- “Kids are in school for six hours a day. The rest of the time, they’re at home. And unless parents work in concert with their children’s teachers, their children will never be able to reach their true potential. Over the summer, it’s entirely possible for a kid, if that kid does not read, to drop as much as half a year in reading ability. There are a million ways in which parents could be doing a better job with their children, and we don’t talk about that.” ~ Brook Berger, U.S. News & World Report
- “The schools are not failing our students. Bad parenting is failing our schools. There is a reason why predominantly low socioeconomic schools do poorly. It is not because they all have bad teachers. I am sick of the phrase ‘failing schools.’ I could send my children to the school with the lowest test scores, and they would still do fine because they have parents who care and are involved. How do you expect teachers to fix 18 hours of crap with five to six hours of education? Stop saying failing schools and start a conversation about what to do with failing parents.” ~ McKinley Insurance Services
- “Many people might assume that the spelling whizzes [National Spelling Bee finalists] have a genetic advantage, but Ms. Duckwork [University of Pennsylvania psych professor] found a more important trait: tenacity. The finalists are willing to forgo the immediate gratification of watching TV or texting friends, so they can spend hours and do the tedious and merciless grunt work. They write out thousands of flashcards with words and definitions and memorize them. It is an unusual child who can do this while being constantly bombarded by popular culture’s seductive images. But it also takes strong parents willing to guide the child and demand hours of difficult work.” ~ Warren Kozak, Wall Street Journal
