I just watched the second half of Fareed Zakaria’s CNN special on fixing American education, and I read his long piece in Time last week on the same topic. In his defense, he’s not an educator, and he’s a bit awestruck by famous faces. In the special, Bill Gates gets the most face time, and while he’s got good intentions , his foundation continues to spread a false gospel that poverty can be fully surmounted for all children through good teaching, and that closing the minority achievement gaps is easily in our reach, also through good teaching. This gospel originates from Michelle Rhee, former Washington, D.C., superintendent of schools and current media talking head. I just want to analyze one little piece of what she’s spouting, so you can see how unquestioning the media have become of education “reformers.”

When it comes to the “achievement gap” that exists between white test scores and those of African-Americans and other minorities (though, curiously, not Asians), Rhee believes that the gap can be erased in about five years of excellent teaching. Here’s her evidence: The top 20% of teachers (as judged by student test scores, a very unreliable way to grade teachers) take their students a few months more than one full year’s worth of achievement in one school year. On the other hand, the bottom 20% only take their kids ahead 7 or 8 months in a full school year. Therefore, she extrapolates, over about 5 years, the crippling gap between whites and most minorities can be completely erased if we just ensure that the minority students have excellent teachers. For you who don’t do math, don’t get glossy-eyed and give up here.  That’s as hard as the math gets.

First, understand that the “excellent” teachers Rhee likes to talk about are a very fluid group. The teachers whose students score in the top 20% one year are very likely to not be in that group next year, I guess meaning they’re no longer “excellent.” Meanwhile, among the dregs this year whose kids score in the bottom 20%, lots and lots of them won’t be in that category next year, and some will even magically become “excellent!”

But more importantly, though, let’s give Rhee the benefit of the doubt, and let’s agree that her analysis of the teachers is correct.  So, with good teaching, if a student can move ahead five extra months per year than they would have with poor teaching, can we really assume they’ll continue that same rate over five years? I play golf, and when I get on a hot streak and shoot 95 instead of my customary 100 (an improvement rate of 5 strokes per round), can I then assume I’m just five rounds away from shooting 70, and one more round beyond that from joining the PGA tour? If I can sprint 40 yards in 6 seconds (120 feet per second), is it fair then to assume that my time in the mile will be just 76 seconds, if I were to bother to actually try it?  Or intellectually, if I read an extra book per month, and my IQ score improves by a point, am I just a few hundred books away from making Stephen Hawking look a bit dim? I’ll challenge Michelle Rhee right now: Show me one kid, just one, who has made that journey and closed the gap in five school years, using just good teachers in a regular classroom in a regular school day, and I’ll write an apology to her.

So what’s the takeaway for parents with kids in the schools? The reformers make a lot of noise and get lots of media, but then frontier towns were captivated by snake-oil salesmen with their traveling wagons full of miracle cures!  There is, right now, a ton of money to be made in being a critic of the schools, because it plays on parents’ most basic fears for their children. Don’t give in to the panic.  In most schools, there is a good education to be had for those who want it. There are teachers who don’t give in to the pressure to pass kids on no matter what, teachers who bring their unique creative energy to their class every day and help their kids understand the world. Seek them out, make some noise, get your kid in their classes.  And then watch them achieve!

For those who wish to learn more, see Diane Ravitch’s book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Much of the basic data I used here is found in the book.

Is it possible a teenager could proudly say on September 12th "I don't care"?

Recently here in St. Louis, the mayor witnessed an attack that kids call “The Knockout King” game. For those that don’t know, basically a teen (usually encouraged by a group of friends) walks up to a completely unsuspecting adult (often much older and less physically able than the teen) and takes a haymaker swing at them. Our mayor, Francis Slay, helped the man who was attacked get help, and he has since had some harsh words for these kids.

In interviews with local media, the kids who will admit to having knowledge of these attacks will claim “boredom” as their number one reason such things happen. Many sociologists and child psychologists will chime in to agree with that, and they’ll speak of the need to create more recreational opportunities for the youth of our city. I suppose it’s an “idle hands” response to the problem: if the kids are busy at other “positive” things, they won’t have time to get into this kind of trouble.

