Madam
Toastmaster, Fellow Toastmasters, and honored guests,
The
governor of The State of Indiana, Frank O’Bannon initiated the “Seek and Demand
Quality Child Care” campaign after he took office in 1996. This is a program which provides information
and resources to parents who need child care.
Now, I’m not sure if it’s because of lack of funding or lack of interest
but the gusto seems to have gone out of this campaign. I no longer see bill boards or print ads and
the information is even hard to track down on the web. But, EVERYONE WHO WORKS AND HAS CHILDREN
STILL NEEDS QUALITY CHILD CARE!!
In
my own opinion, there are too few Quality, Caring child care resources
available to working parents. Many
child care sources don’t implement discipline, structure or respect in their
environments. They simply occupy the
children for 9-10 hours a day. Children
need stimulation and interaction. My
speech today won’t delve into the solution for this, I have plenty of ideas,
trust me, but I only have 7 minutes.
Our
children need to be in quality, caring, loving environments if they can’t be
with us. Our children need to be in an
environment with similar rules as our own home so that there is consistency in
their lives.
We
try in our home to live by this poem, as much as we can when you consider we
are dealing with a 4 ½ year old and 1 ½ year old.
Everyone
should expect the same from their child care providers.
The
author approved abridged version of:
Children Learn What They
Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte
If children live with
criticism,
They learn
to condemn.
If children live with
hostility,
They learn to
fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to
be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to
feel guilty.
If children live with
encouragement,
They learn
confidence.
If children live with
tolerance,
They learn to
be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to
appreciate.
If children live with
acceptance,
They learn to
love.
If children live with
approval,
They learn to
like themselves.
If children live
with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with
security,
They learn to
have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the
world is a nice place in which to live.
I
think it should be the creed of all daycares.
Many
people blame working parents for being too wrapped up in their careers to be
aware of what their children become involved in. Folks, that isn’t the case with the working parents I know. The working parents I know work to earn a
paycheck to put food on the table, clothes on their kids, gas in the car
-- NECESSITIES folks, not sports cars
and boats and huge houses and fancy vacations.
The
working parents I know want to be able to place their child in an environment
that keeps them safe, provides love, warm meals, and peaceful naptimes; not
chaos, yelling, crying, shouting. As a
working mother, my heart aches for my children during the day, not because I am
concerned about their environment, I just want to be with them. But, if I can’t be with them, I have them in
a model daycare-our provider gives everything positive I’ve described and
more. My boys have learned more about manners
and politeness from our child care provider than they have learned from
me. Some may say how wrong that is,
that I should be the one teaching them.
My point is, if I can’t be there to teach them, they are in an
environment to be taught respect, manners, and politeness. That is what every child deserves, if they
must be away from their parents during working hours.
ALL child care resources should be required
to:
1.
meet stringent standards of cleanliness,
2.
continue child development education,
3.
be trained in first aid and CPR
4.
meet stringent standards for curriculum
We
need QUALITY, caring, loving child care for our children. Only this type of childcare will assist us
in raising our children to be productive, responsible, contributing members of society. Children deserve the best child care
possible to build a foundation for their future.
Children Learn What They
Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte
If children
live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with fear,
They learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity,
They learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn
to be shy.
If children live with jealousy,
They learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with
encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition,
They learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing,
They learn generosity.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness,
They learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration,
They learn respect.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and
others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which
to live.