50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education

About this book

Charles J. Sykes offers fifty life lessons not included in the self-esteem-laden reality-light curriculum of most schools. Here are truths about what kids will encounter in the world post-schooling and ideas for how parents can reclaim lost ground---not with pep talks and touchy-feely negotiations but with honesty and respect. Sykess rules are frank funny and tough minded including: #1 Life is not fair. Get used to it. #7 If you think your teacher is tough wait until you get a boss. He doesnt have tenure so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up hes not going to ask you how you FEEL about it. #15 Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it "opportunity." #42 Change the oil. #43 Dont let the success of others depress you. #48 Tell yourself the story of your life. Have a point. Each rule is explored with wise pithy examples that parents grandparents and teachers can use to help children help themselves succeed---in school and out of it. A few rules kids wont learn in school: #9 Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasnt. #14 Looking like a slut does not empower you. #29 Learn to deal with hypocrisy. #32 Television is not real life. #38 Look people in the eye when you meet them. #47 You are not perfect and you dont have to be. #50 Enjoy this while you can.