As I have reflected on much of my school success through the years, I realize how much credit I must give my parents for their support and assistance. My dad signed up for books to be sent in the mail and my mom read them to myself and my siblings. I do not have much memory of this other than a book that went something like, "Drip, drip, drip.... I recall an alphabet book as well that I think I memorized so I could pretend that I could read. We also had a very conducive environment to learning as we had a large child scale table with chairs where we would color, make books, and play school etc. My dad did flash cards with me in my early grades and taught me in first grade how easy it is to add by nine using a trick where you take the number and -minus one and put that in the ones spot and you and 1 in the tens spot and you have your answer. I think I was in first grade when I learned that feat. They also ordered a series of records that were basic phonics. They were nothing as formal as hooked on phonics. I do recall learning that the letter H sounded like someone being winded at the top of a flight of stairs. Also, you could remember the vowels a,e,i,o,u by saying "Lady, I owe you some sugar." When I started getting homework in the fourth grade, my dad would have me keep my finger on the problem I was working on so I would not skip around and do the problems in the wrong order. He would always check my Math homework and sometimes quiz me for tests in other subjects. When I received a low mark in English, he purchased the work book to go with my class and tutored me special. My teacher had never seen someone make so much progress in a semester. My mom helped me with extra credit and long range projects for the most part. In addition, we went to Summer school a couple of Summers for enrichment and actually went ahead of my class in Math. Mom also made sure that we participated in the Summer reading program at our local library. I think all of this made a huge difference for me.
Roper, my parents let us know that education was important and to work hard in school. Because of my upbringing, I had respect for educators. My parents did not replace the teachers but rather augmented their teaching at times.
Zealia, that sort of support is vital for a child's education, no matter what method of schooling is used (public, private, or homeschooling). Heck, even private tutoring won't work without parental involvement. Kids grow up loving their parents most. Why not use the time when we're their most favorite adults to pass on what lessons we can?
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
