Jay Davidson taught in San Francisco public schools from 1969 to 2003. He began at the junior high school level, grades 7, 8, and 9. He began teaching in elementary schools in 1975.

        During his career, Jay enjoyed working with other adults as well as children. He was a mentor teacher for four years, working with new teachers in the school district. He was also a master teacher, working with student teachers from San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco.

        Jay continues working with parents, helping them to understand the importance of their role in educating children. Parents are their children's first, most important, and most consistent teachers.

        In 1997, Jay wrote 99 Ways to Guide Your Child to Success in School. It covers the curriculum areas of reading, writing, listening skills, math, science, social studies, and creative expression. It also has information on cooperation with others, responsibility, exercise and motor skills, health and diet, safety, and parent involvement at school.

       Jay wrote his Teacher Talk column for the Palo Alto Daily News on its family page from 1998 - 2002.  It also has begun to appear in parenting publications around the United States. In this column, he explains some of his educational ideas in greater detail.

        Teach Your Children Well: A Teacher's Advice for Parents began as a collection of Teacher Talk columns. It also has more information - the kind of things that were too long for newspaper columns, such as lists of typical spelling words for kindergartners and first graders, collectible authors, book titles, and other useful resources for parents. 

        When he retired from teaching, Jay was able to fulfill his boyhood ambition of becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer. He left San Francisco in June, 2003 to live in Africa for two years. You can relive his adventures via this website, where he posted weekly during his Peace Corps service

       To contact Jay, write to him at teacher@jaydavidson.com