This article has really made me think as a parent and Teacher. I'm an Elementary Ed. major. I have a daughter in the second grade. He really stepped on my toes in this article when he was talking about the conversations that parents and children have about their school day. Everyday when I pick my daughter up at school the first thing I say is, "How was your day?" Then, the next thing out of my mouth is, "What did you do today?" "Did you take any Reading Test?" Bless her heart she's been at school all day and then I begin to drill her about her academics. He really caught my attention with how much more time kids really do spend at school than anywhere else. It's sorta depressing and stressful to think about it. I'm going to try not asking those same questions to my daughter when she first gets in the car from now on. Ok, have I just completely went away from this whole article? Or, can anyone out there see where I'm coming from with this?

Wanda, I'm not a parent and nowhere close to it. But I do have a 7 year old nephew & a 2 year old niece. They are very important people in my life. So when I'm home on breaks, I like to spend time with my nephew when he gets out of school. Sometimes I even go to pick him up. And when I do, I say exactly the same things you mentioned. "What'd you learn today?" And the reply is always the same, "I don't know." He's only in the second grade and what matters most to him isn't really academic. And as much as I want to play the "little mama" and find out what he's actually learning in school, I also don't want to pressure him into reliving his whole day at school because I do remember how long and monotonous those days can seem. So most of the time I just choose to ignore the academics, since he is afterall, just my nephew, and we go on about our business playing for the rest of the afternoon. However, when I have children of my own and really NEED to know what's going on in school, I don't know how I'll drag it out of them!