I’ve got only a few minutes left to spare before I have to leave the house for an appointment and the phone rings. I hesitate before picking it up. There is a lady on the line. “Maybe you can help me,” she says in a sweet voice. “You see, I have this three-year-old little boy that is attending preschool for the first time. The teacher just informed me that he isn’t the ‘perfect fit.’ They say he is too active and that’s a problem. Is there something wrong with him?”
I am in shock. I’ve heard about this time and time again when young children reach elementary school. Many teachers want children sitting in seats in order to work on curriculum. However, the majority of children in the early grades haven’t mastered the art of sitting still yet. But … Preschool? Really? We are expecting children to sit still when they are just barely out of diapers? My blood boils at the notion that something is wrong with an active three-year-old boy.