Asymptomatic

I've been offering some of my most valuable educational advice to Abby over the past year, and I think the number one thing that I tell her is also the number one thing that will help her be most successful. Cheat.

I think that many people miss this lesson in school, mostly because they don't teach it. It's one of my personal aims to make sure that Abby gets these important lessons early. For example, it's always important to question everything; teachers are often right but can be wrong just like anyone. And one of the more important of the important lessons is that you should cheat.

You might be concerned that I'm teaching Abby to copy answers from her classmates' papers. When Berta first heard me telling Abby to cheat on her homework, she was a little anxious and confused. I guess some explanation is in order.

When I tell Abby to "cheat", I tell her to read her homework sheet; to read her test. It's interesting how many people miss this most simple key to getting ahead in school - just read the page, often the answers are right there in front of you.

In first grade, the answer is as easy as which direction an "h" faces. In high school, the answer is as easy as which of the multiple choice items doesn't contradict the others. In college, the answer is often rooted in the question itself.

So I tell my kid to cheat. I was reminding her just tonight that the answers that fit in the blanks are at the top of her homework papers, all spelled right, all letters going the right way, all letters in the correct case. If that gets her ahead, I hope she learns to cheat even more.