Educating: A Memoir

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As society, the rules we agree and adhere to are only as good as our ability to watch out for the victims in that same society and it occurs to me that there are community members who could have or should have spoken up for all of the children long before the last child was pushed outside of her own family for recognising the dangers of the twisted relationships around her. It appears that LaRee is also on the crazy train too, but not to the extent that Val is, but I wonder what she was like as a 20 year old girl, and why she wanted to choose the life she choose? It is a shame that mentally ill people have children together, and 7 at that. I hope that Tara and her siblings can have peace in their lives and truly learn to deal with their childhoods in a manner that does not effect them forever.

Emily Westover: Shawn's wife, who is nearly a decade younger than he. Westover describes her as "compliant", and predicts that Shawn will abuse and manipulate her. Thank you for your comments and opinion. I just read the book and since have been trying to reconcile all the emotional, and physical trauma this girl had to live with while growing up. I am also one that always wants to understand both sides of a story too. The more I have learned post reading the book, the more I think that Tara’s claim of her father’s mental illness is probably the truth and the seed for all the problems she and her siblings had to endure in their lives.Westover has said that she set out to explore the complexity of difficult family relationships. In an interview with The Irish Times, she said, "You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them, and you can miss someone every day and still be glad they're not in your life." [4] I also appreciate that you were very fair in your analyzations and descriptions of each book, which can be difficult to do when they deal with such heavy topics. Formative assessment is probably the most influential idea in schools today, and possibly the most misunderstood. In this book, the architect of formative assessment sets out the core principles of effective assessment but crucially applies them to the classroom with highly practical examples based on years of research in the field. Seven Myths About Education by Daisy Christodoulou

I feel very bad that Val and LaRee have cast an unfavorable view on the Church of Jesus Christ, and hope readers of this book realize that fanatics exist in every religion, and that Val and Laree are extremists and not representative of almost all members of the Church of Jesus Christ. Using the word “crazy” is so hard to hear because it’s insulting to everyone with this illness even though it manifests in different ways. Many people with diagnosed schizophrenia that take medication early on and consistently never experience another psychotic episode again. Unfortunately, since Val was unmedicated, his actions to his family are abusive. Whether claims of him almost crushing her in the junk yard are true or not, his paranoia of the government and medical establishments created an unsafe environment for his family. Thanks so much Kerry for doing such a meticulous and objective comparison and a well written, fair analysis.Tara was finally issued a Delayed Certificate of Birth when she was nine. Even then, there was a discrepancy on her birth date that had to be corrected. Her brother’s birth date was uncertain as well. Except for a tiny mention that you almost miss, LaRee doesn’t explain the why behind not getting birth certificates. Tara says it’s because her father suddenly decided to end his personal “ten-year policy of not registering with the Government” (p. 19). Tara herself is no longer an “active member,” which is a term used to denote someone who is no longer practicing the faith. However, one can be a “less-active member” or “nonmember” and still be considered a good Christian and a good person. The family experienced two major car accidents, resulting in serious injuries. Val battles additional injuries and health concerns. Why was medical care not sought during these critical times? WOW! This is such a thorough review and so insightful. What a tragedy the family has faced. So heartbreaking to hear what they have gone through and what they will continue to go through. You’ve piqued my interest, though.

Some of those problems may be legitimate; the family has an attorney they actively use. Val’s refusal to cooperate in these legal matters, which we all have to abide by, seems to be a direct result of what Tara tells us is his paranoia of the government and anything to do with it. Val also remembers the family “going to church and sitting in an available pew and watching as people near us got up and moved away without speaking a word.”Val and one of his sons experienced severe burns. Again, they were treated with herbal salves but no hospital care or western medicines for the pain. Miraculously, they both survived. Homeopathic remedies can be used in conjunction with other medical care, but the Westovers often chose not to pursue these options during their various illnesses and extensive injuries. Religion Educating for the Anthropocene: Schooling and Activism in the Face of Slow Violence . Peter Sutoris. MIT Press. 2022.

As a general model of what should happen in schools, this book has it all. Drawing on the classical triumvirate of grammar (knowledge), dialectic (questioning and debate) and rhetoric (expression), Robinson offers a model of education he wishes to see for his daughter and that seeks to draw on the past to anticipate an uncertain future. Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam I wasn’t aware of Stefanie’s account. The family has much discontent to deal with. I was asked to review LaRee’s book, so that is the scope of my review. Thanks for commenting.Thank you for your comment. I would like to point out, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that there is NEVER a time when we are counseled to isolate our children from others, especially when harmful practices are occurring in the home. On behalf of myself and every other church member who is appalled by the story of Educated, I wish to make this clear. Much of what happens in a classroom is highly variable and hard to define, but over the last 10 years a wealth of books has sought to draw together evidence from other fields and provide a series of “best bets” on what might have the greatest impact on student learning. Here are just a few of them. Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel Willingham I do feel strongly that Val Westover has temper, control issues and untreated mental health issues. He now owns the business his wife and daughter started. The first thing you see in his wife’s memoir is his prologue. The letter I received (image above) is signed by him, not even a mutual signature. As to the career of midwifery, I don’t have personal experience. When we lived in the Boise, Idaho, area s ome of our neighbors were involved in midwifery that ended in tragic results. In 2010, midwifery in Idaho became legal, requiring proper licensure. My own two deliveries ended up being long and complicated. I believe we would have lost my second son had we not delivered at a hospital and needed their NICU. There are pros and cons to using a midwife. It’s not on my personal radar, so I don’t research it. Great review! As a registered nurse I think one thing that needs to be clear is the word “midwife” can mean a lot of different things. A Certified Nursing Midwife is someone highly trained (following a bachelors of nursing they go on to receive a masters or doctorate in midwifery- we’re talking 6-8 years of training) They are safe and are associated with great outcomes. I work at a well known hospital and we have an excellent midwifery clinic. A giant pet peeve of mine is there are many whom, like in the memoirs, call themselves midwives but don’t have such training. It’s like calling yourself a nurse without going to nursing school. They’re tainting the name of a highly skilled profession as many don’t realize not all “midwives” are created equal.