Dear Richard Riordan -- latimes.com:
Dear Richard Riordan
An open letter to the former L.A. mayor on making parenting education part of public school reform.
"What's needed -- the sine qua non of improved learning -- is parenting education. Honestly and truly, in terms of real literacy, the home is more important than the school.
You know you can't build a good house without a good foundation. Similarly, family literacy is all the activity in the home that provides kids with the foundational experiences on which comprehending the written word is based.
What parents need to be taught specifically is how to support the linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional development of their children. That means no-cost activities such as conversing with kids, asking thoughtful questions, reading aloud, modeling reading and writing, exposing them to the larger world, showing them how to find and use resources, loving them, hugging them and speaking kindly to them.
I believe young parents can be shown, taught, encouraged and supported in learning to do these things. They love their kids deeply. They want success for them. Often they just don't know the best ways to help them, and that goes for wealthy parents as well as poor ones."
Dear Richard Riordan
An open letter to the former L.A. mayor on making parenting education part of public school reform.
"What's needed -- the sine qua non of improved learning -- is parenting education. Honestly and truly, in terms of real literacy, the home is more important than the school.
You know you can't build a good house without a good foundation. Similarly, family literacy is all the activity in the home that provides kids with the foundational experiences on which comprehending the written word is based.
What parents need to be taught specifically is how to support the linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional development of their children. That means no-cost activities such as conversing with kids, asking thoughtful questions, reading aloud, modeling reading and writing, exposing them to the larger world, showing them how to find and use resources, loving them, hugging them and speaking kindly to them.
I believe young parents can be shown, taught, encouraged and supported in learning to do these things. They love their kids deeply. They want success for them. Often they just don't know the best ways to help them, and that goes for wealthy parents as well as poor ones."