BRINGING LEARNING HOME

by Mary Susan Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1980

From motivation to discipline, from bad teachers to ideal schools, this handbook for parents provides thoughtful and pragmatic strategies for helping children learn. Miller, education editor of the Ladies Home Journal and a former teacher and principal, does not hide her bias for ""open"" education (her comparison of ""open"" and ""traditional"" schools is even-handed, however). Throughout, she advocates children's participation in the decisions that affect their lives: attending parent-teacher conferences, living with the consequences of not doing homework. And while most of the examples concern school-related issues, Miller's attitudes and suggestions apply equally well to more general parenting questions. Though some of her thoughts are more than familiar (maintain open communication, participate in your child's activities, etc.), she also discusses less common strategies--like when not to discipline, and how to work with teachers. A chapter on evaluating your child's school begins, appropriately, with philosophy (far too often ignored in favor of test scores and college enrollments) and includes a wide range of questions, assessing everything from salaries to sex-education. A follow-up section describes Miller's conception of a good school, a model that is both hard to fault and tough to realize. Her suggestions for changing the schools rely heavily on the PTA--a route that hardly guarantees success. The Rioux et al. Improve Your Child's School (p. 825) is both fuller and more rousing on that particular front, this is an agreeable, sensible guide for everyday use.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION