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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As much of a resource as that teacher you'll never forget., August 16, 2011
This review is from: The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve (Hardcover)
There are people on the national scene who think that that giving kids a head start on school is a bad idea. They should be made to read Peg Tyre's "The Good 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 story 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 acquire 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." Interestingly, that means talking to kids --- and having kids talk back. A four-year-old from a family of involved, professional parents has heard 45 million words. A working class kid: 26 million words. A welfare kid: 13 million. (Thanks to handheld devices, this is changing. And not for the better. So if you're texting away while your kid tries to tell you something certain to bore you --- put the thing down!!!)
What's more important --- a good 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 actually devoted to learning? Does recess matter? Why is education so much better in South Korea and Finland? "The Good School" will tell all.
Peg Tyre is a mother. (Her last book, The Trouble With Boys, is a smart blend of research and hard-won personal knowledge.) She's not a professional educator. She's as much of a resource as a great librarian or that teacher you'll never forget. Use her.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wish all parents who tour our school would read this book!, September 11, 2011
This review is from: The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve (Hardcover)
As Vice President of Outreach at LePort Schools in Orange County, CA, I hear from many parents how difficult it is to choose a good school. All too often, families come to our school after trying one or several other schools, public or private, and being very disappointed. "If only I'd known back then what to look for and what questions to ask", is a sad refrain of parent comments.
There's lots of good writing out there about what works in education, but what's unique about this book is the combination of key research and parent anecdotes in an easy-to-use, practical guide you can read in just a few hours.
As Mrs. Tyre writes, choosing a school is likely one of the most important decisions you'll ever make for your child. You owe it to yourself to be an educated consumer: it's the only way you'll be able to ask the questions, and discern the difference between your school choices, before your child ends up at a school that doesn't serve her well.
Once you read this book, do read the school's web site, thoroughly. Ask the tough questions Mrs. Tyre discusses. Meet the teachers, and engage them in a conversation about 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 understand how the school works after doing this research, if the people you talk to don't seem passionate and eager 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 about the difference between our school and other options, I love it when parents are educated and probe deeply before committing to our school. As Mrs. Tyre writes, "Administrators and teachers at good schools want you to ask questions when you go on an Open House tour. They want you to have a sophisticated idea 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 better, more informed school choices, and to educate themselves on one of the most important decisions they'll ever make.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fast and to the point, September 9, 2011
This review is from: The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve (Hardcover)
This book did its job well; it established a framework, it convinced me of its main points, and it was a very fast read. It has a chapter devoted to preschool, which (the author says) has a fairly different role to play than elementary school. It has chapters devoted to research on reading and mathematics, and I was pleased 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 about 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 several new lenses through which to evaluate my children's teachers. Right now, I'm trying to work up the courage to ask them where they all did their undergraduate work. I'm not sure I'm going to like the answers....
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