Blended practices for teaching young children in inclusive settings jennifer grisham-brown - Downloa
Visit to download the full and correct content document: https://textbookfull.com/product/blended-practices-for-teaching-young-children-in-incl usive-settings-jennifer-grisham-brown/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant download maybe you interests ...
Inclusive Education in Schools and Early Childhood Settings Ilektra Spandagou
Theindividualsdescribedinthisbookarecompositesorrealpeoplewhosesituationsaremaskedandarebasedontheauthors’experiences In allinstances,namesandidentifyingdetailshavebeenchangedtoprotectconfidentiality.Anysimilaritytoactualindividualsorcircumstancesin photographsiscoincidental,andnoimplicationsshouldbeinferred
Purchasers of this book may download, print, and/or photocopy these appendices for professional and educational use These materials are included with the print book and are also available at http://wwwbrookespublishingcom/grishambrown/materialsforbothprintande-bookbuyers
JenniferGrisham-Brown,Ed.D., is a Professor in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program and Faculty Director of the Early Childhood Laboratory School at the University of Kentucky She teaches courses in assessment and instructional design/implementation Dr Grisham-Brown has been named a Teacher Who Made a Difference on two separate occasions. Dr. Grisham-Brown coauthored the first book on blended practices as well as its companion text Blended Assessment Practices in Early Childhood Education (2011) She also coauthored a book titled Reach for the Stars: Planning for the Future (2013), which is used to support families of young children to plan for their children’s future and articulate their priorities to educationalteammembers.Dr.Grisham-Brownhasdirectedorcodirectednumerousstateandfederalgrants in the areas of personnel preparation, program evaluation, training and technical assistance, model development, and research Her research interests include authentic assessment, tiered instruction, and inclusion of children with disabilities in inclusive preschool settings. She has authored/coauthored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to those areas. In addition, she is frequently asked to provide professional development to state departments of education, universities, and local education agencies on topicsonwhichsheconductsresearchthroughoutthecountry Dr Grisham-BrownisamemberoftheEarly InterventionManagementandResearchGroup,wheresheispartofateamofearlyinterventionprofessionals from across the country who are responsible for the development and research of the Assessment, Evaluation, andProgrammingSystem(AEPS®; Bricker, 2002) Dr Grisham-Brown is cofounder of a children’s home and preschool program in Guatemala City called Hope for Tomorrow. Since 2009, she has taken students from the College of Education to Guatemala for a summer education abroad experience Dr Grisham-Brown also worksinternationallyinotherlocationstopromoteinclusionofyoungchildrenwithdisabilities
MaryLouiseHemmeter,Ph.D.,isaProfessorofSpecialEducationatVanderbiltUniversity.SheisaFaculty Director of the Susan Gray School for Children, an inclusive early childhood program. Her research focuses on effective instruction, social-emotional development and challenging behavior, and effective professional development approaches She has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on numerous projects funded by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Through her work on the National Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning and the Institute of Education Science-funded research projects, she was involved in the development of the Pyramid Model for SupportingSocialEmotionalCompetenceinYoungChildrenandaneffectivemodelforcoachingteachersto implement effective practices. She was coeditor of the Journal of Early Intervention and President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood She has received the Merle B Karnes Service to the Division Award and the Mary McEvoy Service to the Field Award from the Council for ExceptionalChildren’sDivisionforEarlyChildhood
AbouttheContributors
Kathleen Artman-Meeker, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington where she specializes in early childhood special education She received her doctoral degree in Special Education from VanderbiltUniversity
Lillian K. Durán, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences at the University of Oregon She received her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the UniversityofMinnesota
Jill F. Grifenhagen, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. Dr. Grifenhagen earned her doctoral degree from the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University
Anna H. Hall, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University. She earned her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Early ChildhoodEducationfromtheUniversityofKentucky
JessicaK.Hardy,Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Louisville. She earned her doctoral degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Vanderbilt University
Sarah Hawkins-Lear, EdD, is an Associate Professor at Morehead State University She received her doctorateofeducationdegreeinModeratetoSevereDisabilitiesfromtheUniversityofKentucky.
ElizabethMcLaren,Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Education in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program at Morehead State University She earned her doctorate of education degree from the UniversityofKentucky.
Ragan H. McLeod, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education and Multiple AbilitiesattheUniversityofAlabama ShereceivedherdoctoraldegreeinSpecialEducationfromVanderbilt University
KristiePretti-Frontczak,Ph.D., is the owner of B2K Solutions, Ltd., a company dedicated to transforming services for children from birth to kindergarten She received her doctoral degree in Special Education-Early InterventionfromtheUniversityofOregon
JulieHarpRutland,Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education at MoreheadStateUniversity SheearnedherdoctoraldegreeinInterdisciplinaryEarlyChildhoodEducationat theUniversityofKentucky
Foreword
Anna sits at a table in her early childhood classroom, looking down at the puzzle in front of her She frowns as she scans the pieces scattered on the table, picks one up, and moves it hesitantly in the air Suddenly, she bangs the piece down,jumpsup,andrunsacrosstheroomtohercubby,whereshesitssuckingherthumb
Does Anna have a disability, or is Anna a typically developing 4-year-old, perhaps with some individual, cultural, or linguistic characteristics that influence her behavior? And should the answers to these questions makeadifferenceinhowherteacherunderstands,plansfor,andsupportsAnna’slearninganddevelopment?
Like the first edition, this new edition of BlendedPracticesforTeachingYoungChildreninInclusiveSettings takes an innovative and much needed approach to preparing future and existing teachers to meet the needs of all young children Responding to the current reality that most early childhood teachers will work in settings that include children with and without disabilities, as well as many children who are dual language learners, the authors have blended the best thinking from the fields of early childhood education, early childhood special education, and related disciplines, advocating for practices that likewise blend a variety of evidencebased, effective approaches to instruction While recognizing the need to differentiate teaching to meet individualneeds,thisbookrepeatedlymakesthepointthatthesamefeaturesofearlychildhoodenvironments and the same teaching strategies that promote positive development in typically developing children also benefitchildrenwithdisabilitiesandotherspeciallearninganddevelopmentalneeds
Echoing the approach taken in Blended Practices, we comment on the book’s strengths and distinctive featuresfromourblendedpointsofview Althoughwehavecollaborated,written,andpresentedtogether,we come from what often seems like different worlds: that of general early childhood education and that of early childhood special education Like the fields from which we come, we recognize how much we have in common and also see the continuing challenges of efforts to integrate these diverse perspectives In this new edition, Jennifer Grisham-Brown and Mary Louise Hemmeter move us forward toward a shared vision for effectiveblendedpracticesandblendedprofessionaldevelopmentinseveralimportantways.
Timing
The second edition of Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings is as timely, if not more so, than the first edition. The spotlight on early childhood teacher education programs is even more intense than it was when the first edition was published Influential national reports on the early childhood workforcearerecommendingthatallearlychildhoodteachersshouldhaveaBachelorofArts(BA)degree In keepingwiththeserecommendations,themostrecentbenchmarksestablishedbyNationalInstituteforEarly Education Research (NIEER) for assessing the quality of state early childhood prekindergarten (pre-K) programs include a benchmark suggesting whether or not states require teachers to have a BA degree At the same time, there is recognition that not all teacher preparation programs are of adequate quality; simply having a BA degree does not guarantee competence in early childhood teaching. Deficits in programs include lack of emphasis on clinical practice, weak student teaching experiences, including lack of standards for clinicalpractica,andinadequatecoverageofkeycontentareassuchasinclusion
There have been concerted efforts to help faculty address these gaps through the development of highquality, practice-focused resources. Many of the resources are directly aligned with the Division for Early Childhood’s Recommended Practices, revised in 2014 and designed to give guidance to faculty on specific practices that should be the central focus of their personnel preparation programs These professional development resources include demonstration videos of high-quality inclusive practices being implemented, tools that support coaching and performance feedback, and student- and consumer-friendly early childhood
research and policy summaries The need for an excellent textbook on blended practices to undergird these resourceshasneverbeenstronger.
The federal agency commitment to inclusion across all early childhood sectors is at historic levels The US DepartmentsofEducationandHealthandHumanServiceshavedevelopedaseriesofpolicystatements that reflect their investment in an integrated and holistic system of supports for young children, especially those suspected or identified as having disabilities under IDEA, and their families. Most notably is the 2015 Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs The statement provides common language and a shared vision across all early childhood programs and funding streams for “build[ing] a nationwide culture of inclusion.” The new Head Start Performance Standards (2016) build on thispolicystatementbyincludinganewrequirementforprogramstoprovideindividualservicesandsupports to the maximum extent possible to children awaiting determination of IDEA eligibility This essentially reinforces the notion that providing support to each and every child, including those with suspected or identified disabilities under IDEA, is a shared responsibility and priority across all early childhood sectors. It isnolongerpossibleforanyonetosayorthinkthatinclusionisaspecialeducationissuethatwillbesolvedby special educators The spillover is apparent from the strong messages on inclusion from federal agencies to national,regional,andstateprofessionalorganizations,technicalassistancenetworks,andlocalagencies
We increasingly recognize that all young children, whether officially identified as having a disability or not, benefit from multiple well-planned, intentional learning opportunities throughout the day that respond to their developmental, linguistic, cultural, and individual characteristics And we have come face to face with the realization that not all early childhood teachers are prepared to provide that kind of high-quality teaching nordotheynecessarilyhavetheskillstopartnerwithparentsandothercolleaguestoensureanintegratedand holisticapproachtosupportingchildren.Thisbookisdesignedtomeetthatneedinatimelyway.
