The work of children, Montessori believed, was their education—but education toward life, not education in a narrow, academic sense. Montessori even noted that given the opportunity to either work at these specially prepared tasks, or play with toys, the children generally chose to work. And as it turns out, the family is the first place that such work begins.

Whether you’re full of optimism or dread, one solution to making this school year count is to help your kids set their own back-to-school goals. We all know that goal-setting is important for adults: it is linked to greater self-confidence, autonomy, and motivation. For kids, the benefits of goal-setting are numerous. Working on their goals helps them to develop greater self-confidence and sense of self, and also improves their locus of control and strategic thinking and planning skills.

Your family is the first place to begin exploring art together. The books you read, pictures you color, movies you watch, and music you enjoy can all be a part of your artistic journey, especially if done intentionally. Since the days of the cave paintings of Lasaux, humankind has come together as a community over the creation of art. Make your family the first community where this happens, and then explore how your family’s community can begin to engage in the larger community around you.   

Families are the first place where we learn about the importance of civic engagement, and also things like mutual respect, informed participation, and civil debate. Participating together as a family in the civic process, having healthy but vigorous discussions about key issues, and promoting civic education is a key work of the family.

You may focus on serving needs outside your home, you may focus on meeting needs inside your home, or you may also combine seeming disparate careers and gifts into an income-generating family “side hustle.” All reports indicate that the side hustle is on the rise, with over 40% of full-time working adults saying they have an income-generating job outside of their main career. A side hustle could be a great way to unite a family that may seem to be pretty different.

The work of children, Montessori believed, was their education—but education toward life, not education in a narrow, academic-based sense. And as it turns out, the family is the first place that such work begins. This should bring comfort to millions of parents this fall, who remain slightly panic-stricken at the thought of supervising their own children’s education in a more involved way due to continued school closures and remote learning. But the truth is that the first and foremost indicator of student success is how involved the parents are.

One benefit of COVID-19 has been the opportunity that increasing numbers of parents have to work from home. For many, the new arrangement could be permanent. Entrepreneur recently published a story on 17 big companies now allowing extended or even permanent flexible work arrangements, including Google, Twitter, Uber, Square, Zillow, and REI. Certainly, working from home has its challenges, especially for those with very young children. But according to a recent Gallup poll, 59% of Americans still want to continue to work remotely “as much as possible” after the pandemic is over. This is an incredible opportunity for parents to invite their children into their work world. And why would you want to do that?