Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween


Halloween is pure child. Children too young to remember last year will marvel at the colors, costumes, the decorations, the free flow of candy and the time mom and dad spend with him having pure kiddie fun.

Halloween is a great way to introduce children to the idea of “occasion.” It’s both a private and public adventure for which they are the center. Keeping holidays like Halloween safe and fun takes a little before-the-fact work on the side of a careful parent or provider.

Here are some tips from a mother whose children have gone out trick or treating for over twenty - five years. Some of them way into their teens.

* Underwear -- Everything under a costume is underwear. Layers if it’s cold are as pitiful as coats over costumes. The best thing under a costume is the child’s ordinary skivvies and a turtleneck to match the costume and a pair of tights or close fitting sweat pants.

Children will be doing a lot of running and they won’t feel the cold. Close fitting hats are also a heat keeper. It never ceases to amaze me how children can be bundled up on Halloween in a winter coat when it’s 45 degrees, and then come to school without mittens and hat or heavy coat when it snows a few weeks later. Perhaps it’s enthusiasm for the first chill of the season.

* EVERYBODY goes to and uses the toilet BEFORE going anywhere. Borrowing or even using a toilet from a friendly neighbor is a real pain when children have literally a cardboard box of clothes tied, pinned, and tucked on. Don’t ask -- tell.

* Eating. We don’t eat anything along the way. What do you do with the wrapper? It seems always to fall into the neighbor who’s picky about his garden. And it’s always best to look over children’s treats before the snarf them down.

* Shoes. This is always a battle. Kids who make up their own costumes think it’s fun to put on oversized, too soft, too unsupportive shoes and it is, but allowing them to wear crazy shoes out is a big mistake. Kids should wear their most comfortable sneakers. Think about it. How often to kids take a mile walk today? Answer? Once a year on Halloween.

* Bags for treats. Save the cute bag for display at home and let them carry a sturdy department store bag with handles. Some kids think big and want to carry a lawn and leaf bag. Parents and providers need to explain to kids that it would take at least a week of trick or treating to fill such a bag, and besides, dragging such a huge thing down the road is going to result in holes in the bag and a loss of candy.

* Courtesy. Please and thank you are the opening and closing statements for Halloween. Children who can’t say thank you or please should return candy to the giver. Mom or dad or a thoughtful provider can help with this. Parents should always go to the door with young children, and help them say the right things. Rude children will stop being rude if you take what they want away the first time they can’t say what is expected.

Halloween is a delightful family adventure that begins with the child and ends with the child. We always let our kids empty their bag of treats into a huge bowl and play with it for hours. Halloween is one night of fun you just can’t duplicate -- especially if it’s planned ahead with just a little care.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Halloween


Halloween is a wonderful time for kids. It's a KIDS ONLY holiday, although I think parents are stealing it from kids these days. I hear a lot about parents' costumes and parents' fun, but not a lot of kids fun - sometimes kids fun is a chore on the way to having parents' fun, and that's not the priority.

As I watch my daughter, Molly, making costumes for her two little ones, I am delighted that she sees how the very young child needs to participate in the whole family's excitement and delight during holiday season.

Halloween is the first of three very important holidays in our culture and tradition.
Halloween is a children's holiday, Thanksgiving is family holiday, and Christmas is a religious holiday: Self, Others, God. We must know ourselves, love one another, and then take that to the altar of our God. Anyway, that's how I see it.

Getting to know self, means letting down the barriers to self. Dressing up as a funny, frightening, or peculiar character allows a child to make believe, to experiment with being someone else just for a while. Going out to show off this other self is always told on the faces of children: they hesitate, they smile hoping to gain the others smile, and then they burst either into tears or laughter depending upon their acceptance.

It's a big day simply because the inner self of the child is at risk, and making him comfortable and feel loved is a great part of building blocks for real self esteem.

When a little girl dresses up as a princess, do we regard her as beautiful, magnificent, regal? We should. It's just for a little while, and it is so important to that inner self. To be thought of as beautiful, good, and well worth fighting for are the things that make girls the strong, thoughtful, careful women they should grow to be.

When a boy dresses up as a frightening beast, a soldier, a knight, a warrior, do we respect him, do we give him momentary lauds? We should. He will one day be the warrior king of his family. He needs to know he can do that well - right from the beginning.

There is a marvelous web site about the history of Halloween HERE. It dispels a lot of negatives about the beginnings and the religious or non religious myths surrounding Halloween. It's also in the links.

Halloween was always one of my children's favorite holidays. We've lived in an actively haunted house for 30+ years, so we live around ghosts all the time. We are the first stop on my town's haunted house tour. Newburgh is an old town, and LOTS of things have happened here. Our last sighting was in September. I was napping in the Plum room, and I noticed the air conditioner was struggling. Suddenly, the temperature dropped about 25 degrees as the closet door opened....

Saturday's Child - Halloween


Halloween

With the Eve of All Holies nearly upon us, parents and providers are looking at Halloween options with an eye on safety, kiddie-comfort and wellness, and that's good.

Whether parents and providers are Halloween buffs or adamantly opposed to reveling in the creepy side of the imagination, any occasion involving very young children means attending to their welfare and immediate needs as a primary consideration.

First, remember what Officer Friendly says, "Trick or treat during day-light hours." That's not always possible with parents who work full time, so it's really important for child care providers to work with parents to insure that kids are "ready to go" when they do leave their child care.

Here are some ideas that might make the very special occasion of Halloween a little easier on families of trick or treaters:

First, encourage children to wear a costume for the day. It's a special day, especially for little children. A costume is only fabric, so let them play in it. It's something they will remember forever.

Make sure that costumes are "user friendly," which means not too long, not too tight, not too heavy, not too fragile, nothing tight around the neck, a pop on hat only, no mask, or shoes the size of coal barges. Costumes should be comfortable and be accompanied by a set of extra clothes. Gym shoes should be worn with socks that fit.

After a day of costume wearing, any costume is going to look pretty bad. So, at the end of the day, when it's potty time, get out the glue gun and fix as many of the shreds as possible. As a really nice touch, try applying a little face paint just for fun. That way, the child is ready to go out with the parent without stopping at home first.

Food on Halloween is tricky but important for "wellness." Kids, being what kids are, want only candy and sweets. To help keep little bellies from "yanking" as the teens say, try this:

*Begin the day with a wholesome cold cereal and lots of milk and juice.

*Put sweets up and give cheese and crackers for morning snack.

*Keep soda and coolaid out of reach of children.

* Make the "yellow lunch" as it's known in child care circles. It's filling and kids eat it up while it's kind to the stomach:
macaroni and cheese,
chicken nuggets,
corn,
peaches,
bread and butter and lots of milk

*Keep sweets natural or not at all for the whole day.

It goes without saying, the nicest thing parents can offer a child care are special occasion highly decorated bakery cookies for children's parties and occasions. These are wonderful, but on Halloween, it behooves the parent and provider to keep them back a day and do something different.

Instead of sweets, at snack time, serve homemade soup, cheese and apples and crackers and milk. This little dinner will let parents skip an extra stop and a dinner delay so they can get a child to his evening activities early.

Have fun and be safe and remember what the Irish say: Ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, Lord deliver us! Hmmmmmm, I wonder if they were speaking of the English?

Friday, October 28, 2005

The Garden School Tattler
















It was the day before Halloween
And all through the school
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a ghoul.

The witches were made
With paper and glue,
And visions of ghosty ghosts
Danced singing boo!

The music was scary,
The kids jumped with fright,
To think of what sounds
Are made in the night!

Miss Rachel wore elf ears,
Miss Stacey wore pink,
Miss Judy defrosted
Our fish in the sink.

We had fish sticks for lunch
And bananas and grapes.
We listened to CDs
Novels, and tapes.

And then we played outside;
We ran and we slid
And waited for cookies
Hidden under the lid.

The kids were all good,
Creative and so
We had a good day
Ho, ho, ho.

Monday is party day
Come wearing a gown,
Gossamer wings, pajamas
A shiny gold crown.

Come bringing parents, cousins and friends
There about three
And share with us plenty of cookies
And goblin iced tea.

New York

Getting public and private schools together for anything would be a miracle. I am always frustrated when principal turns me down when I suggest a child needs a certain thing or way of learning at least until the child begins to acclimate to the new school. "We'll take care of it," says the principal, and nine times out of ten, the child is forced into a tail spin because public education knows SO much more than private education. Who suffers? Me, them? No, the child, and it's a scandal.

Preschool Jump-Start Program
MARY ELLEN PEREIRA
Newsday
October 23, 2005

Not having a pre-K program to call its own, the Island Park school district launched a Kindergarten Readiness Program to help local preschools prepare children for the higher standards of kindergarten.