QuestionsfromTeachersandTeacherEducators
This practical new edition addresses the day-to-day dilemmas that teachers often face in inclusive settings. Today, early childhood professionals are expected to influence positive outcomes for all children within contextsthatreflectourcountry’srapidlyincreasingdiversity,bringingrichnessaswellasnewchallenges
As they get ready to meet new and higher expectations, future teachers, practicing teachers, and teacher educatorsaskurgent,relevantquestions:
I will be student teaching in a class where six children have been identified as having significant disabilities: Can I reallyteachthemthemathematicscontentthatisinourstatestandards?
What kinds of learning environments will engage all children: those with and without disabilities and those with diversestrengths,learningneeds,andculturalexperiences?
I taught for years before returning to college; my program now includes many more immigrant and refugee families withyoungchildren WhatcanIdotomeettheirneedsmoreeffectively?
Blended Practices is not a cookbook, and the authors do not claim to serve up easy answers to these kinds of questions, but much help will be found in these pages In response to their questions, readers will find rich, engaging information and practical suggestions that invite reflection, dialogue with colleagues, and informed considerationofevidence-basedpractices
OrganizationandSpecialFeatures
The second edition of Blended Practices is well organized to promote readers’ understanding of key concepts and instructional strategies in what can be a very complex field. The book’s organization supports this understanding by initially describing a comprehensive conceptual framework whose components are designed to be effective for all children The authors next focus on outcomes for young children and propose a set of foundationalpractices(suchasembeddinginstructionwithindevelopmentallyappropriateactivities)relatedto those outcomes practices that are important at all levels or tiers of instruction and in all content areas The concept of multitiered instruction helps give coherence to this material by beginning with universal practices suchasdevelopingdailyschedulesthatmeetallchildren’sneedsanddesigninglearningcentersthatprovide flexible learning opportunities and integration of skills before moving toward systematic-instruction practices that target and remove barriers to a child achieving specific outcomes Only after this broad perspective on blended practices is firmly in place, do the authors introduce valuable applications in specialized domains or subject areas, such as social and emotional learning, language and literacy, and mathematics Of special note is the in-depth attention given to supports for young dual language learners; severalchaptersaredevotedtothesecriticalissues.
This edition retains many features that have made Blended Practices such an important resource while substantially enhancing those features Practical materials such as planning forms, checklists, and family interview protocols are available to photocopy or download, and can be adapted to individual contexts. Every chapter is rich with vignettes and case examples of diverse children, teachers, and families; these will help readers engage with the book’s content and better understand its applications in daily practice In some cases the authors have developed parallel vignettes illustrating more- and less-effective ways to implement certain practices.Thesekindsofillustrationswillyielddynamicdiscussions.EverychapterendswithasetofLearning Activities that help readers reflect on and apply strategies described in that chapter. Activities include observing specific practices in a classroom or planning and implementing a new strategy featured in the chapter Such activities, with their focus on practice, are consistent with research-based recommendations about effective early childhood professional development. Together, these features help to cement that this edition will become an essential resource not only during preservice preparation, but also once teachers are in thefield
ContinuingChallengesfortheField
Although this book makes a strong contribution to the creation of a truly unified and professional field of early childhood practice, we must acknowledge that gaps remain in our efforts toward a shared profession While the field’s leadership is moving closer to having a shared vision and common language around inclusion, intensive work is needed to ensure that relevant professional documents reach a wider audience of general early childhood educators To this end, professional associations and the federal early childhood agencies (US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services) are investing in outreach efforts, such as webinars and guidance documents, to stimulate discussion, interaction, and the expansionofasharedframeofreference.
The presence of blended early childhood teacher education programs whose faculty are drawn from multiple early childhood disciplines provides promise for being exemplars for other programs However, we have limited research on their effectiveness at the level of student outcomes. The norm continues to be that teachers, and those who teach future teachers, are trained and professionally socialized in separate streams of specialeducationorgeneralearlychildhoodeducation Oncetrained,inspiteofunificationefforts,theyoften enter work environments with different regulations and funding streams Although they increasingly work together and share many beliefs, approaches to education, and core values, they retain distinct professional identities.DespitetheworkoftheNationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren(NAEYC),the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), and others to create a more unified approach to the education of all young children and the preparation of those who work with children, these disparities remain, often blocking thepathwaytoeffectiveblendedpracticesandblendedprofessionalpreparation.
Another persistent and related challenge is to build the capacity of those faculty in institutions of higher education who are responsible for preparing early childhood teachers for inclusive settings Our research and that of others documents the “leaky pipeline” that limits the number of qualified, diverse instructors in the early childhood field. Beyond this issue is the lack of effective, ongoing professional development to ensure thatearlychildhoodteachereducatorshaveboththecontentandpedagogicalknowledgetofullydeveloptheir students’ professional competence Surveys show that early childhood faculty recognize this need, and although some resources exist, robust support for faculty professional development continues to be limited Blended Practices is an example of an excellent resource to use with students, but its use can be greatly
enhancedinthehandsoffullypreparedinstructors
An additional challenge is the absence of systems of support once teachers move from a university setting into the work environment Though they may wish to implement the evidence-based practices that this book proposes, they may be stymied The growing field of implementation science reminds us that too often effectiveimplementationisblockedbybarrierswithinandbeyondtheworkplace.Thefieldneedstopaymuch greater attention to these systems-level issues if practices are to be implemented with the fidelity needed to ensurepositiveoutcomes
Although it does not offer a simple solution to these challenges, this book refuses to artificially separate the needs of children with disabilities and other special learning and developmental needs from the needs of their typically developing peers. Echoing and expanding on the key themes of the first edition, the authors send readers a convincing message: A systematic, thoughtful, and individualized approach to teaching, drawing from the best thinking in both the early childhood education and early childhood special education fields, is both possible and desirable. We applaud Jennifer Grisham-Brown and Mary Louise Hemmeter for further enhancing a valued resource that contributes so much to our unified vision of professional preparation fortodayandtomorrow’steachers
Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood (2014) DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education2014 Retrievedfromhttp://wwwdec-spedorg/recommendedpractices DepartmentofHealthandHumanServicesAdministrationforChildrenandFamilies (2016) HeadStartPerformanceStandards Washington, DC Retrievedfromhttps://eclkcohsacfhhsgov/hslc/hs/docs/hspss-finalpdf IndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationImprovementAct(IDEA)of2004,PL108-446,20U.S.C.§§1400etseq.
US Department of Education (2015) Policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs Retrieved from http://www2edgov/policy/speced/guid/earlylearning/joint-statement-full-textpdf
Acknowledgments
Much of what we address in this book we learned from teachers, administrators, families, and children with whom we have worked We wish to recognize some of the many programs that contributed to the development of this book Specifically, we acknowledge the teachers, children, and families of the Early Childhood Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, Hope for Tomorrow Preschool in Guatemala, Franklin County public school system, Metro Nashville public schools, Williamson County Schools, and the Susan Gray School for Children as well as programs around the country with which we have worked and consulted Wewouldneverhavecontinuedourworkonthiscomplextopicwithouttheirwillingnesstoallowustowork inandwiththeirprograms.
Weunderestimatedthemanypeopleittakestomakeanideabecomeabook Firstandforemost,wewish tothankJohannaSchmitter,AcquisitionsEditor,andMelissaSolarz,AssociateEditor,fromPaulH Brookes PublishingCo.Theyprovidedexcellentoversightandincrediblepatienceaswemovedfromasimplerevision to a completely overhauled version of the first edition of this book. We appreciate our contributors, who provided useful insight into applying blended practices to specific topics/populations of children: Julie Harp Rutland, Sarah Hawkins-Lear, Anna A Hall, Elizabeth McLaren, Ragan H McLeod, Jessica K Hardy, Jill F. Grifenhagen, Kathleen Artman-Meeker, and Lillian K. Durán. We are also grateful for the contributions ofKristiePretti-Frontczak,whocoauthoredthefirsteditionwithus.Althoughsheisnowteachingtheworld about blended practices as a consultant, she found time to coauthor two chapters and provide professional supportforthecurrentbook Weappreciatehercounselandfriendshipaswenavigatedthisverylongprocess We also acknowledge the contributions of those who have supported us, taught with us, provided training with us, kept us grounded, and listened to our ideas along the way. Jennifer wishes to thank her friends and colleagues Charlotte Manno, Rebecca Crawford, Christy Kaylor, and Kim Nicholas who provided insight on many aspects of the book, as well as those who kept her grounded and are proud of her efforts Mom, Milly,Rita,Christy,Debbie,Donna,Melisa,Amy,Carolyn,Kellye,Kathy,andJannene.MaryLouisewishes tothankthefollowingpeoplefortheirsupportandpatience,especiallywhenthebooktookpriorityoverother projects and activities Jessica Hardy, Ragan H McLeod, Catherine Corr, James Kretzer, Molly Gilson, Kym Horth, Beverly Hand, Lise Fox, Pat Snyder, Erin Barton, Rob Corso, Tweety Yates, Amy Santos, Micki Ostrosky, Barbara Smith, Phil Strain, Ann Kaiser, Kiersten Kinder, Michelle Wyatt, and Jenn Ledford. Mary Louise would also like to thank all of her colleagues, friends, and family for their ongoing support
Significant movement toward states providing prekindergarten (pre-K) programs for children who are at risk has occurred since the first edition of this book was published in 2005. Combined with federal legislation mandating services for young children with disabilities and other special needs, as well as continued funding for Head Start and Early Head Start, that meant that inclusive preschool programs were becoming more commonthroughoutthecountry AccordingtotheNationalInstituteforEarlyEducationResearch,42states and the District of Columbia provided public preschool during the 2014–2015 school year. More than 1.4 million children attended state-funded preschool, with 5% of 3-year-olds and 29% of 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded preschool (Barnett, 2016) In 2014–2015, 159% of 3-year-olds and 413% of 4-year-olds served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 (PL 108-446) received specialeducationandrelatedservicesininclusiveearlychildhoodsettings.
