Because we are talking about policymakers and advocates. I
have decided to explore this section of the website, www.zerotothree.com. In this section I
found that this area has some good articles that I would be interested in
learning more about. For example, there was an article about “preventing
expulsion from preschool and Child Care” I can not believe that this is
happening, but at the same time I can see how. Once I researched the page a
little more, I saw that there were videos related to the subject. This kind of
opened my eyes to the fact that this is happening in the field of Child Care. I
am actually shocked and perhaps disappointed in my peers. Children are going to
act up and have temper tantrums. I feel that if a child is resulted to being
expelled then the teachers are not taking the time to look at the child to see
what is going on. This kind of behavior tells me that there is so much more
under the surface of a child that he/she is not telling. This behavior at times
also tells future problematic systems like undiagnosed special needs, etc. We
are letting children fall through the cracks. This makes me sad, upset, frustrated,
and disappointed all at once.
Also, researching the Global Fund for Children shows me that
they continue to advocate for children. However, what they do for children is
not free. The emails that I have and continue to receive from them are to solicit
money people who show interest in their website. I have not yet donated any
money, but am intrigued to find out, what I happens if I do. Is that the next
step of involvement with this group? I don’t doubt that money they receive has
only the child’s best interest at heart. It would appear that they are
concerned as I am with the education and well-being of young children.
Especially ones, that do not live in our country, but ones that live abroad.
Other things I learned this week is that we are continuing
to press on towards the good fight for early childhood education and the
inclusion of preschool children. It seems that the issues we have are not new.
That tells me that we are still fighting for young children. In my opinion
progress seems to be made but is it at the rate that many of would like? It
would appear not. The question is then, how do we get things moving faster?
References:
https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/series/policymakers-advocates
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteExpulsion at such a young age is a very interesting conversation and sometimes I wonder if expulsion at any age is the answer. When such extreme behaviour persist, you have to wonder if the root of it was developed and nurtured at home. Not allowing a child to come to school, and therefore having to stay at home, might only enhance the problem. I think decisions around expulsion are sometimes made if a school does not feel that they have the adequate supports to help deal with the situation. It comes back to the question: how are schools prepared for situations like these, and those that have not occur but can occur?
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI love the Zero To Three website! We often give this resource to our parents because it seems to be very parent friendly. I especially like the part where you can click on different sections of the brain to see what they are responsible for in early childhood. Your example about expulsion from child care reminds me of a situation at one of our centers. The child bites and scratches, is too old for it to be developmentally appropriate, and is constantly hurting his peers. The mental health manager has been to observe, we've met with the parents multiple times, tests have been done indicating no delays, and still child manages to hurt his peers. Our solution was home based services. I guess the hard part is finding where the line is in situations like that. We always offer home based services. Maybe programs would be able to offer that as an alternative to expulsion.