Poverty In School System
Americans have been working on closing the financial gap between those
of the wealthy and those living in poverty. The lack of funds a family
have has placed a great impact of the child education. Lack of resources
makes it difficult for children to complete homework. Also, many
American children only receive meals during the school hours. American
schools offer breakfast and lunch to all students, depending on the
family financial status these meals can be free of charge. During the
summer many schools serve as a site for the Free Lunch program which
feeds children up to the age of 18 free of charge once a day.
My Question: Does your school system serve children breakfast/lunch?
Is there an academic issue for those that aren't wealthy?
What programs can families living in poverty reach out to for resources?
Is there an academic issue for those that aren't wealthy?
What programs can families living in poverty reach out to for resources?
Carolyn Response:
We do not have formal meal programs in our school system, however many regions do set up informal programs based on need.
Most food is donated by local businesses or families to meet these needs.
We do have an extensive food bank system in our area, again funded through donations and some government grants.
Our
food banks are set up like a grocery store, often in church basements,
where families can identify that they are in need and "shop" on a weekly
basis. There is also a clothing / accessory store in most major
communities, where they can shop on a monthly basis for needed supplies
and clothing.
This is just one of the many social services that are available to families.
Bilingual
The American Early Childhood field was original based off the Caucasian child. It later included the African American children. Now today's classroom is filled with more than just black and white students. Hispanic children are becoming the majority in the classroom but aren't fluent in the English language causing the teacher to revise the lesson plans and include ways of teaching non-English speaking students.
My Question: Does your country speak more than one language? What is the native language? What language do teachers use to teach students?
Carolyn Response: Canada is bilingual. We speak english and french.
In my region english is predominant, with very little french or other languages spoken.
We do have children who are non-verbal in our schools who use PECS
Teacher Waldon, I work for a nonprofit preschool in the Sacramento, CA area and I am happy to say that we have a meal program funded through the state that provides breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. It kills me sometimes that 70% of our children probably do not need this service and many of the parents wouldn't even consider being grateful for it, yet take advantage of it everyday. I like to think more that they are oblivious to how fortunate we are to be able to provide such a program or service...I truly hope that is the case.
ReplyDeleteYes that is very ungrateful for them to take advantage of such a program when there are children out there that really need it.
ReplyDeleteHi Chantay, I did not realize that food banks were so prevalent in Canada. We had a minister from Canada working in our church for awhile and he helped us establish a food bank. It has been very successful. Interesting that they don't have formal meal programs in their schools, though. Delores
ReplyDelete