单选题 However important we may regard school life to be, the fact cannot be denied that children spend more time at home than in the classrooms. Therefore, the great influence of parents cannot be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong allies of school personnel or they can consciously or unconsciously hinder and thwart curricula objectives.
Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents apprised of the newer methods used in Schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as reading readiness programs, manuscript writing, and developmental mathematics.
Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors, can also play an important role in enlightening parents. The many interviews carried on during the year as well as new ways of reporting pupils' progress, can significantly aid in achieving a harmonious interplay between school and home.
To illustrate, suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent sublimate his natural parental interest into productive channels. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a yardstick or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip, and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics and, at the same time, enjoying the work.
Too often, however, teachers' conferences with parents are devoted to petty accounts of children's misdemeanors, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for penalties and rewards at home.
What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional adviser, plants ideas in parents' minds for the best utilization of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom.
In this way, the school and the home join forces in fostering the fullest development of youngsters' capacities.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[考点解析] 语义题。可从上下文考虑这个词的含义。文章第一段谈到，孩子在家的时间比在教室的长，因此，父母的影响不能被“ignored”或“discounted”。在此要注意“therefore”表示一种因果关系，可以判断作者是想表达父母的影响很大，要重视。而且通过构词法，我们可以知道dis-表示否定，结合count的一个意思一重视，可判断出discount是不重视，忽视的意思。