Yes, I am an educator. I am an “expert.” I have a doctorate in educational policy and development. I love to do research, but that’s not the main purpose of this site.
The purpose of this site is to talk about parenting, its challenges, and new research about how kids can be smart and happy, and how parents can help them (without losing their minds or without wasting their time on the educational fad of the moment).
And I am also a mom to a toddler. Yes, I will be writing mostly about kids. But even if your eyes glaze over at the mention of a “mommy blog,” don’t necessarily click away.
I was a teacher and curriculum coordinator for more than a decade in private and public schools in the Boston area. I’ve also been a journalist, writer, and a research fellow or assistant for several other projects. Now I’m about to finish my dissertation. And I also change a lot of diapers and can sing 30 verses to “The Wheels on the Bus.”
You can read a longer version of my bio if you are so inclined.
Right now I’m just trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
And I honestly think there is a huge void in the blog world for writing about kids, schools, and education that isn’t a) so public policy-oriented or academic that it’s incredibly boring and inaccessible to the general public or b) written by people who haven’t taught or studied education. I want to use my academic training and teaching experience (and, yes, my experiences as a parent) to provide commentary on new research developments in learning and education.
But mainly I love writing and I love reading. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. In high school and college, I wrote for the school newspapers. After Wesleyan, I started the academic track, winning a fellowship to a doctoral program in sociology. But really I just wanted to talk to interesting people and write about it. When my doctoral program started being more about interpreting p-values and performing multiple regressions, I left and ended up in teaching because I had no idea what else to do. And it turns out I sucked at it. I mean, really sucked. I was awful. Shockingly to me, most kids don’t actually care if their teachers know about social theory or did well in college. However, I decided through sheer force of will that I would learn how to become a good teacher, despite the fact that I wasn’t sure that I really liked middle school kids in the first place. And I eventually found joy in connecting with kids, learning about how to teach kids to write, and being a part of close-knit educational communities.
Well, into my thirties then, I decided it was now or never: go back to graduate school or figure out something else to do. I realized I was becoming more interested in the research behind why some kids do well and others don’t. I went back to grad school, technically now in the educational policy department, but I knew that I was really picking up on what interested me in my twenties in my sociology doctoral program: what are the factors that allow some kids to succeed and how can we get more kids to have more options for a better life?
So this is the broad theme that interests me. But much of my life right now is taken up by nap schedules, toddler tantrums, and teething. And what’s better preparation for writing about parenting than real life experience?
“how can we get more kids to have more options for a better life?” I believe parents are the answer. As the wife, sister and friend of many teachers, I’ve had discussions about the role of parents in education over and over. Until parents value education as much as we do, there is little hope for children to feel compelled to learn. As your bio hints that you may write about the marriage of theory and practice in parenting/teaching, it promises to be an interesting blog to follow … I’m looking forward to more posts!
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I am a high school student that came across an article today explaining why you believe your son should not be able to read in kindergarten…I would like to inform you that decisions like this are the reason literacy rates around the world are plummeting into oblivion. Do you not want your child to learn and prosper inside a school setting with his peers? You make the argument that you want to protect your son’s childhood, and “want him to grow and learn at his own pace,” but where is the evidence that this benefits a child? Even before kindergarten I was beginning to grow and actually wanted to be taught new things. I was a very eager child when it came to attending school and enjoyed being in the classroom. Do you want to delay your child’s intellectual and social development? I understand that parenting does not have a set course and that children aren’t born with instructional hand guides, but not being able to comprehend basic English, or any language, while reading will set him back entirely for the rest of his life. Will you be teaching him while at home? Will you further his development while you hold him back from school? How will he interact with anyone other than family members when you believe it is to his benefit he only be around you? It is your child’s education, not your own. Encourage growth and childhood inside AND outside the classroom. Your childhood doesn’t end once you enter school. School’s have become very flexible with allowing a child to go at his or own pace, like if they have a learning disability. Adjustments can be made to fit a child’s own needs. Your child being excluded from such activities in school may lead to psychological disorders later on. Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. Research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse. Do you wish this on your child?
You also make the argument that you don’t want your son to do anything that he “isn’t ready to do,” like reading. You are the parent of your child. Your child does not dictate what he wants to do. If I told my mother I wasn’t ready to x, she would tell me too bad, do it. Pushing your child to do well in school and to learn is the only pressure that should ever be put on a child. Pressure and stress in moderation is good for you mentally; it motivates us to achieve our goals and surpass our expectations in the classroom and in the real world. Should I not apply to college and delay my entire future and education because I am “not ready”? Should I not finish high school because I am “not ready” to leave the only school I have ever attended?
Don’t ignore years of research when making decisions that can affect your child’s life. Don’t let your child face years of backtracking to learn information that he missed because of your decision. Send him to kindergarten to ensure a prosperous future.