I’m here to say that’s a load of garbage, and I’m pleased to say Mayor Slay is with me. He called these attacks what they are: felonious assaults that are almost sociopathic. Right you are, Mr. Mayor, but let me just add a consideration for all parents, not just those who would seem to be at risk of raising kids that would get involved in such a thing. What sociopaths lack is empathy, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and imagine how they would react in a certain situation. Let me give you a quick story about a teen without such empathy. On the day after the September 11th attacks, I wanted to hear what my students were thinking, but I was off first period. So I went into a colleague’s room and sat in on the discussion for the period. After a lot of the typical responses, a sullen boy in the back was called on by the teacher. “I don’t care. I didn’t know any of the people that were killed. It wasn’t my family.” Certainly I was shocked, not so much that he felt that way, but that he felt it was socially acceptable to say that out loud. It struck me as not just insensitive, but incredibly stupid, as if he and his family wouldn’t have been attacked that day, even if they’d been on the 100th floor of the trade center. To not understand that all Americans were targets that day was dense beyond my belief.

More interesting for us today, though, is his absolute lack of empathy. Everything I’ve read about empathy suggests that it is not a natural human emotion, and that we must be taught to have it. Raising my own children has confirmed this unfortunate truth. While lots of schools now have “character education” programs, their effectiveness is under much scholarly debate. I’ve taught two of them in my teaching days, and I find them to be useless, like teaching kids to get ready for college by studying the mascots. That leaves it to us, the parents. We must be the ones to teach our children this crucial requirement for civilization.

How can we do this, teach our kids to care for others as they care about themselves? There’s no prescription, but I would advise all of us to spend time with our kids talking about how our actions and attitudes affect those around us. Did your child get sent to the office today? Ask him how the teacher or the principal probably felt during these situations. Did you two walk or drive past a beggar on the street? Ask her what state her life would have to be in to be willing to beg like that. Do they watch of lot superhero-type movies and TV shows, with clear-cut good and evil? Get them to watch the occasional drama with nuanced characters, and then discuss their reaction to it.  The big idea here is that we don’t have to wait until our child does something that seems thoughtless or cruel to try to teach them empathy; in fact, when we have to punish them for such behavior, it’s probably not the best time to teach. Empathy is something we can teach all the time, just by what’s around us constantly in our daily lives.

This principal wants what you want: whatever is best for your child. Be sure all the adults in your child's life are informed of problems, and maintain a united front with these professionals.

By Lisa Hummel

As parents, we’ve probably all found ourselves in situations where we were concerned about something going on at school (or something our children have told us was going on at school) and been unsure about whether and how to speak up about it.  Having had this occur often lately with my own children, I’ve been mulling over the most effective way to be an advocate for my children.  I’ve found that there can be a fine line between being an advocate and being a pest.  I do try not to be a pest or to micro-manage my kids’ education, yet it is my responsibility to see to it that their educational needs are being met as well as possible.

The worst example I can think of when a parent  did not advocate for her child was when I was teaching high school science .  A freshman girl in the English teacher’s room next to mine said she didn’t feel very well.  Thinking she was nauseous, he sent her down the hall to the bathroom.  What she meant, though, was that she had a seizure coming on.  She left as she was told and had that seizure on the hard stone stairs on her way down to the nurse, unaccompanied by anyone.  This could have resulted in a severe injury, but luckily it did not.  It turns out that this girl, new to the school like every other freshman student, was subject to frequent violent seizures and nobody informed the teachers.  This was a dangerous situation in which her parents should have made sure that all the adults who were responsible for her knew about this problem.  In a case as serious as this, parents needed to make sure all the teachers were made aware.  Don’t assume that school personnel have passed on information, especially if your child is in a new school or class.

An excellent example of parent advocacy for a child with special health needs happened when I was teaching at a summer camp.  The mom knew that we had no nurse, and she made sure we knew her child had a severe food allergy.  She was apologetic about it, but she asked for a meeting with me and the camp director to discuss the allergy, including the child’s use of an epi-pen if needed.  This mom actually took the time to show us how to use the pen, letting us practice stabbing it into an apple to get the feel for it.  It may sound silly, but as a teacher who is not a trained health professional, I was very appreciative of this mother’s proactive efforts.  Happily, we never needed the epi-pen, but I was very comfortable having this student in my class, knowing I was prepared for a possible emergency.