Additional federal initiatives have significantly increased funding for ensuring the quality of early childhood programs President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PL 111-5) into law, which had significant investments specifically for early care and education, including allocating funds to IDEA and serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs. Funds were provided in the summer of 2011 for a competitive grant program called the Early Learning Challenge, which was part of the Race to the Top Initiative The goal of this program was to support states to increase the number of children from low-income families or otherwise disadvantaged children who attend high-quality early childhood programs, implement a system of high-quality early childhood programs and services, and ensurethatassessmentuseisinaccordancewiththeNationalResearchCouncil’srecommendationsspecificto early childhood Under the auspices of the Early Learning Challenge grant competition, more than $1 billion hasbeengrantedtoprojectsin20statessince2011
The Preschool Development Grants competition, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and the US Department of Health and Human Services, was created to help states build (development grants) or expand (expansion grants) high-quality preschool programs in high-need communities Expansion grants can be used in concert with Race to the Top/Early Learning Challenge grants. Five states were awarded development grants, and 13 states were awarded expansion grants in 2014 (year 1 of the grant), for a total of $226,419,228 These awards will allow more than 18,000 additional
children to attend high-quality preschool programs. For example, Tennessee was awarded a $17.5 million expansion grant to create additional preschool seats for children in Shelby County (Memphis) and MetropolitanNashvillePublicSchools
EarlychildhoodRacetotheTopfundingaswellaspreschoolexpansiongrantshavefocusedonexpanding access and quality to early childhood programs. In addition, state and federal governments are implementing systematic efforts to ensure that early childhood education (ECE) programs demonstrate accountability for positive outcomes for young children One example of this is the requirement that programs funded under IDEA for children ages birth to 5 years report children’s progress toward three outcomes considered essential to children becoming active and successful participants in the settings in which they spend time positive social-emotional skills, acquisition and use of knowledge and skills, and use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs Head Start has implemented a system for ensuring quality that requires grantees that are not meeting quality standards be reconsidered for future funding Because of the emphasis on accountability and ensuringquality,preschoolprogramsareincreasinglybeingrequiredtodocumentthatallchildrenaremaking progress based on early care and education standards developed either by state governments or by federal programs
The most recent federal initiative was launched with the publication of a policy statement by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education the Policy Statement on the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs (2015). The purpose of the statementwasto
set a vision and provide recommendations to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), schools, and public and private early childhood programs, from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Education, for increasing the inclusion ofinfants,toddlers,andpreschoolchildrenwithdisabilitiesinhigh-qualityearlychildhoodprograms(p 1;2015)
Furthermore,thepolicystatementacknowledgesthatallyoungchildrenwithdisabilitiesshouldnotonlyhave access to high-quality inclusive settings, but they should also be provided with the individualized supports they need to meet high expectations The policy statement specifically calls for the use of embedded instruction,scaffolding,andtieredmodelsofinstruction
Great interest in how to deliver effective instruction to all children (including those with disabilities) has grown because many of the quality initiatives described previously have a focus on providing services in inclusive settings, including community-based programs, and improving social and preacademic outcomes of the children who attend these programs The placement of children with disabilities in these programs does not ensure that they will reach high standards. The Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood(DEC)andtheNationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren(NAEYC)publisheda joint position statement in 2009 in which they identified three defining features of inclusion access, participation, and supports Children with disabilities must be included in a preschool program and given effectiveinstructionsotheycanreachhighstandards(Barton&Smith,2015;DEC,2014;Odom,Buysse,& Soukakou,2011;Schwartz,Sandall,Odom,Horn,&Beckman,2002;Strain&Bovey,2011) Thepurposeof thisbookistointegrateknowledgeabouteffectivepracticesforteachingchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilities intoacomprehensiveapproachthatensuresthatallchildrenininclusivesettingsmeethighstandards
CHANGESINTHESECONDEDITION
In addition to state and federal policy and funding advances related to ECE, a significant amount of research has been published (DEC, 2014) since we wrote the first edition of this book. Although the overall curriculum framework of blended practices has not changed, we know more about how to plan for and implementinstructionforchildrenwithavarietyoflearningneedsinearlychildhoodsettings Theseadvances have influenced national policy statements and the development of current recommendation practices. NAEYC published a new statement on developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) in 2009 (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009) In addition, DEC updated their recommended practices in 2014 Furthermore, the two organizations published a paper in collaboration with the National Head Start Association on frameworks for implementing a response to intervention (RTI) approach in early childhood programs. These advances in research and subsequent development of recommended practices influenced how we approached the second editionofthisbook
Three major changes have been made in this edition First, because of the essential role that assessment plays in blended practices, it was difficult to fully address assessment and instruction in the same text and do them both well. We made a decision to write a separate text on assessment that aligns with the blended practices instructional approach, titled Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach (Grisham-Brown & Pretti-Frontczak, 2011), which contains a majority of the information on assessment that was in the first edition of this book. Second, there has been a great deal of work done in the area of multitiered systems of support (MTSS) for both behavior and academics (Buysse & Peisner-Feinberg, 2010; Greenwood et al, 2011; Hemmeter, Fox, & Snyder, 2013; Snyder, Hemmeter, McLean, Sandall, & McLaughlin, 2013) This work has influenced our thinking about how to deliver instruction to all children in aninclusivesetting.Furthermore,ithasledustothinkabouthowtointegrateapproachestobothinstruction and behavioral support We have organized the chapters in this edition using a tiered approach to instruction toaddresstheseissues Finally,wehaveaddedchapterstothiseditionthataddressinstructionalissuesrelated to outcomes in different subject areas We specifically added chapters on teaching language, literacy, socialemotional skills, and math. These chapters have been added to address the current focus on ensuring that childrenaremakingprogressinkeypreacademicdomains,includingsocial-emotionaldevelopment
TARGETAUDIENCESANDPOSSIBLEUSESFORTHISBOOK
This book is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs in ECE and early childhoodspecialeducation(ECSE),includingthosethatsimultaneouslytrainteachersinbothdisciplines.It bridgesthegapbetweenECEandECSEbyprovidingstudentswithanintegratedapproachforworkingwith all young children Students graduating from an ECE or ECSE program are likely to be teaching children with and without disabilities and will need information on how to integrate effective practices for all young children. In addition, the trend toward blended licensure makes this text an appealing addition to programs preparing personnel to work with children in inclusive settings In addition, early childhood practitioners will findthisbookusefulintheirworkwithyoungchildren Specifically,theinformationinthistextwillbeuseful toteachersastheyattempttoaddressthewiderangeofneedsofchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilitiesintheir classrooms.Administratorsandtrainingandtechnicalassistanceproviderswillfindtheinformationhelpfulas theyprovidesupporttoteachersaroundinclusivepractices
Although much of the information in this book will be relevant to the entire early childhood age range (birthtoage8),theneedsofinfantsandtoddlersareverydifferentfromthoseofpreschoolersandchildrenin earlyelementarygrades.Itwouldbedifficulttoaddressallofthoseneedsinasingletext,sothisbookfocuses onchildrenages2–5andonprogramsthatprimarilyservechildrenincenter-basedsettings Theinformation, however, is relevant to a variety of settings, including child care, Head Start, and public school pre-K and kindergartenprograms.
DEFINITIONOFKEYTERMS
One of the complicated tasks associated with blending ideas and practices is ensuring that the terminology used is understandable and acceptable to relevant audiences. Several key terms that are used throughout this book were carefully selected based on consideration of the different audiences and users These terms are brieflydescribednext,alongwithanexplanationforwhytheywereselected
Blendedpractices:ThefieldsofECEandECSEhavetraditionallyapproachededucationofyoungchildren fromtwodifferentperspectives.ECEgrewoutofresearchonchilddevelopmentandhasfocusedprimarilyon creating supportive environments that facilitate and enhance children’s development ECSE was strongly influenced by the field of special education and focuses primarily on individualized approaches to education that meet the unique needs of each child with a disability. A more unified or blended approach is needed as inclusiveprogramsforyoungchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilitieshaveemerged.Thisbookevolvedfromthe need to blend practices that are recommended for all children Teachers need to understand practices that address the needs of all children, including those with disabilities, because of the increasing trend toward inclusive early childhood programs and the challenges to achieving meaningful inclusion. The term blended practices is used to refer to the integration of practices that can be used to address the needs of all children in inclusive settings This is not to suggest that teachers will do the same thing for all children This book describes how effective practices for addressing the needs of individual children can be integrated so that all childrencanbemeaningfullyincludedinandbenefitfromtheactivitiesandroutinesofaclassroom.
