September 7

SEPTEMBER 7

Dear Diary,

I heard a child crying in the hall this afternoon, and watched as Jacquie, the threes teacher (who should be teaching 5th grade in a military school), scolded Aaron for talking.  Really?  Talking? This little sweetheart of a boy is so shy, and he cries on a dime.  Finally he gets a  little courage to speak, and because “we don’t talk as we walk down the hall”, he gets in trouble.  What is wrong with this picture?  When I asked Aaron what happened, Jacquie spoke up, and started to tell me how “we are having a little problem keeping our bubbles in our mouth.” 

I asked her co-teacher Jennifer  to take the children back to their class and walked with Jacquie to my office to discuss this.  There are just some things I won’t stand for and stopping children from talking when there is no reason is one of them. I remember another  little guy crying during circle time in her class last week, too. 

Jacquie told me that the children here needed this kind of discipline (and the parents liked it, too), because she needed to get them ready for big school. Apparently this community has very high standards for their kindergarteners, and she is just trying to get them ready.  I chose not to explain that this was inappropriate for kindergarteners, too.  She is really just misinformed and needs some guidance.  I know I can help her get there, I just gotta figure out how.   I just told her that we were a place where children were able to be themselves, and if she felt like the talking was getting out of control she could suggest whispering.  I reminded her that social skills are formed during these years, and children need the opportunity to freely communicate with one another in order to practice these skills.  

 Can’t learn to walk if you’re strapped in a stroller.