Many children who complete preschool programs do not have readiness skills required by the New York State Department of Education. "We have experienced significant change during the past few years," said Rosmarie Bovino, deputy superintendent of schools. "What used to be taught in first grade is now being taught in pre-K. In the past, pre-K was viewed as a time for learning social skills, with playtime being the primary activity. That is no longer true."

The district has met with local preschool teachers to discuss state standards, particularly math and reading, and provided copies of the recently released New York State math and English language arts curriculum materials.

"We outlined the higher standards set by the state," said Edward Price, superintendent of schools. "Many of the attendees were unaware that these new requirements are in effect, including the standardized testing that begins in third grade.

"Following kindergarten screening in March, results will be forwarded to the preschools for their use to assist the children for the rest of the school year. "One of the benefits of this effort is the creation of dialogue between the private and public schools," Price added. "There is strong interest on both sides to spend more time together to better coordinate our programs."

Pennsylvania

(Blogger pictures are down)
What Terri doesn't realize is that the state is only interested in complaints. There was probably someone down the street with fifty kids, but no one complained. As a home provider for over eight years, I can attest that the numbers really do vary. In the olden times, I had 67 children on my family day care roster because of the need in my town. Sometimes I saw 30 children every day in shifts of fifteen. Fifteen school kids for breakfast, fifteen for preschool, and fifteen more after school.

They were generally not there all together, but sometimes the need was outrageous, and the most I ever had in my big pre-Victorian home was 31, and that was a fluke. I had lots of help, and I never watched babies, and the kids all had a good time. I know that because I still know a few with kids of their own, and they still ask me for recipes. We did all kinds of things including go to the pool every day. I live next to the school, and my home is made for children, so it worked.

What the state is looking for is quality care, and they regard quality care as "all the paperwork filled out correctly." That's as far as it goes. I've never met a state official who understands what bonding means, or trust between a parent and a provider.


State Should Change Rules on Child Care

This is in response to the letters about child care printed on Oct. 15. I care for children and had the same thing happen to me. A man from the state dropped in one day, and I just so happened to have a couple too many children (he said).

The parents I worked for knew the adult-to-child ratio and never had a problem with it, mainly because I have two children of my own, ages 13 and 16, who helped me when I had more than three. But, according to the state, that does not matter because they were in the same house all together.

I have been watching children for over four years and without major mishaps. The children listen to me better than they do their own parents. But regardless, I am down to just three children to care for because I didn't have my license. It didn't only hurt my income, but it also hurt those families I had to release immediately.

I am in the process of getting my license and so far it has been close to a month since I started and the state is taking its good 'ole time sending me paperwork that I filled out with everything I needed. I guess when you deal with any government agency it is always "hurry up and wait."


I had thought about stopping watching children and going to work myself, but I know how hard it is to get a good dependable, reliable and affordable person to care for your kids. Frankly, I enjoy staying home and watching children to help someone else out.

The only conclusion I can come to about the rules the state has about child care is this: The rules must have been made up by someone who can afford to send their children to those expensive facilities or they are someone who doesn't care who watches their children or they are someone who has no children at all.

It is also my opinion that these rules need to be looked at and revised immediately.

Terri Knepper
Chambersburg

North Carolina

Mr. Geeson hits the nail on the head in this plea for more childlike play and less classroom orchestration. What he suggests is what we do at the Garden School. We've hired teachers in the past who have come to school ready to teach the line up. "That's not what we are about," I lament. "We are about learning by play. We are about making it fun.

"Learning isn't fun. Learning is learning."

Then the teachers with GS experience howl with laughter. "Learning is always fun." These teachers don't last long.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Parent Connection by Bryan Greeson
Preschool Learning Need Not Always Be Structured


I try to stay off my high horse, but some days I just can't help myself. Pretty soon, little Bradley will be preparing for the SAT at age 7, and little Susie will be pushed into writing a complete sentence by age 3. Parents all over are enrolling their preschool children into tutoring programs to prepare them for kindergarten. "It's a highly competitive world," they say. "We must make sure our children get ahead so they will not be left behind."

I agree that our culture today does present itself as being highly competitive. Parents are not only concerned with how in the world they're going to pay for college 15 years from now, but will their child even get accepted? Yes, many colleges and universities are requiring higher SAT scores and classroom performance from incoming freshman. But if college admission is so competitive, I can't help but wonder why the high school senior in our home has received more unsolicited college brochures than teen shopping catalogues in recent months.

If you have enrolled your preschooler in group or individual tutoring, don't be offended. Parents have the right to choose what they think is best for their kids. I realize that entrance into some schools is competitive, and I understand why parents want to do what it takes to compete for limited enrollment. But you need to know two things: First, the jury is still out on just how effective preschool tutoring is. Second, you also need to know there are many things you can do as parents that will greatly enrich your little preschooler's learning. Theses activities are age appropriate, and they will not require you to take out a second mortgage.

Here are a few tips:

• Preschoolers learn through play activities. Make-believe, simple art, creative games that stimulate the imagination, interaction with stories/children's books and simple toys are all great for growing bodies and minds. Learning does not always have to be a "structured" activity. Preschoolers exploring the world around them is great for learning.

• Let your preschooler help you around the house and in the yard. Don't make it like work. Make it fun and interactive. Just talking about what you are doing will lead to endless questions from your preschooler that equal learning. However, whether talking in the car or around the kitchen table, avoid making every interaction a "learning experience." I have witnessed this first hand, and not only is it overkill — it may become annoying to all (including your preschooler!).

• Toys can be simple and not expensive. When I was growing up, I loved building things with Legos and Lincoln Logs (and our daughters did too). Not only is building with blocks good for fine motor development, but it stimulates creative thinking as well.

• Never forget — more books and less TV/videos equal better learning. Read, read and read with your child!Bryan Greeson, a nationally certified school psychologist residing in Gastonia, N.C., will answer your parenting questions. E-mail him at parentconnection@hotmail.com

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The Garden School Tattler


The day got off with a bang - literally. Miss Molly was in a terrible car accident, but she and the baby are fine, and so is Jack. Thank God for His blessings, and thank God for the police force and the fire department for INSISTING that children are buckled in properly.

The light was out, and Miss Molly's car was struck in a busy intersection by a tremendous impact that sent the car spinning through a double circle, broke her axle, bent a wheel horizontally, and pushed her car two lanes over and nearly toppled it over. After the shake up, Jack was able to come to school and not miss the field trip, and Miss Molly went to see her doctor who said she'd be sore, but she'd be OK.

When we see children roaming around in cars, we cringe. I always think of a little girl I went to school with who was brain damaged on her way home from the hospital as a new born. There was an accident and she hit the dashboard. When I think of what her life was like because she had not been in a car seat some sixty years ago, I still cringe.

Children are so precious, so dear, and we are their safety zones.

It was a cool but lovely day, and we were out in most of it. We went to the pumpkin patch and each of the children got a pumpkin. They ran around looking at the pumpkins and had a tough decision as to which one was the most perfect.

Then it was off to Wesselman Woods to play and eat pizza Mrs. St. Louis ordered. The kids ate five boxes of pizza and five orders of bread sticks.

We played at the park and a class from Newburgh School came to play as well. I met some of my children's teachers from back in the 1970's who are still teaching. It's always nice to know that people are still doing a great job.

Back at the school we had an easy afternoon, and ate apples and carrots and dip on the patio. I gave out Fall suns and stars to kids with medals. I have a big box of "hangables" for kids who do a nice job. If I pull out the box, the kids can pretty much have what they want. I fixed some of the crinoids with new gold wires, and Peyton just had to have bell. She also found a ballet slipper set, and Alexa wanted one too, so I gave her a sun instead because I only had one ballet slipper set. I invited the kids to bring little trinkets to hang on their medals, and I promised I'd but a jumper on for durability. Every so often I pass out things, and those wearing medals can get something new. David got a whole new medal, and so did Mayli.

Tomorrow is fine arts day. We will be listening to Handel and making witches.

Australia

Home is always superior to day care until a child is able to play with other children - about age three. At age three, children really want to play with other children simply because they are "their own kind." They want to move quickly, explore, and find out for themselves, and someone eye to eye who has the same energy is just the ticket.

Good childcare whether it's a school, a play center, a play group, or whatever adults choose to call it is a world for children and all the adults have a responsibility to not only voice their opinions but make sure the environment continues to be a place where children can learn, because learning is what children want to do MOST!

Here is an opinion from Australia. They have the same problems as we do, only from this letter, it sounds a lot worse.

OPINION
Elizabeth Meryment
Australia

The battle between working and non-working mothers has always been vitriolic, but recently stay-at-home mothers seem to have gained the moral ascendancy. To have a child in long-day care is more often becoming frowned on by the stay-at-home team as a mild form of child abuse.

