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.

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.