That happened to me today.
We had our initial meeting to introduce the Pre-K program to all of the new parents/family members of our students. It went well, I'm happy to report.
But just before the meeting, as we were going through our paperwork, I asked a question about a set of twins that will be part of our program this year. I saw that they had been placed in different classes, but I did not recall ever consulting with their parents about this choice. I asked if the other teachers or aides had discussed it with the family before creating the class list.
They had not. I was told they thought that it was just the policy to separate them.
I voiced my disapproval of this "policy," but not in a rude or disrespectful way, and requested that we just ask the parents.
Research on the separation of multiples in the early childhood classroom has shown that the children tend to perform better when school staff support the family's choice as to whether or not to separate.
My colleagues seemed to gently disagree with my insistence on talking to the twins' parents, but in the end, we did ask them.
And they asked that the children stay together for this school year.
So both of them will be in my class.
They are identical and they will be difficult for me to tell apart.
Would it be easier on me as a teacher to have only one of them? Of course.
But it's really not about me. I truly believe that I did right by those children today.
And it felt good.
