Observing and Interacting With Families of the Children in Your Setting- Module 4

I spoke with a mom in a neighboring school because the mom I was trying to meet up with that goes to my daughter's school fell through, so I had to do a back-up plan.  I had asked her how she felt her children's teachers were using developmentally appropriate practice in their classrooms over the years and she said she was pleased with the projects they did in the class.  She said her children have done a lot of group projects and such to reinforce the materials they were learning.  She said there was a lot of fun hands-on learning going on. 

The problem she was having with her children's class was the homework.  They are both active in sports plus have two working parents.  By the time they get home at night and get dinner and do their reading they are pretty much just rushing through the worksheet the teacher has sent home to specifically be homework.  She felt this is useless because her children were not really learning from the homework, but felt they should only get homework if they did not finish their work at school that day.  Or they could have an assignment that was more developmentally appropriate that they could learn from, like an activity to do instead of just a worksheet. 

Another issue this mom had with school systems is how they are all working at different paces.  One year her children had to switch school mid-year and they were "behind" at their new school.  The teachers didn't bother helping them catch up, and just kept telling them, "You should already know that".  That caused her children a lot of frustration and it was hard to get them through the school year.  She said her children are both very good students and it was really hard for them that year.  I keep wondering if that is something that could solved with common core, or if we will always have that same issue no matter what because teachers do not follow the same curriculum, so they may all meet the same standards by the end of the year but may do them in a different order.  I keep brainstorming ways that this issue could be solved, because if good students are struggling with that, I can't imagine how that switch would affect children who were already struggling.  That could possibly cause enough stress on a child to make them get so far behind that it becomes nearly impossible to catch back up. 

Observing and Interacting With Program Director(s) and Other Administrative Staff in Your Setting- Module 3

Well these past two weeks I am becoming VERY discouraged.  I emailed the Dean from my daughter's school, and I heard back from her one time.  I explained my assignment and asked her some questions via email and said she could either set up a time to meet with me, or she could answer the questions via email if she was busy.  She seemed very excited about my project and thought it was interesting. So, I emailed her back with my availability to meet and have yet to hear back from her.  I emailed her, YET AGAIN, yesterday and still have yet to hear back from her.  Today and tomorrow they have an event at the school so I am assuming maybe she got tied up with the preparation for that.  I hope I am able to catch her tomorrow when I drop my daughter off at school to discuss the questions I have for her.  I was able to talk to a preschool administrator which is really no good for me because I already know their philosophy regarding developmentally appropriate practice.  They, of course, are constantly working in a manner that is developmentally appropriate for their students.  They are not who I am concerned about with this advocacy issue.  It is the school I am trying to contact that I would like to hear their stance on developmentally appropriate practice, and maybe by sitting down with her I would be able to offer some of my suggestions for her to consider incorporating into her school wide curriculum.  I will edit this blog if I am able to speak with her tomorrow.  Wish me luck! :)