ON SEEKING A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR YOUR CHILD, OR FOR YOURSELF

Amanda Ripley, The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013) ("As you search for a world-class school, ask parents at each place to talk about the school's weaknesses. Listen carefully. If parents say they are very involved in the school, ask them how. American parents tend to be more involved in school than parents in the education superpowers, but not, generally speaking, in ways that lead to learning." "Raising money, going to soccer games, and serving on teacher-appreciation committees are wonderful things to do. They do not, however, tend to impact the quality of your child's education, as documented throughout this book." "Around the world, parents have dramatic influence on how their children learn. But Parent Teacher Association meeting are not where that learning happens. The research shows that parents who are most active in their children's schools do not tend to raise smarter children. The real impact happens mostly at home." "Parents who view themselves as educational coaches tend to read to their children every day when they are small; when their children grow older, they talk with them about their days and about the news around the world. They let their children make mistakes and them get right back to work. They teach them good habits and give them autonomy. They are teachers, too, in other words, and they believe in rigor. They want their children to fail while they are still children. They know that those lessons--about hard work, persistence, integrity, and consequences--will serve a child for decades to come." Id. at 213.).