Today's Daily Double

"Gotta share.....gotta share!"*

I read an interesting article on a parent's search for a kindergarten that did not assign homework and let kindergarteners play (because that is their work - thank you, Montessori.)

This was my favorite paragraph:

"I came late to motherhood, so I had plenty of time to ponder friends’ mania for souped-up childhood learning. How was it that the same couples who piously proclaimed that 3½-year-old Junior was not “developmentally ready” to use the potty were drilling him on flashcards? What was the rush? Did that better prepare kids to learn? How did 5 become the new 7, anyway?"

Now that we're in the thick of the ridiculousness that is "my kid is taking more high school AP courses than your kid," it seems that Grade 9 is the new Grade 11 with lots of $80 a pop AP testing going on to discern what's in a 14.5 year old's mind that might qualify as college credit.

So we've gone from Doogie Howser's to faux-college-credit earners?

After watching friends and family take 4.5 - 5 years to complete their state university educations, because classes were so full that they had to go in the summer or an extra semester here and there, I've decided that it's all a bit of a sham and that AP credits are only useful when you are going to a state university and the credit gets you out of a basic requirement class that is always full when you try to get into it.

The Boy, who did not test into freshman AP courses, but aced the regular curriculum this year so he's going the AP route next year, is starting to feel a bit of sting from his friends that are off taking the $80 tests this spring. I witnessed a joking, but slightly stinging exchange between him and a friend in the 'high' math class. After the friend was out of the car, The Boy vented a bit about it and his vent contained the phrase "I engage in higher-level thinking" and he went on to share how well he did on an impromptu in-class essay assignment earlier in the week.

I was smug mama the rest of the ride home - he gets it and he's going to be just fine.

In the same article (here's the double) I clicked on the photo credit and discovered the photography of Julie Blackmon and I love it! I hope you'll enjoy it too.

*Singin' In The Rain is in my head