As I’ve mentioned, in my day job I write about all things college. As a parent, with my oldest being five, I try not to think about college, other than trying to save a few bucks for it here and there. My feeling is that we need to get through kindergarten first.

Yet I hear other parents at preschool playdates talking about their sons and daughters best shots for getting a college scholarship. Some discuss doing what it takes early on to ensure they’ll be ready for the SATs. Yeah, you know, those SATs that they’ll take years from now in high school. Give me a break! Actually, we should give the children a break.

For our generation, the SAT was a huge deal (did you spend hours with flashcards?), and a big factor in college admissions. That’s still the case, but really, only about 1 in 5 colleges use the SAT as a “threshold for admission,” according to a recent survey by The Princeton Review. And many colleges don’t even require SAT scores anymore.

Because of what I know from working in the college industry, I hope it will let me lighten up a bit with my kids. There’s so much more expected of our children already, that I don’t want to contribute to grade school academic pressure that has to do with getting into a good college. In fact, the best college is the one that’s right for your child, not the one that’s ranked the highest.

Study after study indicates that all of this academic pressure at the elementary school level is not healthy, and leads kids to cheating (or worse) to keep up. Do I want my boys to aim high and do well? Of course! But not at the expense of them enjoying school.

When you put things in perspective, grade school should be about making friends, developing a love of learning, and swapping chocolate milk and apple juice across the lunch table. Everything else will fall into place.

-Dawn Papandrea

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