Inclusive programs: The goal of this book is to describe practices that can be used to address the needs of young children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings Inclusive settings are those settings that are designed to address the needs of children who are typically developing, children who are at risk, and children with disabilities, including child care programs, public school pre-K and kindergarten programs, Head Start programs,andothercenter-basedprograms
Teacher: A variety of terms, including early childhood educator, interventionist, direct service provider, child careprovider, and practitioner, are used to describe the adults who work with young children Teaching is one common role of adults, regardless of the setting in which the adults work or the type of children with whom the adults work One has to develop positive and trusting relationships with children, attend to the individual needsofchildren,andsupportchildreninawaythatpromotestheirindividualdevelopmenttobeaneffective teacher These are the very things that all adults do when working with young children Therefore, the term teacher will be used throughout this volume to refer to the adults who work with children, regardless of the settingorcontextinwhichtheywork
HISTORICALTRENDS
Early childhood inclusion has been greatly influenced by both research and legislation related to programs for young children who are typically developing, are at risk, or have disabilities. As the next section discusses, the roots of early childhood inclusion can be traced to the 1960s and the War on Poverty and were further strengthenedbyseveralkeypiecesoflegislation
MovementTowardInclusivePrograms
The history of inclusive preschool programs can be traced to a number of programs that began in the 1960s and 1970s Head Start, which was signed into law in 1965, has been one of the most influential programs Head Start was designed to be a comprehensive program for children and families living in poverty. In the early 1970s, as a result of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (PL 88-452), Head Start mandated that 10% of its slots would be reserved for children with disabilities This was the first real commitment at the national level to preschool programs for children with and without disabilities Concurrently, the HandicappedChildren’sEarlyEducationProgramwasfundedbytheU.S.DepartmentofEducationin1968. This program funded the development and replication of model programs for young children with disabilities for more than 25 years These model programs served as a context for much of the research on effective practicesforyoungchildrenwithdisabilitiesininclusivesettings
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) of 1975 (PL 94-142) provided incentives for states to serve preschool-age children with disabilities EHA also included a provision that children with disabilities should receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). LRE is defined as providing services to children with disabilities in settings that are as close as possible to the typical education environment and that meet the needs of the individual student. The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (PL 99-457), which amended EHA, created a mandate for states to serve children with disabilities ages 3–5 years and maintained the LRE provision Subsequent amendments strengthened the LRE provision and changed the name to the Individuals with DisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA)(PL101-476andPL105-17),whichwasthenchangedtotheIndividuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 (PL101-336)wasanothersignificantpieceoflegislation TheADAhadadirectimpactoninclusioninchild care centers in that it mandated that centers could not exclude children with disabilities unless a child’s presencewouldposeadirectthreattothehealthorsafetyofothersorwouldrequireafundamentalalteration of the program It also required the programs to make reasonable accommodations to both the facilities and theirpracticesforchildrenwithdisabilities
Two major professional associations have been instrumental in identifying and disseminating information on effective practices for young children with and without disabilities The NAEYC is the largest professional associationofearlychildhoodeducatorsandothersfocusedonimprovingthequalityofprogramsforchildren from birth through age 8 The Council for Exceptional Children’s DEC is for individuals who work with or onbehalfofchildrenwithspecialneedsfrombirththroughage8andtheirfamilies TheDECisdedicatedto promotingpoliciesandpracticesthatsupportfamiliesandenhancetheoptimaldevelopmentofchildren
The NAEYC’s first set of guidelines on DAP described a framework for creating early childhood environments that address the developmental needs of young children (Bredekamp, 1987) Although not explicitly excluding children with disabilities, the guidelines were not specific about how practices might need to be adapted or modified to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities Early childhood special educatorsarguedthatalthoughtheDAPguidelineswerenecessary,theywerenotsufficientforprogramsthat included young children with disabilities (Carta, Schwartz, Atwater, & McConnell, 1991) A positive outcome of these guidelines was the beginning of a dialogue between early childhood educators and early childhood special educators about how to best meet the needs of all young children in inclusive early childhood environments. As a result, the revised guidelines sought to address the needs of all young children, including those with disabilities, in a more comprehensive way (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Copple & Bredekamp, 2009) As programs began to use the principles to guide their curriculum development and implementation, it became clear that the field needed more specific guidance about addressing the specialized
needs of children with disabilities The DEC developed a set of recommended practices for early intervention/ECSE based on an extensive review of the research in early childhood, ECSE, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other related disciplines (Odom & McLean, 1996) These practices were revised and expanded in 2000 (Sandall, McLean, & Smith, 2000), 2005 (Sandall, Hemmeter, Smith, & McLean, 2005), and again in 2014 (DEC, 2014). The revised practices are meant to build on the NAEYC DAP guidelines and are designed to describe specific strategies that can be used to provide individualized supports and services to young children with special needs and their families The DEC recommended practices assume that all early childhood environments should be developmentally appropriate, and the practices provide guidance for how developmentally appropriate environments can be adaptedand/ormodifiedtoensurethatchildrenwithdisabilitiesaremeaningfullyincluded.
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the DEC and the NAEYC have published a number of position statementsandpapersrelatedtoinclusivepractices(DEC,NAEYC,&NHSA,2013;DEC/NAEYC,2009) The commitment to blended practices for addressing the needs of all young children in inclusive settings is clearlyevidentinthesestatementsanddemonstratestheworkofthesetwoorganizationstodeliveracommon message This work has led to a common understanding that a high-quality environment is the necessary foundation for inclusive programs, but individualized supports and strategies are needed to meet the unique needs of young children with disabilities (Bailey, McWilliam, Buysse, & Wesley, 1998; Buysse & PeisnerFeinberg, 2010; Horn, Thompson, Palmer, Jenson, & Turbiville, 2004; Odom et al., 2011; Wolery & Bredekamp,1994) Developmentallyappropriatelearningenvironmentsprovidearangeofnaturallyoccurring activities and routines that can be used as contexts for providing individualized instruction to children who have special learning needs (Horn, Lieber, Sandall, Schwartz, & Wolery, 2002; Pretti-Frontczak & Bricker, 2004). Although there traditionally has been a focus on individualized instruction primarily for children with disabilities,thistextisbasedontheideathatallchildrenneedaccesstoinstructionthatisindividualizedbased oneachchild’suniqueneeds,learningstyle,interests,andbackgroundinorderforallchildrentobesuccessful andreachhighstandards.
BlendingTeacherPreparation
Focusing on how teachers are prepared to work with young children in inclusive settings is an important outgrowth of the discussion about DAP. The vast majority of higher education personnel preparation programs prepared early childhood educators and early childhood special educators in separate programs at thesametimethatthefieldwasemphasizinginclusiveprogramsandblendedpractices Intheearly1990s,the field began to focus on the importance of training early childhood educators to work with all children, which required higher education faculty to consider the philosophical differences between the fields of ECE and ECSE relative not only to the content of the training program but also to their own teaching practices and beliefs In a seminal article, Miller (1992) questioned how teacher educators could advocate for inclusion at the service delivery level and maintain separate teacher education programs at the same time. A significant change in teacher education programs has occurred since the early 1990s. Many programs across the country now blend their ECE and ECSE training programs (Chang, Early, & Winton, 2005), and evidence shows that faculty are integrating more topics within personnel preparation programs (Bruder & Dunst, 2005) Furthermore, efforts have been made to more closely align personnel standards across ECE and ECSE (Chandler et al., 2012) and professional associations’ personnel standards with state certification standards (Stayton,Smith,Dietrich,&Bruder,2012)
Inblendedteachereducationprograms,facultyacrossdisciplinesco-teachcourses,practicumrequirements are completed in inclusive settings, and content is integrated into interdisciplinary coursework and practica. There is, however, a range of approaches to blended teacher education in some programs, students from differentdepartmentscompletecourseworkacrossdepartments,andinotherprograms,thecontentisblended acrossdisciplinesandstudentsfrommultipledisciplinescompleteaprogramtogether Dataarelimitedonthe outcomes of different types of personnel preparation programs. In fact, some have argued that the content related to special education is minimized by blending teacher education programs (across ECE and ECSE), resultinginteacherswithlimitedexpertiseworkingwithyoungchildrenwiththemostsignificantdisabilities The purpose of this book is to help teachers understand how practices for children with disabilities can be blended with practices that are important for all children. Furthermore, we have highlighted the range of practices that will be needed to effectively address the needs of all children, including those with the most significantdisabilities
GUIDINGTHEMES
The preparation of this book was guided by six general themes about quality programs for young children inclusion, multitiered approaches to instruction, families, diversity, outcomes, and collaboration and teaming. These themes are eloquently addressed in ethical statements, position statements, and recommended practice documents developed by the DEC and the NAEYC These issues cut across the entire book Talking about these issues here and referring to them throughout the book conveys their importance in providing quality services to young children in inclusive settings. Although these themes have empirical support, they are also fundamentaltenetsofthefieldaboutqualityprogramsforyoungchildren
Inclusion
Thisbookisbasedonthefield’scommitmenttoinclusiveprogramsforchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilities Awealthofresearchsupportsinclusionintermsofoutcomesforchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilitiesaswell as broader effects on families and communities (eg, Barton & Smith, 2015; Guralnick, 2001; Odom, 2002; Odom et al., 2011). As mentioned previously, federal, state, and local policies also reflect a commitment to ensuringthatchildrenwithdisabilitieshaveaccesstoinclusivesettings Inadditiontoefficacydataandpolicy, there is a fundamental commitment in the field of ECE and ECSE to inclusive programs, which is reflected inpolicystatementsdevelopedbynationalearlychildhoodorganizations
MultitieredSystemsofSupport
This book reflects the work on multitiered systems of support (MTSS), which is a data-driven approach for supportingtheacademicandbehavioraloutcomesofallchildren.AnMTSSapproachusesongoingscreening and assessment to determine the individual needs of all children and provides the level of support and instructionthatchildrenneedbasedonthatassessmentinformation
Families
