Breaking away from conformity, from the confines of cubicles and rigid rules, was the biggest reason I became self-employed. I like to do things my own way and I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because my 6-year-old daughter is a lot like me.
So I shouldn’t be surprised that she isn’t embracing the rigid structure of the elementary school where she’s sentenced to six hours a day of intense reading and writing exercises in order to comply with state mandates brought into being by Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Nor should I be surprised by my own response to the relentless pace of her first grade teacher. My reaction is basically to take a good hard look at her education and tackle it like I do any new project – head on.
No Child Left Behind ties school funding to student performance. Performance is gauged by annual testing which begins for students starting in third grade ( age 8 ). Getting students up to speed for these tests is hard work and starts as early as kindergarten. By first grade, play time is over. The vast part of the school day is devoted to reading, writing and math.
A generation of test takers
I’m not opposed to accountability, and I don’t profess to be an expert on the education system or No Child Left Behind. I am, however, an expert on my daughter. The near-obsessive focus on getting her reading and writing skills up to speed by third grade means her days are filled with a lot of desk work and very little play. This translates to a combination of boredom and stress. While she seems to like her teacher and her friends, she’s also well on her way to hating school.
Her first grade class only gets about a half hour of “free play” one day a week. This is a lot to ask from a six-year-old. It’d be a lot to ask of most adults, so how can we expect six-year-olds to sit quietly with no down time for hours on end, day after day?
The same drive that keeps me pushing myself and my business further each year is now on high alert when it comes to my child’s education. I’ve begun researching alternatives – including private and home schooling.
Both options imply an expense and commitment that I can’t really digest right now, because they’re so overwhelming. But leaving my child in a school that’s more focused on test scores than test takers, seems a much larger sacrifice.
Recommended Reading
Let’s face it, working motherhood is demanding, hectic and often thankless. It’s a good thing there are a host of gadgets and goodies available to soothe us stressed out moms and make us smile when it’s time to open gifts. Here are a few of my top recommendations for the holiday season and beyond.
Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device
The Kindle, a new wireless reading device from Amazon.com which retails for $399, is my top pick. There are more than 90,000 books available for the Kindle, all of which can be loaded wirelessly onto the device in under one minute once purchased. And it’s not just about books! The Kindle also provides access to top newspapers, magazines and hundreds of blogs. The best part? This gadget holds over 200 book titles at once, weighs less than a pound and stays charged for over 24 hours! Alas, as of 12/4/07, they were temporarily out of stock. I don’t care. I still want one.
Mommytrackd.com, a great Web site targeted to working moms, offers a handful of cool gifts aimed at helping working moms stay organized. Products like the “Gee, I’ve Got It All,” note pad start just $5.00 and make great stocking stuffers. My personal favorite is the Doorganizer - a little bag that hangs from a door knob and provides pockets for storing keys, cell phones and other small gadgets that tend to disappear the second you walk through the door.
And speaking of gadgets, the iPod Shuffle is one of the cutest, coolest little gadgets I’m hoping to unwrap this season. I already own a full-sized iPod, but the Shuffle is so tiny
and travel friendly, I’m not averse to the overlap of owning (gasp!) two MP3 players just for the flexibility giving my already overstuffed briefcase a little break from all the large electronic equipment I typically lug around.
A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play
by Vivian Gussin Paley which provides an intriguing look at the importance of play in preschoolers and kindergartners. I was glued to this book the minute I started reading it and love how Paley uses the childrens’ own words to describe their play. Paley’s rich, direct writing style breaks everything down into clear explanations that demonstrate the importance of imaginative play for building problem solving and social skills.
Happy Shopping!
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, December 8, 2007.
Salary.com’s 2006/2007 Employee Job Satisfaction and Retention survey reported that over 60% of people plan on looking for a new job over in next few months. It’s really no surprise to me that so many people are unhappy with their jobs.
A couple of weeks ago I addressed how I no longer accept certain projects because they make me miserable. I’m much happier that I made that decision and have been able to focus on projects I enjoy.
But it’s not just the type of projects I maintain that contribute to my overall happiness. It’s the industry I’m in which continues to amaze and surprise me, the people I work with and meet each and every day, the ability to work remotely, the fact that I’m constantly reinventing my job and the incredible opportunities that cross my path.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here’s that list again with a bit more gratitude.
I’m thankful for:
- My clients – I have a fresh roster of interesting clients all of whom are enthusiastic about working with me now and moving forward in 2008.
- My industry – I stumbled into online marketing in 1997 when I barely understood the implications of banners and search engines. Now, nearly 11 years later, I’m still learning new things and I’m very grateful to be in the thick of it.
- My Colleagues – I have as diverse and interesting a group of colleagues as anyone can want. I work with people in Manhattan, San Jose, Seattle, Florida and England. I’d never have met any of these people if I was stuck at one company full-time.
- My House – I’d be remiss in saying that I wasn’t grateful for my home, which is also my office. I’m thankful that I can make a decent living right here where my kids play, and my husband bakes and the trees look so gorgeous in the fall.
- My Flexibility – I’m taking most of Thanksgiving week off and plan to take a week off in December for the holidays. I’m doing this without apology and without asking permission – and for that I am extremely thankful.
- And finally, I love the constant flow of new opportunities that comes from being self employed. The projects and clients that have crossed my path in the years since I’ve been on my own keep me enthusiastic, inspired and, above all, thankful.
