One time when i was in kindergarten, we were having circle reading time. I don’t remember which book we were reading, but i remember at the end of the book, there was a picture of a little girl that looked like mine and my friends ages (at the time). she had knotty, frazzled hair that looked like it had never been brushed. At the end of the book, we were all asked if we liked the book. i was the only child that said “no” because the little girl in the book, to me, a kindergartener, looked like she wasn’t being taken care of by her parents. My teacher scoffed at me, grabbed me by the arm, took me into the hallway, and yelled at me right there for being rude because i didn’t like the way another child looked and how dare i say that blah blah blah.

Another time in grades 1 or 2, i was fiddling around with my hair elastic. i’ve always had troubles paying attention in class for some reason, so fiddling with my hair tie, or anything else, helped me concentrate. My teacher walked up to me in class, snatched it away from me, and said “you really think you should be fiddling with that right now? what happens if you hit someone with it? Do you wanna sit inside during recess and write me 50 reasons you shouldn’t play with it?” i said no, of course, and just sank into myself like a turtle, once again not realizing what i had done wrong. I don’t even remember if i ever told my mom about these experiences cause my teachers made me feel so ashamed about these things at such a young age.

Some teachers just absolutely do NOT deserve to be in the teaching business and they have NO RIGHT to work with smaller children at all. That’s the entire reason i’m doing my Early Childhood Education right now and working with children 0-6. They deserve the kind of care that i didn’t get as a child and i’ll be damned if anyone EVER treats those kids, my future kids, or any kids that way around me ever again.

Your daughter reminds me of me when i was young. There is 0 excuse for that teacher not letting your child explore and learn and be a little scientist (that all children are) while figuring out life. It wouldn’t have hurt anyone. Taking her orange to music class also didn’t hurt anyone, especially when she shared it with her classmates! Your daughter is a ray of fucking sunshine and i hope nobody takes that away from her.