Of course, if we’re lucky, it is not about severe health problems that we worry when it comes to our kids at school.  Rather, we find ourselves concerned with academics, discipline, and social issues.  We may think our child has too much homework, or not enough, or is being teased or distracted.  Maybe the curriculum in our children’s school is inadequate or the discipline is too lax.  Whatever the case, I’ve met many parents who have concerns like these but are afraid to say anything about them.  Maybe they feel that if they “rock the boat,” their child will be retaliated against for it.  I suppose that’s not impossible, but I have found that when I bring up a concern, school administrators and teachers are generally receptive and interested in improving the situation.  They want good outcomes for their students, and constructive feedback parents give them is usually appreciated, especially when it is given in a respectful manner.

When I have an issue with a teacher or principal, I of course try to keep it just between the adults, not involving my child in any way that would sow seeds of discord or disrespect in the classroom.  As far as the kids know, the school and their parents are a united front.  Kids need to show respect for people in authority and to understand that even decisions they don’t like may not be theirs to make.  Before I had kids of my own, I remember a student telling me what her wise parents told her and her siblings: “You do what the teacher says, and if there’s a problem, you come home and tell me, and I’ll deal with it.”  So while these parents knew teachers weren’t infallible, they also wanted their kids to learn in no uncertain terms that it was not their role to argue with their teachers.  Those students got the message that they were to be respectful, but also that their parents would stand up for their interests.  Parents like these were mature enough to get both sides of the story and make their objections in a constructive manner.  Parents who don’t get good results from this should follow the chain of command, starting with the teacher but moving on to the principal, superintendent, and school board if necessary.

Finally, being an advocate for our children doesn’t stop at the individual needs of each child.  As a society, we must advocate for effective education for all the children in our collective care.  If something happening in your school or district (even if your own children go to a private school) seems detrimental to the kids’ education, pay attention.  Go to a school board meeting, write an e-mail, make a phone call, and make your voice heard.  I think sometimes the school board only hears the voices of the central office administrators, but when these people are making decisions that harm the students, such as taking away recess or a treasured music program, parents and community members need to speak up.  We are the taxpayers and the voters who put the school boards in place, and we need to be watchdogs for our children.  Let the school board and others know when you like what they’re doing, thanking them for their public service, and also let them know when their decisions harm kids.  Ignoring problems when they don’t directly affect your own child doesn’t help.  As a society, especially in our struggling economy, we need the best-educated people we can get.

My bigger concern, though, is the belief permeating education today that technology is the holy grail of learning. So to make room for more tech in our classrooms, we’ll get rid of spelling tests and penmanship, we’ll send laptops home and dump the textbooks, and we’ll ask kids to “create” knowledge instead of expecting them to master and apply what they’ve learned in class.  Now I’ll be the first to admit it; technology is seductive and sexy. I’m writing this on a new laptop, and I LOVED the whole process of acquiring it! I love my plasma HDTV, my smartphone, and the huge ipod I’ve got in my car, holding what used to be on about 100 CDs. They are truly awesome, and make my daily life better in numerous ways.

But I think back to what must have been the first school–Socrates under an olive tree talking with Plato. (For all you Greek historians, it’s SPA, isn’t it, not SAP?) What’s the key element there? A teacher communicating to a student. Human interaction. Since before I’ve gotten into education, technology promised to improve the teachers that existed, and even bring the great teachers to more students. Anyone remember the closed-circuit movement? There were going to be hundreds of classrooms in many cities, hooked up to one great teacher. The kids would have the ability to buzz in and ask questions. Many such classes were conducted, but the idea never took off. With no human interaction, little learning takes place. Now they’re promising us the same thing with online classes, but the limitations are the same. (I’ve taken online classes before, and they require one vital thing from the learner: self-motivation. How many school-age kids would you consider “self-motivated”?)

