Freelance Writing Jobs for Monday, September 24, 2007
September 24, 2007 by Jodee
Filed under Writing Gigs
Leads…
- Freelance Writer @ Deloitte & Touche
- Strategy Experts Sought to Write Textbook Content ($600-$1,000 per chapter)
- Need a Good Copy Person ($20 per hour; 3-4 hours per week)
- Freelance Writers/Editors @ ResumeEdge ($15-$35 per hour)
- Proofreader for High Technology Market Reports
- Contributor for Online Website
- Writers Wanted for Home Financing and Real Estate Articles
- San Francisco Travel and Shopping Guides
- Local Tucson Writer – Real Estate ($900 flat rate)
- Freelance Editor Wanted (under $1,000)
- Real Estate Copywriter Needed ASAP
- Mental Health Writer Needed
- Freelance Magazine Writer Wanted – Based in Midwest
- Freelance Writer/Project Manager @ UJA Federation of New York
- Need Creative Writer for Artist BIO’s
- Interview Writers for Leading African American Publication
- Proofreader – Legal Documents (up to $30 per hour)
- Content Editors/Writers for Pet Portal
- Copy Editor Wanted for Start-up News Site ($20/hour; 5 hours/week)
- Society Columnist Wanted
- Talented Writer
- Article Writer – Digital Printing, Photo Printing
- Writer for One-Page Bio of Local Musician – Portland ($50)
- One-Two Page Lesson on Sake Needed
- Professional Political Blogger
- Music Reviews
- Auto News/Blogger
- Freelance Writers and Photographers Needed – Baltimore
- Christian Writers Needed ($10)
- Bloggers Needed @ Simply Good Media – Travel/Home/Family-Maternity-Baby
- Technology Blogger @ Alternative Energy News
- Internet Producer/Editor – 10 Hours/Week
Good Luck!
Jodee
I see you are getting more postings from sites other than craigslist. Thank you so much for the extra effort!
For any of you who are LinkedIn members… there is an interesting discussion on the Answers board about whether it is better to hire a Subject Matter Expert to write for you or a professional writer. Knowledge vs writing skills.
I’ve just heard back from the editor looking for writers for a leading African-American publication asking when I can start
Congratulations, Fiona!
Thanks Mariella. A good way to start a Monday morning.
Congrats Fiona!!
Hi again Fiona,
Just saw your web site. I also am in love with the Japanese culture and in fact I’m saving up to live in Japan for a few months, hopefully, sometime around next year. And I also have PCOS (in addition to hypothyroidism). Just wanted to say that
Congrats Fiona.
I’m in linked in, but will comment here. Writers are usually better, but they have to understand the subject matter enough to ask intelligent questions and communicate to the intended audience.
Case in point: I started my career as a sportswriter, but moved on to cover a variety of subjects, with a concentration in financial services and technology the last 15 years. Too many subject matter experts in any of those fields don’t know how to write copy that will appeal to a wide enough audience. Tech people tend to use “Geek speak” and acronymns that not everyone understands. That’s where a writer comes in.
I actually ghost write some material for subject matter experts because they know they can’t communicate effectively enough via the written word.
You will love Japan! I spent three years there and miss it to this day. I had hoped to return but so far, fate has taken me in other directions. Definitely feel free to ask if you have any questions before heading out there.
Also good to meet a fellow PCOS bod.
Phil,
Ghost writing was an issue that cropped up in several of the answers. I agree that an expert may have the knowledge, but that does not necessarily translate to writing ability, which is where a good writer can come in to help.
Thanks Fiona.
Will definitely ask everything I could before I head on out since I would most probably be going alone.
I wish I could be an expert in the language before I go, but that’s practically impossible. At least I know enough to ask people when I get lost — “Koko wa doko?” I don’t even know if that is syntactically correct, but still better than being completely clueless.
Deb…
It’s comments such as these that strongly suggest we have not advanced vary far along the evolution ladder.