Partly this has sprung from academic Anne Manne's book Motherhood, in which she cites research that claims young children suffer increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol when they are in organised care. While many have dismissed her book as pompous drivel, the debate rages on.

This is an emotive argument, if also an academic one, because the reality of today's society is that women with children work in large numbers, whether that's because they want to or because they need to. Commentators can argue away about the merits of home-based or organised child care, but long-daycare centres are here and people most definitely want to use them, even many mothers who don't have jobs.

In The Australian last week, the Clovelly Child Care Centre in Sydney's eastern suburbs was reported as having 700 children on its waiting list, 400 of whom were younger than two.
"We might offer eight places out per year in our under-two group," said the centre's Sally Anderson. "We are a non-profit centre so people tend to flock to us. But supply just doesn't meet demand."

That the centre is non-profit is important because the price of child care in many places is becoming utterly outrageous, with some centres charging $105 a day per child.

The reasons child care has become so expensive are twofold. One is because working mothers - most of whom do not work full time and use child care only a few days a week - want excellent care for their children and are prepared to pay for the best available. The other is this Government's ideologically driven childcare policies.

Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson often proffers predictable rhetoric about how well the Government funds the childcare sector. But one of the Howard Government's first decisions on taking office in 1996 was to slash $500 million from childcare funding. This severely dented the industry and nearly a decade later those suffering for it are the working mothers forced to fork out large parts of their pay for the privilege of being taxpayers, a double insult as they are also denied government benefits offered to stay-at-home mothers.

And it's not only working mothers who are suffering: it's their children who are really copping it.
Having spent some time visiting childcare centres in Sydney lately, I can see why some children suffer stress when they are there. Some of these places are soulless, overpopulated institutions filled with often sick children who spread colds and flu to each other. I certainly wouldn't like to spend time there, let alone place a small child in one. Some of the places I've seen have lax security and bricked-in playgrounds, others have inadequate supervision.

At one expensive place I saw young babies left to sleep on their bellies, with pillows and quilts in their cots, in contravention of everything one is warned about for the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome. One baby had been in this dire place five days a week from six weeks of age. Without wanting to get too deeply into the stay-at-home v work debate, this hardly seems ideal; nobody could sensibly deny that very young babies need their mothers to be with them most of the time.

This isn't to say that organised child care can't be good for young children, especially a few days a week for older babies and toddlers. As the youngest child in a large family, I remember being stuck at home alone with my mother while my older sisters were at school. Although my mother did her best to amuse me, I remember the loneliness and boredom of days filled with solo tea parties at the bottom of the garden with only teddy for company. My first day at school was complete happiness.

So I'm sure organised child care can be helpful not only for mothers but for children, and there are some excellent centres where small numbers of happy children are looked after by kind staff who clearly adore them. The children, especially first or last children or those from small families, learn to socialise, play and share, are amused all day and give their parents a break.

This is the sort of environment that should be available for all small children in care and the question is why really good care should not be available to all children who use it. Why should children be getting stressed out in overcrowded, underfunded centres? The first step is decent federal funding and childcare subsidies.

Whether children should be in child care is moot. But they are in child care whether commentators think they should be or not. The question should be how to improve the care children receive and make top-quality child care affordable for every child using it. After all, it is the children who are the ultimate winners or losers.

DVD Report - Madagasgar

Here's the DVD release report from Debby Peters. I think parents will like this movie more than the kids, but the activities listed seem like fun.
Madagascar

From the studio that brought you Shrek and Shark Tale.... Go wild on November 15th when MADAGASCAR, the hit family movie debuts on DVD and VHS from DreamWorks Home Entertainment. This must-own DVD release of the year's #1 family comedy captures the film's blend of humor, adventure and all-out fun with an array of engaging, interactive bonus programming that delivers tremendous entertainment value.

More than a movie, the MADAGASCAR DVD explodes with over 100 activities, interactive games and creative projects that will have kids and adults alike roaring for more, including an all-new I Like To Move It, Move It music
video specially-created for the DVD release featuring the Madagascar zoosters and assorted jungle locals in a wild dance celebration.

Available for $19.95, the MADAGASCAR DVD also includes Behind The Crates, a hilarious tongue-in-cheek look at the making of the movie, a commentary by the film's breakout characters ­ the prodigious penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, an entertaining Learn To Draw program from the film's animation team, an extensive array of downloadable activities and customizable projects, and much more.

MADAGASCAR tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who find themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. Stranded, the native New Yorkers ­ Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) must figure out how to survive in the wild and discover the true
meaning of the phrase It's a jungle out there.

The design of the four main characters began with the basic features of a lion, zebra, hippopotamus and giraffe. Influenced by classic cartoons from the 1930's and 40's as well as children's picture books, the teams at DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks then used state-of-the-art computer animation to achieve an old-fashioned cartoon look that pays homage to such animation legends such as Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. In keeping with Madagascar's cartoon comedy style, the animators carried this look over to all of the film's elements. As the designs dictated that this world be slightly askew -- not overly caricaturized -- the team began referring to it as the "whack factor."

PENGUIN COMMENTARY
- Those four plotting penguins ­ Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico ­ who set the entire story in motion with their planned escape from the zoo to head for the wide open spaces of Antarctica reminisce about their on-set antics.

FILMMAKERS' COMMENTARIES
- From classic cartoons and children's books to the paintings of renowned French artist Henri Rousseau, in this commentary the Madagascar filmmakers reveal the design influences that helped shape the fantastical island of Madagascar. Filled with fun anecdotes about the production process such as the individual hurdles each of the characters presented to the animation team, ranging from Alex's mane, to Melman's neck, to Gloria's rather rotund
girth and even Marty's particular talent for shifting from being a quadruped, walking on all fours, to a biped, and how the off-screen friendships of the voice talent added to the character's relationships.

MAD MISHAPS
- A montage of the most amusing technical goofs that occurred during the Madagascar production.

CRACK THE CODE
- Always popping up out of nowhere, the wildly hilarious Penguins intermittently invade the menus, leaving behind random foot prints. Each foot print reveals a mysterious code that allows viewers to eventually Crack the Code. Once cracked, users are in for a delightful surprise!

MEET THE WILD CAST
- An entertaining introduction to Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe, and the talented actors that brought them roaring to life.

ENCHANTED ISLAND
- Sponsored by the Madagascar Conservation Organization, get an exciting location-by-location tour of the beautiful and exotic island of Madagascar!

BEHIND THE CRATES
- Led by writer/directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, the teams at DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks reveal how they used state-of-the art computer animation to bring Madagascar from storyboards to the big screen.

THE TECH OF MADAGASCAR
- A behind-the-scenes look at the technical expertise required to create this animated film.

DREAMWORKS KIDS: THIS WAY TO PLAY
- Designed just for kids, this menu option offers a variety of fun-filled, engaging interactive games and activities, and is loaded with non-stop fun and entertainment.

-I Like To Move It, Move It Video
The premiere of the I Like To Move It, Move It music video featuring the vocal talents of Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien and the entire Madagascar crew in a wild dance celebration.

Set Top Games:
An exclusive version of the Madagascar bEqual game only on the DVD! Have fun with your whole family while you learn more about the wild side of the animal world!

- Learn To Draw
Learn to draw your favorite Madagascar characters with this step-by-step onscreen guide.

- Matching Lemurs
In this memory game, kids need to help control a wild group of dancing lemurs by matching up them up with their more sedate twin, but with all of those dancing lemurs it will be tough to spot the twin.

- Marty's Birthday Wish
Find the hidden birthday gift and view a different birthday fortune each time.

- Madagascar Symphony
This game will challenge viewers to replay sounds they hear in the correct order.

- Fossa Wack
A hilarious take on the age-old Whack-A-Mole game.

DVD-Rom Activities
- Printables
The fun continues long after the movie ends with a collection of Madagascar inspired creative activities that allow kids to unleash their wild side: Make a Madagascar fashion statement with a selection of printable iron-ons; download frames for your favorite photos; be irresistibly drawn to customizable magnets; become a true party animal with an assortment of invitations and decorations that can be personalized for any occasion; transform your room into a zany zoo filled with posters of your favorite characters; and more.

CAST AND CREW BIOS AND PRODUCTION NOTES

PHOTO GALLERIES

VHS Price: $19.95 (M.A.P.)
DVD Price: $19.95 (M.A.P.)
Street Date: November 15, 2005
Running Time: 85 minutes, 53 seconds
MPAA Rating: PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements
Audio: English 5.1, English 2.0, French 5.1, French 2.0,
Spanish 2.0
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
Closed Captioned

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The Garden School Tattler


It was a great day today! We had a great start of the day with a new novel called "Whitefoot the Wood Mouse." It was published in 1922, and it's about a mouse. The kids seemed to like it. David was mystified by this wonderful little timid mouse.

Weather report: a few storm clouds in the morning, and calm seas by noon. Afternoon skies clear and cloudless.

