If children receive care too late will it be too late for them?

It is not mandatory for non-elementary children to be at a certain place every week where they are cared for, taught, and provided opportunities to play and socialize with their peers. Many children enjoy attending school and often look forward to seeing their friends or going on excursions. On the other hand there are many children who do not enjoy school so much and often will choose not to go. There are many reasons why children would not want to go to school but often the reason is because they do not feel confident in their academics. Perhaps this could be from a lack of help outside of school or a late start. By late start I mean not receiving such skills and information that many children do early on in life. This kind of scenario is often seen in low-income families, Families who have to work to survive and sometimes there is not enough time to help children with schoolwork or pay for a private preschool or day care for younger children. These children are often in frustrating situations, as they may not always be receiving sufficient care due to their financial situation. This is very discouraging because early development is so vital to a child’s success. If it is never to early to learn then why do children have to wait until they are in Kindergarten before they provide and require the children with care and an education? That is 5 years of time that could have been spent working on developing children’s perceptions, skills and abilities. All children should be provided with adequate care especially the younger they are. There are many families that are aware of their role and do things such as play their unborn baby classical music in the womb and are able to pay for childcare and a preschool education and then there are others who are just not able to go to such lengths. It should be mandatory for all children to be provided with sufficient childcare as early as they need it. If a child does not receive sufficient help early on in life, there is a very good chance there will be some academic and non-academic struggles later on in life.

How can we teach acceptance of non-traditional families?

It is no surprise that the “typical” family is not so typical anymore. It is very important for teachers to be aware of this fact as to not offend or exclude anyone. By teaching children about the different types of families they will understand that not everyone lives the same way. Often children assume that the way they live is the way everyone else lives. By talking and reading about different types of families children become more aware that there are many different forms of families in the world. Another way to increase awareness about family differences is to have the children in the class share their family composition. Something the book suggested that I really liked was changing the phrase “Mom and Dad” to parents or guardians. We may not always think about how children may feel when we say things like your mom and dads will love all your artwork and they do not have a mom or a dad.
Something that may be beneficial for the children in a class would be to make a family board or something that would show the children’s family composition. It would be good for the children to have the opportunity to share their families with their classmates and be proud of their family.
Having discussions about gay or lesbian families may be upsetting to some families so talking to them about it first may be a good idea as to not offend anyone’s personal beliefs. However, it is important to talk about what gay or lesbian means if a child in the class has parents who may be gay. This may help that child to feel more accepted in the class and may help to lessen the confusion that other children may have when they see their classmates’ “non-traditional” family. The more children know the less they have to fear because of the unknown. This does not mean that you teach tell them all the information on what gay means but to give them an idea that couples are not all made out of opposite genders.

How to teach a love of skin?

Children are able to recognize that people are different and they look different as well. It is unfortunate when a child does not feel comfortable in their own skin. There is nothing that can be changed about skin color for the most part. We need to teach children to appreciate the differences of eachother even the differences of our skin.
One thing that can be done is to have children explore skin colors. They can see the different shades on their own body and look for any freckles or birth marks that set them apart. Then they could find the similarities in their skin, for example, everyone’s skin gets cold when it is touched by an ice pack and lady bugs tickle our skin when they crawl. There are also many books that explore different cultures and people from all over the world. The more children learn about eachother and themselves, the more accepting and understanding they are likely to be towards others. Sometimes there is a fear or dislike of people because of unfimiliarities, a fear of the unknown.
Children often have some very interesting ideas of why they are the color that they are. I heard one boy say he was white because he lived on the east end of the island. Another girl said she used to be white but then she ate and she turned brown. It is very important to teach children about acceptance and equality and we need to remember that they are young children who often have very mixed up views of the world.
Another important factor contributing to a child’s outlook on others and themselves is their family. Often a child coming from a prejudice household is likely to come out with some distorted views on the world. Sometimes families need to be educated and helped through some challenging issues that they may have.

Are we expecting too much of children too soon?

The early years of a child’s life are so important. It is a special time where children are beginning to explore the world. They are able to attain so much knowledge but that does not mean that their little brains should be stuffed with a bunch of information. Children learn best through hands on experiences and playing. In a school setting where children are mostly silent and playtime only accounts for 20 minutes of the day, children’s need for play and socialization is overlooked. Whatever happened to learning being fun? It seems that the fun has been replaced by worksheets and a tough curriculum. This does not exactly send the message to children that this is a fun, nice place to be. It is understandable to want children to succeed in life but by forcing them to do work inappropriate for their age, they are not likely to want to stay in school, furthering them from a brighter future.
I am not the type of person who learns well from sitting and listening to lectures. To tell the truth, I get a little bored and uninterested. I wonder if that is how children feel when they are made to do work that is not the most interesting. Children learn best through play, after all playing is what they do best. What is even better is that by having hands on experiences and taking part in activities that are interesting and age appropriate children are more likely to have a postitive learning experience and may be more enthusiastic to participate in future activities.
It may not always be the easiest task to come up with ways of teaching children but it is important to take into consideration children’s interests and abilities. Learning should be fun and more children and even adults would like school more if it was fun and enjoyable. Eventuall children will learn new things and skills, we do not need to have them perfected all at once.