___________________
Dear Deb,
I think you’re a hypacrite. Your always tell us not to sell ourselves short but blogging jobs don’t pay much. I think you talk out of you’re a**.”
____________________________________
I have to wonder if that person dropped his/her pencil during spelling class.
“HYPACRITE” and the “YOUR”, “YOU’RE” mix up??? Tsk, tsk. Then again I guess it’s ok for dropouts to drop in, if only to underscore the value of a good education.
What kind of immature mind thinks such tripe will have any affect on you? And, why the angst? (I can see him/her now looking up “angst”…except he/she doesn’t know how to use the dickshunairy.)
Bob H.
In all honesty, my English teachers were horrible and focused more on literature than on writing and grammar. In the end, it was my shorthand teacher who drilled grammar and punctuation into the class. She had a simple rule, if you used the wrong there/their/they’re, your/you’re, its/it’s, you could expect a failing grade on that assignment or test. It was pretty simple and usually it only took one failed paper to make sure you never messed up again.
So skip forward 15 years (another of her pet peeves was typing out numbers, but I’m feeling lazy), my daughter is now entering middle school and I am horrified at what she’s learned or more realistically hasn’t learned. This is the reason why poor spelling and grammar persist and no longer shocks me.
From kindergarten to fourth grade, the students were all taught to spell phonetically. My daughter happens to be one who recently handed me a slip of paper where she spelled “dictionary” “dickshunary” or “fickshun” instead of “fiction”. The school has trained them to spell phonetically and now that they feel the kids are old enough to memorize, they are going back with twenty spelling words per week to fix things.
After four years of spelling phonetically, my daughter has never heard of the “i before e” rule or the difference in the sounds found in words like last week’s “receive,” “create,” “discrete,” and “diesel,” that had her in tears trying to memorize the twenty of them. Sadly, her spelling skills are atrocious. I fully blame the school for insisting kids learn to spell phonetically first and then learn the proper way. I now see why homeschooling, though much harder, would be so much more beneficial in the long run.
Ann,
As I tell my kids when they ask for help in English, English and journalism (the majority of my work) are two different languages.
Ann,
Your story is horrifying. The emphasis on phonetics actually pisses me off quite a bit. Although there was always the odd “sound it out” when I was reading and writing as a kid, I was not taught to rely on phonetics. I think the lack of emphasis on phonetics is probably why I was always such a fast reader — sounding out each word slows you down — and as a result, I am 100% in support of the whole language approach.
I agree with Katharine.
Old folks like me were drilled in phonics, knowing how to spell and proper language usage, just to go from grade to grade. It’s amazing what academia and society as a whole lets slide for proper communication (speech or writing) today.
No wonder I have an American cousin who spells “bracelet” as “braiselet”.
She’s 23.
I graduated from a Florida high school in ‘04, and the Florida colleges are seeing the repercussions of focusing so hard on standardized testing that the students never get to learn anything new. Honestly, foreign teachers are always appalled by the papers turned in for 3000 and 4000 level classes.
When I was assisting with grading for my department, I saw the following: “I found the text up seen” (obscene). “Film is a good median for an artist.” “Talent is a rare thing to come buy, says I.” Along with the normal mistakes, there were always these more disheartening ones.
I never had a single assigned book in high school, was still having spelling tests in eleventh grade, and believe it or not, found that it wasn’t uncommon for people to fail our standardized test (FCAT) several times beyond the 10th grade level.
I blame bubbling in. If I hadn’t been an avid reader and writer on my own, buying books like “Words Fail me” and assorted creative writing instructionals on the internet, I’d probably sound just like my peers. It’s kind of sad when self-education is the only way.
Yep. Same here, Phil. And I don’t think I was ever the worse for wear for being taught to spell properly. This touchy-feely, let-kids-call-the-shots stuff is ridiculous. You are not going to destroy their self-esteem by correcting their spelling!!!
When I have kids, I will 1) teach them to read and write BEFORE they start school, like my own mother did with me, 2) interview the schools before I enroll my child, and 3) homeschool if there is no appropriate alternative.
