William H. Armstrong

87 Ways to Help Your Children in School William H. Armstrong

This book makes no pretense at solving any educational problems or opening any new windows of insight and vision. It was born out of concern for an insecure, thumb-sucking, erratic-behaviored fifth grader who through complete indifference to learning was making it impossible for his teacher to teach him or the other members of the class. The simple practices used in the home to help the teacher and the child were so rewarding that they have since been adopted by other parents for other grades with equally gratifying resultsThe primary subjects which have been made the focus of our concern in this book are reading, writing, and arithmetic. There is no attempt to pass judgment on the many new experiments which are now being carried out in elementary school. Time will doubtless judge them correctly. Nor are there any sure-fire improvement charts for first grade, second grade, and so on through the eight years of elementary school. It is the premise of this book that there is much that can be done at home to help the child from the very first day of school, and every day thereafter. He can be helped in each grade from one through eight but it will be easier and take less persuasion in the early years. The book starts with words and ends with examinations. The first grader can learn much at home about words, and the eighth grader can learn much about examinations. However, it can all be learned; whether it is learned before or after, or during the golden years for learning, will depend to a large degree upon what particular year the parent decides that education needs a transfusion in the home. If we want the best for our children, we must honestly admit that school reform will never replace the home as an educative factor. And we must devote some of our time to specific ways in which parents can provide the best for their child's education.