"In five illuminating sections, Bauer teaches parents how to flex the K-12 system, rather than the child. She closely analyzes the traditional school structure, gives trenchant criticisms of its weaknesses, and offers a wealth of advice for parents of children whose difficulties may stem from struggling with learning differences, maturity differences, toxic classroom environments, and even from giftedness..."--Dust jacket.

How many parents have a child struggling in school? The answer: a great many. This book is an informed, practical resource for such parents. As the author of the classic book on home-schooling, The Well-Trained Mind, Susan Wise Bauer knows how children learn and how schools work. Her advice here is comprehensive and anecdotal, including material drawn from experience with her own four children. The author's rule of thumb is that when a child is struggling, the problem probably lies with the school or the system, not with the child. She knows that the K-12 system, with its rigid rules of advancement and endless testing, doesn't work for all children. She shows parents how to take control of grade placement, pace, style of instruction, disability diagnosis, gifted services, and many other aspects of our school system that seem inflexible, in order to shape them to the child's needsnot the other way around. Parents will find a comforting clarity and sanity in this book.