Shannon –
I agree. I was an avid reader when I was in high school, and I think the students who are motivated on their own to study and learn are the only ones who are succeeding anymore. Public schools certainly aren’t doing it.
I graduated high school in 1997. Like you, we had spelling and vocab tests in eleventh grade. Most of the time I already knew the words on each unit, whereas my classmates had never heard them before.
I think I was actually assigned about a half-dozen books throughout four years of high school. I had one teacher who required every student to read three books during the semester if they wanted an A in the class. Three books for an A! And that was considered difficult!
I know exactly what you mean when you say the other kids didn’t know the words.
I remember becoming annoyed to the point of hostility in 9th grade when, once they learned the meaning of the word “voluptuous,” my entire class began to use it at every available moment, then dissolve into fits of self-satisfied of giggles.
As a result of events like this, I was one of those angry teenagers.
Don’t get me started on the mess that now passes for education. After spending years teaching in Japan and then at two major US universities, I noticed that I was having to spend more and more time assisting students with the basics that they should have learned by high school. I looked into becoming certified as a teacher but was told that my multiple degrees did not count since none of them were specifically in education.
We have dozens of teachers who have been taught theories of education without learning the subject matter they are supposed to teach. As a result I’ve seen kids who’ve been told there are 4 Great Lakes, students who write ten page papers with NO punctuation, and worse.
I could rant on this all day.
Katharine,
when the time comes for future kids’ schooling, look at Montessori (if available in your area). The teacher who provided the best foundation in all of this was my first grade teacher. Though I was in a parochial school, she followed a Monetossori-type approach — the “first (class sizes were much bigger in the 60s)” reading group read several more books than were in the initial class plan, and we knew how to use the public library (it was only two blocks away)before going on to second grade.
Of course, that wouldn’t have meant much if my parents didn’t start reading to me years before that.
Shannon –
Sounds awfully familiar.
Fiona –
You are so right about the idiocy of the teacher certification requirements. When I enrolled in college in 2001 (yep, took a few years off) I looked briefly into the education program. Back then, I think — at least in Colorado — Education was your minor, but you only had a choice of about four or six majors: English, Science, Math, and one or three others. Now it’s even worse — Education is your major, with the subject that you are supposed to be enough of an expert in to teach being your minor!
What a topic for the day! I am six weeks away from having my first baby and the education system in the States freaks me out! I know I have a few more years for them to fix it, but I don’t see that happening! I agree with who ever said before that the teachers are taught more theories on how not to hurt the child’s feelings than how to teach them grammar! Our grandparents were taught the hard way and they came out just fine! Maybe what those angry teens really need is someone to look them in the eyes and tell them to stop whining and LEARN! I know it worked with me and I graduated top of the class!
Phil,
Yes, we have Montessori here, and I have looked into it before and liked it. Thank you for the recommendation — we seem to think very much alike on these matters.
Like you, my parents started reading to me years before I started school. As a result, by the time I entered kindergarten, I could already read quite well. They didn’t know what to do with me in school! I can clearly remember sitting there in class while the teacher taught everyone about the letter A.
Honestly, I think it is BECAUSE I learned to read before public school “got” to me that I had such a strong appreciation for reading and writing throughout school.
I agree. A modicum of discipline, at least, is needed in the education system — be it in the US or in any part of the planet.
With regards to being able to read before entering school, my mother taught my sisters and I to be fully capable of reading before we entered school at the age of 4 (in the UK), so I was quite amazed when a friend’s child (aged 6) started school here recently. She was very proud that he knew his numbers but saw no need to teach him to read. The thought that a 6 year old can’t read boggles my mind.
As for the phonics… my niece could read before entering school but then had a very difficult time when the teachers insisted she re-learn using the phonics method. She would come home asking why the teachers couldn’t say the names of the letters properly!
