Teachable Moments

If you ever want to draw me into a heated discussion, you need only to assail teachers, schools, and caregivers for students' poor performance. I'm touchy about this topic because I find it incredible how often in the the "discussion" of students' performance, parents are left out of the equation. Somehow children's first teachers in life, the people who spend the most time with children, perhaps the most influential people in children's lives, are given a free pass in many discussion about educating children. What's more, I'm shocked at how few times educators correct the situation by pointing out how more important parents and home life are than the influence of teachers and schools.

I've always thought that a concerned parent would take note of what a child is studying in school and use everyday situations to point out how practical the information is, particularly in early childhood education. For the younger ones, a game of pointing out colors and shapes is so easy. I suspect the game would have less to do with learning and more to do with quality interaction.

In any case, follow the link below to a story I found on the Freakanomics Blog. Freakanomics is a highly readable books about economics of everyday things with chapters as "Why do Drug Dealers Live With Their Moms" and "What Makes A Perfect Parent." Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics have started a blog, which I check fairly often.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/