In my new part time job I am working with preschoolers who know very little. Nobody reads to them or talks with them. I thought of sending a book home with each child, but I am worried that the parents might get offended. Any suggestions? I see these children for an hour a week. I am a Resource Teacher and these children all have IEPs- Individualized Education Plans.
Send the books! My sister is a teacher, at first in a Title 1 school, now in a school that misses Title 1 by just a percentage or two, and has either very poor children or rather wealthy ones, few between. She hosts book club and does everything she can to get them all reading. Many do not speak English at home, so the books they bring home may be the only English books in the house (or only books at all). My mom used to buy books at the thrift store so my sister always had a box of free books that the children could take home if they wanted to.
Encourage library summer reading. The parents may be more willing than you know to take the kids to a reading hour, but just don’t know about the opportunities. Also, the parents may not be able to read to the children. Just keep making the opportunities available.
Sigh, if only we could make parents do a better job. Eons ago when I volunteered I got to see how different home lives can be. Kindergarteners who needed help learning their address and phone number because no one at home took the time, a gifted kid whose parents never took her to the nearby public library…
As a school employee you need to find out how things work in your school. Perhaps the local PTO/PTA can be engaged in funding books. Perhaps sending out a letter to parents with suggestions- many have no idea what they can do. Telling them they must read to their child x minutes/hours per day/week because the kids need more than in school time. Most parents WANT to do their best but life gets in the way or they do not know what they can do. Discuss with your principal. See what has been tried in the past. Good luck.
Spoken like an upper socioeconomic class person…
A lot of low income families are single parent or parents working more than one job. These parents spend a higher proportion of their time earning enough just to put food on the table.
Check out the bar chart in this article, which shows how different income groups spend their money.
If only we made it possible for parents to do a better job…
Unfortunately, OP, it’s entirely possible that there is simply no way for the parents to do any more than they’re doing. They may be working multiple jobs, be a single parent household where there’s just not enough hours in a day, or a whole host of other reasons. Perhaps you could start some sort of education babysitting volunteer program and offer those services to all parents and see who bites.
I don’t think anyone would be offended by their child bringing a book home though.
I love the book idea…but I can tell you…that can get costly.
I worked with young students. I had a list of things parents could do with their kids that was part of everyday activities. Things like matching laundered socks, sorting the silverware, etc. these families don’t need extra work, but they certainly can involve their kids in what they are doing anyway,
Our local districts have had some success by having evening parent classes with dinner and childcare provided. Also, some bus transportation is provided. The classes are taught in Spanish and explain the differences between the education systems and parent behavior in the US and Mexico. They have a graduation ceremony for the parents who complete the course. These are elementary and secondary parents for us; I don’t know if it has been tried for preschool, but that would be great.
Send home books in Spanish and English if that is your population.
True, but there are also lots of compounded bad choices that limit them and deprive their kids. When I worked in the service industry between degrees and in Grad School I had more than a few co-workers, with families, who came in with fresh tattoos, always had cigarettes, $100 sneakers, and ate at BK every day instead of a bag lunch. I don’t think that earning money for their family was high on their list of priorities. And, sadly, I doubt that they’d read books to their kids if given them. A friend’s social worker wife in the same area wanted to give up her job because all she saw were kids in neglect with parents unwilling to properly take care of them. At one point I think we have to realize that we can’t save people from themselves or raise their families. I feel for the OP because seeing this is hard and I appreciate the work that they do.
I love the idea of Baby College which is part of the Harlem initiative. Learning to talk more to your kids, and in a more open-ended way is a basic. http://hcz.org/our-programs/the-baby-college/
As for books, I had a middle class client whose house had three books for their three year old - but they had five TVs. The parents didn’t read either - they had a couple of cookbooks, but otherwise nothing. My then 10 year old was helping me measure the house, and he was shocked. Our school had a Reading is Fundamental program which at the time allowed kids to choose four books a year from a wide array of options. Might be something you could help start at your school. http://www.rif.org/
In Oregon, we have developed the state-wide SMART reading program, www.getsmartoregon.org which brings community volunteers into public schools to read 1:1 with K-3 grade students twice a week. The students receive 2 take home books per month. SMART received the top literacy award from the Library of Congress last year. Although it was started with state seed money, SMART is now almost entirely privately funded and is based upon a volunteer model. I’d love to see it replicated in other states. As a volunteer, I coordinate a SMART program in an elementary school with a large immigrant population–primarily arabic and somali speaking students and SMART makes a real difference in encouraging students to read.
