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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 690
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Having a background in early childhood educ, the author's point resonated with me and was hopeful. He's pointing out what we know -- the gains in those early years are irreplaceable. And he's calling us to do something different, because the strategies used during k-12 aren't cutting it.
If we're only concerned about our child(ren), then it's enough that we're making choices to prepare them. But if we're concerned about everyone's children, then we need to advocate for systems that help them all succeed, which brings me to another of his (the author's) points....
2) "investments in early childhood education pay very high societal dividends."
And he mentions maternity/paternity leave and other key interventions that we could choose to provide.
Working with teen moms, I've known new moms who are back to work days after giving birth, working long hours to bring home minimal income, because they have no options. And think about the gentrification in many of our cities -- workers with the longest commutes in those areas are often those earning the lowest wages, with kids spending the longest hours in childcare.
What if we not only helped parents parent well, gave them paid parental leave as in other developed countries, and also made all childcare amazing? That's what I took away from the article. So far to go! I love your take on the article and I agree. Our county has determined that if a child hasn't learned to read by 3rd grade their chances of graduating high school are abysmal and children raised in poverty come to school knowing significantly fewer words. This is the crucial point, this advocacy for early education and it begins with the parents. But how to implement? How to not repeat our ineffective policies? This is the puzzle...
Last edited by KADmom; 05/01/13 06:00 AM.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,694
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I gave up on the library. The other adults in my children's lives can't be relied upon not to loose books, let alone the kids! My child with ADHD chews books with her hands, as she reads. she is completely unaware that she is doing it. She's not throwing, dropping, tearing or in anyway consciously abusing her reading material, but the wear and tear from her readif a book looks like 10+ readings... I don't use the library, it's too stressful.
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,453
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Personally, I doubt all of this bleating about how disadvantaged the poor little lambs that don't get Mozart played to them in their cribs (insert envious cliche du jour here) before kindergarten are.
From what I have read - would take time to drag references out - the differences between the 'hurried kids' and the others tend to even out by third grade. After that point the innate intelligence and whether or not the home environment is supportive of educational achievement kicks in.
I know all about working hard for crap money - I basically grew up dirt poor and have family who are still in that rut to this day. I was lucky and I know it but that doesn't detract from the fact that despite the lack of material wealth and trappings I was raised in a household where hard work and educational success were valued.
The values literally count more than the money from my personal experience. There are plenty of successful people out there that were raised by single parents the while toiling (yes toiling) for minimum wages and never being home because of it that managed to raise successful and productive children.
Last edited by madeinuk; 05/01/13 06:25 AM.
Become what you are
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Joined: Jul 2010
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We aren't talking about Mozart. We are talking about kids who have not had quality pre-k, kids who may not be able to concentrate because they are hungry, kids who live daily with the threat of violence. It is not rocket science to improve the outcome for these kids, and it is in society's best interest to do so. (see Harlem Children's Zone).
Re: the implications for gifted children, it is clear that many parents face long battles advocating for an appropriate education for their child. It seems clear that there are gifted children who are being left behind because their parents cannot afford private testing and because they cannot miss work to meet with schol officials. Parents may value hard work and educational success but they probably also value having food and water and electricity.
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Joined: Aug 2010
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In my city, the library reports you to a collections agency if your books go overdue long enough. "Long enough" isn't that long--a month? Two months? You pay to have the card reinstated--$10, which isn't much, but the collection agency thing probably terrifies some folks.
(Not that this has happened to me. Ahem.)
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Joined: Aug 2010
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From what I have read - would take time to drag references out - the differences between the 'hurried kids' and the others tend to even out by third grade. Actually, it's sort of the opposite. A child who is not reading well by 3rd grade is statistically unlikely to ever catch up, and far more likely to drop out of school.
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Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation
http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Education/Other/DoubleJeopardyHowThirdGradeReadingSkillsandPovery/DoubleJeopardyReport030812forweb.pdf
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Joined: Feb 2011
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From what I have read - would take time to drag references out - the differences between the 'hurried kids' and the others tend to even out by third grade. Actually, it's sort of the opposite. A child who is not reading well by 3rd grade is statistically unlikely to ever catch up, and far more likely to drop out of school. Yes. My understanding is that it is BOTH things. HeadStart programs barely make a dent in the problem in early childhood, though, so it also seems reasonable to me that school programs to little to budge this later one, too. (Which is what the study referenced in the article also states.)
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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Joined: Feb 2011
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In my city, the library reports you to a collections agency if your books go overdue long enough. "Long enough" isn't that long--a month? Two months? You pay to have the card reinstated--$10, which isn't much, but the collection agency thing probably terrifies some folks.
(Not that this has happened to me. Ahem.) LOL. You too? In our library, it's anything over a $20 amount. Anything over $10 in fines, and they freeze your card. Which is really a bummer when you can't access the digital downloads, either. Ahem.  ETA: I also was talking about library stuff with a middle school English teacher in a neighboring county this weekend, and here's a sad set of thoughts for y'all. These are WORKING poor people, basically, just as a preamble. Even a $10 out-of-city library card is more than some family budgets in her classroom can afford. (Wow. And me? I should know better-- I grew up in a household like that.) The city library will NOT honor student ID's and give them cards anyway if they reside outside the city limits.  These are kids. Who need access and do. not. have. it.
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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Joined: Jul 2010
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but as noted above... the parents on this and every other parenting forum are the ones being called "staying involved and providing an enriched environment", which for some reason people are trying to call it "gaming the system" for this conversation, enmeshment or lawnmower parenting in other conversations. I just call it immersing yourself into the experience of raising your kids. I don't how you managing your kids library books (and actively teaching them to manage it themselves) has anything to do with gaming the system for any kind of outcome. It's just parenting. But these articles keep coming by that seem to call parenting out for "tipping the scales" in some kind of game or system. Then the outraged response is, well, everybody makes choices and everyone has a free library. Well, not unless your parents make sure you take care of your books. Otherwise the free library charges money or revokes your access. We are talking about chidren. They aren't born with good sense.
(and my kids personally have always had great fine motor skills and been able to be very gentle with things, plus a mom who lets them touch things, so they have a lot of book priveleges for their age... just talking why about houses without books can't "just use the library".)
Last edited by La Texican; 05/01/13 07:47 AM.
Youth lives by personality, age lives by calculation. -- Aristotle on a calendar
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