Grace Geller on June 9th, 2010
Well the dust has settled, camp is up and running and I finally have time to reflect on the wonderful year we spent together. It seems like just yesterday I would spend my days reassuring families that their two- year-old would: Stop crying or biting or hitting…and then all of a sudden those same two year olds are singing in five languages, able to read, tie their shoes and are graduating from Pre-K! What happened to the time in between?
All those days linking the beginning to the end was the middle work… all the hard work:
Early to bed
Arriving on time
Allowing your child to take responsibility for him / her selves
Doing the right thing
Successful endings are preceded by hard work. The hard work of the Two year old teachers helped prepare the children for the Three year old program; and the hard work of the Four year old teachers, prepared the children for Pre-K. The hard work of the parents prepared the children to grow and be ready to receive direction.
When I look at our competent Pre-Kindergarteners performing at graduation I see them with the knowledge that everyone plays a small part in the development of a child. It is the sum of all these small parts that leads to a competent, confident child. The more people who positively participate in the development of a child, the closer that child can come to reaching his / her full potential.
That is why I cringe when I hear the term “day care.” We do not take care of days! We care for children. We care about who they will become. We take pride in helping to shape the future. What we do here in the Early Childhood setting is very different from elementary school setting. Here we have the luxury of time to know the whole child and their families. We create a plan to help children eradicate undesirable behaviors, overcome deficits and gain competencies in life and academics.
Here we become part of a child’s family and they become part of ours. Children share stories, tokens from their family vacations and foods and customs from their home countries. We trade recipes and advice. Teachers relay funny anecdotes or concerns for the children in their charge. They share these with directors, teachers and their families. And tiny parts of your child’s life merge with ours and we begin to form a community.
During graduation, it is with great pride that I look out over the audience and see the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, best friends as well as the Two year old, Three year old, Four year old teachers and their families. Everyone is in attendance watching the children as they prepare for the transition from preschooler to grade school student. This is the message we tried to teach and hope will serve them well in the future.
A message to the children;
10 suggestions for a healthy future:
- Listen to your heart; it will help you know the truth when you hear it.
- Plant your dreams on solid ground.
- Start something new.
- Be bold, smart and fair.
- Do the right thing.
- Try something different.
- Hold on to who you are.
- Keep your body and mind healthy.
- Know what matters most.
- When you fall down, pick yourself up and move on.
And as the hall empties and the stage lights dim, I am a little sad to see them go but then I remember….tomorrow a new group of two year olds start. God, I love this job!
Peace & Light,
Grace
Technorati Tags: family life, graduation, preschool, preschool teachers
Grace Geller on February 19th, 2009
President Obama’s new stimulus package has created a stir in the Early Childhood industry. Over the last several weeks, Early Childhood professionals across the nation have waited patiently to see if our chosen field of study would be recognized as a valuable asset to the education of our nation’s children.
Time and time again, we have heard many of our political leaders pay us lip service, but alas, no one was willing to fund our programs. Even Florida residents voted for Universal Pre-Kindergarten but failed to attach funding to it. In other words, we all agree that Early Learning is important but no one wants to pay for it!
Well, happy days! We finally have a President who not only believes that Early Education is an important component of our educational system, but has designated additional funds for some essential programs. Unfortunately most of that funding will go directly to Head Start and a few other federally funded programs.
Very few of us in the “middle” sector will see any of that funding. Now don’t get me wrong; as a young professional who cut her baby teeth working in a Head Start program I am an absolute advocate of the program. And yes, much of the middle class can afford some preschool tuition; but what about equitable pay for preschool teachers? When preschool teachers’ pay is derived from solely private funds, without any subsidy from the government, their wages are directly related to what young families are able to pay.
It doesn’t take a “Rocket Scientist” to understand that better educated teachers can lead to better educated children. But teachers with degrees need to be compensated in a manner that is worthy of their degree! It’s just simple math.
You see, what many people fail to understand is that a preschool teacher earns their salary at the poverty level of pay. They work long hours doing not only educational endeavors but they also function as an extension of a family by holding ill children until a parent or guardian can pick them up or cleaning a soiled child. Preschool teachers must be one part educator, one part family member, one part nurse, and one part maintenance worker. (Those tables, floors, toys and cots don’t clean and maintain themselves!)
Until our society truly understands what a unique field Early Childhood is, we will never receive the respect (funds) due to our field. There is a growing mound of research outlining the benefits of a preschool education regardless of economic status. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (Jan. 21, 2009), “Among 22 scholarly studies reviewed … preschool graduates enter Kindergarten with better pre-reading and math skills than those in other kinds of care or at home with their parents.” These gains remained with the children until approximately third grade, where the gains began to taper off.
The big difference in educational gains is directly correlated with high quality where the research is more compelling. “High quality programs have low child to staff ratio and trained teachers who interact often, in a positive, sensitive and stimulating way with the children”. The academic edge lasted at least through fifth grade.
Without proper funding from the government, preschool teacher’s salaries will remain on the bottom rung. Families, even those who are economically comfortable, are only willing to pay so much for Early Childhood Education and the taxes and liability insurance of operating a facility which caters to such little (non voting) citizens is astronomical.
We get up every day and do what we love without any guarantee of an equitable wage or hope for retirement. But maybe, just maybe the times they are a changing.
Peace & Light,
Grace
Technorati Tags: equitable pay for teachers, preschool teachers
