Submitted by Barb McWethy (not verified) on April 11, 2007 - 20:03.
I think one of the biggest things that needs to be addressed is that there isn't that much difference between those of us who teach preschool and those who teach K-12. I have worked in preschool for the last 20 years, have a Masters in Ed with an EC emphasis. I have to write lesson plans, hold parent teacher conferences, maintain program standards, state licensing requirements (which are more stringent than public ed) and more. The only difference I see between the children I teach and the K-12 is that my students are shorter and need their clothes changed more often! We need to all work together to educate children from birth through college/tech program/whatever. We also need to address the economic, health, nutrition, safety issues of families so that they are in the optimal postion to provide for their children. Until we have a handle on all that goes into poverty, I think we need to provide quality early childhood programs for all children. There needs to be a national standard that all child care providers, public/private pre-k programs, Head Start right up through high school and beyond that provides the best educational beginnings for our children to become productive, successful adults. They will be making the decisions for our country before we know it. How do we think they are being prepared for it now?
I think one of the
Submitted by Barb McWethy (not verified) on April 11, 2007 - 20:03.
I think one of the biggest things that needs to be addressed is that there isn't that much difference between those of us who teach preschool and those who teach K-12. I have worked in preschool for the last 20 years, have a Masters in Ed with an EC emphasis. I have to write lesson plans, hold parent teacher conferences, maintain program standards, state licensing requirements (which are more stringent than public ed) and more. The only difference I see between the children I teach and the K-12 is that my students are shorter and need their clothes changed more often! We need to all work together to educate children from birth through college/tech program/whatever. We also need to address the economic, health, nutrition, safety issues of families so that they are in the optimal postion to provide for their children. Until we have a handle on all that goes into poverty, I think we need to provide quality early childhood programs for all children. There needs to be a national standard that all child care providers, public/private pre-k programs, Head Start right up through high school and beyond that provides the best educational beginnings for our children to become productive, successful adults. They will be making the decisions for our country before we know it. How do we think they are being prepared for it now?