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PRE-K OUTCASTS
New York Post ^ | May 17, 2005 | DAVID ANDREATTA

Posted on 05/17/2005 3:39:57 PM PDT by sageb1

Children in pre-K programs across the state are 19 times more likely to be expelled than students in kindergarten through high school, a shocking new study shows. About nine out of every 1,000 pre-K tots in New York state are tossed from their programs, according to Yale University researchers.

By contrast, researchers found that just one in every 2,000 K-12 students in the state is expelled.

The study, "Pre-kindergartners Left Behind," to be released today, found that pre-K students are three times as likely to be expelled as kids in other grades across the nation.

Researchers did not collect data on what prompted the expulsions but told of kids getting the boot for everything from throwing tantrums to bringing water guns to class and cutting the wires on computer mouses

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: children; dads; daycare; earlychildhood; education; moms; parents; prek; preschool; sahms; stayathome
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To: WV Mountain Mama

A church is nice :-) I wouldn't mind a church program.


21 posted on 05/17/2005 4:56:42 PM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: fortunecookie

Part of the reason (not all, mind you)I ended up homeschooling was because I had a Sunday School teacher say my son seemed ADHD many times, because of how he acted at age 4. I didn't want to have to deal with any similar things in the public school. (btw, my nephew truly is ADD. he would act like my son when he was on actually on his medication.) At 11 my son is very calm. I love his reaction to his little brothers' mischevious ways. I just smile and say, "You were worse."


22 posted on 05/17/2005 4:58:03 PM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Walk Softly, For a Dream is Born)
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To: Eska
"...behave/function in a socially acceptable manner..."

You said it in a nutshell. This is where children learn to function in a social setting. Some are easily acclimated, others struggle due to a variety of reasons (i.e., only child, grew up with a stay at home Mom, etc.) Although I didn't finish reading the article, much of it may depend on the type of Pre-K the kids are attending. Some are far more strict than others. One of the Pre-K programs at a local Christian School here requires the kids be potty-trained by 2 years old, if not, then they must find another pre-school to attend. This is done to allow the teacher to focus her attention on "teaching" rather than changing diapers all day long.
23 posted on 05/17/2005 5:05:05 PM PDT by Icthus
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To: NYer

Dear fellow New Yorker - after I posted this, I left to go vote on our school budget. Can you guess how I voted? :)


24 posted on 05/17/2005 5:12:12 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: HungarianGypsy
I love his reaction to his little brothers' mischevious ways. I just smile and say, "You were worse."

I love that! I've told my son the same thing. (I'm sorry I didn't try harder to homeschool. long story) I also teach a Rel. Ed. class to 2nd graders. I've seen it soooo many times. You can almost always tell the truly ADHD from the ones who, well, you just know there aren't really many rules or much attention for some of them at home. One boy comes to mind from a yr or 2 ago. 'S' is quiet and shy and very bright. He would look as though he wasn't paying attention, yet he knew all the answers, knew exactly where we were in the book, always had his homework, rarely misbehaved, and helped everyone around him stay on target. His grandmother explained that he was never allowed to use the ADHD as an excuse. He was truly a gem. I remember my 2nd yr of volunteering, I had a group of mostly boys again and was flabbergasted about how they could wiggle so much (and I have a son!) and fall out of their chairs. Then I read a truly eye-opening study (looking for link) about how this kind of movement is normal and many kids, esp boys, need to use this. I lightened up on my 'policing' of such behavior, it dropped off by more than half and general behavior and work improved dramatically. 'My' kids know just what behavior is acceptable (I took a cue from the new school principal) and what isn't. Fidgeting and wiggling is no longer even on my radar. And then every year without fail there are always one or 2 kids who, already at age 7, have learned to use their ADHD as an excuse for everything from missed work to bad behavior to (attempting to) bother other kids from their work. They learn quickly it no longer works on me...

