Newspaper Interview, Part 5

More from my interview with the reporter from The National....a newspaper in the Middle East!

What do you teach your children that you feel is lacking in US public schools? 
What Darin and I give our children that they could never, EVER get in public school is dialogue.  All day the kids and I talk and talk and talk.  And you know, it doesn’t always have to be about deep and mysterious issues, but just the fact that we talk, make eye contact with each other, and for the most part, get where the other is coming from is huge.  I certainly never had that with my parents.  From Junior High until the end of High School, I was gone from 7:30ish until 5 or 6 at night.  When I was in 10^th grade, I went to a boarding school, so I saw even less of them after that.  Most of the values I picked up as I was growing up, I got from my teachers and friends.  There are many subjects that I could not really tell you for sure where my parent’s beliefs are.  I had some really good teachers that were excellent advisors.  I had some “good” friends.  We were considered “good” kids.  But when it all boils down, by the time my public education was over, I was really lacking in character.  I had no steady guidance during all that time.  My parents didn’t understand all my character issues because they didn’t see me as much as they should have. To them, I seemed okay, I guess. 

Darin and I understand the issues that our kids need to work on.  We are able to talk with them about them every day. 

Because we know exactly what the kids are studying, we are able to have intelligent conversations about that.  We can guide them through difficult issues that they might not be able to tackle with an adult if they were in the public school.  Talking with another kid their own age, who is equally clueless, seems like a lame alternative.