My husband is Spanish and he can’t believe that people PASS high school with the level of spelling that they have. In Spain you either get it right or keep on failing. They (the teachers) don’t care how many times you fail, they don’t feel bad for you. I know quite a few people in my life that wouldn’t have passed high school in Spain and who are in the University right now in the States!
Just to play the devil’s advocate for a moment, I have to say that the old fashioned way had its problems as well. I had an “old-school” teacher in first grade who spanked me through the chair, didn’t let us talk at lunch time, and yelled at me for following along with my finger as I read. (Never mind that I was being moved up from kindergarten, and that at 5 years old I could read better than most of the kids in her class. Actually, I think she rather resented me.)
Anyway, my point is that the old ways also had their problems. I actually think a blended approach is for the best. Kids obviously need to learn spelling and grammar rules, but I also think that the focus should not be solely on this. It’s no accident that avid readers know these things instinctively, even when they haven’t been taught the “i before e” rule.
I also think it’s no accident that kids who are surrounded by books at home tend to do better in school. Parents today have become extremely complacent, expecting school to take care of everything, while the public school systems have gotten more and more inadequate. It’s a double-whammy.
OFF TOPIC. .I couldn’t find Deb’s email addy and I have a question. I was subscribed to the update emails but haven’t gotten one since the 17th. I didn’t know if there was a problem Deb needed to be made aware of, or if they just have not been getting sent out. I have been just checking in here without the email notices, anyway, so its not a big deal to me – just wanted to give her a head’s up just in case. I LOVE THIS SITE! And Deb, I just love and appreciate you and your hard work (and JODEE, too!)!!!! Thank you all soooo very much!
Fiona –
Your story brings up another interesting point. A lot of parents today — mainly wealthier parents — are holding their kids back from starting kindergarten until they are 6. The practice is called red-shirting. I think that in some cases it’s appropriate, but in general I don’t agree with it.
The story about your niece makes me nervous. The very first time THAT happens I will be scheduling a meeting with the teacher!
Kat,
I totally agree with you. Not too long ago I attended my 10-year high school reunion. The invitations that were sent out were atrocious — at least a dozen spelling and grammar mistakes, between the invitation and the RSVP sheet. I was appalled that this person had not only graduated high school with me, but also graduated college!
I’m fortunate that my town has a very good public school system. My oldest son had spelling tests starting in 1st grade. He is now in third and is an excellent speller (although he is very gifted, so I know some if it is natural) and good writer, too.
I was very pleased to see that on a paper he brought home yesterday, he had written something about “getting a good grade” and his teacher crossed out “getting” and rewrote “earning.” She didn’t mark him wrong, but I was so happy that she is showing him better, more specific word choices.
As parents, we have to be extremely involved in what is going on in the school.
Join the PTA.
Volunteer in any way possible in the office (you want to principle to know you so when you do have a problem, he/she will respond.)
Contact the teacher at the first sign of trouble or confusion. Most school systems now have an e-mail system set up. Find out the teacher’s e-mail and if it’s appropriate to the situation, use it.
Check over all of your kid’s homework every night (for the younger ones).
If your school has the grades available on the computer, check them frequently.
If there is a committee being put together to look at new curriculum, join it.
Be on top of things. I know we are all busy, but nobody but nobody has your kid’s best interest at heart like you do so if you don’t keep on top if it, don’t expect anyone else will.
I’m a former high school English teacher. I did my absolute best. I was overworked and underpaid and I loved my job. I didn’t always catch problems. But believe, when a parent contacted me, I always responded.
Robin,
Usually, it’s not the teachers who are at fault. Much has to do with administration mandating or strongly suggesting teaching that helps kids do well on tests, but not master the fundamentals (kids aren’t “being taught how to fish”). And teachers can do little if they don’t get parental support.
I covered education for three years. Now if a kid gets in trouble or has poor grades, the parent tends to side with the kid. If I got in trouble or had poor grades, my parents (and most parents of that generation) would side with the school (and teacher), not with you.
