On Sunday, I was in a restaurant when I saw one of our parents from 4 years ago.  Her daughter was with us for 2 years, then the family moved to NYC.  The child is now at one of NYC’s public schools for “gifted and talented” children.  The child is doing very well in all academic areas, and she is always happy.  The mother told me that the other parents in her child’s class keep asking her, “What did you do that she’s doing so well?  And why is she happy?”  The parents then go on to say that they have their children enrolled in after-school academic programs, have private tutors, etc., but the children aren’t “#1” in the class, they don’t like school, and they’re unhappy.  The mother told me that her response to the parents is always the same:  “I started by sending her to a Montessori school, and then I followed their advice:  I do NOTHING with her except read and play, and I don’t make her take anything but fun classes after school; she likes gymnastics.”  The mother told me that all of the parents seem VERY skeptical of her, as though she doesn’t want to “divulge” some secret formula to success.  Just as the mother was telling me this, the father, who’d been listening to the story, said, “The funny part is that it’s much easier to be a parent when you just read and play with the children, because the parents love it and the children love it, and then the children love learning the other stuff at school.”

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