After more than 25 years working with children and families in early childhood and elementary education as a Speech Language Pathologist, I see the issues and solutions more clearly. As I have looked more closely at my own development and life experiences I have a new view. I see all people as they are on a journey of development, personal development.
I see the motivation to learn and grow as an individual personal desire. When we put all children in one group, subject, grade or curriculum, we are taking away from their individuality.
Personal interests and passions come from individual experiences and mostly family life experience.
My goal now is to help other adults(parents, teachers, professionals, administrators) to understand how their personal experiences have impacted their view of children and how they learn and grow and behave.
In education and early childhood, we have an opportunity to work with families, that we often don’t explore because of the way the system is set up. When children are 3-5 years old they leave home and go to school for 5-6 hours per day. Many children go to childcare from 6 weeks on for 8-10 hours per day. And some go to childcare, school and back to childcare in one day for a total of 8-12 hours.
These diverse experiences impact a child’s life and their ability to stay regulated and access their critical thinking and problem solving; their ability to learn.
Currently, if a child isn’t “meeting the standard” or is “falling behind” they are evaluated. Pediatricians and Family Practitioners refer children for “speech and language evaluations using insurance when children aren’t talking as early as 2 years of age. Tests are given to 2-3 year old children which determine if they have a “delay or disorder” and whether they “qualify” for speech and language services. Many evaluations do not take into considerations a child’s early development in the first year, even though we know that set’s the foundation for speech and language development. It is in these earliest years that we have the most opportunity to make the most significant impact.
I realize this is a significant change in the way we “serve” children and families currently. However, there is a concern that by “finding something wrong” with a child we are doing more harm than good. We are “evaluating children ” instead of “understanding them” and we are “diagnosing” instead of accepting them for who they are at the moment and meeting them in the “zone of proximal development”.
By being curious and understanding the way a child experiences his relationships and the world we can open up all kinds of possibilities and the power of our brains and minds to be creative and solve the most complex problems. We can influence how children understand relationships when we understand relationships. “Relationships are the agents of change", Dr. Bruce Duncan Perry.
Please contact me if you would like to explore this way of working with children and families so that together we can heal and grow and do more good than harm. jessiegrahamcoach@gmail.com
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