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Nurturing

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under a tree and ate together. Daddy makes good sandwiches. After we ate and drank our juice, I asked daddy if he would push me on the swing. He said he would. He pushed me for a long time. We had a good time together." After she read the story a little boy called out, "She didn't write anything on the page." I said to her, "That's a wonderful story. I loved it. Maybe the next time you can write it down so you won't forget it. I will help you." And to the little boy I said, "Some stories are written on paper but others are told like this one, but they are both good stories." I don't remember whether or not he ever wrote a story to share with the other students. But the little girl continued to share stories with the class.

The next year she had a seizure in her new class. She never had such an incident in my class. The other teacher was far stricter and expected her to achieve at the same level as the other students. Consequently, the little girl became stubborn, nervous, and her achievement slowed. When they called the paramedics and her parents, the parents asked that their child be brought to my room to rest while the emergency workers examined her. Her parents wanted her in a place where she was happy before they took her home. The other teacher was competent but with a different style, more structured, less accepting of differences. The parents removed their child from the school.

Another incident which illustrated differences, concerns a young boy who was an extremely creative artist and also an able student. When he finished his assignments he would draw and create beautiful paper sculptures. One day his mother came to our room and found him in the process of drawing instead of studying from one his books. Mother looked at his finished work, proceeded to criticize it, and reprimand him in front of the other students. It was my policy to allow children to do things that interested them at their desk so long as their work was finished. This parent considered art a wasteful, useless pursuit. She wanted him be become a doctor not a starving artist. Let's consider the artists at Disney, those who create video games, and designers. This parent wanted her son with a teacher who was more structured so she had him removed from my room.

Yes, it is easy to see I am into nurturing more than being rigorous in my approach to education. However, just as there are children with different talents and abilities; there are also teachers with different styles of teaching. So it is inevitable that during a student's career in school they will be subject to a large variety of teaching methods, and they too must be able to adjust to these changes to grow intellectually.

Learn more about this author, Elaine Grant.
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