Now, of course, we want to put a laptop in every kid’s hands and a smartboard in every classroom, and we expect to see great results. I’ll say it again: Education is the human interaction between a teacher and a student. The rest is bells and whistles. And believe me, I love bells and whistles. I’ve conducted one lesson on a smart board, and it was great! The smartboard made it better. But can it turn a bad teacher into a good one? No. A good teacher into a great one? No. A creatively-stifled teacher into an enthusiastic one? Of course not. You want better education in your kids’ schools, then focus on the teachers, not on their tools. And when a principal, superintendent, or school board is trying to sell technology to you as anything more than a tool for good teachers, don’t trust ‘em. My car, TV, refrigerator, and computer all make my life better. None of them make me happier, and none of them make me think better.

How likely is your child to ever play in front of paying fans?

I’m not just a teacher, parent of a student-athlete, and a sports fan, but I’m also a high school referee for soccer, so I’ve got lots of competing perspectives on this topic. I’m going to focus here on what parents should know about student athletics, and a few do’s and don’ts. In a later post, I’ll give my referee’s perspective on parent behavior at the games, as that’s not a commonly-heard view. But for today, let’s stick to the athletes themselves.

First, do NOT plan on your little athlete making money playing sports for a living, or even for attaining a college scholarship. I read somewhere (if anyone knows where I can find this stat, please let me know, as I’ve looked in vain) that only about 1% of high school athletes go on to play at college, and of those only 1% will ever get paid a single dollar to play in a professional sport, even semi-pro small-town baseball, much less in the majors! And for those who do have the talent to possibly go further, lots can get in the way. Injuries, of course, but also academics, loss of passion for their sport, even the development of poor character and judgment. By way of example, I did the math one time for my students at Riverview Gardens High School, and showed that they could expect a professional athlete to come out of their school about every 10-15 years. And, I pointed out, when I was new, two football players were there who eventually made it to the NFL for a while, so the odds were even more against them! In short, if your kid likes sports, great. If s/he’s good at it, even better. Enjoy it for what it is.

Second, along those lines, do NOT think that better coaching, officiating, etc., is going to turn your kid into a professional athlete. Different sports look for different things in their players: size, quickness, toughness, strength, agility, passion, and other unquantifiable qualities that we have no control over. To take the classic “Michael-Jordan-got-cut-from-his-high-school-basketball-team” story and reverse it, Michael Jordan was so good that better judges of raw talent found him; I believe he was destined to be a professional basketball player, no matter what his high school basketball program did to him.

Third, and this goes for all parents of all athletes of any age, use the sport to teach about commitment. I’m sure there doesn’t exist an athlete who hasn’t dreaded the occasional practice, made a game when they really wanted to be somewhere else, or even had a team they wanted to quit. Even at the youngest levels, be sure your child understands what commitment to a team means BEFORE you sign them up for a sport, and then expect them to follow through on that commitment. Obviously, commitment grows more serious as your child gets older, and there are often good reasons to miss practices and even games, but don’t let them out of a practice or a team activity “just because.” Otherwise, they won’t really get the lessons of team sports–sign them up for tennis or golf, instead.

Fourth, GO TO THE GAMES AS THEY GET OLDER (sorry for yelling). First, the action gets much better, and it’s a lot more entertaining to be a fan. But second, if your kid is playing ball in middle or high school, they’re doing it because they love it. How many other things does your tween and teen allow you to watch them do that they love, and that they do with their friends? Also, seeing 20-30 high school kids give their all on the field in front of five fans (I see that a lot in soccer) is just sad. They’ll be gone sooner than you know–wouldn’t it be great to talk about that awesome play they made over dinner that evening? I know, a lot of high school game times are inconvenient for working adults; make the ones you can. Make it a priority.

Finally, and this goes back to point one, keep your perspective about it all. Our kids (even the teens) do look to us for guidance on attitudes and behavior, so if you keep the sport in its proper place (behind homework and academics, ahead of video games), it’ll help them do so as well.

Report cards used to be very simple. Is all the new data we get on our kids all that helpful?