We had donuts and apples and milk indoors and then settled down for a day of making paper spiders. Halloween is just THERE!!!

Tomorrow is field trip day, and we talked about the pumpkin patch. It should be a chilly day, so the kids need to wear a light jacket or the school sweatshirt if they have it.

We started evals on children for permanent records today. They will go with children to big schools.

We had homemade bean soup, snausage, pears, apples, French bread and milk today for lunch. Lots the the kids ate bean soup for the first time and liked it. I made homemade egg rolls for the teachers, and some of the kids tasted them and liked them. They are simple to do.

The news media was in school at 2:00 to film the last of the toy test. Miss Molly and Miss Stacey were interviewed along with Ty, Yuta, Mayli. This should be airing shortly. The whole video will be available to parents in November.

Now that the media is gone, we can pull the toys out on the floor and let the kids be kids and play. We were so afraid that someone would break something before the end of the test, we kind of protected them from harm.

Looking forward to tomorrow -

Garden School Tattler


Tuesday was about trying very hard to keep our medals and to acclimate to a more indoor routine. We are accustomed to playing outdoors as much as we can, so indoor play is still something we have to find. Indoor play is more thought provoking than the long stretches and runs and shouts of outdoor play. Children should have both every day, but sometimes that's not possible.

Weather report - cloudy with some afternoon sun.

Re-discovering old toys from last year can either bore a child to death or he can discover new angles. It depends on the child and his mindscape. By mindscape, I mean his willingness to look at something about the way a mother looks at a bag of carrots and says, "Now what interesting thing can I do with these terrible little things." And with a little ingenuity, he's created a new "fun project." Carrots, by the way are wonderful with chicken, bacon and red wine.

We will be finishing the new toy test today, and then they go on the shelves. The kids have been really patient about them. We have had to keep them separate from the old stuff because we are still testing. And we are still talking about pieces!

Tuesday we had sticky buns, raisins, and milk for breakfast and baked chicken, noodles, grapes, applesauce, green salad, and milk.

Thursday is field trip day. Children should wear green shirts and red sweatshirts. If your child is still lacking a red sweatshirt from school, we will order it. But for now please send him in either a sweatshirt jacket or a light jacket - no heavy coats yet, please.

Field trips are always finished by 1:00 PM. Miss Sandy has to be at her bus route shortly after.

On Monday we will have an all day Halloween Party that promptly ends at 4:00. This is to encourage parents to take children Trick or Treating early with plenty of time to really enjoy it.

Children will be pottied, freshened, and painted and ready to go after the party.

Illinois



I'm not sure I'm for prescribed preschool or even a nation wide program or a universal program because in each state, or each area for that matter, people differ and children differ and needs differ and I don't think it can be legislated from DC. I think our public schools tell us what a huge failure "big" has been. The larger a preschool gets, the more like day care it becomes. Small private schools built for the child not the backers is the way to go.

Chicago Sun Times
Preschool education seen as key for kids
October 17, 2005
BY ROSALIND ROSSI AND MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Education Reporters

Two years of preschool is now the norm that kids carry into the kindergartens of the top public schools in Illinois, a Chicago Sun-Times survey of parents indicates. More than three-quarters of kindergartners had double doses of preschool before starting classes this year at a sampling of the state's top 20 schools, the Sun-Times found.

At most Chicago public schools, kids are lucky to walk in the door with one year of preschool, one analysis indicates. That's certainly true at Morse School, one of the lowest-scoring public schools in the city.

Among kindergartners in the Morse classroom of teacher Sally Schwab, only 19 percent had been exposed to two years of preschool, parent surveys showed.

"These children need every minute of school," said Schwab, who teaches at Morse, one of the lowest-scoring public schools. "Obviously the playing field is not level. It's not level at all."

When the opening-day bell rang for kindergarten this year, most of teacher Sally Schwab's students weren't around to hear it. Almost two-thirds didn't show up for their first day of classes at Morse School, one of the lowest-scoring public schools in the city. Some had never spent a day in preschool. A few held their books upside down.

During the first two weeks of school last month, Sun-Times reporters observed two kindergartens -- one at Morse and the other at Beaubien, one of the city's 10 highest-scoring neighborhood schools. They surveyed parents about their kindergartners' previous school experience -- information the Chicago Public Schools system doesn't track.

Survey results published Sunday showed huge gaps in predictors of school success -- such as mothers' education levels and books in the home -- at Morse, a high-poverty school in West Humboldt Park, vs. Beaubien School, a far more affluent school in Jefferson Park.

The readiness gap

At Beaubien, nearly half of teacher Maureen Bryers' kindergartners walked in the door with two years of preschool, surveys indicated. Twice as many Morse kids had no preschool whatsoever.

Bryers' students fell easily into the swing of following directions, standing in line and listening to the teacher -- the kinds of readiness skills usually honed in preschool.

But in Schwab's classroom, some kids stood up in the middle of a lesson and strolled across the room. Forty percent, Schwab estimated, needed instructions repeated. Morse's 19 percent two-year preschool rate is not far from the 17 percent rate calculated for the Sun-Times by the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research. However, the consortium's analysis didn't capture kids with private pre-school.

Under Mayor Daley's watch, Chicago schools have increased preschool slots by 60 percent in the last decade, to 29,000 seats. Even so, officials say, about 5,000 at-risk kids wanted preschool last year and couldn't get it.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan said the Sun-Times' findings are one more reason to support universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.

"Every study shows the extraordinary benefits of preschool,'' Duncan said. "The more, the better. But while politicians give lip service to this, the bottom line is we are far behind other countries in making this a real priority.''

At Beaubien, Bryers said, it was easy, from day one, to tell which half of her class had two years of preschool. "I think the preschool experience is really important because they arrive here more independent and active in their learning,'' she said.

Nationally, poor kids start kindergarten already 18 months behind other kids, said W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. They have to compete against kids whose more-affluent family backgrounds give them a power burst out of the kindergarten starting gate -- and beyond.

"The kids who are already ahead have more to build on,'' said Barnett. "It's like having money in the bank, and I'm earning interest. If I have more money in the bank, how are you ever going to catch up with me?"

For poor kids, high-quality preschool can change lives. One long-term study indicates poor 3-year-olds in Chicago's child-parent centers were more likely to complete high school and less likely to be held back a grade, placed in special education or arrested for a crime as a juvenile.

At more-affluent Wiesbrook School in Wheaton this year, 89 percent of kindergartners arrived with two years of preschool. That means, said Principal Dianne Thornburg, "oftentimes they are not hearing things for the first time. They are hearing them for the second and third time.''

Preschool rates at schools like Wiesbrook are "further evidence that if your community wants to have a top-scoring school, make sure that your kids get two years of preschool to be ready for kindergarten,'' said Barbara Radner, director of DePaul University's Center for Urban Education.

"CPS has to raise the average,'' Radner said. "Citywide, we have to move this number because if you move that number, you move all the others.''

Boy Embraces School -- But He's a Stranger In a Strange Land

BY Rosalin Rossi Education Reporter

During his first day of kindergarten at Morse School, Jermaine Porter was a stranger in a strange land. After a summer of playing outside, he suddenly was asked to sit at a desk -- a fine instrument for banging like a drum, he quickly discovered.

When his teacher asked questions, he acted as if she were talking just to him and blurted out answers without raising his hand.

Rather than walk single-file, he preferred to move up and down a line, enjoying the view from a variety of perspectives.

Like thousands of Chicago Public Schools students, 5-year-old Jermaine tackled his first day of kindergarten Sept. 6 without any preschool under his belt.

Readiness skills often honed in preschool -- raising a hand, following directions -- were new challenges.

Only 3 books at home

But he greeted them eagerly. On a sunny morning, Jermaine was one of the first children in his daylong class to arrive at Morse, a stately 101-year-old public school in impoverished West Humboldt Park. Its scores are among the lowest in the city on 2004 state reading and math tests.

The night before, Jermaine says, he was so excited, "I stayed up all night.'' Maybe that's why, during his first crack at nap time, he was out cold and had to be shaken awake.

Jermaine has a body built for action -- small but muscular, like a pint-size middleweight fighter's. But when teacher Sally Schwab read tales of a little girl named Goldilocks and a race between a tortoise and a hare, he was readily quiet.

He left a home with only three books -- all of them "church books,'' according to his mom -- where he was read to once a week, to enter a wonderland of books, all geared to kids, where he is read to at least twice a day.

Jermaine is among six Schwab students who've had no preschool or only a few months of it. Some arrived days late to school, missing the introduction of classroom rules.

Strong in math

All, at various times, have required special attention. Half could not hold a book properly. Three cried during bouts of separation anxiety. A few earned time-outs.