Given the importance of families, both in the lives of young children and their role in working with professionals to design, implement, and evaluate their children’s programs, information about families is included across chapters as well as in Chapter 8, which is focused on teaming. Recommended practices in ECE and ECSE have long advocated for families to be actively included in early childhood programs (e.g., Copple&Bredekamp,2009;DEC,2014;Sandalletal,2005)
Family involvement seems especially important for young children because it is in the context of interactions with their families and other significant caregivers that children develop the social-emotional competencies that are critical for their ongoing success in school and life. The family provides a base of support over time that helps children navigate transitions and life events The early childhood years are an important time in terms of supporting families as they learn about their children’s education and social systems. This book focuses on how to involve families in early childhood programs so that the involvement promotes parents’ confidence and competence in supporting their children’s development and success. In much the same way that it is important to individualize for children, it is important to individualize family involvementbasedontheuniqueneeds,values,beliefs,anddesiresofeachfamily
Diversity
The focus of this book is on strategies teachers can use to meet the diverse needs of all children in inclusive settings Thepopulationofchildrenbeingservedincenter-basedprogramsisnotonlygrowinginnumberbut also becoming increasingly diverse in ability levels and cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds Four key principles related to meeting the diverse needs of children and families provide a foundation for implementing the practices discussed throughout this book First, promoting diversity in inclusive programs requires support and commitment from all levels, including teaching staff, administration, and families Second, personnel preparation programs should promote and support professionals as they engage in an ongoing process to develop cross-cultural competence. It is not something teachers can learn by reading a book or taking a class Third, it is important for teachers and other professionals to honor the diverse beliefs, lifestyles,languages,andvaluesofchildrenandfamilieswhileatthesametimeprovidingchildrenandfamilies
withtheknowledgeandsupportstheyneedtobesuccessfulinavarietyofenvironmentsandcontexts.Finally, it will be important for teachers to identify, use, and evaluate resources and strategies that are culturally, developmentally, and linguistically appropriate for all children, families, and professionals to effectively address the needs of all children in inclusive settings These guiding principles are entirely consistent with position statements from national professional associations as well as recommended practices in the field. As previously indicated, these principles are relevant to all of the practices described in the book. Although highlightedhere,theprincipleswillbeaddressedinbothcontentandexamplesthroughoutthistext
Outcomes
Documenting that programs are resulting in positive outcomes for children and families is an important issue in education Outcomes include social-emotional outcomes such as problem solving, ability to communicate emotions, persistence with tasks, and ability to develop relationships with peers, as well as preacademic skills such as knowledge about books and print, early indicators of phonological awareness, and knowledge and understanding of numbers Although measuring outcomes is most prevalent in K–12 education, many states are including preschool children in accountability systems All states now have a set of early learning guidelines There has been a great deal of controversy in the field about including young children in accountability systems. This controversy reflects concerns about the appropriateness of and difficulty in assessing young children Although many in the field of early childhood are reluctant to move in this direction, it is important to be proactive both in terms of identifying outcomes and assessing children’s progress on those outcomes The important piece of this is ensuring that the outcomes, the teaching approaches for addressing the outcomes, and the processes that will be used to assess children’s progress toward the outcomes are all developmentally appropriate These issues will be central to the information presentedinthisbook
CollaborationandTeaming
Collaboration is essential to effectively address the diverse needs of young children in inclusive settings and their families Meeting the diverse needs of children with and without disabilities will require a variety of services and supports that range in form and intensity depending on the needs of the children. The diverse and complex range of services that likely are needed will require both coordination and collaboration among professionals and with families Although this book focuses primarily on strategies teachers and staff use on a dailybasisinclassrooms,teamingwithprofessionalsfromotherdisciplinesandwithfamilieswillbecriticalin terms of identifying children’s needs, developing individualized plans, and providing and evaluating services andinterventions.Collaborationamongprofessionalsandfamiliesincreasesthelikelihoodthatserviceswillbe coordinatedandintegrated Finally,therelationshipamongclassroomstaff,visitors,andvolunteersisacritical aspectofcollaboration
ORGANIZATIONOFTHISBOOK
Giventheincreasingemphasisonchildoutcomesandthecomplexityofaddressingtheneedsofchildrenwith awiderangeofabilities,theauthorsofthisbookareadvocatingtheuseofacurriculumframework(described indetailinChapter2) that links assessment and instruction and provides guidance about how to differentiate instruction in blended classrooms The curriculum framework is composed of four elements, including assessment, scope and sequence, activities and instruction, and progress monitoring (Grisham-Brown, Hemmeter, & Pretti-Frontczak, 2005). As previously mentioned, information about assessment and progress monitoringaredetailedinGrisham-BrownandPretti-Frontczak(2011) Thistextwillfocusonthescopeand sequence and activities and instruction elements of the curriculum framework The book is divided into three mainsections,whicharedescribednext.
SectionI:SettingtheStageforBlendedPractices
This section includes this introductory chapter and three additional chapters Chapter2 provides an overview of the curriculum framework, which offers a structure for the remaining chapters. The curriculum framework is composed of four elements assessment, scope and sequence, activities and intervention strategies, and progress monitoring In addition, this chapter addresses the blending or unification of various theories or perspectives when working in programs for children with and without disabilities and provides examples of different curricular approaches in which blended practices can be implemented. Finally, this chapter provides anintroductiontomultitieredapproachestoinstruction Chapter3 provides an overview of the types of child outcomes that may be addressed at each tier of instruction Chapter 4 provides more information on multitiered models of instruction with a focus on practices that cut across tiers and guidelines for implementing multitiered models of instruction. The chapter includes a discussion of practices that are foundationaltoimplementingtieredmodels
SectionII:TieredInstruction
Chapters 5–7 provide more detailed information about each tier of instruction The types and characteristics of instruction that are implemented at each tier are described in these chapters Each of the chapters includes information on how to implement instruction at each tier as well as information about how to plan for that instructionandpracticalexamplesofwhatinstructionmightlooklikewithinthattier.
Chapter 8 focuses on teaming with professionals from a range of disciplines and families. This chapter addresses the importance of collaborative partnerships when implementing blended practices. Finally, Chapters9–12 discuss blending practices to promote outcomes from specific preacademic domains, including social-emotional, language, literacy, and math These chapters include information about specific outcomes related to the domain as well as teaching strategies and approaches that have been specifically used to address outcomesfromeachdomain.
Barnett, WS, Friedman-Krauss, AH, Gomez, RE, Horowitz, M, Weisenfeld, GG, & Squires, JH (2016) The state of preschool 2015: Statepreschoolyearbook.NewBrunswick,NJ:NationalInstituteforEarlyEducationResearch.
Bredekamp, S. (Ed.). (1987). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Washington,DC:NationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren
Bredekamp, S, & Copple, C (Eds) (1997) Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (Rev ed) Washington, DC: NationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren
Carta, JJ, Schwartz, I, Atwater, J, & McConnell, S (1991) Developmentally appropriate practice: Appraising its usefulness for young childrenwithdisabilities TopicsinEarlyChildhoodSpecialEducation,11,1–20
Chandler, LK, Cochran, DC, Christensen, KA, Dinnebeil, LA, Gallagher, PA, Lifter, K, Spino, M (2012) The alignment of CEC/DEC and NAEYC personnel preparation standards Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 32(1), 52–63 doi:101177/0271121412437047
Chang, F, Early, D, & Winton, P (2005) Early childhood teacher preparation in special education at 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education JournalofEarlyIntervention,27,110–124
Copple,C,&Bredekamp,S (Eds) (2009) Developmentallyappropriatepracticeinearlychildhoodprogramsservingchildrenfrombirththroughage 8(3rded) Washington,DC:NationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren Division for Early Childhood. (2014). DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education 2014. Retrieved from http://wwwdec-spedorg/recommendedpractices
DivisionforEarlyChildhood&NationalAssociationfortheEducationofYoungChildren(DEC/NAEYC) (2009) Earlychildhoodinclusion: Ajoint positionstatement ofthe Divisionfor EarlyChildhood(DEC) andtheNational Associationfor theEducationof Young Children(NAEYC) ChapelHill,NC:UniversityofNorthCarolina,FPGChildDevelopmentInstitute Division for Early Childhood, National Association for the Education of Young Children, & National Head Start Association. (2013). Frameworksforresponsetointerventioninearlychildhood:Descriptionandimplications LosAngeles,CA:Author EconomicOpportunityActof1964,PL88-452,42USC §§2701etseq
Grisham-Brown, JL, Hemmeter, ML, & Pretti-Frontczak, K (2005) Blended practices for teaching young children in inclusive settings Baltimore,MD:PaulH BrookesPublishingCo
Hemmeter, ML, Fox, L, & Snyder, P (2013) A tiered model for promoting social-emotional competence and addressing challenging behavior In V Buysse & ES Peisner-Feinberg (Eds), Handbookofresponsetointerventioninearlychildhood (pp 85–101) Baltimore, MD: PaulH BrookesPublishingCo
Horn, E, Lieber, J, Sandall, S, Schwartz, I, & Wolery, R (2002) Classroom models of individualized instruction In SL Odom (Ed), Wideningthecircle:Includingchildrenwithdisabilitiesinpreschoolprograms(pp 46–60) NewYork,NY:TeachersCollegePress
Miller, PS (1992) Segregated programs of teacher education in early childhood: Immoral and inefficient practice Topics in Early Childhood SpecialEducation,11,39–52 Odom,SL (2002) Wideningthecircle:Includingchildrenwithdisabilitiesinpreschoolprograms NewYork,NY:TeachersCollegePress Odom, SL, Buysse, V, & Soukakou, E (2011) Inclusion for young children with disabilities: A quarter century of research perspectives JournalofEarlyIntervention,33,344–356
Pretti-Frontczak, K, & Bricker, D (2004) An activity-based approach to early intervention (3rd ed) Baltimore, MD: Paul H Brookes PublishingCo
Sandall, S, Hemmeter, ML, Smith, BJ, & McLean, M (2005) DEC recommended practices: A comprehensive guide Longmont, CO: Sopris WestEducationalServices
Sandall, S, McLean, ME, & Smith, BJ (2000) DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education Longmont, CO:SoprisWestEducationalServices
Schwartz,I.,Sandall,S.,Odom,S.,Horn,E.,&Beckman,P.(2002).IknowitwhenIseeit:Insearchofacommondefinitionofinclusion.In SL Odom (Ed), Widening the circle: Including children with disabilities in preschool programs (pp 10–24) New York, NY: Teachers College Press
Another random document with no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The dark night
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: The dark night or, The fear of man bringeth a snare
Author: Lucy Ellen Guernsey
Release date: November 4, 2023 [eBook #72021]
Language: English
Original publication: Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1871
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DARK NIGHT ***
Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[The Boonville Series]
THE DARK NIGHT;
The Dark Night. Frontispiece. Osric was just strapping his books together.
