Time to Take Charge
Susan Price knew something wasn’t right. Her younger daughter, Arianna, a fourth-grader in a Tucson private school, was getting excellent grades. But Price, a lawyer, always looked through the homework done by Arianna and her older daughter, Mirissa. Arianna’s math folder showed a distinct void, which made it look like she was actually having a problem with math. Price decided to investigate. When she visited the school, she says, she was not impressed with the teacher.

Price, 46, decided to spend the next six months tutoring Arianna and a classmate. She taught them not only fourth-grade math but also more advanced work. Visits to education supply stores kept her up to speed on materials and requirements. The following year, Arianna switched to a public school — and the rising fifth-grader scored so well that she qualified to take a sixth-grade math class.

Arianna and Mirissa are both maintaining A averages, and their mother’s intense involvement is a big reason why. The sisters, now 12 and 14, have moved on to a public charter school that Price investigated online at a site that offers report cards on the state’s public schools. It has proved to be a wonderful fit, especially because the school curriculum emphasizes math.

Price has always had input into her children’s learning. She and her husband, John, read to their daughters “all the time.” As a result, they became avid readers who take part in a local library’s book club each summer. The sisters also acquainted themselves with computers, starting at age three at their pre-school.
To Price, one of the most valuable things she does sounds so simple: She makes sure to pick the girls up after school each day. “That’s when they tell me everything that’s happening in their lives, during those drives home,” she says. And what does she do with the information and insights she
gets? “When we need to get involved,” she says, “we do.”

Precisely.