Its Saturday
| So now that I am working...Saturdays are special too....on the list today...bathrooms, bedrooms, dust, water plants, entry way and stairs, and the garbage on the porches....of course Eric is off at work...he will earn money instead of doing chores...but he is honest about it...and I can not complain...one less BIG person in the house on clean up day is one less object in my way...maybe the kids will figure out IF they take the babies and go away for a few hours...they too would get out of chores...i don't mind doing them in an empty house...it's when their are bodies sitting every where that it makes me crazy!!!! So this week I have worked at schools from three different levels of societies financial ratings. I am discovering that the low income schools are not run the same as the upper income schools. I would need a lot more research to figure out why but my theory is...parents!!! the teachers can not do everything. IF you do not bath your kid regularly and teach them manners...I will guarantee you they WILL NOT make it through our school system. The other kids do not like them and the teachers who are already stretched to the max will not either. This I can promise will lead to your kid being ignored...sent away from the group and I even witnessed one little guy get squirted in the face by his teacher because he whines like a two year old at 8 and does not talk. This sounds harsh but IF parents do not do their job a teacher can not do theirs. Our children need to be taught manners and hygiene at home not from the school....this will allow our kids to sit and hear the teacher...so many have learned to just "tune the world out" that most teachers are talking to themselves anymore. I found this worse at the lower income schools where the children's parents are hardly ever heard from...these parents use the system for free day care! They do not see it is their responsibility to educate their children in areas other than academics. It was very sad at the school I was at yesterday...I will bet it is safe to assume that the majority of the children in that school will not make it to Junior High let alone High School. Now I will say in this case it may not be the parents but their parents also...so some schools really should focus on the family as a whole. We know in society by the way people live...which ones are going to help our world and which are just here for the ride. The later group needs to feel the empowerment that comes along with being a helper instead of the helped. With our world changing so much maybe it is time to "restructure" our entire school system. Americans are no longer the most intelligent race...in fact statistics are showing...we are losing ground fast...not only to the Asian populations but to the Russian and German as well. this sounds conceited but what it actually is showing is that Americans are getting lazy. We have so many "convenient appliances" that we are no longer working hard for a better future...we have it all now...why try harder I guess. I have to say as I watch these children say the pledge every morning I can just wonder...will the little black girl with all the exuberance of a trumpet still have that faith in our country when she is done growing up in the slums of Anchorage...watching the world revolve around the financially stable and leave the "burger flippers, and cashiers" of our world in the dust. What about the young native child that does not know the words but pride in his country shows in his eyes...remember that patriotic feeling you felt saying the pledge as a small child... I am sure the little white guy sitting amongst the group...even though he is not paying attention and is mimicking video games during the pledge....will go somewhere...his family will not stay in the slums...they will realize where they moved too and have the means to get out...no matter where this young man goes...he will probably make it until he himself chooses to quit...which he too will...he can not handle an hour without his video game. Not sure where this leaves our countries future...I am sampling just a very small portion of the population...but when one school gets desks in every grade and another can only have tables that seat 6...well it does not take a genius to figure out which group will have more "pride" in their school...and pride my friends is an aphrodisiac for successful people. So one idea I did have...was maybe we could find a way to offer "parenting success" classes through our school district...maybe we could make them mandatory for parents...see we pay taxes through our income...those taxes pay for my child's education....So I am paying for this and want my child to receive a good education that is not full of distractions. I understand in today's world "segregation" is wrong...but is it wrong to put kids with "like" disabilities in a class room instead of in the main stream of things....I am talking the ones with sever behavior issues that prevent a teacher from doing their job as well as the other students from doing theirs. And the ones that are in school because the law says they must be...Some of the children our educators are dealing with are so severely disabled that they sleep in their wheel chairs until food time and diaper changing time...is this what school is for? I thought I was doing home health nursing for these particular children...NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND is affecting the education of the children that are not disabled. I feel bad making these statements but it is common sense...the little girl with Downs that is able to learn her ABCs, basic math and reading skills needs to be in school. The young man I described above is just costing the district extra money for aids when insurance would pay for one in the home, or maybe in a facility where specialized care toward the disability could be given....a full week of OT and PT instead of one half hour once a week would be much more beneficial to this young man who will never overcome his physical disability enough to live on his own let alone utilize the public education system. I am not the parent of a handicapped child...we will ignore Donny's little problem...hehe...I can not say for sure how I would feel about the situation if I were...I can say as the aunt of a disabled child I see a need to assist those that will be academically functional, to find ways to work their disabilities into their education...they can succeed with the system IF they are not treated as the "severely" disabled are. Special education is a very broad field I am discovering and needs to be re evaluated and re structured not to categorize students but to ensure the ones that will help our world are given the chance and the ones that are here for reasons unknown to us( but will forever be trapped inside a body that does not allow them any type of normalcy), to live the life they were given not the one their parents and society wishes they were given. |
posted by Shana at 6:45 AM
Comments on "Its Saturday"
-
john r mclay said ... (8:28 AM) :
-
Heidi said ... (9:56 AM) :
-
Stan Harrington said ... (10:55 AM) :
-
Princess Sarah said ... (11:57 AM) :
-
Tabitha-n-AK said ... (11:43 AM) :
-
real eyez said ... (9:08 PM) :
-
Heidi said ... (7:20 AM) :
post a comment...special...how much coffee did you drink before blogging this morning? And, I hate to be a conformer, but WV sucks.
