What have I been up to this week?
WTF Wednesday: Crest’s sexist toothpaste commercial
Recently, The Toronto Star published an article called, Low-income ‘streaming’ in Ontario high school alive and well, report says.
Streaming was a process where students were separated into groups or, streams. Lower streams comprised of low-income families, recent immigrants and minority groups. White, middle-class (The reference to a middle-class emphasizes this was in the past) made up the higher streams.
In 1999, when I started high school, streaming was said to be gone after several studies proved the method was doing more harm than good. Now, students choose what ability level they want to take for each class. The arts and health are open but math, English, French, science, history and geography are divided into applied, academic or locally developed. The French Immersion program differs slightly. Locally developed courses can be described here. There is a pre-conceived notion among not just students but our society that Applied classes are easier.
Theoretically, this way a student can choose a class they feel matches their ability level and teachers can plan their lessons and collect educational resources accordingly. However, if a student or their support/peer system (if they have one) doesn’t recognize the student’s true potential, they may choose and applied class. The problem with this is, applied credits can hinder their future post-secondary and career wise in the long run. Quite the decision for a kid to make, a lot of pressure.
People for Education released The Trouble with Course Choices in Ontario High Schools.
“This report shows that students taking applied courses have a reduced chance of graduating from high school. It also shows that, worryingly, the schools where a large proportion of students take applied courses are most likely to have lower average family incomes and lower levels of parental education.”
I’m not a fan of the current education system but I am in no spot currently to suggest another method. What I do know is kids need to really understand the impact of their classroom choices. It’s already absurd to expect our children, at fourteen, fifteen, to make decisions that will impact them for life. However, it is their choice, let’s help them realize what is actually best for them.
What else I’ve been up to this week
FTW Friday: Ethical Shopping with Apptivism for This Magazine
Tagged: Academic classes, Applied classes, high school, high school education system, Low-income ‘streaming’ in Ontario high school alive and well report says, Ontario education, Ontario high school, Ontario high school education system, People for Education, streaming, The Trouble with Course Choices in Ontario High Schools, Toronto Star
I don’t think a child’s imagination is given enough credit. Though touted by marketers as a toy-gimmick, it is something that occurs naturally. We’re told we need to be stimulating our young minds constantly. Yet, somewhere along the line family bonding lost to big company gadgets. Imagination needs batteries and expansion sets.
I live in a low-income neighbourhood, school bus stop chatter consists of the need of children needing their own TV, computer and gaming system in their room; separate from the ones in the living room.
Somehow I got by playing with spools of thread for dolls and making board games out of cake boxes. Necessity breeds creation, creation grows from imagination. It is for free, of course someone wants to sell you it, doesn’t mean you have to buy into it.
Listen to your little one playing by them self when you get the chance. The storylines, songs and character voices, those all flowed from their own 100 per cent free mind.
Related: Check out strombo.com‘s Let Your Kids Get Bored; Apparently, It’s Good For Them
Other work I’ve done this past week
WTF Wednesday: Charges worst case scenario for Rehtaeh Parsons’ case for This Magazine
Photos of Bad Ladies and the Detective for Missy/Ink Magazine
Tagged: children's toys, consumerism
Confused on how to get from Building A to Building B, I followed the footsteps someone else left imprinted in the Ontario snow. With faith I allowed them to lead me, and it was a success. I laughed at the thought of someone trying to follow my footprints. They’d be lead in circles, through dangerous paths, stumbling where things got topsy-turvy and they may even trip over the indent of where I fell on my bum. It kind of scared me to think someone would follow my clumsy feet. Then it hit me, that’s what my little one IS doing.
Tagged: parenting
My online portfolio got pretty spiffy! Still working on some stuff but here it is!
Tips, comments and, of course, compliments are welcome and invited xo MM
Tagged: birthday, fifth birthday, Sweet Clip Art
When they learn to walk, shelves fall. They learn to talk, they say they hate you. They’re out of diapers, and wetting the bed. They go to school, and learn rude rhymes.
Mommyhood – There’s no winning.
