When I finished my diploma in ECE I took a job as Program Coordinator at a local child care centre in their before and after school program. The hours were long and on a split shift so I worked from 7-9 in the morning and 2-6 in the afternoon. Spot dealt with it fairly fine and Jitterbug was okay with it, but not fantastic.
After Jitter Bug turned 4, I was feeling heaps of guilt about being away from him for so long during the day. I decided to switch him to the center I was working at. Initially I had reservations about this, not wanting to create another change for him, but decided this was the better option.I decided not to tell my employers or colleagues about any of his struggles, as I wanted to avoid him being labelled a problem child. This worked....for a short time.
The center I was working at had an "interest based curriculum". Now, in theory the programming is supposed to be based on the general interests of the children in the classroom. However at this particular centre, the supervisor took it to mean, if a child isn't interested, they don't have to do it. It went like this.
Jitter Bug doesn't want to come to circle? Jitter Bug doesn't have to go to circle. Jitter Bug doesn't want to eat lunch? He doesn't have to. After 6 months, he started school. Obviously, the idea that he had to comply with whatever was told to him was not going over well, as he had spent the last 6 months in a centre that did not require him to do, well, anything!
So I switched him back to his old preschool, where they seemed to at least take a little more interest in building his skills and abilities. The battle was just beginning
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