What Has Happened To Our Pre-School Children?
America’s Future Workforce
While researching for a future post for the website, I came across the following statements from three teachers that shine a bright light on a critical weakness in our education process. Read it and weep!
THE PRESENT
* “I have a student in Kindergarten who up until February could not sing the ABCs, count, recognize shapes or colors, and cussed every other word. It took a lot of work between myself and the intervention teachers to get him to this point. He’s still barely at a preschool level, but he can at least follow routines and expectations now.
At the only parent meeting I could get someone to attend, the parent told me they won’t do anything at home because he refuses. He only wants to watch tiktok and youtube. I suggested learning apps to earn “fun” time and she laughed at me and said that’s too much.
It’s incredibly sad to watch because this kid has no hope outside my classroom walls. He will disappear for weeks with no excuse and 100s of unanswered calls and the regression is huge; it’s like starting over every month. Exhausting.”
* “I teach pre-K. Our program is a full-time Kindergarten prep. They act like they are 2, not 5. This is my 2nd year in pre-K but was an aide 10 years back and it was not like this. We are almost done with the school year and they still don’t seem to understand basic concepts and procedures. I have one that when he’s done with something (toy , food, drink) he will just throw it on the floor and run away. I have several that still run every time we leave the classroom. Most of them still act shocked when centers are over and they have to clean up; and they argue about it every time. One girl’s mom flat out told me “I don’t argue with her in the mornings. I just let you deal with it”; and she shows up with bags of toys that she’s not supposed to bring. Whenever I ask her to do anything she just says “no I don’t want to.”; and continues doing whatever. I have one that I have known since he was a baby, who hasn’t emotionally matured since. He refuses to solve ANY of his own problems, constantly in everyone’s business but his own. Mom has to carry him in and cuddle for 10 minutes every morning before she can leave.
I’m just exhausted. I’ve already screened next years class and DEAR GOD, I had 4 parents leave and take paperwork home because they couldn’t get their kids to behave while they did it. I had several that just went shrieking up and down the halls the whole time they were there. I was screening in a room that adjoins the principal’s office and 3 of them opened the door and ran around in there after being reminded not to, many times. The nurse had to fail 1/3 of them on the vision and hearing screening because they would not cooperate, even with mom and dad in the room.”
SOME HISTORY
* “This has been a slow and steady collapse over decades. I’m a few years retired as a New York City Elementary School teacher after a 32 year career. when I started in the South Bronx in 1987 I had a kindergarten colleague that began teaching in the early 1940s. One day in the teacher’s room she told me in despair about the change in children. When she began her career about half of the students knew the basics. They could follow basic directions, knew their ABCs, could count to 10, and identify colors. At the end of a career she was nearly in tears when she told me that she didn’t have one that had the basics. Admittedly the neighborhood changed; however in the 1940s the neighborhood was working class and quite poor. If it was that bad in the 1980s one can shudder what it is now. This doesn’t take into account the toxic behavior in our modern dystopian United States.”
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the relationships and dynamics between supports and barriers.