How would you describe your understanding of diversity?
When I was young, I remember being fascinated by the 'hearty stew' concept replacing the 'melting pot' and then came the 'salad bar'!
In elementary school I know that there was at least one school where I had a classmate with a developmental disability, a boy who sat near me who always had an extra pencil when I needed one.
Halfway through the year our teacher chose six or eight of us who could go to the back of the room and work on special projects when we were finished with our classwork.
I wanted my friend with the extra pencil to join us, but was told that it took him longer to complete his work because he took his time reading and writing.
Later when I invited him to compete in the Spelling Bee I was momentarily interested in his explanation that he could not spell many words.
One very cold winter morning, I was trying very hard not to cry because my hands were so cold, and when I walked into our classroom he came right over and put my hands between his warm hands without saying a word.
At lunch time I told him I had missed a word in practice that I should have known how to spell, N-A-Z-I, but I spelled it N-A-U-T-S-Y and everyone else in the small group laughed at me. He told me 'Well, they are pretty mean." And at that time, I thought he was talking about the Nazis.
I think in kindergarten and maybe first grade, my son's classmates did not see him as particularly different, or any more different than each of them thought of themselves. I wonder if all children felt that being unique was ok, they would hold on to that truer view of others longer.
It bothers me that as parents we are often advised to make our children 'kindergarten ready' and later get them up to speed as much as possible so they will be able to do their best and reach their highest potential every day.
I think it might be better to give them every opportunity to be included and supported at school, and then they can develop talents and abilities that we might not know or guess they had, like their classmates.
Of course, I thought my son was very interested in science in kindergarten because the first thing he did was to go to the science corner and pick up a big magnifying glass. As it turns out, he does have an interest in science - but after he got his first pair of glasses, he did not carry around that magnifying glass every morning!
Is Diversity Like A New Box of Crayons?
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art5144.aspPam W
SE of Seattle