I cannot believe it…did you just tell me that special need kids need to be separated from the main group???? I am sorry but that is WRONG!!!
That little boy in the wheelchair that needs a feeding tub and his diaper change deserve every opportunity that my child deserves. It is called inclusion, a child like that, whether he can speak or not, deserves to be with kids his own age, with kids with a variety of skills, and to be doing what other their age are doing; just as my normally developing child needs to be with and learn from him. I like to teach diversity in my home, every child, every person can bring something different into this world.
Kids learn a lot of life skill from each other, skills you cannot teach at home. We learn a lot from our home lives but that is just a start, if a child cannot conduct themselves in public we will have no choice but to support them forever, and where do our children start learning those skills?? School! Kids with ADHD, MR, behavior issues, or even autism need to be in school so they can learn skills and see skills being learned, so they can also learn the skills to use later in life. Some may not be there for reading, math, and writing, but those are only a small portion of skills our kids take away from school. Those kids that cannot communicate and you see them “parked” in a corner, can you not see their excitement on their face as their class participates in assignments? This tells me they are getting something out of the experience. Just because one cannot communicate does not mean they are dead to the world.
Who would have thought that a blind kid could grow up to be computer programmer? That girl I went to high school with, who is in a wheelchair, is now living in Seattle going to collage, holding a job and paying her bills. Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Schwab both had ADD with learning disability. What about our past president, his disability came later in life…but what if people had your thoughts on separation? May I ask who bags your groceries? There is a place for everyone.
On the economic side of it...community inclusion also helps keep these kids out of full time hospital care which will cost you the tax payer even more!! Have you seen how much money our state puts towards health care vs. education? Do you think that all special needs kids come from tax evading parents? NO we pay our taxes also!!
All I got to say is that if you exclude any child from having interactions with society through the school system, work place, etc., you are doing a disservice to them as well as the other students. At these younger ages, children need to learn about handicaps, illnesses, that everyone does not have the opportunity to lead a "normal" life. These young years are those years that they learn tolerance and respect for others despite handicaps, color of skin, etc. If you seperate one child from another due to a learning disability then separation by race, economic standards, and scholastic abilities should also be permitted.
I fight for my child to be in school!! That is what every parent does, or should do, I beleive every one should get the same treatment, well said Heidi
wow!! Shana, you got them all fired up. All I have to say is... Gage went to Nunaka Valley for Preschool in the Buddy Bears program with the only excpectation being to be a buddy to other kids whom werent quite as advanced as himself. They put all these kids at different levels in one class so the could catch up by being around others whom where at the least "average" for lack of a better word. Also, Gage goes to Bayshore witch is a ritzie school and they sit at a table of 6 and are one of the top income schools. WOW! I am not mad but rather curious. I believe you meant no insult to Taylor or Kane. BUT! their mama bears have dealt with how other people sterortype their kids for a long time and you have to see they have to defend them with their own experience. When Gage did kindergarten last year they said he couldnt sit still so her needed medicated. This year as a 6 year old kindergartner he is doing rather well. We still have to work on manners and what not but I am guilty of being rude and not using my manners all the time. Usually he is the one to point this out. I see what you are trying to say i think but I see where others might take ofense to what you said. I am goingto have to read more often, you little fire starter. Still love you just cut down on the coffee.
I really do not have room to speak because I can not even imagine any situation that I have had even close to Heidi or Sarah's. I will say this though. All through school I always had Special students in class with me. This made me learn to accept early on that not everyone fit into what I thought was normal. This not only taught me acceptance but I also was given a chance to see the positive benefits to having them in our schools.
Tabitha mentioned the tables, I would have talked about this earlier but one thing at a time...
Most of the teachers in our school choose to use tables. I think it is a teaching tool not a financial issue (as least at scenic park). It creates more of a group learning setting. I have talked about this issue with Tays teachers numerous times, we debated whether we needed to buy her a desk for school so we didn't have to deal with specialized equipment each year or table heights. Our decision was no because it would take her away from the tables and the group learning experience....
the only teacher we had that used desks was the teacher from HELL, if she had her way Tay would have been propped in a corner so her aide could grade papers or make copies...I fixed that quickly!! Thank god for the aide that slipped me the inside scoop.
Great debate Shana... I think I could write all day on this topic!