This beautiful opportunity is wasted on me. I have the chance to give all my love to this little person, to help them grow and live a life not only fulfilling to themselves but beneficial for the world around them. I can produce a globally conscious human being who can change the world but I can’t even make her go to bed; to get the rest needed to do anything productive. I pass out from trying, while she sits on her bed watching Monster House and drawing vampire bats.
I can’t pee with the door closed because she’ll force it open. I haven’t had a proper meal in forever because she and the cats seem to conspire against me, and spill the milk at just the right time.
The same child I would kill for is whom I hide under my covers from. When will I take a breath and enjoy the beauty of parenthood when I am too busy messing everything up?
My ringlet crowned darling will say the darndest thing, say something truly amazing, and I’m too tired to express my pride. It seems all I do is scream, dish out threats I’m not entirely willing to fulfill. If I don’t go through with these coercions, my daughter won’t have consistency in her life. She will grow up moving from one empty relationship to another, deal drugs and end up in jail ruing the day she was born. That day, by the way, is my fault. Ah the constant feeling of inadequacy!
Growing up at Nonna’s house, crucified Jesus hanging from that little Italian lady’s walls, you’d think I had mastered guilt. If there were a degree of some sort I’d receive it without having to apply. But no, parenthood, single motherhood, that’s a whole other guilt-laden animal.
It is said that raising a child takes a village, at the very least a partnership. There are no breaks, no handing her off for a few minutes. I’m the hated parent, the nurturer, the disciplinarian. It’s my fault when things go wrong, when her lunch isn’t perfectly balanced and when her socks don’t match. I can’t even match my own socks. When things go right, I have no one to celebrate with. How selfish of a statement, isn’t the celebration of her achievement the achievement itself? Oh I feel guilty now.
I scour the piles of school notices, knowing if I recycle them without a glance I’ll miss the one warning of a school wide lice contamination. I’m the one braving the underbelly of what I hope is juice stained secondhand cushions, to ensure my kid isn’t left out of Pizza Day. Extra curricular activities, birthday parties, time outs, sticker charts; all on me.
I visit Facebook and see pictures attacking single mothers. “The government is not your babies [sic] daddy,” followed by comments calling single-mothers lazy, followed by ruder language. I comment that said picture may not be depicting the whole story. I’m not on Ontario Works personally, but as a mother and a woman, I’m offended. You can’t get an income from a paying job without a sitter. You can’t afford a sitter without the cash. And why is it assumed mothers are stealing from hardworking citizens? Because bringing up the next generation is a breeze.
I keep hearing that single moms are stupid for not expecting the amount of work and money it takes to raise a child. The father is never mentioned. Life happens, there is no being ready for a child. To be entirely prepared is to be a fortuneteller. A human life must be cared for, no matter the circumstance.
Most single mamas are not on the prowl for a dude to support them. If a relationship is pursued, chances are they are for the same reasons non-parents seek companionship. Sex, cuddles and support are all cool things.
Single lady mommies are not all looking for a brand new father for their spawn. My daughter has a dad, whether I’m with him romantically or not. I don’t need to force her to call another man her father. I will let my partner and her decide what their relationship is. I will be in a relationship for love, not to add a new parent to the roster. (Extra help would be awesome, but any parent in any situation would say that.)
While I’m vowing it will be better for my baby than it was for me, the world is sending me another message. I deserve it. As a mother I deserve it. As a single mother I asked for it. As an abused partner I wanted it. Hell, let’s be honest, because I’m a woman, I had it coming.
And this confusion that I feel, being born female, is amplified by giving birth to a female. No pressure or anything, but despite everything I know to be true and everything I learned growing up, I can’t let my little girl grow up to feel like me. There’s no report card, no set of fail proof instructions. Though there is a market of self-help books, fitness classes and nosey strangers who try to make me sway to the otherwise.
If anything it is “character building blah blah blah,” it’s a “journey yadda yadda yadda.”
I want to show how much I care, but it’s hard when my head is constantly held under murky waters. How do other mothers do it? Don’t tell me, I’ll shoot the messenger.
Tagged: guilt, mommy guilt, motherhood, single moms
