Holiday Tattler

Good morning on this cold Tuesday.

Just a reminder that we are open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week and closed on Thursday and Friday.

School starts next Monday in the regular schedule.

Calendars will go out today. Please read them.

This Fall, we sent out a questionnaire about parents' desires for the best possible communication. Most parents wanted a monthly calendar so I produced a colorful cute calendar with dates and explanations. Because of the nature of the business, I also decided to include a weekly newspaper when something big is going on. We make sure we tell every parent verbally that there is something big happening, what it is, and what they need to do and when. We post an axillary announcement board at the front of the school announcing the event for a week. We send a parent letter that goes out along with post cards that remind parents of upcoming events. And I do as many blog reminders as I can.

At Christmas, I even sent out a packet at the beginning of the month with everything parents needed to know on separate large type print. The week of the Christmas party, ten parents did not know that there was a Christmas party.

I am not sure I know what to do at this point. This month there will be two events: The pajama party on the 8th and our International Feast on the 15.

We know that parents are busy, but kids matter too, and their life at the school is important. So please read what is sent home. It's only the beginning of "reading for your child." Parents will find thirteen years of reading materials coming up fast, and when you don't know, your child suffers.

Pajama party on the 8th. NO Slippers.

More about the International Feast later.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Saturday's Something Else

National Geographic Pictures best pictures of the year:

Catching Up Friday's Tattler

We had a delightful day on Friday. A little breakfast, a nice trip to the Nutcracker. The children really enjoyed this and were the best behaved children in the house. I was so proud of them. We hope you like the pictures. The Nutcracker was more in line with child friendly this year, and the kids responded with those wonderful children's stares that make adults laugh. They were wide eyed and wide mouthed.

We returned to school for a nice lunch of homemade chicken soup, cheese on biscuits, and fresh fruit. There was not a crumb left. After an hour of recess, we came in and sang Santa in. He arrived at 3:00 and distributed a big bag of toys and then took off to his busy schedule ;-}

We announced the very best boy and girl - Scott and Jasmine who both had 15 points toward the Santa prize. We were very very proud to give them each a nice gift.

The party lasted only a little while and then we dispersed for the Christmas holiday.

We shall return on December 28.

Wednesday's Wonder

Got this from a friend. Thought it would amuse those who love nature.

View Here

Tuesday's Thought

During the Christmas Season things pop into your mind that make a kind of mystical connection with the whole Christmas Story. In the past couple of hours, the whole idea of kindness has kind of swallowed me whole. This morning at precisely 6:00 a.m. ( precisely because she is NEVER late) my eldest daughter, Katy, arrived at my house for the 4th early morning time to help me bandage a stray cat who we found at school with a terrible injury. His rear paw had been "decuffed" and the flesh was down to the bone. As I hold the cat, she applies a complicated bandage she invented for the wound.

There are many people in the world who would ask, "Don't you have better things to do with the little time you two have?" The answer to that would be, "We have lots to do, and this is just one of those things. It's about kindness. Kindness to a cat is none the less kindness."

The keeping of animals teaches kindness. The ability of an adult to be kind to creatures smaller than self, less able to understand than we are able, and needy when we are not is a movement of spiritual side of the heart. When this kindness is demonstrated to the child, the child models the parent and becomes kind. Kindness often earns more than it costs to do.

As a child, kindness was not a thing I learned at home. There was little if any kindness applied toward the scapegoat child. I learned kindness from two beloved neighbors, Parky Doyle and Margaret Kyle who treated me with great kindness when there was little at home. My first grade teacher, Mrs. MacDonald, also showed me great kindness. For these women in my life, I am truly grateful.

Kindness is really an act of mercy. We don't use the word mercy much because it has a flavor of the "court" these days. But using the words interchangeably, we can quote Shakespeare and understand a little about kindness and mercy: "The quality of Mercy is not strained; it dropeth as a gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed; it blesses him who gives and him who takes."

And that is the message we want to give to our children. Kindness offers so much to so many. When we are kind to one student in front of other students, children learn how powerful an act of kindness is. When we are kind to parents, they learn, when we are kind to animals, children can actually model this behavior because they can be in charge of this kind of kindness.

We have had many little projects going on at school these days. I would call them "corporal works of mercy." It's an old term meaning it's a physical act of goodness which the children are involved in. One of those things is the Advent Box. Every year we have done the Advent Boxes, and never before has there been such an interest. One little child is so keen on getting one, she talks about it at home. Trouble is, this child is SO good all the time, that her quiet little goodness is often passed over - but not today. Today, her kindness to her friends and teachers will return a little box of kindness to her.

Do we teach children to choose works of kindness? Do we calculate kindness and apply it to some things and not others? Do we keep back kindness because it might not benefit someone in our own family? Do we hold back kindness because "too much kindness is never a good thing." Those are questions that make kindness something it's not.

Kindness, it seems to me, should be a spontaneous offering from the heart. When it has to be scrutinized and weighed by the brain for possible gain, it becomes the Old Scrooge rather than the New Man, Scrooge.

