Regardless of the various journeys we take or paths we find ourselves on when we discover CLASS, we all believe in the power of interactions to change children’s lives. While our focus is on classrooms (broadly defined), as educators and passionate education advocates we believe in the right of all children to experience nurturing interactions, both inside and outside any classroom walls.
Our beliefs are grounded in vast knowledge and a wealth of science. Given this knowledge of the impact of those interactions, especially between children and their primary caregivers, I recognize a responsibility to speak up. I’m far from alone. Today, the U.S. Senate, led by the Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), said the Senate, in a bipartisan approach, will not remain idle or quiet while children are separated from their parents or caregivers at our country’s borders, disrupting the most fundamental bonds and putting young children and their healthy development in grave peril.
So often with my early childhood advocacy work, I turn to one of our largest, strongest advocacy organizations, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, NAEYC. Please read their blog and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
When my first child was born, I was 30. I was also married, had a master’s degree, and taught in a district that paid pretty well. During my pregnancy, I learned what to look for in high-quality child care and I thought I knew how to find it. What I didn’t know was that even though my husband and I both worked, we couldn’t afford quality child care.
A year ago, urged on by my insightful new colleague, Manda Klein, who was born and raised in Texas, I wrote a blog entitled, At Our Core. It praised the bipartisan efforts to discontinue the practice of separating children from their parents and caregivers at our country’s borders.
It’s been a great year. You have just conducted some professional development trainings for the group of teachers you are coaching. You got the opportunity to visit their classrooms and see them in action, do formal and informal CLASS observations, and had countless coaching conversations. You see that it’s all beginning to click. You have the teachers’ buy-in, and the motivation is high.
