So I know some secrets about Plano schools. I have a friend who sends his kids to the public schools. The school he sends them to is ok, but apparently it is not enough. I found out around my area there are Chinese schools that are open on Sunday to supplement the kids public eduction. He said his kids are learning logic, math, chess, Chinese and critical thinking and they are only in kindergarten. That explains why the local middle school, Rice Middle School is a top ranked school, and they are 75% asian. Apparently they setup these schools to keep their kids on track with higher expectations. My friend was like, his daughter comes home from kindergarten with smiley faces and "good job" written on their papers without any grades. A note came home that said "your kid will be graded next year so it may be traumatic for them." In the meantime his kid is learning math and critical thinking at another school on the side.

It got me thinking, why don't they teach critical thinking in school? I remember my favorite class was 7th and 8th grade number sense. It was an elective class, but it was fun to learn math tricks. You only get higher learning if you take higher level classes like honors classes. Obviously school is important in my family given that my mom was a teacher and her mom was a teacher. My wife is a teacher and her mom is a teacher. They will all tell you that because of the publicness of schools the lowest denominator is pandered to the most. I thought private schools were the best because when we got out of the episcopal school in 6th grade I was a year ahead of everyone. I used that time to take advantage of not having to learn in 6th grade and then it caught up with me. Now my sister kept on learning and obvoiusly being valedictorian was her goal and it was attainable. Having a good education is a combination of parents that care and being in an environment that is condusive to learning, like honors classes, private schools, or a supplemental school. I think home schooling could work if the local district is totally incompetant and the parents care enough about education to know they need outside resources to keep them learning.

Although on the flipside I feel sorry for the kids whose parents don't care about their education. We all know that education is fundamental to success and as parents we want our kids to be successful. The truth is, being successful is an easy life. It is not hard to be successful you just have to have a good education. Living the American dream and having a good income gives us security and alot of time to ponder life's other questions. Most people miss the boat though. They despise education, hate homework, hate to learn and then end up working at McDonald's wondering why they can't get ahead. I was almost one of them, but I found out that I loved to learn about computers at the age of 9. That was what drove me to learn. So is the point of this diatribe? Well, Brennon is going to have parents that stress education, and with that he should be successful. We can only hope. Maybe those secret schools in Plano will be getting another attendee...