I know progress reports are going to start coming out at the end of this week and into next week for some schools here in St. Louis, so let me take a few minutes and tell you what they mean to teachers.

First, don’t forget that teachers know how interested you are in their child’s progress, and they generallly do their best on any kind of report that’s sent home to you, including these very short-term reports that come at the halfway point of each quarter. That said, though, for middle and high school teachers, progress reports are undoutedly the LEAST important communication they’ll have with you all year. In a lot of classes, especially for those schools on some kind of block schedule, tests are given about once every three weeks, so each progress report will only have one test reflected in the grade, and that often turns out to be a very incomplete picture of what will eventually be the quarter grade. Historically, quarter grades were just “progress reports” themselves; don’t most of us have high school transcripts that reflect only semester grades?

For elementary teachers, progress reports are easier to compile; that’s the nature of having 20-30 students vs. 100-130 students. But parents should rest assured that if your child is having trouble in the class (that extends outside the norms of the class and the school), you almost certainly will have been contacted in some form by the teacher or adminstrator. These forms of contact can take the form of a phone call or e-mail, but might also include an office referral for behavioral issues, or a test being sent home for a parent’s signature.

The truth, though, about progress reports is that most teachers find them to be a pain, particularly in this new era of computer-generated report cards. While they usually look just like regular report cards, they have little weight compared to a quarter grade, much less the permanent semester grade. Also, where previously only kids in “trouble” would receive a progress report, now everybody gets one, and many schools require teachers to put a comment on it for each kid. This leads to teachers having a rack of 5-10 generic comments (whose computer input codes they’ve memorized) that they then apply to every child, no matter how meaningless. Because really, progress reports just get in the way of what teachers want to do with their planning time: plan better lessons to teach our kids more effectively!

One last thought. Good tests (with short answer and even essay questions) and projects take time to grade, sometimes weeks to give each student their fair due. These often get graded at the end of quarters, and have a huge impact on the final grade, and they aren’t reflected on the progress report. So take the progress report with a grain of salt. And if you really want to keep up with your child’s grades, get on your school’s parent access list, and you can see the teacher’s gradebook right in front of you. Be concerned when you see zeros for homework, and test scores much lower than your child’s natural aptitude. That’s going to tell you that your child’s not putting the effort in they need to be successful.

Any dropouts in Houston, Secretary Paige? "I see nut-sing! Nut-sing at all!""

We all know that No Child Left Behind is extremely unpopular with teachers and administrators, particularly in schools that serve lower socio-economic students. These schools fell victim to the draconian “corrections” NCLB  mandates more quickly than those with stable middle-class and upper middle-class families, and the pressure on them has been intense. For those who don’t know, NCLB required a continual increase in the test scores of groups and sub-groups (income levels, races, special education status, etc.), until 2014, at which point every school in the land would have all of its sub-groups performing proficiently, at least. This comical goal, reminiscent of Lake Woebegone’s promises of nothing but above-average children, was nevertheless embraced by the poorest and (surprise, surprise) lowest-performing schools in the country. Much of this embrace was based on belief in the so-called “Houston Miracle.”

Rod Paige served as superintendent of Houston’s public schools, overseeing the miracle. What exactly was this miracle? In some of the poorest high schools in the city, with a heavily transient population (including kids who would head back to their native Mexico, never to be heard from again), for several years there were ZERO dropouts reported. Most urban high schools have a dropout rate of 20-40%, and heading higher all the time, and in these Houston schools freshman classes of 1000 were graduating 300, but still there were NO dropouts. Amazing! In Houston at the time, those leaving school were coded, and the “unknown” (dropout) code was essentially forbidden. So every student that left school “officially” transferred to another high school, moved on to community college, was pursuing a GED, or … or … well, I don’t know, but I’m sure they had a good explanation for where that student had gone.