WHOA…forget about being insulted by books, I’m insulted by the insinuation. In order to qualify for an IEP a child usually has a disability and has to go through a special evaluation process and qualify under IDEA for a special education. Parenting may have nothing to do with their abilities or disabilities.
Our local elementary school has a program similar to SMART. When I relocated to this area I took a break in my career and was able to volunteer. I would read to and with struggling and/or at-risk first graders, one on one, for 30 minutes each twice a week, then provide feedback to the teacher. It was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences I’ve had. Looking forward to resuming that activity in my retirement.
Many of the kids in this program have no children’s books in their home. The volunteers help them select and check out books from the school library each week. Our PTA also provides funds so each child gets a new book at the annual school book fair. And the reading volunteers organize a book drive every year and distribute books to these kids. To my knowledge, none of the parents were ever offended by their children bringing home books.
Reach out to your community. You may be surprised how many people are willing to help.
Why assume that these children are sat in front of a TV when they aren’t in school? I think there needs to be a balance. I was one of those parents who allowed my children to watch TV ( yes even as a preschooler) but I also read to my children. My children grew up watching TV , including the daily news. We used TV to provide opportunities for discussion. As a result , both of my children are high achieving Honors students with the oldest graduating in several weeks Summa Cum Laude and 4th in his class. I know it’s not the popular decision with many parents , but TV is not always the evil it is made out to be. Just my opinion, I know it’s not everyone’s .
@fauxmaven said, “In my new part time job I am working with preschoolers who know very little. Nobody reads to them or talks with them.”
I’m wondering how you know that? Have you done home visits? I mean, you may know that your preschoolers “know very little” according to testing that was done, or questions that someone asked, but how do you know that nobody reads to them or talks with them?
Just curious.
Bottom line if these kids all have IEPs as OP stated, they are part of the special education program. If only it were that simple (books and parenting) we wouldn’t have special needs kids.
As the parent of a child with an IEP, if a resource teacher handed me a book with the insulation I just need to read to my child I wouldn’t just be offended, I would be questioning the administration as to why there is someone working with children with IEPs who is not better educated on special needs.
Some of the responses in this thread make me wonder if people missed that these are IEP kids and what that means.
My friend who grew up with a hardworking very poor single mother worked in a preschool in a very low SES neighborhood and worked hard on teaching kids their colors and letters. That seemed normal to her. Then she married someone very successful and moved to a wealthy suburb and was sort of shocked to find that the vast majority of kids came into the new preschool where she worked knowing all their letters and colors and a good number were beginning to read. She started to observe that when she saw parents out in places like grocery stores and restaurants they were constantly almost subconsciously teaching their kids ( “what letter does tomato start with? T. That’s right! Can you find the soups that have Ts on them?”). She knew what an uphill battle it was for kids whose parents were not raised like this themselves ( unlike most of the people she met in our suburb) and were working hard to feed their kids to even think about engaging in this kind of interaction all the time. But she also knew what a disadvantage it places those kids in right from the start and how hard it is for any teacher to try to compensate for how far behind kids can be even in preschool from their wealthier peers. But finding a solution is very difficult.
@maya54 What do special needs kids have to do with socioeconomic status and parenting?
This thread is out of line.
I believe you are not the supervising teacher, correct? You are a teaching assistant.
That being the case, I would suggest you discuss this with the staff at your preschool. They may already have some home component in place. I will tell you, however, that you can NOT make parent goals on an IEP.
I applaud your school district for providing a preschool program that is hopefully enriching itself. For many kids, and their families, this is a blessing.
@twicearound " special needs"? I didn’t say anything about special needs. I’m confused. I said that it’s very difficult for parents in low SES areas who often are working too hard to have the time and energy to given their kids the kind of daily enrichment that wealthier parents can. And unlike many wealthier parents they might not have had the experience themselves of this kind of enrichment growing up so it doesn’t occur to them to engage in it.
Folks I’m pretty sure the OP is not judging these parents she just wants to help.
That said - please send the books! It is never too early for any child to get excited about books/reading. Perhaps if a book is available a parent or other adult will find some time to read it to them. Perhaps that won’t be possible but one never knows. There may be an older sibling who will read it. And these children will read at some point and they will have books.
Someone mentioned the expense of the books. You can find children’s books very inexpensively at garage sales/library book sales, etc. You can give away the ones you still have in your house and ask friends for donations.