75 YEAR OLD RETIRED TEACHER WRITES PARENTING BOOK

Verlene McGee, a retired elementary school teacher and grandmother, offers wisdom, reassurance and humor in her new book, "Parenting Pearls: Gems for the Puzzled Parent." McGee's work puts a fresh face on a topic in which she has had more than a half century of experience.

(PRWEB) November 9, 2003 --Verlene McGee, 75, has devoted most of her personal and professional life to teaching, helping children learn and grow, and helping adults cope with one of lifes most difficult jobs -- parenting. After decades of life lessons on this topic, shes written a book of advice called Parenting Pearls: Gems for the Puzzled Parent."

Verlenes expertise on family matters began when she was a child. As one of three children, she grew up in inner city Buffalo, New York in a very poor household where she became painfully aware of how hard poverty was on children and families. Her family strived to overcome the tough times and encouraged her to do well in school.

After high school she married Cephus McGee, a steelworker. They had three daughters and struggled financially, although strength was arising in them to improve their lives for the sake of their children. When Verlene was 30, she had the opportunity to attend State Teachers College in Buffalo tuition-free.

There was a teacher shortage, and tuition was free if you could afford the books," she said. Verlene attended college and studied hard, even though it was a struggle to manage a family and her studies.

I remember once having only 25 cents," she said. I could either take the bus home or buy a pound of beans to cook for dinner. It was about a half-hour walk to home from college. I choose the beans and walked."

This determined 5 foot tall African American woman successfully graduated with a teaching certificate despite the odds. She immediately got a first-grade teaching job in a very poor area of Buffalo, and taught there for two years. In the meantime, her husband graduated from theology school and was appointed as pastor of a Pentecostal church in Elmira, New York where the family had relocated. Today Reverend McGee is still there after more than 40 years.

Verlene then accepted a teaching job at Beecher Elementary School in the same town. She transitioned to a remedial reading teacher while there. Altogether she was a teacher for 23 years, 21 of which were spent in Elmira, before she retired. Teaching children struggling to read was difficult when their basic physical and emotional needs were not being met, so she sometimes held them on her lap, dried their tears, and made sure they had breakfast.

I always spoke in a very low voice, because it helped them to respond in a low voice," she said. I think children learn best in a room thats not too noisy."

She was also busy as a pastors wife, a role she describes as challenging, exciting and sometimes exhausting." She taught Sunday school classes for children for ten years, and for the past thirty years, shes been teaching the adult class, as well as Bible study class on Tuesday nights.

After retiring from teaching, Verlene felt the urge to write a book from her years of working with parents and hundreds of young children, most of whom were poor and in frequent family crises.

My book is powerful yet simple. Its informational, inspirational, sometimes humorous, and its different from your mainstream parenting book," Verlene said. It includes a little poetry, quotations from other writers, and other pearls of wisdom."

Generally people want their children to have better lives than they had themselves," she said, but parenting is a tough job." This book is filled with humor and no-nonsense advice, such as: Parents spend a lot of time between a rock and a hard place. Get used to it."

Parenting Pearls: Gems for the Puzzled Parent" retails for $11.45 softbound and $16.45 for the hardcover edition. Its available by calling toll free 1-800-673-5771 or sending a check or money order payable to Verlene McGee at P.O. Box 3058, Elmira, NY 14905.
###