So how do you get educators, people who chose to forego economic rewards and social status and dedicate their lives to helping kids, to falsify data like this? You scare the living hell out of them! (I’ll discuss how that fear has infected the entire system, and cost schools great teachers, and some great teachers their jobs, in a later posting)

Now, all of this would just be a sad little story of one man’s over-zealous abuse of power in one school system, but for this important fact. Rod Paige, superintendent of Houston public schools during the falsifying of most of this data, and during most of George W. Bush’s governership of Texas, was President Bush’s selection for Education Secretary! He planned to bring the “Houston Miracle” to poor schools across the country. He sold himself to the president and to Senator Ted Kennedy, co-authors of NCLB, as a butt-kicking CEO that brought needed focus and discipline to those lazy teachers and principals in Houston schools, and convinced them that a new law doing the same would turn urban education around. For those paying attention to urban education, how’s it all working out?

What kills me is that when this dropout scandal was reported in the mainstream media, it didn’t really enter the educational discussion. Paige survived in his job (he later retired under no evident pressure), and NCLB survived as well, to terrorize an entire generation of educators, and making liars and cheaters out of a huge number of them. Meanwhile, the kids in those schools continue to suffer from the rapid turnover of staff and “reforms” NCLB has forced on them.

For more specifics, check out this article from “Rethinking Schools”: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bushplan/drop181.shtml

My 5^th grade son was working on his math homework the other day, and I noted that his knowledge of basic multiplication facts was a little rusty after a long summer vacation.  It was really slowing him down.  I said that if I give him a problem like 8 x 7, he should instantly know the answer.  I suggested that maybe we needed to work on flashcards at home for a while again.  He naturally said this would be a waste of time, because he’d rather go play, so I found myself explaining to him what I thought was obvious, but maybe it isn’t.  Here’s what I told him:

As a high school science teacher for 15 years now, I have seen the sad and frustrating results of people who never really memorized their basic arithmetic facts when they’re young.  In physical science, chemistry, or physics, we often find ourselves setting up multi-step problems to solve for a velocity, density, acceleration, or any number of physical quantities.  I have seen many students who can set up the problems expertly using the formulas I taught them, but they are agonizingly slow when it comes to getting the right answer.  Now one could argue, as my son did, that you could just use a calculator.  But the truth is you don’t always have one with you, or it may not work.  These situations should not handicap you.  And whether you’re trying to find a calculator, or struggling to work a basic arithmetic problem by hand, it is easy to lose sight of the original problem you were trying to solve.

I used an analogy to reading.  What if every time you came across an unfamiliar word, your decoding skills were so inadequate that it took you a really long time to figure out what that single word was, or you had to rely on a machine to decode it for you?  Pretty soon you’d lose the meaning of the original sentence or paragraph you were trying to decipher.  It’s the same with mathematical and scientific problem solving.  If you’re struggling with the multiplication and division, it’s really hard to understand the larger implications of the multi-step calculation.

Maybe the lack of emphasis on memorization grew out of the 60’s counterculture, where anything that smacked of uncritical, unthinking, blind knowledge was rejected.  An overemphasis on memorization at the expense of critical thinking is certainly not desirable.  But I’ve seen the pendulum swing too far the other way, to where memorizing the most basic facts is seen as unworthy of the time of elementary students and teachers.  The consequences of this rejection are crippling when students reach middle and high school.

But it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation.  A good teacher or math tutor will help a student understand what it means to multiply or add, and s/he will also insist that students master their math facts with instant recall, just as a good reading teacher or tutor will make sure that students instantly know the sounds letters make.  Fortunately, this is not hard.  A young child’s mind is like a sponge.  It was made for memorization.  That’s why it’s so much easier to learn a new language when we’re young.  And while an adult might find memorization dull and tedious (maybe because we were raised in or after that 60’s counterculture, and because our brains are different), a young child can find it gratifying and even fun.  It can be made into a game or a song, and the child knows concretely how much s/he is learning, which builds true pride and self-esteem.  Think about the ABC’s, counting songs and games, rhymes to learn the months of the year, etc. Children eat that stuff up.  Even much-disdained flashcards can lead to friendly competition with oneself or a classmate.

Children should and can successfully memorize important facts.  Parents and teachers must insist that they do.  And we shouldn’t let them reach for the calculator when it is a problem that they should know the answer to faster than it takes them to punch it into the keypad.  Even if a child never studies math and science beyond high school, s/he will need basic math skills to be an informed shopper and educated citizen.  And now I need to stop typing and go get out the flashcards.

