Thursday, May 29, 2008

Is it open season on kindergarteners?

Originally the concept behind kindergarten to serve "as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling." Kindergarten in German is "children's garden." It was suppose to be a safe place for children to adjust from full time play to a more academic environment.

Lately it seems like some teachers are turning kindergarten into nastygarten, or hellgarten.

Joanne Jacobs found another case of kindergarten cruelty. Last week a poor child was humiliated as the teacher encouraged the class to vote the boy out of kindergarten.

This week Joanne writes:

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This time it’s a kindergarten teacher in southern Indiana accused of humiliating a five-year-old boy in front of his classmates. Gabriel Ross told his parents throughout the year that his teacher, Kristen Woodward, was mean. He said other children didn’t like him because he was “bad and stupid.”
In mid-April, Tabitha McMahan and stepfather J.R. Edwards sent Gabriel to school with a tape recorder in his pocket.

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It looks like this will plays fairly typically:

1) The union rushed to the defense of the teacher
2) The teacher won't suffer any consequences
3) The poor child has been harmed, but few seem to really care

What is German for "Children's Hell?"


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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education

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