Every Child is Sacred
As my husband and I were growing up, we were sent to 1st grade with no prior schooling. This could be a terrible experience. My husband always remembered the stress and confusion of 1st grade where he learned nothing. He was taught to read at home, and adapted to school after that.
As a new Mom, I had no idea how to care for a baby or raise a toddler or preschooler. I envied teachers, who seemed to provide their children with the right learning experiences at the right pace. There were few meltdowns faced by these parents! I knew how to love and appreciate the love in return, and I liked care taking, but I had no knowledge of age appropriate learning. I am afraid that our children were challenged by their experiences in first grade. They did not feel entirely secure and perhaps had not learned to pay attention adequately.
Most of today’s parent(s) must work and leave their babes, toddlers, and preschoolers (hopefully) with a qualified, licensed caretaker or preschool. Two salaries are needed to pay for a house in good school district with sufficient educational resources. Parents must pay for health insurance, and extra services if their child needs tutorial. If parents have a full time job or an irregular part time job, they may not be able to rely on grandparents who must work as well.
Much to the dismay of Promise the Children, sequestration has cut funds for subsidized preschools that provide the experience of making learning in grade school successful. In today’s world, if a child enters kindergarten and first grade at a disadvantage, they may never catch up. They may drop out of school and join those in the pipeline to prison or become endlessly impoverished.
Every child is sacred and has the capacity to learn. I hope that together we can live up to responsibility of giving our children this opportunity. In our country, we are dropping behind, and depriving our children of the education and skills they will need to enter the world’s job market. Let’s work together to improve our schools!
Early Education Campaign
http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/cradle-to-prison-pipeline/
Headstart and Sequestration
