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Tag: Kindergarten

  • Kindergartner Praying Controversy Headed To Court?

    The controversy surrounding whether or not an Carillon Elementary teacher stopped a five-year-old from praying is now the subject of a lawsuit.

    It’s a turn of events that isn’t too surprising given what’s at the heart of the matter.

    Marcos and Kathy Perez of Oviedo, Flordia are claiming that their young daughter Gabriella was getting ready to say grace when a teacher approached her. She was apparently instructed not to pray and told that prayer is “not good”.

    The event was alleged to have occurred on or around March 10th. A video was uploaded to Youtube on March 25th which details what Gabriella’s parents have said is her version of events.

    Prior to the video being uploaded, Marcos Perez said that he had emailed Carillon Elementary Principal Analynn Jones to complain about what had happened.

    Officials launched an investigation in the wake of the controversy and they say that none of the teachers or cafeteria workers recall the incident.

    Perez isn’t surprised by the continued denials because as he puts it, he “didn’t expect anyone to step forward and take blame.”

    The family is being represented by the Texas-based Liberty Institute law firm.

    Lawyer Jeremiah Dys accused the principal at Carillon Elementary of “pretty much dismiss[ing] this”.

    The parents are suing in order to get an apology to their child and a more serious investigation of the matter by Carillion Elementary. They also desire the adult responsible to no longer be a teacher at the school.

    Perez and his wife have admitted that they will likely home-school their daughter.

    There is another aspect of the suit that is somewhat to blame for lingering doubt as to the authenticity of the claims being made.

    Perez decided to post the video about the event because he “felt like this is a story that’s important and people needed to hear.” It’s also suggested that the suit is meant to shed light on an anti-prayer and anti-Christian agenda allegedly found in America’s schools.

    It’s almost as if the entire situation could be taken from the pages of God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values. The book is being promoted by the company Perez works for and was written by Fox News host Todd Starnes.

    It was Starnes who helped the story gain national attention by covering the it on Fox News Radio. Perez was even interviewed about the matter.

    Perez said he did the interview because he is “passionate about the cause.”

    The promotion of an alleged anti-Christian agenda in schools or demanding justice for his wronged daughter: Which is the “cause” in question?

    According to Perez, he is fighting for his daughter’s First Amendment rights. He also resents any insinuation of an ongoing publicity stunt.

    “I’m a father first, a VP of sales second.”

    The school maintains that they’ve never denied children the ability to pray and that this has since been emphasized as the story has garnered considerable attention.

    Image via YouTube

  • Kindergartner Praying Controversy: Potential Hoax?

    Outrage is swirling around the story emerging from Oviedo, Florida involving a five-year-old girl who was allegedly interrupted during her lunchtime prayer.

    According to a story told to the Orlando Sentinel, a kindergartner was preparing to pray over her meal when a ‘lunch teacher’ at Carillon Elementary stopped her.

    “My lunch teacher told me that, when I was about to say something…you’re not allowed to pray.”

    The child said that she responded, “It’s good to pray.”

    The teacher apparently countered that prayer is “not good”.

    The young girl was instructed to share her story in a video recorded by her father, Marcos Perez. Perez’s video has garnered thousands of views and made local and national news.

    A mean godless educator bullying a poor child just trying to say grace over lunch?

    While the event is most certainly plausible, early investigation is raising a few red flags.

    First, there is the fact that Seminole County Public School officials report that cafeteria workers have no knowledge of the incident or of interacting with Perez’s daughter on March 10th, the date the family claimed the incident took place.

    Second, Marcos Perez is the vice president of sales at Charisma House, a Lake Mary-based Christian book publisher.

    “God Less America: Real Stories from the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values” is a book currently being promoted by Perez’s company.

    It was written by Fox News host Todd Starnes, who reported on the incident for Fox News Radio.

    The coincidence and timing is enough to have some people declaring this entire thing a publicity stunt and hoax.

    It is terrible to think that a father might not be above coaching his daughter through a blatant lie “for a good Christian cause”. Nevermind slandering innocent school officials in the process and opening himself up to a defamation lawsuit.

    Still, it wouldn’t be the first time a father has gotten his children to lie for purely selfish reasons.

    The balloon boy hoax that happened three years ago involved a father who coached his child into lying in order to potentially get a television deal. Something the child unwittingly admitted to on CNN.

    Given how visibly upset that young boy was when forced to play a role in the hoax (he would vomit whenever the matter was brought up in interviews), it’s something Perez needs to consider if he’s electing to put the same emotional strain on his daughter for profit and not because this actually happened.

    If an incident did occur, hopefully further investigation will uncover the truth and reveal which teacher is responsible.

    Given the viral nature of this story and the strong reaction, an update is inevitable.