Whether minivan, SUV, or just a regular car, use the carpool time to get to know your kids better.

By Lisa Hummel

Because my 10 year-old is in a special educational program that doesn’t provide bus transportation, I find myself in the car with him a lot. Thankfully, after 40 minutes in the car together every school day for 2 years, another student who lives near us joined the program, and we now carpool.  But whether I’m driving him alone or with his classmate, I find that this time can be an important part of our day together.  Rather than a burden twice a day, it’s a time that helps us communicate about what he’s learning and doing at school.  When things get busy in our family, it may be one of the few times we have to talk uninterrupted.

In the morning, the drive to school is a chance to remind my son of things he needs to work on or remember that day.  Expectations like being responsible, respectful, and polite at school, or dealing with conflicts wisely can be discussed in the car and set the stage for the school day.  We can also discuss plans for after school activities and appointments, so he knows what to expect later.  “Don’t let me forget…” is how I often begin these reminders.  (That’s not just a convenient segue either; as they’ve gotten older, my kids really do help me remember things we need to do.  I’m a bit forgetful!) Once his friend gets in the car, it’s a chance for them to catch up with each other, which usually involves quite a bit of banter and (mostly playful) teasing.  When it’s time to drop them off, I always step out of the car for a quick hug.  I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to get that each morning!

At pick-up time, the question, “How was school today?” as soon as the kids get in the car doesn’t usually get the most enlightening response.  One kid might use it as an opportunity to tell me something bad the other did.  Or I’ll get that famous answer, “Fine.”  If I start the conversation by telling the kids about my day or something I learned or did, they’re more willing to share what they did.  That also keeps it from becoming an interrogation rather than a conversation.  Specific requests like, “Tell me what you did in P.E. today,” or “Who did you play with at recess?” usually get an enthusiastic description about something positive that happened at school.  After the positive, we can move on to the more problematic queries, such as “Do you have a lot of homework tonight?” and “How did you do on your social studies test?”  My son knows that school is important to me and that I care about what he is doing there, because I find out something about it every school day.

We don’t believe in having a DVD player in our car (too much screen time), so for entertainment our sons read while we drive.  My 10 year-old usually keeps several books, magazines, and/or comic books in the car.  He and his carpooling friend LOVE to read, so after the conversations about school, that’s how they pass the time.  If your child doesn’t get car sick from reading, this can be a great time for daily pleasure reading, especially after a day of mostly being told what to read.  Nothing strengthens reading skills and vocabulary like just spending time reading, especially if a child is reading something s/he enjoys.

On the other hand, I remember my grandfather telling me as a child that it’s always important to look around and see what’s new in the world.  So I will occasionally interrupt the two voracious readers in the backseat to point out a plane taking off from the airport, an interesting rock garden, a hawk circling overhead, or the dancing Statue of Liberty that wants to do my taxes.  I think this helps the kids to enjoy the scenery and take an interest in their community and the environment around them.  Additionally, it makes them aware of where things are, which they’ll need when they begin to drive.

So while I don’t really enjoy driving back and forth each day, as I’m sure most carpooling parents don’t, at least it’s not wasted time.  It can be valuable time spent with my child, time that can support and enhance his education in several ways.  As our days get busier, it becomes a precious time to touch base and communicate.  And of course once the kids get out of the car, I can blare some music on my radio and sing like a fool as I head home or to work.

Home schooling is how it all started...some of its lessons are eternal.

By Lisa Hummel

I’m a teacher and mother who got fed up with the unreasonable and unprofessional demands in the schools where I was working.  I was fortunate enough to be able to leave the public schools for a part time position teaching at a home school cooperative.  The program has expanded and enrollment has grown over the five years it has been in operation, and I am still happily teaching there while I raise my two sons.  When I began, I knew no home schoolers.  I just had the vague impression that they were a kind-of-wacky fringe group.  But now that I am a longstanding member of their educational community, I would like to share some lessons that I think we all could learn from them, lessons that will make us better parents and make our children better students.