Like most of his colleagues with limited school experience, Jermaine is still learning to print his first name. He needs work identifying primary colors and basic shapes. Coloring inside the lines? Not yet.

But even without preschool, Jermaine is one of the strongest math students in the class, the only child to reel off numbers past 100.

At home, Jermaine is buoyed by a supportive family. His mom, Chanita Wilson, took him to school the first day and joined him in class for a while the second. His aunt, a school breakfast room helper, checks with his teacher every morning.

But in school, he's experiencing culture shock. Initially, he blurted out answers. Then he progressed to waving his hand -- but didn't have an answer when called on; he just got a kick out of being recognized.

Eventually, he was contributing. Within days, he was producing tipsy but somewhat recognizable letters, merrily declaring afterward, "I'm done! I'm done!''

Though school is a foreign land, Jermaine is a happy resident, smiling often to reveal two missing front teeth. He gave his first week a solid thumbs-up.

"I like being in class,'' Jermaine said. "I like going everywhere [in school] -- even to the bathroom.''

Wilson herself only made it to 12th grade. But this single mom wants better for Jermaine, for her four other children, and even for herself. She plans to start a licensed practical nurse program next year. And she wants her kids to go to college.

"Education is the key to life,'' Wilson says. "There's a lot of things you can find out in school.''

Classroom Setting Old Hat to Many Kids at Beaubien -- and it shows

BY Maudlyne Ihejirika Staff Reporter

On the first day of school, 5-year-old Anthony Consentino walked into kindergarten already a veteran. He had logged two years of preschool and already had kindergarten friends.

One of 25 students in Maureen Bryers' afternoon kindergarten class at 100-year-old Beaubien Elementary in middle-class Jefferson Park, Anthony was the first kid to arrive.

Despite having attended two years of tuition-based preschool at Beaubien, Anthony held tight to Mom's leg, until he saw best buddy Alessandro Corazzino, 5, another two-year veteran.

Anthony tore toward his friend, and they roughhoused until the bell rang and Bryers threw open the schoolhouse doors.

Last year, Beaubien's scores were among the highest among city neighborhood schools on reading and math tests.

Like little soldiers, Anthony and 23 pint-size playmates, freshly starched in first-day clothes and weighted down by cartoon-themed backpacks, marched into the building and up the stairs to Bryers' bright, color-splashed Room 942.

Anthony was no novice to this school thing.

'They understand directions'

After Principal Chris Kotis came in to meet the kids, Anthony announced to his classmates: "If one of us gets in trouble, we have to go to the principal's office."

From the first day, it was clear that school was old hat for Anthony and his classmates. When Bryers told them to go hang up their backpacks and come sit on the carpet under the chalkboard, they did. When she told them to stand on the big green circle painted on the floor in the middle of the room, they did.

Bryers' students sat cross-legged and listened intently when told, independently chose games off a shelf at activity time -- and put them back in their boxes when told to -- and in an orderly fashion found seats at empty tables when it was time to do schoolwork.

"The majority of these children have gone to preschool here, many of them for two years. They understand directions,'' Bryers said. "You can tell who has not had as much experience. They're more hesitant."

Anthony could write his first name. He could state his full name. He could count to 100. He could use a scissors and a pencil. He knew all of his colors, his phone number and his birthday. But not his address.

Anthony's stick figures were less than fully developed blobs. This did not thrill his best friend when the kids were asked to draw a classmate and get their autograph. "That's not me!" an outraged Alessandro said. "That's us playing soccer," insisted Anthony.

Ready for lifetime of learning

Anthony lives with his mom and dad and 2-year-old brother. He loves to talk and is a sponge dripping with random information. Mom Nikki Consentino, 31, explained the family has "hundreds" of books in the house, and "most of them" belong to Anthony. Also, she said, Anthony is glued to the computer several times a week.

Every morning until the second week of school, Anthony got in line. Then one day in week two, he had second thoughts about this kindergarten thing.

He clung to Mom's leg. "You have to come. I need you as my messenger today," Bryers cajoled. It worked. "Thank you," his relieved mother said.

Nikki Consentino, a high school graduate who had her first child at 26, picks her son up at 1:45 p.m. daily. She is sure the two years of preschool have prepared her son for a lifetime of learning.

What does she want him to be when he grows up? "Happy and successful."

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Puppies Need a Home!



























































I am posting this on behalf of a lady who needs a little help. In the picture, you see a gorgeous blacklab now named "Annie."

About three weeks ago, a family friend of mine found Annie on the side of their busy street, pregnant with 15 puppies and near death from starvation. It was obvious that someone dropped her there because they wanted her to be found.

My friend barely got Annie home before she had her puppies. Annie had fifteen beautiful lab/boxer mixed puppies. My friend already has 3 dogs, and plans to keep Annie, but can't keep all of the puppies.

Two have already died because Annie wasn't nourished enough to keep the puppies well nourished before and after birth. All of the puppies are adorable, as you will see!

My favor to ask is that you view the puppies in the posted pictures, and if you can't take one, please tell a friend about this site that you think may want one.

Please send a response to this blog site comments page and someone will be in touch with you. And, thank you all for your help in finding these little guys a new home!

The city is Evansville, Indiana.

Help!


I got this note from a dear friend. She's a nurse, and a good one. What does this have to do with children? Well, my cousin Carroll's daughter Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just pregnant with her second child. She struggled with the pregnancy until the seventh month when they induced the baby and did radical surgery on her. She is fine today, but she was very very sick for a long time. Sometimes, like in Amy's case, it's a mommy and me thing. I think Amy is a hero for what she managed to go through for the sake of her little boy. So for me, it's a once a day deal to do what Susie asked:

Every click is tripled during October!!!

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today!

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ or HERE

AGAIN, PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 TODAY

People have a strange notion of children. I got an email last night that blew me out of the water. Little kids hit each other. I thought everyone knew that. And depending on the care and love of good parents and providers, children begin to see that hitting is not the answer to their problems.

As children become more verbal, they stop hitting, so the job of a good parent and a good provider is to teach children as much as they can, so that every child has alternatives.

Aggressive children come from too small an environment and too many children forced into a small environment and a shortage of goods and services. In a small crowded store with only one attendant long lines and few goods, wouldn't most adults freak out - especially if they were forced to stay there? But we expect to leave our most cherished little people in situations like that all the time. Here's an article:

Good news and bad news about day care
Thursday, October 20, 2005
BY PEGGY O'CROWLEY
Star-Ledger Staff

If you're following the debate over long-term effects of day care, take out your scorecards.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care, the largest and lengthiest look at children who spent their earliest years in daycare, has just released a report on how the subjects were doing at age 8. Born in 1991, the children are now 14 years old.

On the plus side, children who attended high-quality child care programs continued to perform better academically in language, math, and short-term memory tests through the third grade. And the much-hyped finding that 4-year-olds in day care were more aggressive and acted out more didn't seem to hold true by the time they reached third grade.

The bad news? While they may not be bullies, the children who spent early years in child care seemed to have poorer social skills and work habits when they got to third grade compared to peers who were not in child care.

The differences, however, were not that dramatic. What's more important, according to Carolyn Booth-LaForce, a principal investigator, is the quality of early parenting, which is two to three times more influential on how kids turn out than child care arrangements.

Depending on who's talking, the kids are all right, or they're in trouble.

"The argument is that it's a small effect, but the effects apply to lots of children. Are we creating a generation of children who have slightly poorer social skills and slightly poorer work habits? If you have a classroom full of these children, will teachers have to spend more time on social skills and behavior management than on academic subjects?" said Booth-LaForce, a professor at the University of Washington.

"We don't have the evidence to say whether that's happening, and I don't buy it. As of now, I'd be cautiously optimistic about these findings in terms of an individual child. Parents shouldn't be excessively worried about them," she said.

But Jay Belsky, another investigator now at the University of London, believes these effects are cause for concern. Belsky, an American scholar who has authored many studies on the ill effects of long hours spent in child care, believes the argument that the effects are small does not take into account that these effects are seen across large numbers of the study's 972 subjects.

"What is more important, large effects that apply to few, or small effects that apply to many? What happens when classrooms have lots of kids who spent lots of time in child care before entering school? Do teachers spend more time managing the class than teaching and do they end up teaching at a lower level?" Belsky asked, responding to questions sent via e-mail.

He also said the findings that 4-year-olds were not as aggressive at age 8 did not mean that later findings, such as less social competence and poorer academic work habits, should not be taken seriously.

"Consider a cold: Does the fact that you are no longer coughing mean all that much if you are now sneezing? If we were talking about the effects of maternal depression or growing up in poverty and we had exactly the same set of disappearing and emerging findings, would anybody be making these claims?" asked Belsky, the director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues at the University of London.

So what's a parent to do?

