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school, the teacher may well quit,
as many do.
Teach Your Children to Do
The ir Homework
Whatever you as a parent think of
homework, the fact remains that
your chi ld will eventually be given
sorne. Teachers acknowledge that
homework may be a nuisance, but
it is a necessary part of education .
There are valuable lessons in hav–
ing a student complete assign–
ments on his or her own, away
from the classroom.
Teachers wish parents would
cooperate. T ry to set aside a quiet
place where your children can sit
and work undisturbed. Encourage
them to complete their work on
time. Teachers realize that parents
may not be able to evaluate thei r
children's assignments in terms of
whether it is correct. T hat is not
necessary-it is the teacher' s job.
But all parents can encou rage
their child ren to produce work
that is neat and tidy. Ch ildren
reftect more than just scholastic
aptitude in their homework-they
reflect the standards and values of
their borne.
What is your ch ild's homework
saying abou t you?
Don't believe it when your chil–
dren say they can work better
with the rad io on, while talking to
their friends on the telephone or
stretched ou t fl at on the living
42
room ftoor with the television blar–
ing in the corner.
Don't provide ready-made ex–
cuses- "We had to go to Grand–
ma's," or, "Dad had tickets for a
ball game." Paren ts wou Id be
doing schools a big favor if they
would teach their children the
importance of planning their lives
around what they
have
to do rath–
er than what they
want
to do.
Teach Your Children
to Si t Still and Listen
A teacher once described his job as
like "trying to keep 30 corks under
water at the same time."
All children get restless now and
then. Bu t sorne are seemingly
incapable of paying attention in
class. T hey wriggle around, talk,
wander about the classroom and
generally disrupt surroundings. No
teacher can teach effectively under
those ci rcumstances.
Teachers wish parents would
train their chi ldren to listen. You
do this by talking to them, and
making sure that they respond.
You also make sure that children
fo llow through on instructions giv–
en to them. Yes, it's easier to just
"Jet it go," but your child will then
begin to realize that instructions
need not be taken seriously.
A teacher who has taught school
for nearly 30 years at all levels,
both in the U n ited States and
Europe, said that parents often ask
her what t hey should doto prepare
chi ldren for school. "They expect
me to say, 'Teach them to read, or
todo simple math.' But
1
ask them
not to do that. Tbat's my job.
1
ask
them to send me someone who can
sit still, pay attention and foltow
instr uctions. That's
your
job,
1
tell
them."
Teach Your Children the Right
Use of Television
Your television set is a 20th cen–
tury fact of life. Most people have
heard the warnings that the wrong
type of program (and even
too
much
of the
right
type) can hurt
your children's chances of success
in school. Teachers wish that par–
ents would take these warnings
seriously. Teachers are not antitele–
vision. l t can be a wonderful too! to
assist in education if used carefully.
But most parents aren't being care-
fui enough in supervising viewing.
The average high school grad–
uate in the United States has
spent about 10,800 hou rs in the
classroom, but more than 15,000
hours watching television. Even if
this is all good, clean, wholesome
programing- which it almost cer–
tainly isn't- it still represents a
massive overdose of a
pseudo–
learning situation.
Television
promotes passive listening. rt is
effective in putting ideas into our
heads- but not in a n active ,
response-orientated way. It pro–
grams rather than teaches. Very
litt le mental activity is needed by
the viewer to get the message,
such as it is.
With cable systems, and soon
satelli te communications ftooding
our bornes with more channels,
your television set threatens to
devou r even more of you r family's
prime learning ti me.
So quite apar t from the flood of
w ro ng val ues that are bei ng
injected, day in and day out- too
much television dulls the senses,
dissipates the abil ity to caneen–
t rate and thus makes it harder for
a student to function in the
class–
room
learn ing situation. Add to
this the impact of hard drugs,
alcohol and after-school jobs on
youth and it is little wonder
schools face serious problems.
Teach Yourself to Communicate
T eachers wish parents would
com–
municate
with them. Have you
ever met your cbild 's teachers?
Do you even know their names?
Have you ever been to the school
and seen the classrooms where
your sons and daughters spend
one third of thei r waking hours?
Sorne parents only go to their
children's schools when they have
a complaint or when the child ren
are in trouble. Most teachers wish
that parents would take advantage
of the occasional open houses and
other opportunities for parent–
teacher conferences.
There is a grave danger in the
mood of criticisrn toward educa–
tion. Parents and teachers are being
pitted against each other. That is a
t r agedy . They need to wo r k
together.
We do not wish to minimize the
real problems that exist-gang vio-
The
PLAIN TRUTH