No doubt teachers are underpaid, though with healthcare, they’re not as underpaid as they once were.
My daughter is 25, hated school, would not even consider college, and I don’t consider her to be educated really. Teachers try too hard to be interested in the kids? I found the opposite–one teacher told her in fifth grade that they had had a better day the day before because she wasn’t present (home sick). Nice! I put her in Catholic school–where she took up smoking at 12, although that probably was not the school’s fault. Everywhere she went, parents were VERY involved–asked to raise money for everything, including teachers’ assistants (public school). Her public grade school did not teach the multiplication tables, saying that was arithmetic. I did a newsletter for parents to use to drill their offspring (free, sigh). Anyhow, the schools are a mess and I don’t know the answer. Some of it is lazy kids (in my case, anyhow), some bad or put-upon teachers, some idiotic administrators, some bad policy (NCLB), some just plain falling apart.
Phil,
I agree that it’s not always the teacher’s fault. With all the standardized testing, curriculum requirements, and administrative policies, teachers have few options these days. I taught preschool and after school programs for about 6 years, and I can tell you it’s the same thing there.
I also think you’re right about the parents siding with the kids these days. When I was a kid, there was no question of that if it was an academic issue. (I can remember my teacher and parents having a talk in fourth grade about the fact that I was reading in class instead of doing assignments. In fact, I hadn’t done assignments all year. My parents and the teacher banded together and made me catch up.)
The only cases where my parents sided with me were appropriate, I think. There were a few teachers along the way who were very lax about dealing with bullying, and my mom never hesitated to take my part on those issues. Looking back, I think the only thing she could have done better would have been to involve me more, so that I would have learned earlier on how to defend myself, to both my peers AND to the adults.
Lawrence –
I’m not sure that teachers caring too much about the kids is the problem. At least, that’s not what I’M saying. However, there is a huge movement right now about fostering self-esteem in children. Although I think that self-esteem is important, the movement is taken to extremes. You probably all know parents who won’t discipline their children because it’ll make them feel bad about themselves, who prefer to “redirect” their attention to something else instead of telling them that hitting is not allowed.
Honestly, I think this is being carried over into the school system. Teaching kids to learn by rote is interpreted as possibly making them feel bad about themselves if they don’t have good memorization skills.
I agree with you that there is a lot of blame to be handed out. The parents think it’s the teacher’s responsibility, and the teachers think it’s the parents responsibility, and so no one does anything. Meanwhile, the kids are all learning that it is O.K. to be lazy and selfish, because after all, this entire self-esteem movement is all about catering to THEM!
Not to kill the school topic (which is very interesting), but some of you may remember me asking a potential client for a nominal fee to send her further samples pertaining to her work specifically. I was reluctant to ask, but I did it anyway.
She emails me today saying she doesn’t agree. She said she looks at it as a job interview and she’s never been paid on a job interview.
Nice!
S>> tell her a job interview can’t be put up on a web site but an article can. Honestly, people suck at analogy.
I once read something that put it this way — it’s all about how much time and effort the interviewer is putting forth. If they are taking time to schedule interviews, meet with applicants, run background checks, etc., then they are investing themselves and are much less likely to be scammers. If, however, they are just sending out mass requests for writing samples, they aren’t really putting a lot of effort into finding a writer, and have no right to expect you to put effort into writing a sample.
I think that’s a good way of looking at it. I have written unpaid samples upon request at actual in-person interviews, but I would never do so if requested via email by someone I didn’t know at all. That’s what my portfolio is for.
Hello, I would really love to write something in relation to the military. If anyone knows of any availabilities, please email me at psymaverick23@gmail.com
Thanks so much!
I’m catching up on everything from yesterday – my daughter’s pet rat passed away and I had this thing about letting her die alone versus dying in my hands.
