“I think that a lot of times we want to protect these young kids from the reality of what’s going on in the world around them”, teacher Donna Smith said.
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But School Board member Mary Carney objected, calling the book “too graphic” for the age group and asked for it to be banned. Teachers plan to read the book aloud as part of a lesson created to help kids learn rules and how to be good citizens.
Kermit narrates the book, which “teaches young readers about the plight of young children who lack the basic human necessities and the efforts of the United Nations to provide such essentials as housing, water, food, and medical aid”, according to Amazon.com. Staff and parents reviewed the book at a meeting on Wednesday. The school board will make the final decision at a later date.
Warning. The image below may be too graphic for some people. For_Every_Child_A_Better_World” target=”_blank”>page, one user gave it a one-out-of-five star rating, writing: “The motivations and idea behind this book are laudable. Carney worries that the book could traumatize students with its depictions of children living in poverty. “It is so powerful in presenting these statements, yet the use of Muppet characters does not present a grotesque picture for young children”.
“I was directed (by the board of education) to basically review everything in that week”, said the district’s Director of Teaching and Learning Kim Ziembo.
“Looking at it, I do not have concerns”, Leifheit told the Marshfield News Herald.
One parent who sat on the panel, Marshfield resident Preston Tippen, said he read the book to his kindergarten-age son, and the experience provoked discussion about child labor and education. She was wrong on a number of levels, however, as the updated curriculum, like most, boasts no small amount of flag-humping.
“I believe it shows compassion for people other than yourself”, she told the News-Herald.
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A special committee of educators, district administrators, and community members convened at the Marshfield School District office on Wednesday and concluded that three books singled out for further review are appropriate for the school district’s kindergarten curriculum. “That’s a good thing”.
