American Girl Goes Common Core

1029americangirlIs an American Girl doll on your shopping list this year for your little girl or a little girl you know?  You may want to think again.

The extremely popular American Girl brand is based on a collection of dolls approximately 18 inches tall who depict girls from ages 9 to 11 and each have their own backstory.  If I had a little girl the pull would be strong to buy one because I can never resist the  trappings that come with American Girl dolls–accessories galore, including pets, handbags, clothes, pretty much anything you can think of.

However, this year something sinister lurks in the American Girl doll accessory pack for girls 8 and older.  Here is a summary of what you will find in the kit; the emphasis is mine:

  • A backpack that features two side pouches, a front zippered pocket, and a screen-printed American Girl logo
  • A colorful notebook with lined pages for taking notes
  • A mini math textbook so she can study up
  • Three pretend mechanical pencils
  • A faux water bottle with flower graphics

americangirlmathThat’s right, folks. For a not insignificant price you can buy your little girl’s doll a pack that will make her ready for school, just like your little girl! How exciting.  Sounds innocent so far, right?

Well, notice my emphasis on the math textbook. I’m not a fan of squelching a child’s desire for modeling her doll’s imaginary life with her own; it is after all the imagination that can make great thinkers and doers.  However, taking a closer look at this math textbook it is plain to see it is the enVision Math book which is Common Core aligned and put out by the massive textbook publisher, Pearson. Pearson is a huge monopoly type educational material company that basically owns American public education.

Pearson makes money off of our children. Every time a child takes a test or a school buys new textbooks or even if a child receives tutoring, Pearson gets paid. Even teacher licensing is now controlled by Pearson.

Kudos to the marketing team at Pearson who decided to grant American Girl their wish of selling a miniature math book for their miniature customers.  And kudos to American Girl for not doing their research and seeing that a rapidly growing number of parents and tax payers are seriously unhappy with Common Core, Pearson, Bill Gates, and any other from a myriad of educational policies and/or products right now.

Or, perhaps American Girl did do their research but are in agreement with the Common Core standards. Either way, it’s a bad call and it begs the question:  Did Pearson grant them the rights to reproduce the mini math book for free and they now will glean all of the free product placement advertising or did they charge for the replication?

Again, either way, bad move, American Girl. I’m already seeing parents and teachers boycotting the doll.  Pearson makes enough money off of our kids–maybe American Girl should hear from us.

Macey France

Oregon PolitiChick Macey France is co-founder of the Stop Common Core in Oregon and is working with parents across the state to educate and help them to learn how to advocate for their children's education. Macey has spoken at many Common Core informational meetings across the state of Oregon. Macey's articles on Common Core have been picked up by various news outlets and she has been a guest on many radio shows across the nation. Macey's article about The Bluest Eye was featured on a panel on Al Jazeera America and was nominated for a CPAC Blogger Award for Best Sunlight Post of 2013. Macey is a strong conservative with libertarian leanings, making her more of a "conservatarian." Preserving the constitutional and moral values of that this great nation was founded on for her children is her priority. She is a stay at home mom of two boys who are now in elementary school. As a mom who has always been interested in politics, religion and all of the taboo subjects, she has always had a lot to say about the state of the nation. When she realized the Common Core Standards were not only bad news for children but a government coup over education, she decided to fight back and is now considered one of the nation's leading experts on all-things-Common Core. When she's not having uncomfortable arguments with strangers on Facebook she can be found spending time with her husband of 15 years and two sons. Find Macey France on Facebook and Twitter: @MaceyFrancePC

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