Not really a rant 'cause I'm still on holiday but

I got a popup ad this morning that had a picture of an ickle bitty kid holding a blue ribbon and smiling proudly. The blurb next to it read, "My kid's five and got straight A's! Find out how!"

My immediate reaction: What the heck's a five-year-old doing getting any kind of grade at all? Kids nowadays are being pushed into competitive academics, too soon, too young, because their parents are Driven. Start 'em early, get them on a Pee-Wee league team and let them watch as their parents make idiots out of themselves. Make sure they live in the Right Neighbourhood with the Right People. Buy Educational Software to make sure that three-year-old gets the edge, computerwise, over the kid down the street. Agonise over making sure they get into the Finest Preschool or they won't get into Brown or MIT.

*sigh*


The fine print at the bottom of the popup read, "This program sponsored by Wal-Mart".

*headdesk*

Geekout

d00ds!

Guess who's going to see/hear/geek out at Howard Zinn on Tuesday morning?

Me, that's who. *dances*

Howard Zinn, btw, wrote one of my favourite books (eternal thanks to patchfire for reccing it). I'm not even done with it yet and I adore it. Definitely a book that should be on every History teacher's curriculum list.

Whee!