Both of my kids are counted as “gifted” so the school and I have had many battles – if you can call them battles. My son was reading at the age of 3, books are something that are always in my house. I even have my set of Dr. Seuss books from my own childhood, Mog The Forgetful Cat is another, and then Wende & Harry Devlin books. I won’t part with them. When he was about to turn 5, we went to register him in kindergarten and were told that the school was changing its policy to have all students start kindergarten nearer to the age of 6, so he was one of the “red shirted” ones. By the time he started kindergarten though I protested to have him start earlier, he was reading books like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he could add and subract, wrote sentences, etc. Because the school board denied us early entrance for him saying it wouldn’t be fair, the teachers and I had many battles over what they would make him do in class.
By 2nd grade, they were telling me I should move him up a year, which I refused to do. First, he’d said he had friends and didn’t want to start over. Second, they told me in the beginning that starting him early would damage his school career so to suddenly say he needed to skip a grade was absurd when they fought me from the start. He’s now in middle school and to keep him from becoming bored, they’ve had to be very creative. They taught him a pre-algebra class last year and have him in algebra this year (8th grade). When he starts high school next year, he’ll go straight into Geometry.
Teachers here (I’m in northern Vermont) make a good salary. They can say they don’t, but starting out they are making close to $40k and I keep close tabs on their salaries. It is town policy to post what the teachers make. My daughter’s teacher is in his 3rd year with the middle school, and is making $42k. My son’s English teacher has been with the school for 28 years and earns close to $60k. On top of this, they do not pay for their health or dental insurance, the taxpayers cover it all. They get 3 weeks of vacation per year after five years which increases with longevity, plus fourteen sick days. All of this for working from the end of August to the beginning of June – classes are from 8am to 2:15 pm for elementary and 8:45 to 3pm for the middle school. They can opt to receive paychecks year round or just during the school year. I don’t see that they really have it that bad here.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg for me. What ticks me off is getting home papers from my kids’ teachers or the office staff. I’ve seen kindergarten spelled “kindergarden” in these newsletters or notes to parents. I’ve seen their used for there. Some of the grammar is horrible and for that I feel the teachers are truly overpaid.
The PTA here, I was a member once and they definitely kiss up to the teachers. That bothers me because they don’t tend to argue anything that is going on in the school. The majority of the focus is on raising money for the playground areas. The policy was that using kids to fundraise is mandatory, I disagree. The kids that sell the most can skip half a school day and be taken by limo to the area pizza restaurant which again I disagree with because my kids have one set of living grandparents and I have two brothers – that’s it for family. My husband cannot take the fundraisers to work – it’s against company policy. Meanwhile, if the kids sell door to door, they are disqualified. My son has two classmates that have step-siblings. One of them has 14 brothers/sisters and another has 21. No one can outsell these kids. The PTA thought I was wrong for saying the system should be changed to make it fair for all kids to win this day from school, so I never bothered joining back up.
I won’t say the school does nothing right, because policies on bullying are exceptional today. But where the education comes into play, the NECAP tests are focused on far too much and education has really diminished.
Ann,
I don’t know if I would say overpaid. For someone who was doing their job, $40K starting would be pretty fair. I personally would say that either the education system has failed your teachers as much as it is now failing your students, OR they are simply in the wrong profession.
The fundraising is an issue for me, too, by the way. In fact, my husband and I were just talking the other day about how we’ll handle it when we have kids…and that’s with an emphatic “No thank you.” We both strongly feel that not only should kids not be used for fundraising, but also that it is horribly annoying to have someone else’s kids pestering you to buy something. WE will not be “those people,” at least.
In this area, $40k is a very high salary starting out. My husband, with an associate’s degree, has been in his job for 29 years and makes around that much. Average salaries here, mainly because Vermont is not big on large industries or stores moving in, tend to average $12 an hour tops. So teachers getting $40k starting plus free health and all the benefits added in, they make a very nice income compared to many of my friends, neighbors, and family members. My own neighbor is a licensed electrician and makes what teachers make. I think it all depends on where you are living.
