This week, and last, I enjoyed learning more about the Kindergarten strand of the Early Childhood system since I prepare my students for Kindergarten. What I have learned over the last few years is that the Pre-Kindergarten I teach today is the Kindergarten from when I went to school. I enjoyed learning last week that the Kindergarten program here in my current state is changing to become more play oriented and self monitoring. However, unfortunately the low income status in my current location is still a barrier to overcome in regards to the partnerships and abilities of families and educators to work together for learning purposes.
On the other hand, within the strand I teach (Early care and education) my concern still remains to be the issue of salary and benefits when private sectors are compared to public sectors. If both sectors had educators compensated equally with money and benefits, such as insurance, then more high quality programs would be available for educators and children.
Hi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog and you touched on some critical issues that constantly affect the field of early childhood. I also believe that better pay in the public sector of early childhood will help to prevent the huge amount of turn-over that is experienced in many childcare programs. Teachers in this profession give a lot of themselves through their time, money, and dedication, so it would be great if someone would finally do something about the low wages that are paid in this field. We all know that children learn best in consistent, stable learning environments. So it would be very beneficial to raise the pay wages for early childhood professionals.