The Inquiring Reporter
This is the first of several articles concerning topics of interest to our community. The articles will consist of interviews with people living in our area. Anyone interested in bringing to the attention of our readers a point of interest, or commenting on a particular topic, please contact Elaine Moore at 862-6897.
Our topic of interest in this article is the proposed Day Care Project for the Skinker-Debaliviere area. We have the opinions and comments of three of our mothers.
Mrs. Alice Hatch, the mother of ten children is very interested in the Day Care project. Although all of her children are in school and she has never used a day care program before, she feels that there is a tremendous need for Day Care in our area.
When asked if she would have sent her children if they were young enough, she said that she would have.
Mrs. Hatch believes that a Day Care program is an excellent opportunity for the children in our area to learn to play with other children, and to develop the correct behavior pattern necessary for the children to function well once they start grade school.
Mrs. Hatch’s interest is so great that she is volunteering her knowledge and experience to the group now working on the Day Care project. She has a 16 year old daughter who hopes to be one of the teenagers hired as an assistant to the teachers.
Mrs. Nellie Hughes has a slightly different idea on what Day Care services should emphasize. Mrs. Hughes’ youngest child is nine years old, however prior to entering grade school he was in a summer program similar to the one being opened in our area.
She said that although her son really enjoyed going to nursery school he didn’t learn anything. The basic problem in her view was that the program was much to short to be constructive.
She does think that a Day Care program of longer duration will better aid children starting school.
Mrs. Hughes feels that two of the main things taught should be the alphabet and numbers. Other points of concern should be teaching children to enjoy school and to enjoy learning.
One concept she brought out is that teaching in a Day Care Program, in grade school or in any other school, the teacher must remain patient and generate understanding at all times.
The third mother interviewed was Mrs. Loretta Lloyd She is the mother of two children and is expecting her third child soon. She has her oldest child in a day care center, however she does not agree that the proposed age group of 5 years old for the summer program is good.
She believes that by taking a child from kindergarten, putting him in a day care center for ten weeks, and then back to grade school and first grade in the fall may make him quite bored with school by the time he is 7 years old.
Mrs. Lloyd also believes that during the summer children should be outside as much as possible. In her child’s case the day care center would hamper his outdoor play.
Mrs. Lloyd hopes the major effort of the proposed Day Care Project will be the preparing of children to be active and beneficial members of not only their prospective grades in school but in our community as well.
Originally published in The Paper, May 1970.
