SCHOOL DAYS

2-25-02

By GaryN. Skorheim

Leaving home and going forth
Is the pattern for our growth.
Cherished classrooms were the rule;
But for some became quite cruel.

Why we push high expectations;
Hard to cope meant poor relations.
Daily failure can reveal
Emotions strained that we must heal.

Starting grades before age six
Brought on problems hard to fix.
Learning channels open later,
To this problem we must cater.

Parents in the home must see,
If the child from books does flee.
Other ways a child can learn
If for books he does not yearn.

Keep the child home a year,
If of school he has a fear.
Stimulate this tender mind
With some learning of his kind.

Watch him carefully for change
For when he can words arrange.
He can grow to be a reader
If he has a skillful leader.

Why this story have I told?
These opinions I do hold
For it was I who found in school
Starting young can be quite cruel.