Ready or Not

A dear friend sent me the email below.  I want to read these books now.  Has anyone out there read them already?  Would love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks to my friend who agreed to allow me to post this on my blog.  

"The following is a quote from a book my husband was reading which is relevant to those of us who homeschool.  I thought you would enjoy the quote and may be interested in his books.  This author has a best selling book entitled "A Mind At A Time"  he has also written a book called "The Myth of Laziness."  The quote I am including here is from a book entitled "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes."  In this  book, he outlines how our culture and educational system are not preparing young adults for careers and life well.  It may be worth a read . . . . . there are many quotes I like, however, this one sums up what most of us homeschoolers already know and are trying to teach.  It is what my husband struggles with as a Principal because the district expects test scores and he is in the business of growing up  adults who can contribute to society meaningfully and live a full, satisfying life . . . .

 . . . . Often such educational practice has been ingrained in schools for generations without being sufficiently reexamined for its present-day relevance.  Multiple-choice tests do not prepare a child for anything important in the adult sphere.  Making a child feel terrible because his scrawl is barely decipherable is callous and needless; many adequately successful adults (the author included) are hardly paragons of legibility.  How accurately a child can spell, how thoroughly he conquers trigonometry, how precise he is at the game of memorizing and regurgitation historical facts, and how athletic he may be are irrelevant to almost any career you can name.  On the other hand, the ability to think critically, to brainstorm, to monitor and refine your own performance, to communicate convincingly, and to plan and preview work are among the important skills that could make or break startup adults across countless occupations . . . .

Mel Levine, M.D. "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes" "

The picture is an old one of Campster from when we lived in San Diego.  She is standing on the door to the dishwasher - she's unloading it for me.  :)

Wish you were here!