Parents: School Nixed Valentines For Youngest Students

[The Straight Story]

Parents: School Nixed Valentines For Youngest Students

GOLDEN, Colo. -- Outraged parents say a Golden school nixed the traditional Valentine's Day card exchange for more than 100 preschoolers and kindergartners, leaving some little kids heartbroken.

Several parents told 7NEWS their children were instructed not to bring Valentine's cards or candy to school.

But officials at Free Horizon Montessori charter school insisted they didn't ban Valentine's for the youngest students, just suggested an alternative celebration that was more culturally inclusive and less commercial.

A school newsletter told parents that preschoolers and kindergartners would celebrate the day by inviting "someone they love" to read a book from home in honor of Canadian Literacy Day and sipping hot cocoa.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26889412/detail.html

[mzteris]

1. my son's old school

Montessori Charter Spanish Immersion in NC - which had 1/2 of the population that was Hispanic who were nearly 100% in poverty, and about 1/4 of the other half was either AA or white in poverty - made the rule that all valentines had to be HANDMADE!

It was the best Valentine's day since I was a kid in school (you know - before the invented store-bought cards!)

(Of course they also had rules about what food was allowed on campus - no junk food. no soda. no koolaid. no cookies, cake, chips, candy, etc. It was such a wonderful environment. :sigh: I miss that school. . . )

[orleans]

4. wouldn't it cost more to make cute valentines for everyone in your class?

unless you just wrote a note using a half a piece of paper and a crayon/pen? but if you spruce it up you end up buying glitter, glue, pom poms, lace doilies hearts, colored construction paper, stickers, blablabla

i'd rather spend a a couple bucks and get the premade ones with all the time, effort and extra expense to make my own it certainly isn't cost efficient

[mzteris]

5. they made them in class

with school supplies

[orleans]

7. well... that's different. "never mind." n/t

[uppityperson]

2. Decreasing commercialness of holidays seems a good idea.

[SoCalDem]

9. In SOME ways, yes..

Like pressuring people into thinking they have to spend bazillions on flowers

BUT

kids should be allowed to 'celebrate' in school. Little stuff like that breaks the monotony of classrooms.

We had rubber stamps, red & white construction paper, white paper doilies & crayons. that;s all you need..

We made Parent valentines and then class valentines.
No names were signed on the class ones & everyone had a paper bag taped to the front of their desk. It was fun and harmless.

[uppityperson]

10. That is a good way, remember doing that also. Make cards in class, don't sign them

for older kids it can get to be a popularity contest, but done right, it can be a joining together thing.

[snagglepuss]

3. I think it is the wrong decision. I once worked with a Muslim Somali woman

who got endless grief from her relatives and members of her mosque for letting her two young children get dressed up for Halloween and go trick and treating. She said her daughter loved getting dressed up as a princess and going door to door. She said it was innocent and thought it was wrong to deprive not just her children but also herself of experiencing a very different culture.

Whenever I read a story like this I think of her and her kids. I think the notion of cultural inclusiveness is over-rated and I say this as someone who was an outsider ever since kindgergarten given a number of factors. The problem is that scholls etc can never be inclusive enough, difference is not always apparent.

It seems to me that cultural inclusivity is the bone that has been thrown to the masses to make up for declining living standards. Culturally inclusive, economically exclusive.

[seabeyond]

6. the kids loved it when they were little and lessons in the giving and fun of it in love. nt

[SoCalDem]

8. I see it's spreading to Canada now

:)