Belsky likens himself to the weatherman forecasting the situation; what parents do with that information is up to them, he said. Booth-LaForce said the findings indicate that parents should pay attention to how they interact with their children, since their influence is greater than the effects of child care.

She also suggested that parents pay attention to the quality of their children's child care experiences, since quality is related to higher academic performance in later years.

The next milestone for the researchers, using the same 1,000-plus children in 10 locations across the country, will be an assessment of their skills and behaviors at the end of sixth grade. Those findings should be available in about two years, Booth-LaForce estimated. If funding holds out, they would like to keep evaluating the subjects until they reach young adulthood.
Peggy O'Crowley covers family issues. She can be reached at pocrowley@starledger.com or at (973) 392-5810.

Doodlebops


I saw this article and watched the Doodlebops for the first time with my visiting granddaughter, Elizabeth age 2. She just loved them. It's fun to see the behind the scenes "where do they get this stuff" information, so here goes:

CNN Matthews
New Distribution Experts
OCTOBER 19, 2005 - 15:18 ET
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

THE DOODLEBOPS TM Lions Gate To Debut Hit Television Series On DVD In 2006"Come on Doodlebops! Let's Go!" Cookie Jar Entertainment has awarded the domestic home video distribution rights for the company's hit live action preschool series The Doodlebops! to Lions Gate Entertainment's Family Entertainment (LGFE), a division of Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE and TSX: LGF).

The announcement was made today by Anne Parducci, Lions Gate Executive Vice President, Family Entertainment and Marketing, and Cookie Jar Entertainment President and Chief Operating Officer, Toper Taylor.

Under the terms of the deal, LGFE acquires the exclusive domestic home video distribution rights to the show's 26 existing episodes and 26 episodes currently in production, with the first release set for 2006."

Cookie Jar has a truly exciting property in The DoodlebopsTM that, with its vibrant music and characters and positive messaging, has captured the hearts of preschoolers and parents alike," said Parducci.

"Overwhelmingly popular in the world of children's entertainment, we are pleased to add the property to our existing library of favorite children's properties, including Barbie, Care Bears, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Maya & Miguel, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids and The Koala Brothers."

One of the top-rated shows on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool programming block, The Doodlebops stars band members Deedee, Rooney and Moe Doodle as rock 'n rollers who introduce children to music, dance, comedy and pro-social educational issues in a lively live-action half-hour daily program.

Teaching young viewers physical development, The DoodlebopsTM is all about getting kids up and moving! The ultimate rock and roll band for preschoolers, The DoodlebopsTM hang out and practice their song and dance routines in the coolest rehearsal space imaginable and go from gig to gig in the world's coolest tour bus!The DoodlebopsTM made its Playhouse Disney/Disney Channel debut in April 2005.

"The DoodlebopsTM - with its colorful cast of characters, catchy music and fun-filled stories - has all the ingredients to create a must-have DVD collection for preschool families everywhere. We are delighted to join with Lions Gate Family Entertainment, which has burgeoned into one of the most respected resources for quality children's and family entertainment," said Taylor.

About Lions Gate EntertainmentLions Gate is the premier independent producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library is a valuable source of stable and recurring revenue, and it serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lions Gate brand name is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

About Cookie Jar Group

Cookie Jar Group develops, produces, distributes and markets quality products to children, their caregivers, parents and teachers. Cookie Jar Group's products reflect its commitment to providing the best in children's published content, animated and live action programming and innovative educational and entertainment-driven products worldwide. The group of companies consists of Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. and Cookie Jar Education Inc., as well as a 20% interest in Teletoon Canada Inc., Canada's only all animation broadcaster.

Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc., Cookie Jar Group's entertainment operation, is a leading, global, independent producer, marketing and brand manager of such renowned children's properties as "Arthur," "The Doodlebops," "Caillou" and "Gerald McBoing Boing." Combining globally-renowned intellectual properties with an industry-recognized management team, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. is a market-driven, brand building company that is committed to children first and foremost and is dedicated to the development and production of quality programming that embraces the whole child, with animated and live-action series that entertain, inspire and enlighten children and family audiences worldwide.

Monday, October 24, 2005

The Garden School Tattler

What a great day!

The kids played pretty well. We announced the new game of last man on the mountain, or who can keep his medal the longest, and the smart kids settled right in to a good routine. They were helpful volunteers, good citizens, careful companions, and when Faith smooshed her finger on the tire swing, Abby was in full attendance reporting every tender breath, every whine, every grueling step to the kitchen for the ice.

Triston was in rare form. He created a spider with forty legs. "Extras," he said and turned in his drawing.

Jasmine finally got her medal. She's been on planet nine, so we gave her an extra week of grace.

Speaking of an extra week of grace, we were told on Sunday that the toy test is over and we need to turn in our evals. Thanks to Rachel, the evals are about done. I loved participating in this wonderful contest, but one of the things we did not get and need desperately are girls toys. We are looking for the little littles I believe are called Polly Pocket.

We had breakfast inside today. It was a new experience for some of the kids - hot oatmeal. You wouldn't believe the comments: "I usually eat this cold." "I only want the brown part." "What IS this?" Proper hot cereal is oatmeal sans lumps, melted butter, lots of brown sugar and milk if desirable. Actually, oatmeal is a great winter ice cream-like treat that is a great base for a lot of really interesting additions like coconut, nuts, chocolate chips, cold cereal, dried fruit, trail mix, spices, syrups, raisins, and a host of other daring delights like fresh fruit and peanut butter.

Some of our more behaviorally challenged kids tried their luck at unfriendly bold play and eyed us with that, "She doesn't REALLY mean that she'd take our medals," and as luck would have it on a Monday, they lost. We had a throw our milk on the floor because we didn't like our cereal behavior edition, throwing rocks at cars for fun and profit, Tarzan of the bathroom sings, loop de loop and oop de oops, tumbling time in circle time, rudeness refusal, which is a combination "Go to _ I don't want to." And your usual "Deck the bowels of someone smaller, fa, la, la, la, la...."

There is a chart on the kitchen door. Winners will be posted.

Lunch was a combination American extravaganza. We had tacos with cheese, rice, corn, salad, bananas, applesauce, and pumpkin pie and milk. Triston ate three tacos, rice, corn, three helpings of applesauce, two bananas and 5 pieces of pumpkin pie. He's our smallest child.

This afternoon, I told ghost stories. I live in the only actively haunted house in Newburgh. I've seen or heard eight ghosts on a number of occasions. One would naturally think I was NUTS, but my husband has been awakened over the years with children's play on the hallway steps. My house was built in 1830. We have lived here thirty years. I tell the children that since all life comes from God, there is nothing to be frightened of. They are there, and so am I, and we get along fine. All our ghost stories are friendly and fun. The kids love these tales. They are all true.

We finished the day with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Poland


FYI - I love these stories. Where do the children go? Are there children's centers in Poland, or is this a ruse? In a very Catholic country like Poland, what can this mean?

Poland: First Adventist Day Care Center Opens
October 19, 2005 Podkowa Lensa, Poland
A. Kosowka/A. Pietka/ANN Staff

Adventist News Network
Child's play: Youngster plays with instructors at the Nadzieja.pl Day Care Centre in Podkowa Lensa, Poland, the first Seventh-day Adventist day care center in the nation.

[Photo: M. Kitka/Nadzieja.pl]

In a one-story house on Parkowa Street a group of children are attending a first-ever day care center run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland. The center opened Sept. 2 in Podkowa Lesna, making it the second Adventist educational institution in the country. This long-planned project was realized thanks to the efforts of Dawn Grant-Skiba and Agnieszka Kosowska, who wanted to ensure their children's development in a Christian atmosphere.

Joe Smoczynski, president of Nadzieja.pl ("Nadzieja" means "hope"), a Christian online company affiliated with the Adventist Church, donated the house that is being used for the day care center. The center is under the auspices of Nadzieja.pl Limited, which is where it gets its name, "Nadzieja.pl Day Care Centre."

The house includes a large playroom, a dining room, sleeping room, kitchen and bathroom. There is a playground in the yard. Local church members donated some items for the center.

"We did not want this [project] to be only our work," day care center director Kosowska says. "We wanted to encourage the church to participate in this endeavor. This is the reason why we made a list of the things that were necessary and placed it on the notice board. ... God has blessed us immeasurably."

"This idea can be fulfilled not only in Podkowa Lesna. There are several places in Poland where there is a lack of this kind of service," Smoczynski says. "All over the world there are numerous Adventist schools, universities and pre-schools. So why not finally start the same here?"

The idea is appreciated by those using the day care center's services. One child's father said: "For me, it is important that [my] children are growing up in a truly Christian atmosphere where God and prayer are not taboo."

California


Must be nice. When the Garden School gets old, correct that - we maintain the grounds and building by adding new things, painting, and rearranging all the time. Care is upkeep. If something needs an extreme makeover, I wonder if....

