Thank you again to the many people who came to the School Board meeting tonight. I found the conversation during the Art tour to be very informative. I fear that some of the comments to the Board were misunderstood, but overall they seemed appreciative of community interest.
At the specific invitation of the Superintendent, I have emailed the Board and Dr. Baughman directly, and I am sure he would extend the invitation to anyone else who feels like their comments or questions weren't fully addressed. His email address and that of the Board is on the District's website's 'Contact Us' page.
I am also interested in hearing more from all of you. My name is Steve Markham, and my email address is myfirstname.mylastname@gmail.com (I hate spam). Please comment here or email me directly if you'd like me to make a post for you.
Cheers,
Steve
Those who were in favor of a full day kindergarten seemed to contradict themselves. It was said that what needs to be learned in a half day can not be accomplished, yet the structure of kindergarten should not change. It was stressed that free play and age appropriate activities need to be added into a full day. My child can learn, socialize and play in a half day. If you need more activities to fill up your child's day, then do so. I, as the parent, am the one responsible for building the foundation of life. When my child is being taken from me "yes" I am being replaced. A teacher can only add to a child's life experiences, not replace them. If you want to create the most educated, socialized, athletic, artistically inspired, sympathetic, and empathetic child, a full day program is the only was to accomplish this right? I think not. What is the rush? Why are we making our youth grow up so fast? If transitioning from kindergarten to first grade is the problem, than maybe first grade is what needs to be restructured, not kindergarten!
ReplyDeleteFor those who may not have seen this, here is a link to some relevant news coverage by CBS 6. Nice job Steve.
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The featured teacher in this clip is Abby Weber. My son will likely be scheduled into her class for the coming school year. Although she is a strong proponent of FDK, she is really a wonderful kindergarten teacher and we appreciate what she did for our daughter. Thanks Mrs. Weber!
Please just let me note that the kindergarten teachers at Craig are fantastic. Two of my children have gone throught kindergarten at Craig; both having different teachers. Both were exceptional. The teachers and the quality of teaching is not my issue.
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