Parent confidence as indicated in parent conferences had never been higher. With rare exceptions these teachers lead the main lesson at the beginning of the day. Other teachers handle special subjects, but the class teachers provide the continuity so often lacking in our disjointed world today. This experience of class community is both challenging and deeply rewarding to teachers. Having to prepare new subject matter as their students get older from year to year is a guarantee against going stale.
Children begin to see that a human being can strive for a unity of knowledge and experience.
In addition to math and language opportunities, visits to familiar locations boost children's confidence. We need to reconsider the structure of our schools. Like most American schools, we have become victims of tradition and teacher contracts. Instead, because teachers work with the same students and parents for three years, there is a family atmosphere in which cooperation and group work are emphasized. We need to follow their example and create schools that are like families, not factories.