Family move reveals differences in early education

Dialogue police officers from St. Paul, Minn., and Minneapolis wait for the start of a class to train parade captains and marshals Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in Minneapolis. The officers are trained negotiators and have been assigned to establish contact with groups who have announced their intent to exercise their First Amendment right during the upcoming Republican national Convention. Department of Justice community relations unit members, background, provided the training. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) (Jim Mone - AP)

But she does not know how to tell time, isn't reading books on her own and fractions _ even American kids in older grades, well into middle and high school _ are having massive trouble with those, according to a recent federal report.

Olivia went to a public school in Washington, among the few cities to offer free public pre-k. But even her friends who went to the city's most selective private schools aren't reading, telling time or computing fractions either.

OK, I admit it, I felt like a terrible mom. After all, as The Associated Press education writer, I spent tons of time thinking about reading and math instruction and know all about phonics and computation.

So I did what many other parents would do in this day and age. I turned to Amazon.com and typed in "Jolly Phonics," a reading program used in many British schools, to get some workbooks. I even considered hiring a summer tutor and started counting aloud in twos when we climbed the stairs at home.

Then, I thought about it a bit more. Is it so bad that Olivia doesn't know how to write her "surname" independently and has to ask me if it's bedtime yet? Is it OK that she was up to her elbows in glitter glue, while the little girls and boys she met during that school visit in London were doing the work of kids a grade or even two ahead of her in the United States?

Experts said the school I visited had exceptionally high academic standards but that Olivia would probably have to play catch up in almost any school in London.

But Olivia still needed a place to park her book bag.

We were fortunate enough to secure a coveted spot in a state (our version of public) school that has a warm and wonderfully inviting Web site, not to mention fantastic test scores.

The kids don't wear crisp uniforms, but they probably can tell time and do more advanced maths (yes, it's plural in British-speak) than U.S. kids. So, Olivia may still be a little behind, OK maybe a lot behind, but maybe that's where we step in. After all, they say a child's most important teachers are his or her parents.