"THE FEAR OF MAN BRINGETH A SNARE."
BY LUCY ELLEN GUERNSEY,
AUTHOR OF "IRISH AMY," "COMFORT ALLISON," "THE TATTLER," "NELLY; OR THE BEST INHERITANCE," "TWIN ROSES," ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 1122 CHESTNUT STREET.
NEW YORK: NO. 8 AND 10 BIBLE HOUSE, ASTOR PLACE.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
WESTCOTT & THOMSON, HENRY B. ASHMEAD, Stereotypers, Philada. Printer, Philada.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
THE DARK NIGHT.
CHAPTER I.
ONE lovely spring morning, in the latter end of May, Osric Dennison and his sister Elsie were getting ready to go to school. The school was at Boonville, almost a mile from their father's house, though there was a "cross-lot" path which shortened the distance. And as Osric and Elsie liked to have a little time for talk and play before school, they were apt to set out from the red farmhouse as soon after breakfast as they could conveniently get away.
On this Monday morning, they were unusually early, even for the red farmhouse. There was corn-planting to do, there was the washing to get on with, and the children's elder sister Avice, who taught school in a district some miles away, and who came home every Saturday, had to get back to her place in time to begin her school at nine o'clock. So Mrs. Dennison had her breakfast on the table at six o'clock.
Osric and Elsie had done all their "chores," such as washing breakfast things, feeding pigs and fowls, etc., and it was not yet quite eight. Osric was just strapping his books together, and Elsie had finished putting up
the dinner for both of them, when Avice came into the room with her hat on and her satchel in her hand.
"Has either of you children seen the book I brought home with me on Saturday—that volume of the History of England?"
"I haven't," said Osric, promptly.
"Haven't you, Elsie?" asked her sister. "I want it very much to carry back with me."
"I haven't had it, sister, but I guess I can find it," said Elsie, quietly. "I think I know where I saw it." She left the room as she spoke, and presently came back with the missing volume.
"Where was it?" asked Avice.
"On the window in the parlour. I thought I saw it there this morning."
"Well, I should have said for certain that I carried it up stairs on Saturday night," said Avice. "However, it does not matter now it is found. Good-bye, children; be good till I see you again." Avice kissed them and went quickly away, for she had no time to spare.
"Ozzy, didn't you have that book yesterday?" said Elsie, after they had set out for school and were walking soberly along the edge of the mowing lot. "I am sure I saw you reading it."
Ozzy hung his head, but said nothing.
"Didn't you have it?" repeated Elsie, as though determined to have an answer.
"Well, I meant to put it back again as much as could be," said Ozzy. "It was so interesting about the queen of Scots, and all—"
"But what made you tell sister that you did not have it, when you did?" asked Elsie.
"I was afraid she would scold," said Osric, hanging down his head again. "Mother said we must never take sister's books without asking, and I was afraid sister would tell her."
The younger Dennison children always called Avice "sister." It was a mark of respect exacted by their mother. Mrs. Dennison was a second wife, not so very much older than Avice herself, and she always treated her
stepdaughter with a great deal of consideration. Avice, on her part, was very fond both of Mrs. Dennison and the children, and when she was at home in vacation-time, she always helped a great deal in the work of the farm, and did many things for the little ones.
Osric and Elsie were twins twelve years old, but strangers always took Elsie to be the elder, not only because she was taller than her brother, but because she was so much more thoughtful and sensible. Elsie was constantly watching for chances to help people. She always saw it if her mother's scissors fell on the floor, or her needle wanted threading; and if her father lost his snuff-box or glasses, or left his handkerchief up stairs, or mislaid his paper, it was Elsie who found them, and so about everything else. Her sister Avice often called her Little Helpful. It cost Elsie no great self-denial to do all these things. She really loved work for its own sake, and though she enjoyed a play-spell as much as anybody, she went back to her work or her lessons with a new zest after it. She was as truthful as daylight in everything where Osric was not concerned. She never had any "secrets" or concealments of her own, but she always hid Ozzy's faults as much as possible, and if she ever stretched a point in speaking, it was about something which he had or had not done. She seldom did anything which required serious blame or punishment, but if she did, she never tried to evade the consequences, and would no more lie to screen herself than she would put her hand into the fire. In fact, Elsie was very brave about everything.
Osric, on the contrary, was very much of a coward. He was not afraid of horses or cows, or of guns, or of going in swimming, or anything like that, but he was greatly afraid of pain either of body or mind, and he could not endure to be found fault with. He loved Elsie more than any one else in the world, but his love for her was not sufficient to keep him from letting her bear the blame of a good many of his faults and shortcomings. Elsie was the only person from whom he would bear a word of blame, and he did not like it even from her; hence it came to pass that while Elsie had no secrets from Osric, but always told him all her plans of work or amusement, Osric did a good many things of which Elsie never knew anything unless she found them out by accident. Elsie was always rather uneasy about her brother, and carried him on her mind, as it were; thus increasing a certain anxious expression of countenance which was growing upon her, and which made her look older than her years.
Osric loved Elsie, as I have said, but he was also rather afraid of her, especially of late. Elsie had been thinking a great deal of religious matters lately. She would have liked to talk over all her thoughts and impressions with Osric, but Osric was always very uneasy when she began, and
slipped away or changed the subject as soon as possible. In fact, Osric hated anything serious, and really cared for nothing except amusing himself. Amusement was the object and business of his life, and he would sacrifice almost everything before giving up any scheme which promised even a small amount of diversion. This love of amusement often made him neglect his work, and sometimes brought him into some serious trouble, but old Squire Dennison was very indulgent to his only son, and Osric usually slipped out of his scrapes very easily. Of late, however, Squire Dennison had begun to wake up to the fact that Osric was not always truthful, and he watched the boy rather more carefully.
Elsie walked on the rest of the way to school very silent and very unhappy, and very undecided in her own mind. She did not know in the least what she ought to do, or whether she ought to do anything. Sometimes, she thought she would tell her mother, but then she could not bear to have Ozzy call her a telltale, and besides, Mrs. Dennison never encouraged the children to tell of each other's faults. There did not seem to be any use in talking to Osric himself. She had tried that so many times that she was quite discouraged. He would hang his head, and excuse himself; and begin to cry, and end by keeping out of her way for two or three days. Perhaps, after all, Osric had not known exactly where the book was. She was tempted to ask him, but then she reflected that she might thus lead him to tell another lie.
She did not know what to do, and so she did nothing except walk silently along, listening to Osric's remarks, for after a few minutes, he began to talk as if nothing had happened. In fact, so long as he was not scolded or punished for them, Osric's faults never made him unhappy for any length of time.
Boonville is a very little place. You will not find it down on any map of the State, and I am not sure that even the county map takes notice of it. There are, however, three mills at Boonville, all owned by the same person—a gentleman named Francis, who resides at Hobartown, some twelve miles away. One of these mills is a grist-mill, one is a saw-mill, and the other is used for grinding plaster or gypsum, which is taken from the bank of the river about a mile below. These three mills stand together on the bank of the river near the bridge, and with the dam above, the bright sparkling water and the rows of willows above and below, they make a very pretty picture. There is a small church at Boonville made of wood and painted white, though the paint is rather the worse for wear.
A school-house stands beside it, and on the other side of the road is a pretty large grove, almost large enough to be called a wood. There are
other woods about a quarter of a mile away—real woods which have never been cleared, and which run along both sides of the road more than three miles. There is an old tavern at Boonville, which was very busy long ago in the days when post-coaches ran between Albany and Buffalo, and heavy teams conveyed all the goods which did not go by the canal. The tavern is quiet enough now. The grass grows up between the stones round the door, and nobody stops there except now and then a teamster or farmer having business at the mills.
