To think teachers' kids have all the advantages

I’m a teacher on of DDs is academically bright and the other really struggles. I know plenty of teachers in the same situation. This is a very anecdotal post.

I think one thing that stands out for me is that they value the education. Also know how to help if their dc is struggling. Also like PP said, statistically, if you have educated mother, you do well, so mother with degree may do better.

is it because they are able to find out about upcoming tests/similar tests

I give teachers more credit than to think they are giving their child any advantage by giving them prior warning (are you implying cheating?) on class tests. It would be a major disadvantage in their future education if they hadn't learned how to prepare themselves.

The reason some teachers children do better is because they have a parent that values and supports education at home and perhaps knows more about study techniques etc, all of which any parent can do.

Interesting. The most intelligent people I know all seem to have teacher parents (usually primary), so I have wondered about this too. It doesn't seem to be just down to genetics, since the parents in question seem to be of average rather than extreme intelligence. I think it's down to the environment they create for their children early on. They seem to ask lots of questions: not just "What did you do at school today?", but "It's raining! Here's your umbrella. What would you use to make an umbrella, if you were designing one?" type questions, to make the child think. And dinner table conversation, news, general knowledge, reading...I think they build a framework of understanding of the world, and also a curiosity about the what, where, why, how questions of life, in their children.

My mother was a teacher - I was very academic, sister wasn't

I'm a teacher - DD quite good academically DS could pass any exam without even trying but has no common sense

It certainly wasn't the case that teachers' children excelled at our school. If I looked back at the High School Dux, I don't think very many were the offspring of teachers.

Maternal education level is correlated with academic achievement of children.

Parent a teacher? More likely to be the mother, so at least degree level educated.

I have taught a core secondary subject for 16 years and have Masters degrees.

My oldest child (year 3) has a variety of learning disabilities which means they read at two to three years below their actual age and can barely write. Mathematically working towards age related expectations. They have an EHCP.

My other child (year 1) is average.

They get the absolute dregs of me during term time and it's not good enough. That's why I am leaving the profession.

Dad was a Chemistry teacher, not at my school.

Education was valued in our house. But more than that he taught me exam technique, how even if you haven't a clue on a question, you can get marks, how to read marking schemes, how to see what is being looked for, key words and phrases, how to brain dump onto paper if you are running out of time. I did much, much better in exams than I should have based on subject knowledge alone.

@manysummersago - not necessarily. Plus if you get a 50% discount it’s a way of managing private education. Mine liked having me around.

My mum was a teacher (history and english) in the school I was in for two years. I was taught by her for at least one year. It was horrible, she would pretend I didn’t exist so that she wasn’t accused of favouritism. She never marked my exams, but I was bullied because of her. She was known as a no nonsense tough teacher so pupils took that out on me. I didn’t tell her (more to do with our relationship than anything else tbh). I was naturally quite academic but more science based and did well at school. My brother was much more practical and hated academia, but did well in his chosen career once he found a good path to go down. I can’t remember mum being much help with studying etc but I was definitely expected to go to university and study hard.

This is one of the daftest things I think I've seen. Teachers' kids all do unusually well - and it's in secondary education.

Hmm. I'm the child of teachers. I failed my Maths O level several times, and could not grasp Physics/Chemistry. I'm not dumb - but being the offspring of teachers did not help me noticeably in the subjects I'm weak at.

I do, however, have an honours degree and teach an essay based subject to A level (having eventually scraped a Maths O level). 2 of my DC are dyslexic and have really struggled to achieve more than a basic grade in essay based/writtten subjects.

I would say that 'being a teacher' provides little advantage for your children - except perhaps to ensure that I am extremely cynical about the benefits of homework, or 'box ticking' exercises. I have - as others have said - no 'insider knowledge' or what the hell you need to do to succeed in the majority of subjects on a GCSE curriculum. Many of them (Business/Spanish) I never took myself and would be woefully inadequate at providing help in.

I was taught by my mum and hated it. People assumed I cheated/there was favouritism and bullied me for it and my mum did the actual opposite and refused to help me with anything even when I was struggling (I particularly struggled with maths and was left to utterly flounder) whereas my brother got tutoring for areas he struggled with.

Teachers (her friends) would also talk about me to her without talking to me first so if I'd got bad grades or something, I'd get a bollocking before I even knew about it.

I wasn't allowed to call her mum, she refused to give me lifts to school and ignored me in the corridors. All to avoid looking as if she favoured me. She also did teacher training at my nursery school and refused to play with me there too!!

I did ok at school but if discalculia was diagnosable back then, (and adhd, which I've since been diagnosed with) I reckon I'd have been a candidate so no, teachers kids don't get special treatment in my case!

What is the reason for this? Is it because the teacher parents (or grandparents/relatives, for that matter), know how to teach or is it because they are able to find out about upcoming tests/similar tests or because they know the ins and outs of what is required to achieve certain grades (in line with the curriculum). Or both?

I've taught the children of several colleagues. None were exceptional. None were given the heads up about tests to a greater extent than anyone else I taught.