Fundraising is awful. My own two don’t participate in it, but this year my son was forced into it. The 8th grade class takes a class trip to Montreal for a day of fun at the end of the year. We were sent a letter stating that children had two choices, fundraise to pay for their share of the field trip and all of the money they earn buys them a place on the field trip instantly, or parents had to cough up the $160 by the second week of September. We can’t come up with that much money that quickly, especially when the storm that hit this area damaged our roof and that had to be first priority, so he has to do the fundraising. The email that he sent out to our family and friends about how he was being forced and really hated bothering them but had no other option was a riot and certainly got his point across clearly.
When I was a child and we were made to do fundraising, my mother always ends up buying everything we have to sell. I hated it with a passion.
My mom never let us. She didn’t approve of sending kids door-to-door selling stuff. During my later years in elementary school, the school changed its tune and started promoting the sell-to-people-you-know type of campaign, rather than encouraging kids to knock on strangers’ doors.
Of course, they had to know that the kids who REALLY wanted that cheap pink radio weren’t going to get it selling only to family friends.
The whole thing disgusts me — they get all the kids into the auditorium, show them all these cool freebies they can earn if they sell a million candy bars, and get them all jazzed up about it. It’s just as immoral as targeting marketing campaigns at kids — they’re taking advantage of the fact that kids are impressionable and easily manipulated.
One fund raising technique I loved was the school did a bazaar of sorts. Families donated whatever. .. food, crafts, white elephants, services (hair cuts from stylists, tax services from cpas, etc) and people then bought the donated items. The whole community was invited. There was food (vendors donated it) and games for the kids and stuff (all donated). So, all the money was raised without kids going door-to-door. . .and it was really enjoyable for the whole community. It was held at the school, by the way. . .in the gym and outside. They may have gotten free or donated ads in the paper, too.
The book sales which raise funds and generate free books for the schools. . .those are great too. Again, no door-to-door or putting it on the kids to pester people.
By the way, Ann –
The story about your son being forced to fundraise is awful. If my kids’ schools ever do that, I’ll be writing to the editors of every paper in town! (Not to mention probably changing schools as soon as possible, the commute be d#mned.)
By the way, I was a gifted child too, so I clearly remember the battles my mom had to fight on my own behalf. I was moved up a grade — they moved me into first grade after only a month or so of kindergarten because I was so bored — and although I wouldn’t ever have changed that, it didn’t really solve anything. I was still bored, and the school’s “gifted program” back then was usually just assigning extra research to keep us busier.
Likewise, my younger sister went to a special school for gifted children, and you know what she got? Wordsearches and crossword puzzles.
Dani, I agree. I hadn’t thought of the book sales as fundraising. Our school did those too, although my mom was more likely to buy from the Scholastic order sheets than from the book sales.
Our school also did plant sales around Mother’s Day. Nothing as cool as the bazaar you described, though.
To change schools we’d have to move, and first that would crush my daughter who after years of separation anxiety has great friends now and loves going to school. I figure he has one more year and a few of the parents agree with me and have been protesting the field trip. If it really costs that much, they could go across the lake to NY and go to the Six Flags there for a lot less and not have to deal with the whole border crossing issue.
I was in the Girl Scouts and remember having to sell cookies door to door. I’d never let my kids do that now. I threw out my daughter’s Katheryn Beich (not sure if that’s spelled right) package and she’s happy with my decision.
When I was a kid, my mom was head of the PTA. Once a year, they held this event called the “Family Fun Fair.” She spent months going to area businesses and parents asking for food, raffle prize, paper plates/plastic utensils/drinking cups, and beverage donations or help running game booths. Then for one night, the school gym was turned into a carnival of sorts. Game booths were set up, tickets were sold, and there were pony rides, and a bouncy castle. That even would draw in thousands of dollars and the community loved it. As we got older, she left the PTA and the event was never held again. It’s really quite sad because it was such a draw for the entire community.
I’ve mentioned that to the school here and their comment is always the same “We can’t use the school setting for something like that due to insurance regulations.” It sucks that community events are now revolving around insurance problems as well.