Halloween and Gender Bias

My daughter is 19 years old and I clearly remember an epic mother-daughter battle 6 Halloweens ago over her costume choices. It appeared that costume choices went from cartoonish to provocative as soon as she needed clothing in juniors sizing. I am shocked that these suggestive costumes are now being made for very young children, well, girls.  I am pleased that there does seem to be a movement addressing this. SPARK is a girl-fueled activist...

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Have You Seen Race To Nowhere?

Have you seen the documentary, Race To Nowhere? http://www.racetonowhere.com/  The film features heartbreaking stories of students across the country who have been pushed to the brink by over-scheduling, over-testing and the relentless pressure to achieve, “Race to Nowhere” points to a silent epidemic in our schools. Through the testimony of educators, parents and education experts, it reveals an education system in which cheating has become commonplace; students have become disengaged; stress-related illness, depression and burnout...

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My Take on the NAEYC Technology Survey

The Early Education Action League came to fruition as I sat with a group of colleagues at a Beach Cities AEYC Board Meeting and discussed, in horror, NAEYC's "Draft" of the Technology Statement.  http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PS_technology_WEB2.pdf We now know that this draft was the real deal. Nothing was changed during the process where feedback was summoned, whether online or at the NAEYC conference in Anaheim. Dozens of people voiced their opposition in the conference room and asked why NAEYC was going against American...

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Will You Watch the Debate Tonight?

I am very eager to tune in for tonight's debate, although I know I will likely become very frustrated and agitated. As much as I say that I dislike politics, it is necessary to get involved and stay informed if you're going to advocate for children and education reform.  I have been doing some research and cannot locate anything or any time that Mitt Romney has mentioned early education. In fact when he speaks about education, he often refers to statistics in Finland and how the US should emulate that system. He has also gone on record and...

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MUD KIT

This post is my vow to update and post on the EEAL blog regularly. Not a day goes by that I don't rant about something related to early childhood education and how we need to rally for action. I need to become more organized and put that rant online! If you have read my other posts, you have seen that EEAL likes to get dirty, especially in MUD! We have recently partnered with our local AEYC (Association for the Education of Young Children) affiliate,...

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