June 29, 2018, Moline, IL, Quad City Times: Funding expands preschool program https://qctimes.com/news/local/education/funding-expands-preschool-program/article_651ed301-5df4-5d71-9bd1-e94fe6dcc004.html A multi-year grant will allow the Moline-Coal Valley School District to offer a new all-day preschool program to 80 4-year-olds. Rachel Fowler, Thomas Jefferson Early Childhood Center principal, said the school district has received a $717,900 competitive Illinois State Board of Education Preschool For All Expansion Grant. … There typically are about 30 additional children served at the center who receive speech or other special education services, Fowler said…. Fowler said the new staff positions can help support teachers by looking at best practices, and reteaching and pre-teaching appropriate ways to work with children’s behaviors. Children also will also learn other ways to deal with frustration or anxiety, she said, issues that increasingly are affecting children….
Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.