Most kids wonder what their new teacher will be like. But what’s it like if your teacher is... your parent?

Shoshana Gross

School: Arie Crown Hebrew Day School of Chicago

Mother taught: Eighth grade, head of extracurricular

Chavie, Nechama, Atara, and Tova Ribowsky

School: Bais Yaakov of Queens and Shevach High School

Mother taught: Fifth grade Navi, ninth grade biology

Tzvi, Yisroel, Dvasha, and Efraim Rubin

Schools: Tiferes Moshe of Queens, Toras Chaim in Norfolk, Virginia, Torah Day School of Atlanta

Father taught: Subbed in Tiferes Moshe Mishnah and Halachah; main Kodesh teacher, second, third, fourth, and seventh grades. 

What’s it really like…

Shoshana Gross:

Q: Did you get to know all the behind-the-scenes stuff in the school? How did it feel when your mother knew everything before you got to tell her?

Because my mother takes care of all the extracurricular activities, from the time I was very young there was no way she could hide anything from me. I always knew what was going to happen before it happened. And since I don’t like to share everything that happened in my day, it was so much easier — because my mother already knew!

Q: What was the biggest perk of having your mother as a teacher?

Having my mother’s help at home was really nice. But my mother was a very fair teacher. If I had friends over, she’d help all of us. Oh, and when we went on our graduation trip and the teachers all got steak, my mother shared hers with me — even though the students only got hamburgers!

Q: What was the worst part of having your mother as a teacher?

In my school it is very normal to call your teacher for help or even to visit her on Shabbos. It was weird when a friend called or came by on Shabbos and I answered, but she wasn’t coming or calling for me! I had to figure out that she really wanted my mother.

Q: In school, did your mother feel like your mother or your teacher?

Over the year I gradually felt more and more like my mother was a regular teacher. I’m the kind of kid that doesn’t like being in the classroom alone with a teacher. As the year went on, if it was just me and my mother in the room, I would feel awkward and leave the room, just like I would with any other teacher!