Open Letter to Parents

As some of you may know I work as a teaching assistant at an elementary school. I have performed various duties as an assistant that include but are not limited to, being a personal care aide for two students who were in wheel-chairs, being a classroom assistant in an elementary special education classroom, being an assistant in a junior high special education classroom, and finally this year I am an assistant in the district's at-risk pre- kindergarten program. This year has been quite an eye opening experience, as these are the students who quite possibly could be identified later in their school career as needing special education services.

Dear Parents,

As this year comes to a close I must admit that I do not understand what is going through your heads, you have become the parent of this child, yet you seem so selfish to me. First of all when you drop off your student at school please put some clothes on. If you got up in enough time to see that little so and so was dressed and ready for school could you please do the same. I really hate walking down the stairs to our classroom and seeing your undies peeking out from your pajama pants. Let your child know that you value them by getting dressed and running a comb through your hair. And when you pick them up THREE hours later at the end of the morning session, please make sure you are not dressed in the afore-mentioned attire. Please get a shower and get ready for the day while your pre-k kiddo is at school.
Secondly TALK to your kids, talk to them about anything, some of the speech delays that I am seeing this year are because a.) you let them have a bottle or a pacifier for too long and b.) you never talk to them or try to help them talk and speak appropriately. Tell them about the car ride to school, talk about the weather, talk about what you will be doing after school, tell them about your job or if you do not work; tell them about daddy's job or your current boy friend's job. Just talk to them.
Thirdly, dress them appropriately for the weather we experience here in the mid-west, for crying out loud, watch or listen to a weather report. Sometimes it will be warm and sunny when they arrive at school and when they leave it might be snowing, so dress them in layers. AND do not let them wear FLIP FLOPS to school. They have a hard time walking anyway, let's not make it more difficult, no matter how cute those shoes were at Old Navy.
Finally, let them explore and create in a supervised environment, most of the three and four year olds in one of my classes cannot use scissors and do not hold crayons let alone pencils the correct or "developmentally " correct way. Let them get dressed by themselves, or if you do not have the time to show them how to snap their pants or tie their shoes, send them in ELASTIC pants and in slip-on or velcro shoes.
Parents, I know raising children is a thank-less job, it takes long hours, patience, and love. I really love your kiddos and I want them to be the best that they can be, but please do your part. I can only do so much in the three hours that I see them each day during the school year.


LOVE,
E.B. Mama