Today, I have my school girl shoes on them. They are weather appropriate (no open toes) and they are a somewhat conservative color that is a little edgier than the basic black, tan or brown. I call them my school girl shoes because they are the color of my Glendower Preparatory School uniform from my London schoolgirl days. My winter uniform consisted of a deep purple wool tunic, belted with a purple money belt, grey knee socks, purple and white striped oxford shirt, a purple wool blazer with the school’s crest on the breast pocket and a purple velvet beret. In the summer time, the uniform switched to a pale lavender and white gingham dress – still with velvet beret and money belt. I couldn’t wear the color purple for 15 years, I kid you not. Now, it’s one of my most favorite colors. When I wear purple anything, it transports me back to school aged days, I feel young, creative, energetic and I feel like anything is possible.
Getting older can deflate you – especially having kids. Don’t get me wrong, my boys are the pride and joy of my life, but it comes with a whole lot of responsibility where you can no longer live the carefree, naïve life of yester yore. It comes with a lot of worry. As a mamagirl to boys, I attending a very interesting lecture last week where the keynote speaker, Peg Tyree, discussed her book The Trouble With Boys http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Boys-Surprising-Problems-Educators/dp/0307381285
. The book discusses how boys are falling behind academically in an over feminized education system. I attach an article that she also wrote which was the cover story for Newsweek Magazine in 2006 http://www.newsweek.com/id/47522/page/1
There are so many alarming statistics as a boys’ mamagirl to hear, like 20% of mamagirls think that something is “wrong” with their sons because teachers and educators are complaining that they are not organized or paying attention and getting poor behavioral reports. That boys are 5 times more likely to be expelled from schools than girls. That boys are 3x more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. That 70% of high school honors students are female. That the average high school senior boy reads at the same level as the average high school sophomore girl. There are studies that concluded there is too much of an academic focus on the pre-school to first grade age group where children are expected to be “ready to write” by the age of three and are encouraged to focus more on “seat work” rather than play or sports or recess or something to release their physical energy. I quote the following interesting excerpt from the Newsweek article:
For many boys, the trouble starts as young as 5, when they bring to kindergarten a set of physical and mental abilities very different from girls'. As almost any parent knows, most 5-year-old girls are more fluent than boys and can sight-read more words. Boys tend to have better hand-eye coordination, but their fine motor skills are less developed, making it a struggle for some to control a pencil or a paintbrush. Boys are more impulsive than girls; even if they can sit still, many prefer not to--at least not for long.
In elementary-school classrooms--where teachers increasingly put an emphasis on language and a premium on sitting quietly and speaking in turn--the mismatch between boys and school can become painfully obvious. "Girl behavior becomes the gold standard," says "Raising Cain" coauthor Thompson. "Boys are treated like defective girls."
Now you may be reading this and scratching your head and wondering what is The Mamagirl banging on about today? Why is she being serious when I come here to read her silly tribble (my cross between trivia and dribble)? You have a fair point but nonetheless, I’ll tell you why. There was an email sent out to all the kindergarten classes yesterday from the teachers who appeared upset that the students are handing in sloppy and incomplete homework. The tone of the email was negative. It could have been communicated in a more positive way but it sent several parents in a tizzy. Upon further talks with some of my friends, many of the boys had received poor behavior reports on their daily behavior calendar. I wondered if the rambunctious boys just were too much to handle on that particular day, prompting the harsh reprimanding email. I don’t offer a solution to any of this, but if you have boys, I would encourage you to read Peg’s book and to be aware of where and how boys can fall wayward in the education system.
My mamagirl comes to visit me some weekends and she usually finds me involved in some school project with the kids. As I’ve told you before, I apologize to my kids every day for going to work and not being around when they get home to help with homework. As a result, I try to make it up to them over the weekend by helping them with over the top projects. I helped JV weave about 500 pipe cleaners together to make the roof to his wigwam house when he studied Native American Indians. I helped Gus create a soccer stadium diorama with stickers of 100 superhero fans in the stands when he had his 100 Day of School Kindergarten project. My mamagirl sighed and said “It’s a miracle you and your three siblings ever graduated from kindergarten because I would never have been able to help you with all those projects that I see you work on”. I didn’t do a ton of homework in kindergarten and I turned out fine.
Nine West purple suede platform pumps
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