"I should HAVE your children--for the better good!"
Posted on 07/21/2007 5:48:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
Sen. Hillary Clinton ignited few fireworks, speaking before the nation's largest teachers union over the July 4 holiday. But one proposal is proving explosive: state-run preschool for all families.
Clinton's proposal — introduced Thursday in the Senate — would give states $28 billion over five years to incorporate the nation's 120,000 preschools now run in firms, churches and storefronts into a government-run system. The former Goldwater girl has come a long way from the western ways and neighborhood values she once embraced.
Her universal preschool idea is sparking heated debate over the back fence and in policy circles. The question is basic: How much control should the government have in raising and teaching our young children?
It's Clinton's sharp tack to the left, arguing that government should take over small, independent preschools that make this super-nanny proposal reminiscent of her ill-fated single-payer health plan.
Most Americans would agree that every child, not just children whose parents can afford early education, should have the same chance to succeed. Clinton's plan, still sketchy in design, could usefully reach blue-collar families who can't afford preschool — but it delivers a brave new world to already overburdened school systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Preschool is to substitute for no moms at home. Sad day for America’s kids.
OTOH, Hillary and Obama all for indoctrinating them early.
>“Most Americans would agree that every child, not just children whose parents can afford early education, should have the same chance to succeed.”<
So they’re admitting Head Start has been a dismal flop?
The government already has a preschool program in place...it is called Headstart. Children whose parents cannot afford the tuition for preschool can enroll them in the program which has an income guideline. My children went to headstart when they were of that age and it was a great a program. It involved the parents in educating their children by coming into the home and teaching there once a week and also having the classroom program as well. I even took part in doing arts and crafts with the kids at Christmas time, going from house to house. I also took part in a parent led hiring of a new education coordinator which was a really good experience for me.
Headstart helped me to get off welfare because it stretched me...it helped me to see my own potential as a parent and as a person. I had a wonderful teacher who involved herself in my life as well as my kids...she was great!
I don’t know how it is now, but I believe that the children only have one day a week to go to school now instead of 3, like when we were involved because of defunding.
If Hillary wants to make sure that every child can go to preschool...expand this program and leave the establish privately run schools alone. Headstart has a lot of potential....if left to the local people to run it like it was when I was in it. Stop taking away funding for it and make it more accessible to people who cannot afford the fees for private schools.
I wish that were true, that they cannot be taken away. Between an out of control congress and activist judges I stay on the edge of my seat now. Watching people like Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy using their tyrannical tactics shows me that given the chance, Hilterly or Edwards would take over this country in a heart beat and the constitution be damned.
“...but it delivers a brave new world to already overburdened AND INEPT school systems.”
Sex Education will no doubt be a main component in the Democrat Preschool Curriculum complete with two fathers, a pair of mothers, and who’s-your-daddy!
Agree completely. IT goes back to the motivation of the parents for the child to succeed, which shows itself in a hundred other ways OUTSIDE of preschool.
As if the government doesn't have enough debt, and a huge trail of failures of everything else it has run - now they want to take on MORE debt, and more failure.
In a real world, Every child having access to a good pre-school education is an excellent idea. For those that can't afford private schools, or afford the time to homeschool - and who WANT to particpate in a program like HeadStart - I think that it's a positive thing.
But, Hillary!'s plan is nothing more than a naked power grab, and a sop to the teacher's unions (that have no influence on homeschools, or private schools).
As an aside, Mrs WBill and I are considering homeschooling. We have a number of friends that are teachers (one has quite a bit to do with the other, but that's another story... :-) ). I have yet to find any that have been excited about the prosepect of us taking wbill jr. out of the system. Responses have ranged from "Gee, that's nice." to "Stupid, Terrible Idea." (I have yet to understand how a person that can't even balance her own checkbook thinks she can teach my kid math, but I digress....) Universally, all of the teachers have said "Socialization, Socialization, Socialization". It's like a mantra.
Of course, we have one acquaintance (my friend's wife) who is a speech therapist at a public school and who said my son wouldn't learn to communicate properly, because we rarely let him watch TV. I guess all the generations before my parents just spent time grunting at each other and pointing at things! People like her are certainly driving us to homeschool.
There has never been a doubt that Hillary is a big time communist!
I don't know about that! If you rephrase that as,"Most Americans make no effort to help their own children excel, and resent those parents who do,"it stands revealed a dubious and very negative proposition.
LOL they’ll never admit that ! It’s as successful as the war on poverty.
I highly encourage you to homeschool !!! You the parents will like it as much as wbill jr.
Besides, you can always steal your kid’s lunch right there at home, just like the kids do at school. :)
I agree, although I will say that I think that my wife should have the final say as the bulk of the work will fall upon her. Of course, I'm planning to help as much as I can (I'm an engineer and understand math a little...), and I would guess that the rest of the family (a teacher, a teacher/librarian, and another engineer among them) would pitch in....but Mrs Wbill is going to bear the brunt of it.
She's on the fence. Most of the teachers are her friends (or family), so she's getting a constant stream of negativity that's hard to counteract. Of course, when dimwits like my friend's wife come along and tell her that "Kids can't learn to talk without TV", that helps my cause. My wife is more liberal than I am, but she's smart enough to recognize BS when she sees it. lol!
I was in that situation, but it was my husbands family that was against the homeschooling, while I was all hung ho for it.
Eight years later, the family is fully behind me and loves the test results my daughter got this year. (PHS in all categories but one- spelling!lol)All doubts are gone. Your wife would do well to investigate a local homeschool group and make some friends there. Your wife would not be alone in having some questioning her choice to homeschool. With time and great test results, that usually quiets things down.
Besides, the best thing about homeschooling is the family time - there is more of it and that is the best part about it. You really get to know your child and have those lasting memories. Its the best socialization there is.
One of my coworkers has 2 sets of twins! 7yr olds and 4 yr olds. His wife has a Master’s in Early Childhood Education. They live in a area that has the poorest-rated school system in the state. So naturally they went with homeschooling.
My coworker is currently shopping around for parochial schools because the stress of homeschooling 4 kids became more than his wife could handle. On several occasions he got cellphone calls during meetings and had to rush home immediately for crisis-du-jour.
Obviously 2 sets of twins would be a handful for anyone.
And I think the lousiness of the local school system was a big factor. I can’t imagine the expense they are facing to enroll 4 kids in parochial school.
Mrs Wbill will have a great time, so long as she does not try to run a “school at home” homeschool. That’s just a recipe for misery.
Read some of the articles on www.robinsoncurriculum.com regarding self-teaching and you’ll understand what I mean. Then read a lot of others - Linda Dobson, Raymond Moore, Ellyn Davis, David Guterson, Cafi Cohen, and so on.
I homeschooled mine as a single working (often from home) parent using a lot of self-teaching and some time at homeschool co-ops, and it worked out great. I wish I’d started from the beginning instead of 5 years into schooling.
"I should HAVE your children--for the better good!"
The best thing I have to say for pre-school is that it sounds a lot better and you feel a lot less guilty than if you just admit you couldn’t handle the the little devils 24 hours a day; plus, the kids will get over it.
Nobody really learns anything of importance until they get out of formal schooling anyway - there’s no room for thought or analysis.
“There is no credible evidence that preschool delivers any permanent advantage to a child”
actually - it can hurt the kids, depending on how many hours per week they attend.
Here’s a good article...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47322
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.