I have often said — normally out of frustration — that someday I am going to start a new national advocacy effort to get parents to talk to their children. The idea first occurred to me on a Washington, DC metro ride. I sat across from a parent with her little boy, who was no more than 5, and watched — first with curiosity, and then increasingly with concern — as the clearly inattentive parent ignored the questions of her bright, intuitive child who was peppering her with questions about his surroundings and how to say words he was clearly trying to read. She never answered, never focused, and as I watched with increasing horror and concern, the boy eventually stopped and looked dejected. I’ve seen this too many times to count.
I quipped, to my family, many of those times that I wanted to print and distribute small business size cards in the event of similar situations in the future, saying “Talk to your child – it will help him learn!”
Fifteen years later I’m still talking about it. Peg Tyre, meanwhile, has put words into action, and not just about the scientific value of words and engagement with children, but the value of knowing and influencing what it is education can be as your child moves into schooling at all levels.
In her incredibly brilliant and clearly written book, Tyre informs and leads us about how we can gauge and obtain “the good school” for our children. She reinforces a truism that is often lost in the intimidating world of schooling — that smart parents know how to get the best school for their kids — and oh, by the way we can all be
