Hi, Cheryl!
Great question! The idea of having staff serving as teachers to their own children is a topic that keeps coming up on the message board and speaks to the challenges of this particular issue. You are correct when you say that great infant teachers are hard to find. For that reason alone, having this teacher remain in her current position may be the best option. Moving her may cause her stress and may create tension in the working environment, as well. In order to make this situation the best it can possibly be, communication is key. Focus of communication should be on maintaining professionalism and on managing difficult situations that will arise. In the grand scheme of things, the baby will be with this age group at your center for a brief period of time. Making sure that the baby is well cared for in this age group is just as important as it is for the other babies. Having an engaged and loving caretaker for the baby and his/her future friends won't be a problem in this case, as this teacher has demonstrated her abilities in the past and she has a loving bond with her grandchild.
Referring to young children as "littles" annoys me, too. This term came from mommy blogs and social media. I am old school, myself, and find that using this term is inappropriate in a professional setting. If we want to elevate our profession (and we all do), then we need to avoid using terms that have negative connotations or that seem to align with problematic media. Mommy blogs are the source of a lot of disinformation with regard to child development. My opinion is that we should avoid any association with them.
Respectfully,
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Jennifer Cottle, PhD
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Texas Woman's University
The Colony TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-22-2021 02:27 PM
From: Cheryl Dillingham
Subject: Two classroom related questions
Hi,
1. What is your facililty policy pertaining to a teacher having a related child in their classroom? Does age of the child matter? Do parent opinions matter? Pros and cons? In a nutshell, we have a wonderful infant teacher (highly regarded by parents) who is scheduled to have her grandchild in her classroom in the fall. Our policy would be to move her to a different age group, but parents want her to remain for obvious reasons. Good infant teachers are hard to come by as you all know. Thoughts?
2. Thoughts on referring to a child as "little" or children as "littles." I'm finding myself being rather old school about this. This terminology seems to really bother me. For instance,"come have a treat with your little." Or, "your littles are on the playground." Can someone explain why this bothers me? Is it disrespectful? Unprofessional? Trendy? I'm just trying to formulate in words why it bothers me.
Thank you!
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Cheryl Dillingham
Office Administrator
NAAEYC
Nashville, TN
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