ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702100096
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA ARTIS
I TEACH 4-year-olds at a local child-care facility, and because I am a day-care professional, I am against three major changes the Child Day Care Council has proposed in the way day-care facilities do business in Virginia. These changes are potentially dangerous, and are not in the best interest of the children who attend these facilities.
I agree that a college degree or master's degree doesn't mean you will be prepared to be a good day-care teacher. A good teacher has to have heart knowledge and common sense. However, I think you would also agree that heart knowledge and common sense alone don't make a good day-care teacher.
If a teacher doesn't know about children, doesn't know what children should be doing at certain ages, and doesn't know how and what to do to stimulate them, he or she will be a failure as a day-care teacher. This knowledge can only be gained through early-childhood education courses at a college or community college. Unless a day-care teacher has heart knowledge, common sense and is working to build a background in early-childhood education, I believe the teacher can be easily overwhelmed. Who suffers when this happens? Our children.
At the very least, day-care teachers should be required to have a high-school diploma. With education being so important in our society, and with emphasis being placed on staying in school and graduating from school, how can a high-school dropout lead our children in a positive way?
What are we saying to our children? Are we telling them an education isn't that important after all? Are we telling them that even if they drop out of school, they will always be able to get a job as a day-care teacher? Are we telling our children that they aren't important, so education doesn't matter?
I am not against high-school dropouts, but let's be realistic. In most cases, they dropped out because they didn't understand the importance of education in their lives. How can we expect these people to teach our children when they didn't think it was important enough to finish their high-school education?
As a teacher, I want to know that the director of a day-care center where I work has the education, the knowledge and the experience to run the facility. If I go to that director for help in any situation, I expect this person to have the answers. Some answers come from experience. But I know that some answers come from what is learned in the classroom. Day-care directors must have a wealth of education, especially in the area of early-childhood education, so they can do their job in today's complicated world.
The student-teacher classroom ratio is important to me. Unfortunately, but quite often, a day-care teacher's influence may be the only positive influence a young child receives each day. For this reason, it's important that day-care students receive as much individual attention as possible. It's difficult enough to provide this attention with the current 12-1 student-teacher ratio. With a higher ratio, some children may lose out.
A child-care facility is the only place where some children receive love and attention. We may be the only individuals the child will talk to or listen to. In some cases, this could mean life or death to the child, especially for those who are victims of child abuse or sexual abuse where the abuses are not easily detected.
There is also the matter of safety in the classroom. What if there were a fire or an emergency situation? Would one teacher be adequate to handle 15 children? Again, who suffers? The children.
Should we change day-care regulations to benefit the owners of child-care facilities? Should we put profits ahead of the quality of care provided by these centers? If less-qualified directors run day-care centers, less-qualified teachers will teach in the classroom. And those teachers will teach with a 15-1 student-teacher ratio instead of the current 12-1 ratio.
Yes, the day-care center will make more money, and the center will be able to bring in more children. But what is the cost? Do we want our children to lose out on the quality of education they receive?
Children need a good start in life. Let's make sure they receive a good start by giving them the help and support they need to be successful when they begin their education in the public-school system.
Our children do not deserve these proposed changes.
Sandra Artis of Roanoke is a day-care teacher at Shepherd's Care Day School.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB