Ideas for the Next Monday Consult
It's only Wednesday, but it's never too early for me to start thinking about next Monday's Consult (and all the ones after that). I'd like to have some questions in hand soon so I can find the right experts.
What's the top issue causing you Ins-Momnia? It can be a question about discipline, mom-to-mom or dad-to-dad etiquette, teacher relations, home organization, how to get some time for yourself, how to answer a 2-year-old who wants to know how the new baby will get out...
Here are a few things I've been wondering about (not necessarily just on my own behalf, but on yours as custodian of this blog):
--How do you know when your child is participating in the right activities? Or too many activities? Or too few?
--Is it OK to let a child quietly read a book in church to keep from squirming?
--How do I explain the images and stories about the Iraq war in the newspaper to my budding reader when she asks, in an age-appropriate way?
--Is it a mortal sin to surreptitiously throw away some of the 1,000 art projects a child produces in a given year?
--How do you help a child who's afraid of flying during a plane trip?
If you'd like to vote for any of these as the topic you'd like addressed next Monday -- or, better yet, suggest your own -- please post below.
Comments
My twins are finally in Kindergarten in Baltimore County. What I thought would be a fun and wonderful experience has turn out to be a series of strange and inappropriate "lessons". The job is too big for one mom to tackle, but maybe if we all shout out, there could be change. The first inappropriate lesson I came across, was the drilling of the kindergarten students in fast food branding and logos. My perfect, wonderful kids were placed in front of a large poster with about a dozen fast food logos printed on it (McDonalds, Dunkin' Donuts, and so on). The teacher pointed to each one and repeated the name of it over and over again. The kids were asked to say the names with her. There was even a song, which repeated the names again and again. My jaw dropped in disbelief. When I complained, they told me it was County curriculum, and no one else had a problem with it. In fact, they had helped to put the lesson together. This I found shocking as no other mom I talked to liked it, but no one seemed to want to do anything about it. It's a huge job. The only thing I can think of is that these fast food companies must be giving money to the schools. Why else would the school so willingly do the marketing job for free that an agency would charge thousands for? Can we take this awful marketing lesson out of the curriculum?
Posted by: Wendy Kaufman | February 27, 2008 11:46 AM
I agree that this is appalling. My son will be at Rodgers Forge Elementary next year and I plan to write to BCPS about this right now.
County Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston
jhairston@bcps.org
(410) 887-4281
Central Area Schools Assistant Superintendent Lyle Patzkowsky
lpatzkowsky@bcps.org
(410) 887-3172
Posted by: Kris H. | February 27, 2008 12:53 PM
Wendy -- I'd be interested in learning more about this. I just wrote to the principal of our local Baltimore County school and she wanted more details. It doesn't sound like she was aware of this, and it doesn't sound like she was happy. I'm at kris@forgeflyer.com.
Thanks!
Posted by: Kris H. | February 27, 2008 2:00 PM
Idea for the Monday Consult: How do you teach kids to "not talk to strangers" while also teaching them to have good manners (which includes talking to strangers)?
Posted by: Kris H. | February 27, 2008 2:03 PM
Wendy says:
"The teacher pointed to each one and repeated the name of it over and over again. The kids were asked to say the names with her. There was even a song, which repeated the names again and again. My jaw dropped in disbelief. When I complained, they told me it was County curriculum, and no one else had a problem with it. In fact, they had helped to put the lesson together."
WHAT!? This is SO unacceptable. My son will be in this school system and I DO intend to speak about against this.
You should contact Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood and let them know what you saw and what was told to you. I'd do it myself, but you are the one who experienced this and not me:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/
Posted by: Melissa R | February 28, 2008 10:02 AM
Another idea for the Monday Consult: I've put some fire safety info on my site but it would be nice to see more. Besides buying dual-sensor smoke detectors, what else should we be doing? We have safety devices on the windows so the kids won't open them too wide and fall out, but does that prevent fire-fighters from getting in? Etc.
Good idea. Look for this soon.
Posted by: Kris H. | March 2, 2008 9:46 AM
Remember kindergarten? It was a nice place where you learned how to share, to play nicely with others and the alphabet was on the wall, you read great stories and there was not a ditto in sight. Whatever happened to it and why do I have to subject my child (who is full of wonder) to a seat on the rug for hours and drill about ridiculous stories. Anyone else frustrated with the BCPS kindergarten curriculum?
Posted by: Meg Knarr | November 20, 2008 3:55 PM