1. Value and appreciate your child’s teachers.  How many of us, as parents, take the time to let our kids’ teachers know we appreciate the time and effort they put into teaching our children?  And how many of our children are taught to thank their teachers?  At the last two high schools where I taught, maybe a handful of students would have a kind word for me at the end of class, or before a break.  Maybe a couple would give me a Christmas card or wish me a good summer.  It was much more likely that students would curse at me or say something rude.  This was the antagonistic culture at those schools.  I am a professional, so I did my job as best I could and tried to focus on the positives.  But I am also human, so this lack of gratitude was certainly demotivating.

How much more motivating is it to have a group of home schooled teenagers say “Thank you!” at the end of class?  Or when I receive an e-mail from a parent that ends with an appreciation for what I do?  I was bowled over when my high school students brought me treats, cards, and gifts at Christmas time my first year teaching home schoolers.  Home schooling parents know how hard a job it is to teach, because they’re doing it themselves every day, so they naturally appreciate what we teachers do.  We should all model and teach gratitude towards our children’s teachers through our words and actions.  It doesn’t have to cost anything.  The most precious gifts are those made by students, or just their words of thanks.

2. You are your child’s most important teacher.  Home school parents know this, but it’s true for all of us.  You know your child.  You know his or her likes, dislikes, interests, and friends.  Your child is home more than s/he is at school.  You know what motivates your child, and you have the power to use this knowledge to encourage your child to do what he or she needs to do.  You teach by example every day.  You teach your child about values, health, relationships, communication, and the things that interest you and spark your passion.  We have to take this responsibility seriously and realize that our children are learning from us all the time, at every age of their development.  Are we teaching them what we want them to learn by our words and examples?

3. Question educational reforms and practices.  There is a lot of untested nonsense out there that passes for research-based educational reform.  But when you look into the research it’s based on, you find that the reforms as they’re put into practice are not really supported by the research.  I don’t know if this is because schools of education have lowered their standards, or because there is so much pressure to find shortcuts to good education that people will try anything.  Whatever the cause, don’t be afraid to question school boards, administrators, and teachers, when you see them trying tactics that don’t seem to be working for your child.  Our children are not guinea pigs.  Some people who home school do so because they would rather rely on tried and true methods of education than subject their children to endless experimentation.  We can’t all home school, but we can be a voice for reason and caution in our school communities.

4. Be actively involved with your child’s education.  We all have 24 hours in the day.  As parents, how much of that day do we spend trying to teach and shape our children intellectually and socially?  We need to turn off the T.V. and get off the phone and read with our children.  We need to be available to help our children with homework and school projects.  I know home school families that have up to 10 children, where the parents still find time to check their children’s papers, take them to classes once a week, and involve them in programs like scouting, drama clubs, and music lessons.  They also take their children to museums, the zoo, and other educationally enriching places often.  We have to make this a high priority.  

5. Your child is responsible for his or her own work.  Parents who home school teach their children to be self-directed and take responsibility for their work and learning.  I have never had a home school parent blame me when a child did not get his or her work done, or when a child didn’t immediately grasp a course concept.  But this attitude occurred all the time in the public school.  If a child wasn’t interested enough to work hard, it was my fault in the public school.  This attitude will not serve students well in college or at work.  We must teach our children to take responsibility for what is ultimately their own future.

6. Invest in your child’s education.  Home school parents know that their children’s education is a precious investment of time and treasure.  They believe this so strongly that they make great financial sacrifices, usually giving up one parent’s salary, to give the kids what they believe is the best education for them.  Then they spend money on curriculum materials, lessons, and classes at weekly learning centers when necessary to provide expertise they may not have.  A good education is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children as they grow up in our families.  As our economy may be heading into a second decline in this predicted double dip recession, we need to recognize that money for a tutor or private school, or time spent helping a child with math homework are some of the best long-term investments we can make.

I am so grateful to the home school community in St. Louis for all I have learned from them.  Even though I left the public schools, I feel more like a real teacher now than I did before, and I’m a better parent as well.  As parents, we are all teachers, and our homes are all places of learning for our children.