Since posting my first and only blog, life has been harsh for me. My husband died on April 14th after spending 10 weeks in the hospital trying so hard to recover from back surgery only to discover a massive cancerous tumor in his stomach that had spread everywhere. I am working hard on putting balance and purpose back in my life. One constant is my passion for education. I am renewing my commitment to parents and teachers in an effort to work together finding our way through this thick molasses morass we find ourselves stuck in right now.
There are powerful voices out there singing the dirge of test scores and data collection, all the while blaming the teachers, the teachers and a host of other ills. Put the kids in the middle of any hub and the spokes radiating from that center can be labeled with all kinds of issues and ills: poverty, single Mom homes, poor nutrition, poorly trained teachers, lack of resources, lack of concern, on and on. While we tackle each of these issues, the child sits in the middle of the classroom (our hub) seeking respect, kindness, playfulness, interaction, inspiration and the community of peers and adults. Offer that child authentic respect and a curriculum that acts like a magnet to their innate curiosity and wonder, and she is yours to mentor and to mold. Deprive them of that authentic respect and the fanciest curriculum in the world won’t do it.
I return again to first principles like the root word of education – e’ ducare – a Latin word
