Let me tell you the story of Cameron. Cam is a very bright, charismatic, spirited boy. He is not your typical child. He can be defiant, mischievous and down right mean. Cam entered Kindergarten last year with twenty two of his peers and one dedicated, experienced teacher. As an active parent volunteer I quickly noted that many of the children, including my own, exhibited behaviours that needed extra support in the classroom, many at this age with undiagnosed special needs, support that the teacher was unable to give to each child due to her class size and composition. Most of the time Cams behaviour was negatively reinforced, he sat apart from his classmates and was not given an opportunity to thrive. I do not blame his teacher. I was there. I saw first hand that she was constantly putting out fires, redirecting challenging behaviours, disciplining when needed and doing her best. In his class Cameron was the rule, not the exception. Here is where I start to tear up... Cam is not excited to enter grade one, our little six year old twinnie does not want to go back to school where he says he will be the bad boy. You see having a Kindergarten class with too many children in it (far more than the sixteen max from a few years ago) and that is composed of many children with special needs and challenging behaviours has been a detriment to my child. No one has told Cam that he is bad but that is the label that he has given himself based on the way that his behaviour was managed in school. That a spirited six year old feels this way because there were simply too many children and not enough support in his class is a tragedy. Do I support our teachers? Damn rights I do! I plan on giving our $40/day bribe to the teachers who are standing up for our children and falling on financial hardship in the process.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 07:03:47 +0000
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