You are your child's first and most important teacher! No matter how wonderful your child's school teachers are, nobody's influence on her or his education will be as profound as yours.

        Children get their thirst for knowledge from their families. You are the person to whom your child looks for daily modeling of reading, writing, math, science awareness, conflict resolution, a healthy diet, character building, social skills, and the overall sense that learning is a lifetime adventure. Children learn by example. You are that example.

        It is my goal to provide families with the information that they need so that their children can start school on an equal footing with other children in their class. Part of this process will be an education for some parents who may be seeing, for the first time, that teachable moments are available to them all day long, from counting objects on the breakfast table to the bedtime story. It is your involvement, enthusiasm, and interest in your child's academic and emotional readiness that will make all the difference in being ready not only for school, but in what follows after graduation.

         Because of the awkwardness of using his/her and she/he, I use one or the other in each case, and vary it throughout the text.