Volunteers sought for extreme makeovers' of child-care homes

More help is needed for the "extreme makeovers" planned for 14 licensed family child care homes in San Bernardino County as part of Make a Difference Day.


Concrete is needed to fill a 24-by-24-foot space, a room or garage addition is needed for another project and 30 volunteers are still needed for a project in Phelan.

Much of the work is being done Saturday, but contractors offering their services are needed anytime, said coordinator Jennifer Celise-Reyes.

"It's getting down to the wire, and a lot of us are reaching down into our pockets to pay for things," she said.

For more information or to volunteer, call First 5 San Bernardino at (909) 386-7706.

Idaho

Children love going out to the farm. They see so many things, and those things create teachable moments. We are beginning to be removed from our roots of farming, and taking kids out to the farm is a priceless adventure and builds a lot of references.


Idahostatejournal.com
Pumpkin patch popular with kids
Chubbuck, Idaho

Baby Button got loose just as the children from Wee Care Preschool left the corn maze, but they had nothing to fear from the goat. Baby Button was born with no ears, no horns and no top teeth. What could he do, nudge them to death?But the goat wasn't the only attraction at Swore Farms Wednesday morning.

Miranda Kriner said she liked the Kiddie corn maze best, but she had mixed feelings about the pony, who mistook her finger for a treat Wednesday morning. The7-year-old was looking forward to choosing her pumpkin next, with a treat to follow.

It's all part of the package at the small family farm, which has turned into Pocatello's premier pumpkin patch this year. Area preschools and other groups have been making field trips north of Chubbuck for several weeks now, with more to come. In fact, the farm has been doing such a brisk business this autumn they ran out of pumpkins Wednesday.

“I had about 4 feet high and two cars long full of pumpkins, but we've had a lot of people come out,” said Swore, who was wearing a pumpkin orange vest.Not to worry, she purchased two palettes full to sell to eager carvers and painters.

Normally Swore gives tours by appointment only, but she's making an exception this weekend. Today and Saturday the farm is open to the public. After this weekend, groups can still come if they've scheduled a tour in advance, but Swore doesn't know if she's going to buy more pumpkins.

Hummingbird Gardens also has some Jack O'Lantern and Cinderella pumpkins available, but people should call 238-3578 to schedule an appointment for a visit.

If you go:
From 4-7 p.m. today and 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Swore Farm will be open to the public. Cost is $2.50 for children, parents and babies get in free. Kids are invited to come find the not-so-scary spooks in the corn maze and buy a pumpkin.To get there, go north on Yellowstone four miles past the Smith's Food Market in Chubbuck. Turn left on Ballard and look for a green painted Swore Farms sign on your right. Call 238-7466 for more information.

Pakistan


When my world traveling son arrived home last week, I asked him if he missed his travels which have been put to rest for a while. He said yes and no. He said while he was traveling how grateful he was to be an American, to have that American passport in his pocket. He said he was grateful to be able to come home to a place he knew he and his family would be safe.

In this country we have so much to be thankful for.

Russian doctor pleads for better quake child care

CRISIS PROFILE: Death and displacement in Chechnya
MORE By Suzanna Koster

ISLAMABAD, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The septuagenarian Russian doctor raged against the world as he emerged from the operating theatre of a Pakistani hospital where he's worked tirelessly for days to save the lives of earthquake victims.

Slumped on a bench in a corridor as a young boy was wheeled into the theatre sobbing, Leonid Roshal asked why there weren't enough doctors to treat the children.

"We don't have a good global system to help children during disasters," said the 72-year-old paediatrician, who has made a mission over the past two decades of getting to disasters as fast as he can.

Roshal has been there for the victims of earthquakes in Armenia, Georgia, Egypt, Japan, Afghanistan and India. He also mediated with Chechen separatist rebels who held an audience hostage at a Moscow theatre in 2002.

The earthquake struck Pakistan on Oct. 8 and Roshal and his team of seven doctors arrived just two days later.

"We need more special paediatrician teams that can quickly arrive in times of need," Roshal pleaded.

"Everyone in this world only thinks about the first two stages of disaster -- getting the people out of the houses and giving them first aid -- but nobody helps out with operations.

"If you don't give good hospital care the child will die, no matter how good the first aid," says Roshal, who heads the Moscow Children's Clinical and Research Institute of Emergency Surgery and Trauma.

British and Korean teams have joined the Russians helping local surgeons at the Pakistani Institute for Medical Sciences, the Islamabad hospital where hundreds of children evacuated from the most stricken areas have been sent for treatment.

The pressure on the hospital has been enormous, but after initial chaos some sense of order has returned, although wards are crammed and patients have spilled out into corridors.

CHILDREN HIT HARD
About 1,200 children have been operated on, a large number of the procedures handled by Russian surgeons.


The ones in a stable condition are sent to make-shift hospitals at a sports complex and a hostel.
When the quake struck, classrooms were full, while very young children were mostly at home with their mothers and women relatives, in keeping with the traditional values of the conservative Muslim communities in North West Frontier Province and Pakistani Kashmir.


Consequently, casualties among children were probably disproportionately high in a country where under-18s make up close to half the population.

The death toll from the quake is close to 50,000, while estimates of the injured are put at 74,000.

Both figures are expected to rise, as many isolated villages in the Himalayan foothills have been cut off by landslides and have still to be assessed, let alone reached.

With winter closing in, the United Nations Children's Fund has warned that 10,000 more children could die unless they get food and shelter soon.

Many casualties' injuries became infected because they were unable to get medical attention for days, leaving doctors little choice other than to amputate limbs to save lives.

Roshal agonised over just such a dilemma during his brief break from the operating table.
The feet of a six-year-old girl whose legs were crushed have turned black due to lack of blood circulation.


Amputation appeared inevitable, but the girl's father begged him, saying her life would not be worth living without her feet.

"I am still trying to find another way for her," he sighed. "I only decide to amputate if I am 100 percent sure it is impossible to do it another way."

Pennsylvania


Mrs. Schulte is right. Teaching to the test has ruined our schools and limited what we call academic freedom and reduced the talents of talented teachers to drone work. Teaching for tests and reducing things like art and music will not make the classroom a better place but a dry, lifeless hole kids will continue to hate.

Preschool classes
Letter to an Editor

In the Oct. 16 article "Charter schools fall short in testing," an accompanying photograph of children doing origami says it all. Many low achievers lack basic spatial skills that are precursors to reading.

Such skills are taught in good preschool programs, where children are given things such as blocks, shapes and puzzles as preparation for higher concepts, but these programs aren't available to all.

Since standardized tests assess skills that develop over many years, a charter school can't be expected to produce them - even in a year or two - when the necessary groundwork is lacking. Thank God for those schools providing it instead of "teaching to the test."

The small classes and relaxed environment of charter schools are equally important for children who find school threatening.

Rather than closing charter schools, how about making preschool more widely available?
Claudia Gellert Schulte
Philadelphia

Utah


As a monitor for the USDA Childcare Food Program for many years, I visited homes across seven counties in the state of Indiana. It was rare to visit a home that should not have been in business. Perhaps three homes were poorly run.

The problem is not a paternalistic government with too few rules. The problem is that government doesn't know what to do in the private sector. When the government tries to "rule" in the private sector, they nearly always get it wrong.

One of my chief difficulties with government in day care is their desire to focus on an uncovered garbage can at one licensed home with a preschool program and ten children while they ignore the unlicensed house down the street where the provider is burning trash in an open fire in the living room and fifty children who run the neighborhood.


Mullen: Quality child care a crapshoot
By Holly Mullen Tribune Columnist

Ouch.

A legislative audit of the state's child care industry released last week handed lawmakers more than they bargained for. Acting on complaints from a handful of Utah's 2,700 licensed child care providers who said health department licensers were too picky and arbitrary in citing health and safety violations, the Legislature ordered the state auditor to check it out.

It turns out that overregulation is scarcely the problem. It turns out that 47 convicted felons either lived or worked at licensed day care centers between 2002 and 2004. It turns out that two of those convicted criminals physically or sexually abused a child under a provider's care.

Legally, regulators can exempt day care programs that employ people convicted of misdemeanors such as drug possession or petty theft, but must get clearance from the health department director to do so. But in all these cases, regulators either granted exceptions to providers or weren't told of any misdemeanor records. And the most egregious case ended with the sexual abuse of a 5-year-old child by a man whose wife ran a home day care center. Even after the man pleaded guilty to sexual abuse, the license remained intact.


Burdensome regulation of child care seems to be the least of this state's worries. Certainly, the audit showed that some providers were nicked for minor infractions such as too little cushioning on playgrounds. But more than anything, the audit reinforces one fact most parents already know: It's a Herculean task to find quality child care you can trust and afford. And when you do find that place, sending your child there is too much of a crapshoot.