    Until such time, it’s best to wait for all the facts before jumping to any definite conclusion in this matter. Or adults once again using partisan talking points to beat home their own one-sided point of view while forgetting something very important.

    A little girl was either told that she couldn’t exercise her religious beliefs or was coached to lie for profit and slander.

    Either potential outcome is both sad and disturbing, and indicative of adults setting terrible examples for young and impressionable children.

    Image via Youtube

  • Byler Sextuplets, Kindergarten A Second Chance

    After breaking through the ovarian barrier together, the famous Byler sextuplets are returning to kindergarten; however, this time the group of six will all be separated from one other. The group of five boys and one girl started kindergarten last year, but were placed into two groups of three at that time. This time around, each child will be placed into a different classroom.

    The children made history after being Florida’s first set of sextuplets when mom, Karoline Byler, gave birth on September 1, 2007. Karoline spoke about the unique mix of this group of sextuplets. “Five boys and one girl. No one else has that mix in the United States,” she said. The sister and brothers include: Mackenzie, Brady, Eli, Charlie, Ryan, and Jackson.

    Knowing when your children are ready to handle certain obstacles is part of the challenges that any mother faces. Karoline Byler decided to have her children complete kindergarten a second time, instinctively knowing what their best interests are. “So everyone is repeating it, but this year everyone is going to be in separated classes. So, everyone will be alone and we will see how that goes,” she said.

    Karoline Byler explained why some of her children are adapting more to the start of the school year than others. “Some of them like it. Some of them don’t. The ones that are more boisterous and outgoing are fine. The ones more quiet don’t. Jackson cried the whole way to school on the first day of school,” she said.

    Giving birth to six babies at the same time is not a small feat, so it should come as no surprise that even after six years people are still talking about the news, and sharing in the excitement as this bunch continue to grow.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VZC3muaMM

    [Videos And Image Via YouTube]

  • Kindergarten Brawl Breaks Out Over Spilled Juice

    A kindergarten brawl at a Cleveland school was caused by the most innocuous of incidents – spilled juice.

    The AP reports that a brawl broke out at the Michael R. White Elementary School during a graduation ceremony on Friday. At the end of it all, eight people were arrested.

    The brawl reportedly started with some spilled juice. After that, two teenage girls began to fight. The families soon joined in. At the end of it all, it was revealed that two of the people involved in the fight brandished a pipe and a hammer.

    Even with the heavy weaponry, nobody was hurt in the fight. The police still booked eight people for a count of aggravated rioting. Charges may be filed against those involved after prosecutors have a chance to review everything.

    After the fight was broken up, parents were allowed into the school to collect their children. As you would expect, some parents are scared for the future safety of their children. One parent in particular said that the fight makes her “not want to send them [to school] for the rest of the school year.”

    The city has also chimed in on the incident with city councilman Jeff Johnson saying that any parent involved in the fight should be barred from school grounds. He said that the city is “not going to have people coming into our schools, being disrespectful, fighting.”

  • Kindergartners are Being Taught to Embrace and Utilize Technology

    Kindergartners are learning how to communicate in a concise manner through Twitter. Early childhood educators are teaching entire classes how to tweet and have created classroom networks for students on Twiducate, a social network devoted to schools and teaching environments.

    Twiducate.com is a free resource for educators that was developed in 2009. The overaching goal of the platform is to create a medium for teachers and students to continue their learning outside the classroom. Only teachers and students may view classroom posts so that there is a safer online learning environment.

    We reported earlier that the FTC was making it easier for children to interface with the internet and discussed the necessity of parental monitoring. But kids are having a blast with their increasing freedom to access technology and communicate in different ways.

    According to Mary Long, a writer for Mediabistro, kids are finding new ways to play using these platforms and finds that they are: “A safer, online, social homebase for kids under 13 . . . where kids can connect with friends, play games, share pictures, send messages, discover new talents, learn and have fun. Everloop’s state-of-the-art privacy protection and monitoring technology guard young users against bullying, bad language and inappropriate sharing of information.”

    Everloop‘s website defines the forum as a “safer social network for kids [that] revolutionizes the way kids under 13 connect online. Unlike other social networking sites for kids, Everloop provides a unique, age-appropriate social media experience for children with customized micro-networks or “loops” that safely connect kid-relevant content, services, applications and experiences. With kids games online, safe email and kids chat, Everloop is the kids social network where tweens can have fun on the internet and safely be kids as long as possible.”

    The move to make kids tech savvy is crucial because students will need social networking, blogging and basic internet skills to compete in the business world.

    What kinds of issues do you think educators and parents will face with these increasingly popular sites? What do you perceive are the benefits for children interfacing in this way?