Hidden Valley Preschool

I am so amazed at each child's strengths. And sometimes surprised by challenges. But it helps me realize how different each of us are. Everyone has strengths and we are only measured in school's by our academics. It is discouraging to be in school for those that struggle with academics because there are so many other skills i.e. flexibility (able to go with the flow), sense of direction, giving, caring, polite, dexterity, creativity, sense of being, empathy, semantics, sense of humor, grit, persistence, understanding, honesty... etc. But schools don't teach these things, but many of these things come naturally, just as academics seem to be to others. But it would be nice if they recognized these skills in kids. It alway seems that the child that is the biggest handful in the classroom is often the leader outside. Being a Special Educator I realize we only measure one thing- academics. If we are only going to measure academic, then we get the kind of world we are in.

According to this, Billy struggles in school and should recieve an IEP. But he excels in Life Skills. Sarah will continue to feel confident and struggle in Life Skills. It is up to the parent to help her with those. But Billy will continue to be stigmatized by the Academic School System that was created in over half a centry ago. What is the solution? Tell the kids that schools only measure academics and praise them for thier strengths. However, they still get stuck in the system. At the Hidden School we measure all of it, and focus on life skills to prepare them for the world that will tell them all that matters is numbers and ABC's. There is so much more to life than beats the eye of the Education System.