We are currently seeking funding support for our Educational Support Programme (ESP). Click the button below to support our endeavour.
Raising children is costly. Raising children with additional needs is even more costly.
While most preschools are keeping enrolment for children with additional needs to the lowest possible number, the same cannot be said for Little Olive Tree by Presbyterian Preschool Services.
While most preschool organisations choose to preserve their survival in an increasingly competitive early childhood landscape, we are running in the opposite direction, choosing to embrace as many children with additional needs as we possibly can.
So, why does inclusion matter to us?
The Bible Informs us of How Each of Us Came into Being
As a Christian organisation, Presbyterian Preschool Services believes that God’s word is sovereign over all of our lives. As his stewards, we are convicted by truth of what the Bible informs us of who we are. Psalm 139 is an oft-quoted Bible passage on the topic of identity, who we are, how we are made and where did we come from. We believe it is because when one needs comfort and assurance in their identity and esteem, it is helpful to consider what the Bible says we are.
However, have we stopped to consider what a stunning passage Psalm 139 is? Consider the following verses from Psalm 139:
Psalm 139: 13 - 16
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
14 Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139 reminds us that each of us are not a mistake and did not come into being by chance. Instead, we all have a maker who made us with great care.
These verses from Psalm 139 draws our attention to how gloriously sovereign yet personal our creator God is. It reminds that each of us are not a mistake and did not come into being by chance. Instead, we all have a maker who made us with great care.
It also reminds us that God’s creation – man, is a wonderful work of God, challenging us to cling to that truth. Here are some truths Psalm 139 reminds us of our state as people:
God was the one who formed our inward parts
God was the one who knitted us in our mothers’ womb
We were made fearfully (with great care) and wonderfully
God’s work (i.e. us) is wonderful
Our frame was not hidden from God
While our existence was still a secret, we are intricately woven by God
God saw our unformed substance
All our days are formed by God, written in and accounted by God
Our Image of Each Child: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Psalm 139 forms the bedrock of who we consider each child who comes through the doors of Little Olive Tree by Presbyterian Preschool Services.
These profound truths outlined in Psalm 139 forms the bedrock of who we consider each child who comes through the doors of Little Olive Tree by Presbyterian Preschool Services. It is one of the reasons why we want to build a strong foundation in truth, beauty and goodness for each child. In a world where truth is often corrupted, this is one truth we hope to perpetuate in the way Little Olive Preschools are run, viewing each child through the lens of the Bible, through the lens of Psalm 139.
Each child has a maker – they deserve love, kindness, graciousness and dignity.
Each child is precious – they belong to someone and was made with great care and consideration.
Each child is unique and has a purpose – each fibre of being was woven together and each chromosome was coded with intentionality. Each child is capable of growing and glowing.
Each child is a wonderful work of God - no child is a mistake; no child is a trouble too big.
Hence, as we consider each child that is seeking enrolment in Little Olive Tree, they are more than just a number. They are more than just a child seeking a place within our midst.
Psalm 139 and the Educational Support Programme
It means that a child who has impairments is still God’s wonderful work.
As we rest in the confidence of our Maker who is sovereign over the works of our hands and sovereign over the programme in our centres, we are challenged to believe and trust that as long as we are able, inclusive classrooms must be something we desire to keep pressing on to create. By responding to God’s call to care for the young children amongst us through the provision of quality preschool programmes, we must include children with additional needs in the fold. In God’s kingdom, children are children.
Taking Psalm 139 seriously means that when we consider children who have added needs and differing abilities, we continue to trust that God, in His sovereign goodness, still wonderfully formed their inward parts and knitted them together in their mother’s womb.
It means that we continue to praise God for who He made them to be in spite of the challenges that come with parenting and teaching them.
It means that a child who has impairments is still God’s wonderful work.
This is why inclusion matters so deeply to us at Presbyterian Preschool Services and why we desire to provide 10% of our enrolment spaces in our Little Olive Tree Preschools for children with additional needs.
We are currently seeking funding support for our Educational Support Programme (ESP). Click the button below to support our endeavour.