Friday, March 1, 2013

The Changing Value Of A Tooth

Apparently yesterday was National Tooth Fairy Day.  I found it interesting that the radio station I was listening to spent a great deal of time talking about the Tooth Fairy.  They indicated that the average amount children receive for a tooth is $2.42 and that the first tooth a child looses has an average value of $3.50.  The radio hosts took input from callers and found that some of the parents gave their children $20 per tooth!  When I was a child I only received a dime and sometimes it took days for the Tooth Fairy to make an appearance!  One older lady said she needed money and wondered how she could get the Tooth Fairy to drop by her house, since she had lost some of her teeth. 

All of the talk about the Tooth Fairy eventually turned to reiterate what researchers had apparently said about the increase in money that children were receiving from the Tooth Fairy.  The radio personalities said that the average increase of the value of a tooth by ten or twenty cents over the past year meant that our economy was improving.  It was about then that I wondered why I was listening to this discussion, but since I found it mildly amusing, I continued listening. 

It eventually occurred to me that sometimes we view our child’s education through the same lens we view the Tooth Fairy discussion.  My impression of the Tooth Fairy still had children receiving the dime I got from my parents.  Many times we think that our children are learning the same things we were taught when we were their age.  However, if you ask an early elementary teacher who has been teaching for a while they will tell you that our students are markedly more advanced than they were even ten years ago. 

Our kindergartners learn to read!  When I went to kindergarten my teacher was happy if we could all tie our shoes and say our alphabet.  Not only do our kindergartners read, but they have an opportunity to learn basic math facts and use strategies that we learned in Pre-Algebra.  The students in kindergarten even have the opportunity to use computers and many of them seem to know more than most adults do. 

As our students continue to increase their ability to learn new and exciting things under the direction of nurturing and caring teachers, we as parents have the opportunity to support their learning activities.  Our schools hold science fairs, math nights and reading activities.  Next time you are wondering what you can do to reinforce your child’s learning, check out the online school newsletters.  There are plenty of activities offered in partnership for parents and grandparents as we work to provide a great education for your child.  If you have questions regarding this article, please email me at pam.campbell@myeagles.org or give me a call at 5175926641.

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