Book Review: The Good School by Peg Tyre

 

Well our kids are all out of school this week for the county fair (I know, lucky them), so I thought it would be a great time for some 'educational' book reviews! 

Synopsis:  We all know that the quality of education served up to our children in U.S. schools ranges from outstanding to shockingly inadequate. How can parents tell the difference? And how do they make sure their kids get what's best? Even the most involved and informed parents can feel overwhelmed and confused when making important decisions about their child's education. And the scary truth is that evaluating a school based on test scores and college admissions data is like selecting a car based on the color of its paint. 


Synthesizing cutting-edge research and firsthand reporting, Peg Tyre offers parents far smarter and more sophisticated ways to assess a classroom and decide if the school and the teacher have the right stuff. Passionate and persuasive, The Good School empowers parents to make sense of headlines; constructively engage teachers, administrators, and school boards; and figure out the best option for their child—be that a local public school, a magnet program, a charter school, homeschooling, parochial, or private.

About the Author: Until recently, a senior writer at Newsweek specializing in social trends and education, Peg has won numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, a Clarion Award, and a National Education Writers Association Award. She lives in New York City with her husband, novelist Peter Blauner, and their two sons.


Review:  This is a super book to have BEFORE you make a decision on where you want your child to be in school, if you have a choice! It is really helpful to know about the changes in school, what to look for and after your child is in the school, what to keep an eye on. Chapters included, and my highlights from each are:

• The Preschool Scramble- if your child LIKES their preschool teacher(s), they are more likely to enter Kindergarten with a positive outlook toward school,  making them more apt to make new social relationships and have a good relationship with their new teacher. This in turn predict success during the elementary school years. Who knew? Good preschools are those that develop critical skills thru speaking, listening and open-ended conversations. The skills are broken down into chunks that kids can manage and are done so in fun activities and 'play', to strengthen what has been learned.
• Testing- Did you know standardized tests are pulled from the lower part of the middle range of what kids can do by grade level? Not encouraging is it? Hence, they are only a SINGLE measure of what is being taught at a school. If a school bases everything on the, you SHOULD be worried, as you kids are not getting a complete education for their grade level!
• Class Size-for elementary kids, a good class size is 13-17 kids. Over that it makes no difference, until you get to 25. Even with a teacher's aide, 25 is too many kids for good interaction between teacher and students. If you think about, it makes total sense. You want your kids to be able to ask questions and discuss topics- it's how we entrench learning!
• Reading- the one CRUCIAL element of your child's education. If they are not learning steadily, you need to take action. ANY delay may cause a domino effect and keep your child from advancing when they should. The best way for children to learn to read is a balance of phonic and whole language learning. Kindergartners should be consonant sounds and short vowel sounds in isolation. By first grade, they should be learning to blend sounds and sound out words. By switching to whole language/word learning then, kids start reading by whole words and generally surpass other readers who stuck to strictly phonics. In Kiddo's school they do the phonics in pre-K, and a combo during Kindergarten, so by 1st grade they are on whole language. I was very impressed with the balance and am glad they do it this way.

        By second grade, you need to immerse your child with the printed word. Continue to
        read together, get them a library card and take them to check out books THEY want 
        to read, even cartoon books and magazines can be incentive to read, test them on 
        vocabulary words and share about books with them. It will encourage them to love 
        reading!

• Mathematics- You SHOULD start math concepts with your child when they are very young. Even the simple one apple plus another makes two will help start them on a good learning path! Preschoolers and kindergartners SHOULD have math concepts on a daily basis! By elementary level, their math education should be in an orderly, coherent arc of learning. if it isn't, question the school! The most important thing? YOUR attitude about math! Yes, what YOU say about math to kids influences how hard your child will work on it. So if you can't help them at a certain level, be honest, say you wish you could, and get them help. SHOW them how important it is! It can influence their learning in other subjects!
• The Right Balance- we may not want to admit it, but in today's world, a year round based school year is more effective for most kids. As long as a good balance of education and free time (recess) is given to keep kids actively involved in their learning. Too many days off or concentration on non-educational matters, CAN cause more harm than good. Leave homework activities for homework, and let kids LEARN in the classroom.
• Teaches Matter- Good teachers should be certified through their state, have an advanced educational degree, have some experience, should be highly verbal (speak clearly and often in the classroom) and be from the top third of their college (sad but true, the better educated the teacher, the better they tend to teach).Good schools should work to develop and retain great teachers, as well as have mentoring and evaluation programs, to help new teachers be more proficient (and we're not talking about a 1 day class every 3 months!).
• The Perfect School- It is a myth and doesn't truly exist, and it isn't necessarily needed. Good schools who are working to be better should be our goal. By being an INFORMED PARENT, you can help make your child's school better, by knowing what to look for and demand.

This is a great resource book and I highly recommend it for ALL parents! Even if your kids are already in elementary school, read it and make sure your school is functioning at a level it should be.We all want the best for our kids, so why not start with their school, where the bulk of their education comes from? Back it up with supportive, and fun learning at home, and your child WILL succeed!






Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from the Henry Holt and Company, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.