Parents Are Teachers

Thought I'd share one of my stories published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

 

It was a crisp autumn night in a crowded school auditorium, and I was scheduled to speak to an audience of preschool parents on the topic of discipline. Prior to the start of the evening’s event, the program planner and I were talking privately.

“We have a large group here tonight,” she observed with a sparkle in her eye.

“It’s gratifying to see so many parents wanting to learn about effective discipline,” I replied.

“I hope we get to hear everything you have to say,” she whispered. ”Sometimes they start asking too many questions and the get the speaker off track.”

Parent or School - Who Rules?

            Imagine yourself as a ten-year-old blissfully walking to school; kicking pebbles as you go, listening to the birds, thinking about recess, kickball, and what’s in your lunch. Then, invading your world booms the authoritative voice of the school counselor, “Ejaculation can happen during sexual intercourse, when the penis is inside the woman’s vagina. It can also happen while a boy is sleeping. This is called a nocturnal emission or ‘wet dream.’”

          Explicit? Yes! Make you a bit uncomfortable? Perhaps. How do you think it makes a 10-year old feel? This quote is from a curriculum given to children in a coeducation class at Boone Elementary - my daughter’s public school in KC, Missouri. It was told to Laura, then 10, without her having inquired and without my knowledge or consent.

Great Minds are Always Learning

We often think about children learning and how far they have to go but, every day we, adults, are learning too! Oh, we may not think that's true but consider if you've recently learned

• a class starts on time 
• about a medical condition
• a friend's new email or cell phone number
• who just got engaged
• who is having a baby
• what time that road construction starts
  

Fellow author, speaker, radio host, and educator, Stacey Kannenberg, writes, I was so honored to be selected as the Wisconsin Delegate at Mom Congress because as many of you know my mission is to empower parents, kids and teachers to work together to change education. Obviously being known as the “Get Ready To Learn Mom” education is near and dear to my heart which is why I am reaching out for your help. Our children’s quality education is under threat from budget cuts-- music and arts programs, bus routes, sports, extracurricular activities, books, crossing guards, special needs, gifted and talented and foreign language programs are all on the cutting block--and teacher layoffs could mean perhaps as many as 35 or 45 students per classroom.

This is not the answer! Students need individual attention, not crowded classrooms and fewer educators, to succeed in the 21st century and help keep America competitive.

The good news is that an education amendment has been added to the pending jobs bill in Congress, which will help schools avoid such drastic cuts.

So my dear readers, what can YOU do? TODAY, Tuesday, May 25, tell Congress to pass #EducationJobsFund to our support teachers without cuts in classroom education. For information, see this site http://bit.ly/8ZBh8M. CALL NOW 1-866-608-6355 & tell Congress to save teacher jobs & schools http://bit.ly/9VNbuB.