[blparent] kindergarten

Sat Sep 8 19:48:09 UTC 2018

It kind of depends on how your kid feels about it. My daughter started getting teased in the first grade about how she had to walk everywhere because her mom couldn't drive a car. So for the next three years, I did a quick little presentation about guide dogs for her class. They all got to ask questions and each kid got to give the dog a quick pat. Not only did it transform my kid from the strange girl who walked everywhere with her mom to the lucky one whose mom got to take her dog into stores and restaurants, but it also cut down on the curiosity disruption when I showed up with my dog for field day events and class parties and such. But starting in fourth grade, my daughter felt self-conscious and didn't want the presentation and question-and-answer session anymore. It made her stand out as different, and at nine years old, that had become severely taboo. So I quit doing it. Educating about blindness and service dogs, to me, was not as important as respecting my daughter's feelings.

Jo Elizabeth Pinto

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
Is my award-winning novel,
Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent <blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Rob Kaiser via BlParent
Sent: Friday, September 7, 2018 3:26 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Rob Kaiser <rcubfank at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [blparent] kindergarten

Also, to the person who has a 15 yearold & doesn't think they need or would want to go to their teacher, Several years ago, when I was teaching voice lessons @ Glenbrook North, Highschool, 1 of the English classes was reading the Miricle Worker. The English teacher asked me to come in & speek to that class. I actually wound up speaking to several classes that day. It's always important to continue to educate about blindness.

Rob Kaiser Email;
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent
Sent: Friday, September 7, 2018 2:02 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [blparent] kindergarten

I don't think I'd "just tell the teacher" anything. You might ask the teacher if the kids will be talking about the five senses, which is a common discussion for kindergartners, or about their names, which is another typical subject. If they are, you could offer to come in and do a short--ten to fifteen minutes, at most, because of attention spans of five-year-olds--talk about blindness or braille that relates to the five senses or bring in braille cards with the names of the kids on them for a bulletin board. You could offer to bring in a print/braille book and read it, then pass it around. You could offer to bring in paper bags with different things in them like socks, pinto beans, quarters, pebbles--stapled closed--and have the kids shut their eyes, feel the bags, and guess what's inside. It's an activity about using their sense of touch instead of sight.
There are lots of ideas, but you need to collaborate with the teacher and not just barge in. And you need to make sure your kid is on board and not feeling like a zoo exhibit. It's awkward for some kids and fun for others, depending on their personalities.

Jo Elizabeth Pinto

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
Is my award-winning novel,
Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent <blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Rob Kaiser via BlParent
Sent: Friday, September 7, 2018 10:36 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Rob Kaiser <rcubfank at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [blparent] kindergarten

Kindr is quite young, but I would think that the children would appreciate Braille letters & perhaps any other working tools that you could take with you. Just tell the teacher you would like to come in & do a short presentation to the class. 

Rob Kaiser Email;
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tatyana via BlParent
Sent: Friday, September 7, 2018 8:27 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Tatyana <tagriru at gmail.com>
Subject: [blparent] kindergarten

Hi,
my son just started a kindergarten this week. I would like to come to his class just to get an impression about the teacher and the class  stracture and so on. what should I say to the teacher, that I would like to come? Of corse I can't say I want to see your work with kids and how you communicating with kids.  So I'm just asking about nice and polite way to say that.

 And second thing, I just thought that would be interesting for all, I believe, if I came with short presentation about Braille. If someone did that with kindergarteners and would share it here would be great, just outline the information  I could present  to the kids and some activities I might bring.  I think the kids would  be intrigued with so cool letters as Braille.

Thank you all.

Tatyana
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