I'm a primary teacher and DH is secondary. One DC is naturally very academic. The other less so but still fairly able. At primary school I would say the greater advantages came when they were younger. I know how to teach phonics so could support with that. I knew the sort of motor skills, number skills activities etc that benefit early learners. I know the methods that are used to teach maths at school currently so I could support with that. Same with grammar and reading comprehension. We do do a lot of "cultural capital" activities but not necessarily more than many other parents.

The advantage is less than secondary. DH's subject is not taught at KS3 so doesn't have a direct influence on learning. He does however know many colleagues who do tutoring so that is also helpful if we ever need it. Also he knows the right questions to ask if an issue ever comes up. The older they get, though, the more needs to be done under their own steam.

And PP is right that our DC were always the ones in after-school club every day and who never had anyone at class assembly/sports day/school play.

No, OP, they don't have 'all the advantages'. They are probably more likely than average to be reasonably bright. They are more likely than average to have parents who value education and who are engaged with what their dc are doing at school. Than average. That's about it. Those advantages don't apply to all teachers' dc and apply to gazillions of kids whose parents aren't teachers. I've known lots of very averagely-achieving teachers' kids, and some with real issues at school.

One of my dc was fairly recently hassled quite a bit by older kids specifically about his dad, because dh worked at the same school our dc attend. So that's not an advantage.

By definition I'd their parents are teachers they are academic and therefore likely to be the ones reading every day to their children , extending them musically they are likely to have more acadenic vocabulary etc.

My mum was a maths teacher and taught at the secondary school both me and my brother went to (rural location)

Tbh it was shit! I suppose I did 'better' than some peers at school because I couldn't skip homework, school, muck about in class etc as it was immediately reported to my mum.

I was also bullied massively because of it. Maths wasn't a 'sexy' subject and that made me an easy target to the kids who didn't enjoy it / do well.

I would not call it an advantage at all.

My husband is a primary school teacher and we have a 7-year-old summer born. She has always struggled academically and as much as my husband tries to engage, she wants him to be dad, not teacher.

So I would say that she has zero advantages to having a parent who is a teacher. He works long hours, sometimes an entire day is devoted to work over a weekend. He doesn't do homework with her - he's got 30+ books to mark. He rarely gets to come to school events and very rarely manages to do pick up and drop off. Homeschooling during the pandemic was a nightmare - he was at school teaching key-worker children and our daughter was stuck with me, trying to work a 9-5 job and teach her (badly) at the same time. The only advantage she gets is holidays with dad. They have a lovely bond, so much so that I've told him he's not allowed to leave the teaching profession until she's a teenager!

I follow a woman on IG who is a teacher, and her young toddler is massively ahead in terms of milestones, but that's because she spends all day teaching her (via play) exactly like she would at school. She has the infinite patience and knowledge to play educational games etc - therefore her child is incredibly verbal, can spell their own name, can count, dress themselves, feed themselves with little mess etc. They have a strict no TV/Screen too.

I always wondered if when they start school they aren't terrifically bored?

I don't think it necessarily relates to "teachers", but children of professionals are more likely to do better academically: value education, role model (work/study hard to earn a good living), good habits at home (eg. reading) etc.

I'm the child of a teacher and I did very well at school, as did DSis. My parents valued education, obviously, and passed on a love of literature, history and other subjects to me. We used to talk about it at home. I grew up in a house full of books. They were always ready to help with homework if I was stuck - even if just to talk it through.

OH is also the son of teachers and he and his brother both did well at university. He isn't a teacher but I was and both DSs have PhDs now. They thrived at (comp) school and still have a love of reading. Our house was also full of books as are theirs now they have left home. They have a love of history from trips to NT places but both went the science and maths route at university.

DSis has a son who has autism. Because we are both teachers we identified this very early on and were able to support him and get the right sort of school for his needs.

Neither of my parents taught me and neither did I teach my DCs. Not a good idea. However, my parents knew a lot of my teachers so I was used to seeing them in a social setting. It also meant that I knew misbehaviour of the extreme kind would find its way back.

From the other side, I always worry that when my DD does well, one of my colleagues thinks I've helped her or even worse, shown her the test! She is autistic (well likely-going through assessment now) and is obsessed with my subject. She knows more about some aspects than me. So does extremely well in 'my' subject. I haven't taught her. She's read it all herself.

Other subjects vary. But I am hyper aware of her struggles so do ask my colleagues what I can do to support her. So I do suppose she has an advantage in that respect.

Due to her challenges, it's helped having me in school. But she replies too heavily on me for support when she does have a bad day. So jury is out on whether I've made the right decision. I expect when my youngest starts in a couple of years, she will avoid me as much as possible!

I was never Mary. Nor were my DC. Not that that proves anything. Starring roles in my DCs' plays were spread about tho the same lad in DS2's year was always the main role. His dad was a car salesman so :)

Agree.

Socially it's a nightmare for teachers' kids. I wonder if that contributes to them doing well academically... less distractions as well as parental expectations?