behaviour, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To many parents of children with ADHD, Michael Phelps’s story is great news.
David Cook
David Cook, chief education officer, Repton Family of Schools, said: “Parents have become much more directly involved. Parents used to leave their children at the school gates, and if it wasn’t their Parents Evening or Parent Session, they would then usually defer and hand over the child to the school. But, of course, with remote learning that’s completely changed . Parents have become, immediately, classroom assistants, usually at the kitchen table, and they can see directly what their children are getting up to live or in asynchronous learning.”
He added: “I don’t think that will ever change. Parents are not going to accept the old way of handing over children to schools. They are going to want much more engagement in the lives of their school and in the learning of their children.”