Special to the News Sentinel Brickey-McCloud Elementary School Librarian Mary Ann Taylor, right, shows Lila Von Gruenigen and her mother, Allison Von Gruenigen, how to navigate a reading website.
Parent: "What did you learn in school today?"
Child: "Um ... "
If you want to know what's going on in school, most parents and education experts say you need to get down there and see for yourself.
"Parents need to engage more with schools, but a lot of times we don't know how," said Peg Tyre, an education writer and author of "The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve."
Tyre's book (St. Martin's Press, 2011) offers a number of ways parents can get up to speed on their children's education and know what to ask teachers.
"This is a quick and dirty way to get more sophisticated before parent-teacher night," said Tyre. "Look closely at the school. If a certain program is not up to snuff, begin a constructive dialogue about how to make it better."
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/oct/08/ask-the-reporter/
