In the fourth paragraph of Officer Steve Kinoshita’s letter
published Dec. 18, he writes:
”
Inspiration is something that can be accomplished by positive
and constructive feedback, not by name calling and egocentric
rhetoric.
”
In the fourth paragraph of Officer Steve Kinoshita’s letter published Dec. 18, he writes: “Inspiration is something that can be accomplished by positive and constructive feedback, not by name calling and egocentric rhetoric.”
Unfortunately, by his own definition, in his very first paragraph, Officer Kinoshita blew any hope of inspiring Doug Meier or me, when he called us “cynical, self-serving, despondent, malcontents.”
(Actually, I am an idealist, not a cynic. I cannot brag about my service to others, if any. I am extremely happy this Christmas season, indeed, almost ecstatic; thank you for your concern. And I am quite content with such things as I have: my husband is employed, my kids happy and well educated, my roof sound, and all my math students did well on their midterms. But I digress.)
I re-read my column to see if I had called Officer Kinoshita’s father any names. I called him a decent, caring, compassionate teacher. Did that enrage you, officer?
In my opinion, I believe I interpreted Mr. Ron Kinoshita’s letter correctly. Officer Steve Kinoshita thinks I misstated the case. I propose that we agree to disagree on those points, and bury them in the archives of The Dispatch, 2003.
* * *
One issue must not be buried: Should Gilroy High School revamp the reading list to assign great works of literature to students?
Reprise: Mr. Ron Kinoshita suggested that parents can easily supplement their children’s literature with all the Great Books as outside reading. I called this suggestion absurd. Officer Steve Kinoshita failed to see why I called the suggestion absurd; he inferred that I meant that “parent involvement with their children’s education is absurd.”
No, Officer Kinoshita. Studies repeatedly show that parental involvement with their children’s education is the most important factor in academic success. It is more important than school spending. It is more important than race, class, income level, or educational level of the parents. It is not merely a factor; it is the sine qua non of academic success.
An involved parent of a Gilroy Unified student makes sure that his kid is up and out the door in time for school: dressed, fed, reasonably clean, and supplied with lunch money and pencils. The parent also makes sure that the kid gets dinner or a reasonable facsimile thereof, and that he does his homework.
Academically successful students at GHS, my friends‚ kids and my kids‚ friends, spend four hours or more per night on homework. It is absurd, I repeat, absurd to suggest that on top of four hours of homework, a parent should toss Saint Augustine’s “Confessions” at his kid and say, “Hey! Read that after you mow the lawn.”
There is more to reading a great book than simply reading. There is reading. There is understanding. There is considering. There is applying.
Consider just the 10 books on the College Board’s Short List, the 10 books that no one should graduate from college without having read. Three of them are very accessible: “Jane Eyre,” “Huck Finn,” and “Invisible Man.”
A bright 13-year-old could enjoy any of these as per Mr. R. Kinoshita’s suggestion, but he would gain more from reading them in a class, where he could discuss them with his peers, be brought to higher levels of understanding by his teacher, and consider them deeply while writing essays about them.
Four of the books on the Short List are more difficult: “The Great Gatsby,” “The Scarlet Letter,” “Gulliver’s Travels,” and “The Odyssey.” Two others, “Hamlet” and “Oedipus Rex,” would baffle most adults, if read casually.
The schools should be teaching first graders their short vowel sounds. Parents can supplement with a teddy bear picnic.
The schools should be teaching fourth graders their times tables. Parents can supplement by helping kids build pinewood derby cars. The high school should be assigning and discussing “Hamlet.” Parents can supplement with discussions of sex, drugs, insanity, and morality.
In short, the schools should be providing education and expertise. Parents should be supplementing, and providing love and guidance, their most important jobs.
The 10th book, “The Mill on the Floss,” I cannot assess, as I have not read it. But I resolve to, in 2004. Happy New Year.