There are perhaps in all a dozen other houses in the place. In one of these lives the minister, Mr. Child, who preaches here and at Gibson Centre, three miles away; in another, a pretty white house with green blinds, a verandah, and a flower garden, lives Mr. Antis, the overseer of the mill. Most of the other houses are either painted red, or are gray for want of any paint at all. I doubt if any house in Boonville has been touched with a brush for the last ten years except that belonging to Mr. Antis, and Jeduthun Cooke's cottage down by the mill, which is almost as neat as Mr. Antis's own.
The road runs rather high above the little river on the east side, before you come to the descent which leads down to the bridge and the mill. Standing among the trees on the side of this road, and looking across the stream, you see something which strikes you as rather curious in such a place. This is neither more nor less than a handsome burial-vault built into the steep side of the hill a short distance from the river. The front of the vault is like a little gothic chapel of handsome gray stone, with thick shrubbery growing on each side. There is a grassy slope in front of the door, and a narrow and steep but well-kept carriage-road leads up to it.
This vault is the old family burial-place of General Dent, who lived in the large brick house of which you can just see the chimneys over the trees yonder. The vault was built in the time of the old general's father, and is always kept in the most perfect repair. At the time of my story, nobody had been buried in it for many years—no one, in fact, since the general's only remaining son was brought back from Virginia, where he had been travelling for his health. The children were therefore very much surprised when they came out into the road, where they had a view of the vault, to see the door of it standing open.
AS Osric and Elsie stood looking and wondering at the unusual spectacle, they were joined by two or three of the other children—by Anna Lee and her sister Hetty, by David Parsons and his cousin Christopher or Christie, a delicate little fellow about nine years old.
"I wonder if old General Dent is dead?" said Elsie.
"I know he isn't, for I saw him riding with Miss Rebecca last night. They went by our house," said Anna, with considerable satisfaction, "and the general bowed to me."
"That's nothing; General Dent bows to everybody," said Hetty, who always liked, as she said, "to take people down. He bowed to Mrs. Cooke the other day."
"Why shouldn't he bow to Mrs. Cooke?" returned Anna, with spirit. "I am sure there is not a nicer woman in the world than Kissy Cooke. I only wish I was half as good!"
Hetty had nothing to reply to that, but she laid it up in her mind, determined to "pay" Anna for it later in the day.
"I didn't know the Dents had any relations round here," said David. "It looks kind of strange to see that dark door open, don't it? I think it looks as if it was waiting for somebody."
"I suppose it is," replied Elsie. "It didn't open itself."
"There is Jeduthun Cooke sitting in the mill door," said Osric. "Let us go and ask him. He will be sure to tell us all about it."
The children ran down the descent leading to the grist-mill, where Jeduthun Cooke was sitting in the door playing on the harmonica.
He was always making music of some kind—singing or whistling, or playing on the fife or bugle, or on the harmonica, as at present. Old Mrs. Badger, up at the tavern, said she wondered Mr. Antis would have such a noise, but the "boss" only laughed, and said the stones would not know how to run without Jeduthun's music. Jeduthun Cooke was a lightcoloured quadroon who had worked steadily in Mr. Worthington's mill for the last sixteen years, except for the three years that he was in the army as bugler to a cavalry regiment. He was a tall man, and as thin, wiry, and agile as a panther, and there was a sparkle in his eye which looked as if he might have a fiery temper. Nevertheless, he had never been seen
furiously angry but twice. Once was at the Badger boys, whom he found tying a bunch of crackers to the tail of the old dog at the mill. Jeduthun thrashed them both soundly, and threatened them with a ducking, to boot. The boys went to complain to their grandmother an unwise proceeding on their part, for the old lady not only gave them a second edition of the thrashing, but sent them to bed at five o'clock on the Fourth of July. There were both dishonour and loss in that, and the boys never forgot the lesson.
The other time Jeduthun flew into a passion, there was also a child concerned, but this time the child was the victim. An Englishman had come to work in the saw-mill, and had brought with him a little orphan nephew. There was a strong conviction among the people at Boonville that this lad was abused; but nothing was done about the matter till one morning, when Jeduthun, going down to the mill earlier than usual, heard the poor child screaming and begging for mercy. Jeduthun jumped over the gate and ran round the house to the back door. There was poor little Eben tied to a post, while his uncle was beating him unmercifully. Nobody knew exactly what happened, but when Mr. Antis, wakened by the cries of the child and screams of murder from the woman, appeared on the scene, he found Jeduthun engaged in ducking Tom Collins in the mill-dam, and with some trouble prevailed on him to let the man come out of the water before he was quite drowned. Tom Collins brought an action for assault, and Jeduthun was fined seventy-five cents, which he cheerfully paid, remarking that he thought he had got the worth of his money. Eben was taken away from his cruel relation and placed with a farmer in the neighbourhood, and Tom Collins found it expedient to move away from Boonville.
These two instances of temper did not make Jeduthun at all less popular in the little community. He was a special favourite with the children, for whom he told stories, sung songs, and made kites, tops, and waterwheels; and then he sometimes lectured as well, and he liked nothing better than to have a dozen of the school-children round the mill door all chattering at once. He kept excellent order among his little friends, never permitting any teasing, meddling, or other bad manners, and Miss Hilliard, the school-mistress, used to say that Jeduthun was really a great help to her.
Jeduthun was sitting in the mill door playing a very sad and solemn tune on his harmonica, or mouth-organ, as it is sometimes called, and the children waited till he finished it, for they knew he did not like to be interrupted.
"That sounds like a funeral tune!" said Anna Lee.
"'Tis," said Jeduthun.
"They sung it at Mary Jane Hill's funeral over at the Springs," remarked Elsie. "It goes to the words, 'When blooming youth is snatched away.'"
"That's it, exactly," returned Jeduthun, and he sung the first verse of the hymn in such a soft, pure voice, and with such a tender solemnity, that it brought tears to the children's eyes as they listened, as well as to those of Mr. Antis,—albeit "unused to the melting mood,"—who was busy in his office.
"They'll be singing that over at the Springs to-day," remarked Jeduthun when he had finished the verse. "Miss Lilla Parmalee is going to be buried to-day."
"Oh, poor thing! Is she dead?" exclaimed Anna Lee.
"She's dead, sure enough, but you needn't call her 'poor thing' any more, Anna. She has got a long way beyond that by this time," said Jeduthun. "Yes, Miss Lilla has been in heaven two days already. They are going to bring her over here, and put her in old General Dent's vault. The Parmalees are kind of connections of the Dents, somehow. Kissy, she knows all about it. The boss was there yesterday, and last night, the general and his sister drove over. The funeral is to be at half-past one o'clock, and they'll get here about three, I expect."
"There's somebody mowing the grass before the door of the vault," remarked Osric, looking across the river.
"Yes, the general's man came down to open the door and make everything nice. Kissy, she went over yesterday to see if she could do anything. She used to work at Mr. Parmalee's before she was married. She was saying last night that she was the first one to lay Miss Lilla in her new cradle, and yesterday she helped to lay her in the coffin."
"I suppose they will have a splendid coffin?" said Mehetabel Lee.
"Oh yes. Mr. Parmalee won't spare expense, you may be sure. It's a kind of comfort to him, I expect, though it don't do her any good. They have got a coffin covered with white, with silver nails-and handles, and a great silver cross on the breast, with Miss Lilla's name, and a text of Scripture, and heaps of lovely white flowers of all kinds."
"Miss Lilla always liked white," remarked Elsie. "I hardly ever saw her wear anything else in summer, and even in quite cold weather. Don't you remember, Anna, when we were little girls, our wishing we could have such white frocks as Miss Lilla's? Kissy was doing them up, and she showed them to us."
"She had better white robes than any that money could buy," said Jeduthun, solemnly. "She had washed her robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, as Scripture says, and now she is a-wearing of them before his throne. You get such robes as those, my dears, and then you won't fear to die any more than she did."
"It must have been rather sudden at last," remarked Hetty, after a little silence. "I saw her riding out in the carriage last week, when I was over at the Springs. Let's see! why, that was only last Friday."
"Yes, she rode out the morning of the day she died, but her death wasn't sudden more than any death is sudden," replied Jeduthun. "They have been expecting it any time for the last year. In fact, Miss Lilla has never been well like other people since she was born. I never thought she would live as long as she has done."
"Such good people always seem to me to die young," said Anna.
"Well, I don't know," said David. "Look at grandmother! She is 'most a hundred, and I am sure she is as good as she can be."
"That she is!" said Jeduthun. "She is a splendid old Christian. She told me she had been a church-member for seventy-five years. Well, young or old don't matter so much, if we are only ready, and we are all of us old enough to make ready. Remember that, children. You can't tell when your time will come, but if you are only ready, it will be all right, whether you are as young as you be now, or as old as Madam Brown."
"We can't tell when our call will come, either," said Elsie.
"No, and so the only safe way is to get ready now, because, you see, today is your own, and to-morrow isn't;" and Jeduthun began to sing again, this time, the beautiful tune which goes by the name of Windham—"Life is the time to serve the Lord!"
The children listened respectfully, and Elsie and Anna with real interest, to Jeduthun's little sermon, and even Hetty resolved that she would not "pay" Anna for getting the best of their little dispute. After all, Anna might die—she was often ailing—and then Hetty would be sorry that she had
teased her. Osric, however, had no taste for such grave talk, and he slipped away and went up to the school-house, where he found all the children assembled, and all talking together about Miss Lilla's funeral.
