Kindergarten Teachers should warn parents if they suspect Developmental Retardation!
Dear Parents,
The first social circle of children, their first school is their family. After the family, the first place where the child socializes is the pre-school education institutions. Depending on the age of the child and the education program, these institutions take different names such as nursery, kindergarten, day care center, kindergarten, kindergarten. The child starts kindergarten with the level of development created by the conditions offered by his family. If the child’s development is not adequately supported, the child may start kindergarten with developmental problems. Parents may not realize that there is a problem in their child’s development, but kindergarten teachers should definitely warn parents if they suspect any problem in their child’s development.
On the other hand, for some reasons, teachers may hesitate to warn the family. One of these is the extreme sensitivity of parents to their children. As a parent, it can be difficult to hear and accept negative things about your child. For this reason, teachers use very careful sentences when you give feedback to parents and may hesitate to say anything. As a parent, you should heed the teacher’s warnings instead of being offended by what the teacher says. If the teacher sees a problem in your child and does not warn him in time, it will cause more serious problems and eventually you will have to accept this situation and seek support.
As pre-school teachers, you, the teachers, should inform the child’s parents about the problems you see in the child and direct them to a specialist pedagogue, regardless of their reactions.
Another concern of the kindergarten teachers is that the kindergarten administration does not accept the teacher’s explanation of the problems to the family, worrying that “if this situation is told to the family, the parents will not accept the situation and will prefer another kindergarten based on what they say”. Of course, I am not saying that every kindergarten behaves this way, but I have seen kindergartens where the teacher did not warn the parents because of such concerns. The kindergarten administrator and team of teachers must decide whether to win a family or save a child’s future. Even if you know that you will be dismissed from your job as a teacher in such an election, you should warn the family about the child’s developmental problem and save the child’s future, regardless of your administrator’s concern. Because when the early diagnosis is made, the problems are solved in a short time, but when it is delayed, the problems grow and the developmental differences between the child’s peers may increase.
Therefore, as kindergarten teachers, keep a close eye on the child in your class and warn parents about any problems you see without hesitation.
As a parent, get expert pedagogue support without wasting time, taking into account what the kindergarten teachers say. When it is late, your child’s problems will grow and the gap between his peers will widen. The sooner problems are detected, the faster the recovery.
I wish kindergarten teachers to warn parents when they suspect developmental problems in children,
Specialist Pedagogue Sevil Yavuz
Child, Adolescent and Family Psychologist
Lecturer, Play Therapist
Parenting Skills & Counseling Center