25 posted on 05/17/2005 5:12:18 PM PDT by fortunecookie
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To: fortunecookie
When I first started to homeschool the wiggling bothered me. I also learned that the movement helped my son think. He would not pay attention without some sort of movement going on.
When he was 7 I put him Boys' Choir. Big mistake! The boys were to stand perfectly still. No matter how much he tried he just could not. He kept blaming himself for not behaving. His attitude made things worse at home, so I pulled him from it and his attitude improved. I had wondered why he was acting out so, since he had taken Improv classes a year earlier was complimented on his behavior. Just the same as his Sunday school classes (after he no longer had the one teacher). I was in his class to hear him give a talk once and saw it. He could not keep still. Oh! He wasn't acting up. He was quiet. But his foot kept moving back and forth..back and forth. I realized anything he does he needs to have some sort of movement.
26 posted on 05/17/2005 5:21:17 PM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Walk Softly, For a Dream is Born)
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To: followerofchrist
"I hate to say it, but preschool is a better place for the kids who get tossed. Usually it is because of poor parenting."

The problem is that the Universal pre-K advocates are working intently on making preschool for all 4-year olds mandatory. They are not doing this "for the children." They are doing it to maintain and build the pre-K industry in order to benefit themselves. They have already passed mandatory pre-K in Florida and they did this in an under-handed manner by using a tragedy, which took the life of a 4-yr. They said that because the incident took place before 3 p.m., it wouldn't have happened if the little girl had been in school. On its face, this is true. But it would have happened if she'd been anyplace other than where she happened to be. They tied this incident into a legislation that would mandate that all 4-yr. olds who are Dept. of Family and Children cases be enrolled in pre-k. The next you know ALL 4 yr. olds, whether they are on the caseload or not, will be required to be enrolled. This is what they teachers' unions want and what they are trying to do in every state.

27 posted on 05/17/2005 5:23:49 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: Icthus
"others struggle due to a variety of reasons (i.e., only child, grew up with a stay at home Mom,..."

Are you saying that having a mom who stays home to raise her child presents a problem for the child????

28 posted on 05/17/2005 5:33:40 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: sageb1
Not at all. In our particular case, my wife decided to be a "stay at home Mom" after our youngest daughter was born. Up until she was three years old, her interaction with other kids was limited to her older sisters and one or two kids on our street. Without a lot of interaction with other kids her own age, she was what some may consider withdrawn or extremely shy. My point was that there are so many logical reasons for a child to have difficulty in a Pre-K environment that word "expelled" may not be an accurate portrayal of the true facts. BTW, my wife is a K-3 teacher (5 years now).
29 posted on 05/17/2005 5:40:49 PM PDT by Icthus
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To: sageb1
Not at all. In our particular case, my wife decided to be a "stay at home Mom" after our youngest daughter was born. Up until she was three years old, her interaction with other kids was limited to her older sisters and one or two kids on our street. Without a lot of interaction with other kids her own age, she was what some may consider withdrawn or extremely shy. My point was that there are so many logical reasons for a child to have difficulty in a Pre-K environment that word "expelled" may not be an accurate portrayal of the true facts. BTW, my wife is a K-3 teacher (5 years now).
30 posted on 05/17/2005 5:41:28 PM PDT by Icthus
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To: sageb1; Liz
Dear fellow New Yorker - after I posted this, I left to go vote on our school budget. Can you guess how I voted? :)

Bless you! Sadly, most of the school districts have contingency budgets that allow them to eliminate 'extra-curricula' programs such as sports, music, LRA (learning resources for disabled), etc.. This past week the National Teachers Association spent 1 million $s in advertising to pass these school budgets. We loose either way.

Last week, the local news carried a story on cell phone taxes. Did you know that NY State residents pay 21% in taxes on their cell phones!! The next highest rate was only 14%!!!

I am a native New Yorker - born, raised, educated and lived in NY all my life. The taxes are killing the middle class. If this continues, there will be only 2 groups remaining - the wealthy and the poor.

