Wow! Again it is very hard to find a word to use that begins with the letter “X”. Therefore, I have once more chosen to use a word that begins with the sound of the word “X”. For my concerns of public education I have chosen xtended (extended) families.
Often public education and teachers remain in the old days. We tend to live in the idea that children live with their parents. The word parents, to us, means those who conceived, mom and dad.
However, this is no longer true in many cases. We must begin to adjust our thoughts to a more open and extended definition of parents. We must open our minds for the feelings and sake of the children.
For example, we make a Mother’s Day gift. A child sits and thinks and thinks. He is pondering to which mother the gift belongs. This child lives with his grandmother. His real blood-related mother visits. However, his father has a live-in girlfriend and they say she is his mother too. So which one receives the gift? That is a lot of thinking for a small child.
More examples are the letters and meetings that we have. In a case of joint custody, we must ensure that both parents are treated equally. If the two parents can meet at the same time, we must set-up two meetings. We must also provide both with all of the child’s grades and records.
In other situations, we are required to be very careful about what information is given out. There are parents that are not allowed to receive information about their child. This should also be a concern.
My district has somewhat began to address the issue of extended family recognition among students by urging teachers to change the greeting in letters that are sent home. Teachers have been asked to use the greeting “family” rather than “parents”. This better covers children living with grandparents and others. Also in many cases we use the term parents/guardian.
In today’s society, I feel that the issue of extended families for many children will only get more complicated.
More Perks of Public Education
More Concerns of Public Education