"The coffin covered with white velvet, all nailed on with silver nails, and a real silver cross on the top," one of the girls was saying as he came up.
"Oh, Mary, not real silver!" said another.
"Real silver! My aunt said so," persisted Mary. "And they are to have eight young ladies for pall-bearers, all dressed in white, with long white veils and beautiful bunches and wreaths of flowers, and eight young gentlemen with scarfs of white silk and white rosettes. They sent to Hobartown for everything: flowers and coffin, and hearse and carriages. Of course there wasn't anything at the Springs good enough for the Parmalees," added Mary, imitating with considerable success the tone in which she had heard her mother say these words.
"I wonder they didn't send to the city and have done with it," remarked Osric.
"They have everything just as nice in Hobartown as they do in the city," said Mary. "Of course they would, because so many rich people live there. Anyhow, it shows that Miss Lilla's friends haven't any very deep feelings for her, or they wouldn't be thinking of making such a fuss. And such mourning! Oh my! Dresses covered with crape, veils down to the ground, and all."
"I wish we could go to see the funeral," said little Christopher. "I suppose Miss Hilliard wouldn't let us out?"
"Not she! She never will let any one have any fun that she can help," said Osric. "I think it is too bad."
"I don't call a funeral very great fun," said Alice Brown, rather indignantly. "I guess thee wouldn't think so, if it was thy sister that was to be buried instead of Miss Lilla."
"Rich folks don't have feelings like poor folks," said Mary, tossing her head. "They just like to make a show, that's all. I can't bear such people. They are always just as disagreeable as they can be."
"I am sure Miss Lilla was not disagreeable," remarked Elsie, who had come up in time to hear Mary's words. "She was just as lovely as she could be to everybody. Jeduthun Cooke says she used to have her
Sunday-school class come to her room to recite for ever so long after she left off going to church, till she grew so weak, she could not bear it any longer. And I know how good she was to Mary Jane Hill all the time she was sick. She used to go and read to her by the hour, and she was always sending her nice things to eat, and taking her out riding in the carriage whenever she was able to go. Mrs. Hill told sister she should never forget what Miss Lilla had done for Mary Jane, and Mary Jane herself told sister that Miss Lilla had made death easy to her," added Elsie, in a low, reverent voice. "She said Miss Lilla first led her to see the Lord as her Saviour."
"But, now, Elsie, do you think it is quite right to spend so much money on a funeral?" asked Anna. "Hundreds of dollars for a coffin, just to be buried in the ground? What good will all that do Miss Lilla?"
"It won't do her any good, of course," replied Elsie, "but, I suppose, the friends find comfort in it. I know when our baby died, sister Avice sent and bought the muslin for a beautiful white frock, and sat up all night to make it. She let me buy the white ribbon for it, with my own money that aunt gave me, and it was a comfort," said Elsie, wiping away the tears that overflowed at the remembrance of the little baby-sister.
"But such a lot of money," said Anna. "Now, do you think it is right, Alice Brown?"
"I shouldn't feel free to do it," said Alice, who had been brought up among "Friends." "It is not our way, but thee knows, Anna, that we are not to judge one another. People see things in different lights. I don't doubt John Parmalee thinks it right, or he wouldn't do it, for he is a good man."
"I know what I would do with the money," said Elsie. "I would build a chapel or a school-house, and somewhere about it, I would put up Miss Lilla's name, so it should be a kind of monument to her."
"What a girl you are, Elsie!" said Hetty. "I don't believe anybody else would have thought of such a thing."
"Oh yes, it has been often done," returned Alice Brown. "I have seen a beautiful church which was built in that way. A gentleman had two twin babies to whom somebody left a great fortune, and when the babies died, he took the money which had belonged to them, and built this church."
"I think that was lovely," exclaimed Elsie. "Do you know any more such stories, Alice?"
"Yes, but I haven't time to tell them now, for there comes Miss Hilliard."
"I wonder if she wouldn't let out school early this afternoon, if we were to ask her?" said Osric.
"Thee can try, but I don't believe she will. Thee knows, Osric, she never does dismiss school in any such way without asking the trustees, and we had an extra holiday only last week."
"I mean to ask her, anyhow;" said Osric, who did not like to give up any chance of a show, even though it were a funeral.
As Alice Brown had predicted, Miss Hilliard decidedly refused to dismiss the school. She didn't wish the children to miss their lessons and be unsettled by another holiday, and, moreover, she thought it would be disagreeable to the mourning family to have them crowding round and staring. She said "No" so decidedly that Osric did not venture to ask her again, but nevertheless, he did not give up the idea of seeing the funeral.
Miss Hilliard knew Miss Lila Parmalee very well, and after she had opened the school with reading the story of the raising of Lazarus, she told the children something about the dead young lady: how she had always loved her Saviour ever since she was a little child, and how desirous she had always been to use the little strength she had to his glory, and for the good of those for whom he had died; how kind and thoughtful she had been to those around her, never saying anything wilfully to hurt any one's feelings, and never missing the chance of doing a kind action; how she had taught in the Sunday-school as long as she could go to church, and afterwards had the children meet at her room as long as she was able to talk with them. Miss Hilliard had to stop two or three times to wipe away her tears as she was speaking, for she loved Miss Lilla dearly.
"Some people say that rich people are always proud," remarked Elsie, "but I am sure Miss Lilla was not, though I suppose she was very rich."
"There is a good deal of covetousness and envy at the bottom of such remarks, I fear," replied Miss Hilliard. "There is no meaner satisfaction than that which people take in disparaging and slandering those who are better off than themselves."
"I never heard that any of these very people objected to making money themselves for fear it would make them disliked," said David.
Miss Hilliard smiled.
"No, we are all ready enough to run that risk. People are neither wicked because they are rich nor good because they are poor. There are temptations in both states of life. Rich people, when they are so disposed, have it in their power to do a great deal of good, but we all have opportunities enough in that way if we are only willing to use them. We will now begin our lessons."
Osric had paid very little attention to what Miss Hilliard said. He sat up straight and behaved well outwardly, but all the time, and all through the reading and prayer, he was thinking how he could manage to slip away and go to see the funeral. He did not care anything about Miss Lilla's goodness or the sorrow of her parents at losing her, but he wanted very much to see the fine white silver coffin, and the young ladies dressed in white, and all the parade. He wanted, too, to see the inside of the vault, and find out whether it was all lined and paved with white marble, as the children said. He thought about the matter all the morning, and listened to all the talk during recess, when every newcomer had some new story to tell, and the more he heard and thought, the more he wanted to go, and the more determined he was that he would go. For, lazy as he was about a great many things, Osric could be persevering and industrious as anybody, when any scheme of amusement was concerned.
As he was eating his dinner at noon, sitting under a tree in the edge of the woods, little Christopher Parsons came up to him. Christopher, or Christy, as he was usually called, was a slender little fellow about nine years old, a pretty good boy, but too easily led away for his own good. He could never bear to say "No!" And so it happened that he often got into scrapes and did wrong things because people asked him to do so. David Parsons; who was himself a good boy and fond of his little cousin, used to say that Christy was certainly to be known by the company he kept, for when he was with good boys he was a good boy himself, and when he was with bad boys, he was ready to be as bad as any of them.
"Don't you wish we could go and see the funeral, Ozzy?" he asked as he threw himself down on the grass at Osric's side.
"Yes, indeed! I think that Miss Hilliard is real mean," returned Osric.
"She is a regular old maid, and I hate old maids, anyway. They are always just as mean and spiteful as they can be."
Now, Miss Hilliard could hardly be called an old maid, since she was only twenty-four, and was, besides, engaged to be married. In reality, Christopher loved her dearly, as he had good reason to do, but he did not like to say so, for fear Osric should laugh at him.
"I think she might let us go, anyhow," said he.
"I mean to go," said Osric, after looking round to see that nobody was near to listen to him, "I mean to go in spite of her, and so can you, if you like."
"You don't mean to run away from school, do you?" asked Christopher. Osric nodded his head and screwed up his mouth.
"I know what I am going to do," said he. "I would tell you, only I am afraid you would run and tell David."
"I wouldn't, neither," returned Christopher, indignantly. "I don't tell David everything. Do tell me, Ozzy."
"I won't, unless you will promise to go with me."
Christy hesitated. He did very much want to see the grand funeral, but he did not quite like the idea of running away from school. Only that morning while listening to Miss Hilliard's remarks, he had resolved that he would always be a good boy, and try to do good like Miss Lilla. Running away from school would not be a very promising beginning, but then Osric wanted him to go, and perhaps would laugh at him, if he refused, and call him a baby.
"But how will you manage it?" he asked, at last. The question showed that he was not resisting firmly; but playing with the temptation.
"What's the use of telling you?" returned Osric. "You won't dare to go with me, and you will run and tell of me directly, I know you will. If you would help me, I would manage it nicely, and if I thought you would," continued Osric, "I would try it."
"You can tell me how you mean to manage, anyway," said Christopher. "I promise you, as true as I live and breathe, I won't tell, even if I don't go myself."
"Well, I'll tell you. You know it is our week to go after water, and Miss Hilliard always sends us for a fresh pailful a little before the girls' recess. Well, we can take the pail and go to the well and leave it. Then we can go up to the vault, and if nobody is there, and the door is open, we can slip inside and wait till the people come. If the door isn't open, or if somebody is watching, we can hide among the trees till the funeral comes, and then we can see all the people and get back before the end of the boys' recess."