Some of the lax licensing can be blamed on a paternalistic sense many legislators still employ: that too many parents, specifically women, choose to work outside the home. This, even when 2000 figures from the Department of Workforce Services reveal that 54 percent of Utah's married couples with children work to survive. Seventy-four percent of Utah mothers with school-age children are in the work force. And 59 percent of Utah moms with preschoolers work outside the home.

The numbers exist, but judgments about who works and why, and who should and shouldn't, float in the subtext of every child care discussion at the Capitol. The schizophrenia around the topic is clear: The statistics are there. Parents work. Are politicians going to keep fighting that reality, or create ways to support the hard-working families who elect them? The most misguided move of all would be to further deregulate an industry that parents depend on to protect the most vulnerable.

Marc Babitz, a family practice physician appointed in May to head the health systems improvement division at the health department, told me on Friday "absolutely no more exceptions" to the licensing law would occur under his watch. His department has sent letters to all providers warning that anyone living or working within their business with a felony record must permanently leave the premises. They have one year to comply or lose their license. He vows the action will be swift and firm. Is that aggressive enough?

In some ways, Babitz's hands are tied. The providers in question, he said, have operated with the understanding they had a proper variance to the rules. It doesn't make him any less queasy. "We have 2,700 providers, five categories of licensing and a separate file on each provider," he said. "I just wish I had a button to push and take care of all this." hmullen@sltrib.com

Sunday, October 23, 2005

New Jersey



Central Jersey
COOL TO BE IN PRESCHOOL
Old Bridge class trains teachers
Home News Tribune Online 10/20/05
STAFF REPORT
OLD BRIDGE — Eleven youngsters on Monday discovered the joys of preschool: Cookie Monster, rainbow-colored paint, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.Through various orientation activities, including a scavenger hunt and T-shirt painting, the youngsters — and their parents — had a chance to explore their new learning surroundings at the Knights and Tykes Preschool. The preschool program started Tuesday.

Located at Old Bridge High School, Knights and Tykes Preschool is a free program run by students enrolled in the district's Child Development II class. Those students, according to teacher Lynn Birsin, have an interest in education or youth-related careers such as child psychology.More than 70 high school students helped out with orientation, either passing out snacks, talking with children or playing games with them."

We have a really good, really strong program," Birsin said. "The students actually teach the children, which is great."The students are supervised by district teachers, Birsin added.

Knights and Tykes is available to Old Bridge children ages 3-5. Registration is in the spring, and the program is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Interested parents may call the preschool at (732) 290-3858 for more information.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Finland


At Helsinki's Finnish-Russian School they also teach English
Political stereotypes still hound 60-year-old institution
By Kari Kiuru
Helsingin Sanomat

According to a resilient perception, the Finnish-Russian School of Helsinki is a place of socialist indoctrination from the preschool level.

The school's head teacher Liisa Pohjolainen says that while there may have been some truth to this in years past, it is no longer the case.

"Sometimes in the 1970s or before that, children may have been sent to the school for political reasons. The history of the school is linked with the 1950s, when the Russian Cultural-Democratic League had a say in the establishment of the school. There was also support from the Soviet Union, when it first began at Neitsytpolku 50 years ago. However, now things are different", Pohjolainen says.

The Finnish-Russian school has not managed to completely shake off its old reputation. The present school building on Kaarelankuja was built in 1964. Some of the architectural influences would seem to have come from the Soviet Union or the former East Germany.

"We follow Finnish curricula, and the success has been reasonable, to say the least. Although it is relatively easy to get into our high school, we are among the top 30 in the country in matriculation examination results. For instance, in English language skills our school has done quite well", Pohjolainen explains.

She attributes the pupils' good results in English to the fact that the children get a feel for a foreign language already in preschool. "That means that learning comes more naturally than if they started in the third grade, for instance, when pupils usually choose their first foreign language."

The pupils of the Finnish-Russian School constitute a small minority. Only one or two percent of Finland's upper secondary school pupils have Russian as the first foreign language. About 40 Finnish-speaking pupils each year have Russian as the main foreign language in their matriculation examinations.

Pohjolainen says that the Finnish-Russian School provides a solid background in Russian.

"Between 25 and 30 percent of the comprehensive school pupils achieve the level of an independent user of the language. They understand Russian and are able to use it fluently."

The head teacher says that the Finnish and Slavic cultures are both evident in the school. "The Russians are, after all, more emotional than we Finns. Contacts are also established in connection with school camps and summer courses. In them we have also helped other Finnish schools and educational institutions."

However, prejudices die hard. "Someone might say something like ‘oh, so you're some kind of a Russian', when the school comes up in the conversation", says Jenni Ruotsalainen, who speaks from experience. "It's no real problem though", she adds.

"This is a good school. The teachers and pupils know each other. For me, the choice of schools was dictated by circumstance. I came to Finland nine years ago, and I couldn't really speak Finnish then", says Illya Rushailo.

Even if an applicant for the school is a native speaker of Russian, it will not guarantee him a place in the school. Pupils also need to learn Finnish, and for many families of Russian origin who have lived in Finland for many years, Russian-language skills have also deteriorated.

Oregon


Statesman Journal
Salem Oregon
Training offered to child-care givers
October 18, 2005

Local child-care providers can attend a free training session at the Salem Public Library.
The session, called "Creative Concepts," will present picture books, finger plays, music and other story-time enhancements that can be used to teach preschoolers about colors, shapes, numbers and the alphabet. The workshop is from 7 to 9 p.m. October 26 in Anderson Rooms A and B at the library, 585 Liberty St. SE.

Preregistration is required, and seating is limited. To register, visit the library's Youth Services Reference Desk or call (503) 588-6088.
-- Sarah Evans

Friday, October 21, 2005

The Garden School Tattler

The storm clouds cameth. When there is a weather condition moving into the area, the children's behavior is terrible. By terrible I mean chronic disobedience. When a teacher rings a bell and no one stops to even recognize that a teacher is trying to get everyone's attention, there's a safety issue.

When the rule is walk in from recess quietly, hang up your coat or jacket, wash your hands and sit in circle time quietly, and there is a general chaos as if no one has ever come in from recess, there's a safety issue.

Every school establishes routines and ways of doing things that make the day go smoothly. If coming in from outdoors takes an hour to do, then the routine is at fault. If coming in from recess takes seven minutes, it's a good routine.

It's like that in everything we do. We have a little set of rules about circle time: We cross our legs, and keep our hands in our lap, and don't talk unless we are called on or are singing.

Play ground: We don't throw pebbles, sand or toys, we don't climb on the play houses or the fences and we don't make others cry on purpose.

Class time: We do what needs to be done without making a mess.

Story time: We sit politely and listen.

Lunch: We stay seated AT the table, not five feet from it, and keep our cup above our plate (cuts down on spilling) and we keep our food on our plate. We use our fork, and we use indoor voices.

Lines: Lines are quiet places.

Bathrooms: are quiet places. Four children in the bathroom at one time, one child uses the sink, no visiting in the stalls, and we wash to the elbows.

We try to achieve an order that brings sense to nonsense. When the kids refuse to comply, there is a safety issue. And then there are the few who think the rules are for everybody - else. These few are found doing everything but what they are supposed to do, and because they do - chronically - everyone else has to wait to get these kids in order.

Beginning Monday with a review of the rules, there will be a lot of medals lost for this time wasting chaos. It's really disobedience, because every child knows every rule. This becomes disobedient anarchy, and that's a crime against the state. So beginning Monday, there will be no "earning back" a medal for good behavior once it's lost. If it's lost at all, it's lost for the whole day.
Not fair? Think about fairness. If a child has three chances, the first two don't mean anything. How fair is that. What are we doing, revving up for reality? If the rule is "no jumping on the sofa or the TV is turned off," letting a child jump twice and then turning off the TV on the third jump just tells the child the parent is unreliable. The true fair act is turning the TV off after the first jump. It's a rule. If parents encourage a child to break the rules by letting him do it twice, why not three or four times or all the time?

There will be a form sent home to explain why a child has lost his medal. Please help your child understand that rules are important for everyone. Poorly behaved children will not be allowed to participate in regular school activities any more. Now parents should remember that this is a very small minority - perhaps three children out of thirty.

Today, the search and rescue dogs came to play, but the children were so badly behaved, they left about as promptly as they came, and I am sure they will not be back.

Highlights?

We did a fine arts class today, and we looked at a set of books that cover the masters from the Renaissance to the Modern period. The children enjoyed looking. They liked the modern art as well as the more traditional styles.

We played with space mud today in a most egregious shade of purple and a lesser kind of brown. The children like this borax chicken liver stuff.

We had pizza for lunch and played a lot outside.

Monday is our last toy day. We will finish testing the toys and then we will settle down to our regular routine.