ATTITUDE OVER APTITUDE. EFFORT OVER ACHIEVEMENT. CHARACTER OVER TALENT. For families, educators, corporations, and communities, The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have is nothing less than a new paradigm for reconnecting education with core values. With more than thirty-five years' experience at Hyde, an organization of internationally known, award-winning schools and programs, Laura and Malcolm Gauld argue persuasively that true education for our children springs not just from seeking good grades and achievements but from reestablishing a true commitment to character, attitude, and a sense of purpose. The Hyde program emphasizes ten core beliefs -- the school's 10 Priorities -- that address how families can find the right balance between character and achievement. The results have been nothing short of astonishing: Children of all abilities and from every background have succeeded far beyond any expectations of them, both personally and academically, thanks to what they and their families have learned at Hyde. Unlike other education books that focus on the child, The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have focuses on a child's primary teacher -- the parent. The Gaulds explain that parents have an enormous impact on how their children approach education and life. They describe how parents can enhance their children's education by improving family dynamics and introducing honesty into all aspects of family life. And they detail the 10 Priorities clearly and logically, so that any family can embrace them. But that's only part of this book's appeal. Perhaps its true power comes from the dozens of Hyde parents and students who willingly share their own remarkable stories -- honest, funny, sad, moving, provocative -- that attest to the transformational power of the Hyde philosophy. Being a parent and a child today isn't easy; so much that we thought was important simply is not. As parents and educators, Laura and Malcolm Gauld believe that the way to motivate kids and build stronger families is to focus on identifying what is truly important. In The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have, they do exactly that.

Malcolm Gauld is the president and chief executive officer of the Hyde Schools, overseeing Hyde's two boarding campuses in Bath, Maine, and Woodstock, Connecticut, and public schools in New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.