The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve - the best source of books

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Jesse Kornbluth “Head Butler” (New York) –

  

  

There are people on the national scene who reckon that that giving kids a head start on school is a terrible thought. They should be made to read Peg Tyre’s “The Excellent School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve.” They won’t, of course, but if you have young children or have children who have young children, I hope you will — it’s a chatty, non-theoretical tale of how our schools got to be testing-machines-so-the-states-get-federal-education-money and how, despite that, you can help your offspring get your hands on some book learning.

As Tyre tells it, early childhood education is a recent phenomenon. In the 1830s, an influential education warned that the “mental excitement” would over-stimulate children. In l930, only .09 per cent of young children attended nursery school. As late as the 1950s, only 16 per cent left their homes for school experiences.

It’s now generally agreed that, as Tyre writes, “the central building blocks of literacy must be laid down before kindergarten.” Fascinatingly, that means talking to kids — and having kids talk back. A four-year-ancient from a family of involved, certified parents has heard 45 million words. A working class kid: 26 million words. A welfare kid: 13 million. (Thanks to handheld devices, this is varying. And not for the surpass. So if you’re texting away even as your kid tries to tell you something particular to bore you — place the thing down!!!)

What’s more vital — a excellent teacher or a small class? Are audiobooks ok? Why are Asian kids such high-achievers? (Answer: It’s not because they’re smarter.) How much time in a school day is really devoted to learning? Does recess matter? Why is education so much surpass in South Korea and Finland? “The Excellent School” will tell all.

Peg Tyre is a mother. (Her last book, The Distress With Boys, is a smart blend of research and hard-won personal knowledge.) She’s not a certified educator. She’s as much of a resource as a splendid librarian or that teacher you’ll never forget. Use her.

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H. Larson (Oakland, CA) –

  

As Vice President of Outreach at LePort Schools in Orange County, CA, I hear from many parents how hard it is to choose a excellent school. All too often, families come to our school after trying one or numerous other schools, public or private, and life very disappointed. “If only I’d known back then what to look for and what questions to question”, is a sad refrain of parent comments.

There’s lots of excellent writing out there in this area what works in education, but what’s unique in this area this book is the combination of key research and parent anecdotes in an simple-to-use, matter-of-fact guide you can read in just a few hours.

As Mrs. Tyre writes, choosing a school is likely one of the most vital decisions you’ll ever make for your outcome. You owe it to yourself to be an educated consumer: it’s the only way you’ll be able to question the questions, and discern the difference between your school choices, before your outcome ends up at a school that doesn’t serve her well.

Once you read this book, do read the school’s web site, thoroughly. Question the tough questions Mrs. Tyre discusses. Meet the teachers, and engage them in a conversation in this area their background and the subjects they teach. Look at textbooks and other teaching materials. Request an extended classroom observation. Be critical, very critical: if you can’t know how the school works after doing this research, if the people you talk to don’t seem passionate and keen to work with you, if the answers you receive are not compelling (or if you aren’t invited to see inside the classroom or speak with teachers), that’s a red flag you should take seriously!

As someone at a private school who is in charge of educating parents in this area the difference between our school and other options, I like it when parents are educated and probe deeply before committing to our school. As Mrs. Tyre writes, “Administrators and teachers at excellent schools want you to question questions when you go on an Open House tour. They want you to have a sophisticated thought of what you should look for when you visit a classroom.”

I will recommend this book to our staff and potential parents, to help them make surpass, more informed school choices, and to educate themselves on one of the most vital decisions they’ll ever make.

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John B. Clements –

  

This book did its job well; it established a framework, it convinced me of its main points, and it was a very quick read. It has a chapter devoted to preschool, which (the author says) has a honestly different role to play than elementary school. It has chapters devoted to research on reading and mathematics, and I was satisfied by Ms. Tyre’s focus on research and what is shown to work worldwide. Moreover, as a teacher myself, I am acutely aware of the truth of Ms. Tyre’s assertions in this area the civilized detachment with which we treat teaching and teachers, saying “ah… that’s just his teaching style,” rather than “why are all of his students failing?”

After reading this book, I feel like I have numerous new lenses owing to which to evaluate my children’s teachers. Right now, I’m trying to work up the courage to question them where they all did their undergraduate work. I’m not sure I’m going to like the answers….

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