I sat next to a parent at a swim meet. We got talking about education, and she said, "I don't know why students are not required to see it, say it, and write it." when talking about the acquisition of math facts. Later, she commented on writing basically saying that students don't write enough. My response was that's why we need parents on every committee, they often see education from a more worldly and practical standpoint.
The parent was right when it comes to facts--we know that multimodal efforts in any area deepen understanding and access. Also, we know that when students write daily, their writing develops with depth. Yet, do we follow through with this knowledge?
Extending our learning teams to family members, students, and citizens will at first seem cumbersome, but will then result in better service to students.
How can we do this in ways that matter?