31 posted on 05/17/2005 5:48:55 PM PDT by NYer ("Love without truth is blind; Truth without love is empty." - Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: sageb1

"Pre-kindergartners Left Behind"

The new book series from Tim LaHaye? :)


32 posted on 05/17/2005 5:49:44 PM PDT by BeHoldAPaleHorse
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To: HungarianGypsy

I guess it makes perfect sense, the improv would not demand perfectly standing still, even welcoming movement. I don't know many choirs that require standing perfectly still anymore, I guess they're still out there. I couldn't do it. My son does the same thing. Paces or stands to rock back and forth whenever anything vocab or memorized needs done. I've gotten used to it, although occasionally the pacing does get me. We come from a long line of fidgeters! So I relax and smile. ;-)


33 posted on 05/17/2005 5:59:15 PM PDT by fortunecookie
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To: Icthus
"Up until she was three years old, her interaction with other kids was limited to her older sisters and one or two kids on our street."

Actually, this is pretty normal for a 3-yr. old A recent survey showed that 80% of parents think the proper place for a young child is in the home, but they said they put their children in pre-K for socialization reasons. The ironic thing is that the more moms who stay home with their kids, the more kids in the neighborhood there will be with who to socialize. Toddlers learn to socialize in stages and as a rule do much better if they are not forced to socialize with too many individuals at a young age.

"My point was that there are so many logical reasons for a child to have difficulty in a Pre-K environment that word "expelled" may not be an accurate portrayal of the true facts"

I agree, although I know of two young children whose moms told me were "kicked out." The reason was that they were too active.

"BTW, my wife is a K-3 teacher (5 years now)."

Congratulations! You sound quite proud:)

34 posted on 05/17/2005 6:01:34 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: BeHoldAPaleHorse

lol!


35 posted on 05/17/2005 6:02:07 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: sageb1

Thankyouthankyou...I'll be here all week...don't forget to tip the waitresses...


36 posted on 05/17/2005 6:03:55 PM PDT by BeHoldAPaleHorse
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To: NYer
"Sadly, most of the school districts have contingency budgets that allow them to eliminate 'extra-curricula' programs such as sports, music, LRA (learning resources for disabled), etc.. This past week the National Teachers Association spent 1 million $s in advertising to pass these school budgets. We loose either way."

Three weeks ago, an explanation for the increase in the budget came in the mail. The reason for the biggest part of the requested increase was teacher salaries, pensions, and health care. The teachers are working without an agreement and wear black on Fridays. Ironically, the superintendent has been working hard AGAINST their requests, which, of course, are coming directly from the Union. Then (get this), last week our local paper, which leans to the left, carried a front page article on per student expenditures, suggesting that it was necessary to pass the budget or else? If the teachers don't get what they want, they make the students pay.

37 posted on 05/17/2005 6:08:07 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: sageb1

with "whom" to socialize, and if I made any other spelling errors, pretend I fixed them. :)


38 posted on 05/17/2005 6:10:35 PM PDT by sageb1
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To: sageb1
The teachers are working without an agreement and wear black on Fridays.

Whoa! Do you mind my asking where in the state you reside? I am originally from downstate - Manhattan, Queens and LI but now reside in Albany. My daughter graduated from 'one of the top' NYS high schools last year (don't they all rate themselves this way?).

If the teachers don't get what they want, they make the students pay.

It's a lose lose proposition. Time for the taxpayers to rise up in revolt. Hey, it worked for the French!

39 posted on 05/17/2005 6:36:57 PM PDT by NYer ("Love without truth is blind; Truth without love is empty." - Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: sageb1

"The problem is that the Universal pre-K advocates are working intently on making preschool for all 4-year olds mandatory. They are not doing this "for the children." They are doing it to maintain and build the pre-K industry in order to benefit themselves. They have already passed mandatory pre-K in Florida and.."

They are pushing this in California too. I was wondering why they had the aggressive pre-K public service announcements for a year prior, now I know. They claim kids do better in school if they have attended pre-school.
I say kids whose parents care about their education do better in school. There is a mixed bag in preschool. Some parents leave them there all day and pick them up a minute before the place closes. To them, preschool is babysitting. Others bring them 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. Those are the kids who do well because mom is at home.


40 posted on 05/18/2005 2:13:16 PM PDT by followerofchrist
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