Should kindness be acknowledged, or is kindness its own reward? Kindness is its own reward, but because of the nature of the human being, acknowledgment is an essential part of communication and community. When there is a failure to give praise to a child who is kind or even some adults - a failure of communication, a spiritual loneliness can fall upon a person and pull community apart.

As a child I was "Alphie Kohn-ed." I was allowed to be kind only to those people my parents deemed worthy. It was calculated and engineered. If I was kind to someone they didn't like, I was punished and belittled. It made me wonder about people and behavior from a very early age. It still does. As an adult, I am always sad when my efforts of kindness and affection are dismissed without a word. It takes me back to the icy hearts who reared me and makes me shiver. People who dismiss other people, to me, become the Old Scrooge.

The Christmas Season is filled with possibilities for kindness and right modeling for children. "Tis the Season" should be our reminder line. When we hear it, it should send us into right action because more than any other season of the year, Christmas is by its own nature a whole act of kindness and fulfillment of promise. Blessings always.

Monday's Tattler

Good morning!

A warmer day today. The kids will play outside today. Please remember to send hats and mittens on very cold days.

This is our last push to Christmas.

If you are participating in the Christmas gifts for the AIDs gentlemen, please bring your gifts by Wednesday. If you would like to participate, please take a heart from the tree in the front of the school.

Christmas gifts for the children are due now. Please bring your unwrapped gift to the kitchen after you have dropped off your child. Every child who will be at the party needs to have a gift. Please do not buy expensive name brand items. This is supposed to look as if it came from Santa's workshop.

The Garden School is a tuition based program. We operate on tuition only. Tuition payments are due at Christmas time when we are closed. Please post date a check and include it in your payment this week. Envelopes will be given to those who would like to mail in their payment.

Friday we will have a visit from Santa at 3:00. Children will carol for about twenty minutes and then Santa will come. A party will follow. Please plan to bring a treat to share.

Have a great week!

Friday's Tattler

It was quite a week. We all seemed to be tired. A few children went home sick. Jacob had surgery and did fine. It was a hectic week, however. Might have been the weather.

Some of the parents have asked about the Dove Tree giving to the AIDs guys. All the little gifts are on the tree up front. Yes, it's fine to donate a slightly used coat etc. I'm sure they can use it. Please look on the tree, and take a heart with a gift on it and return that heart with your gift. This is such a great Christmas opportunity to give a little to a stranger.

Next week as soon as possible, please bring your child's gift to the back door of the school. It needs to be unwrapped and in a bag so it is not seen by the children. Please have your child's name on this. If you are bringing other children to the party, EVERY child needs a gift. For neglectful parents, we will have a three pack of flutes that will go to all non gifted children ;-} The other option is a ream of paper and 164 crayons ;-}

On Friday, we will be going to the Nutcracker. Please have your child wear his regular school clothes and his red sweatshirt. Please make sure his name is in it. Please send your child in tie shoes on Friday. Digging slip ons out from under the Victory Theatre seats is a real pain. Leave time will be posted in the front of the school.

Party on Friday promptly at 3:00 P.M. All children MUST have an attending adult. At this time gifts will be given by Santa.

Blessings.

Tuesday's Thought

So when DO children finally decide that they will fit into society and do what is expected? That depends on what they are seeing in their models, or what they are gleaning from what they see.

Every human child develops a little differently from another and at different times. There are lots of components to making up a pattern of behavior. We have to consider the personalities of the parents, the environment, intelligence, exposure to things, the ability to experience, and the motivation to use new ideas, and many many more.

There are many obstacles to growing up for many children that parents don't see because they are repeating what they grew up with, and that's their pattern that is being handed down to their child. In my own background, I rejected many things my parents did in order not to bring the kind of chaos they loved into my own home because I felt it was destructive. Sometimes we have to examine our lives and reject or rebuild patterns for our own sake and the sake of our children.

In my own childhood there were few rules because my parents weren't home long enough to establish rules, so rules came and went like bullets, and if you got in the way, you were shot by one of these emerging rules, and punishment was a lot like impending death.

I liked the idea of few rules for my own family because I think children should think things through and come to their own conclusions about the world. Consequently, when something went wrong, some brief questions about what should have gone right was enough to curb further stupid behavior. Enough independence and freedom encourages children to think things through.

I was never a coddler. I'm not enamored of infants. I think infants should become three in about two weeks. The whole idea of infant care leaves me cold. I was lucky; my children were infants for about six months, and then they were more or less toddlers. At two, they were three. They expected one another to speak intelligently early, be potty trained by eighteen months, and start very early contributing to the work.

This independence contributed to exploration. Brendan tried to build a nuclear accelerator in his bedroom in high school. Molly was the only girl fire cadet in Warrick - Vanderburgh Counties. Katy trudged off to the Navy at barely eighteen. Anne announced to Angelo that she WOULD be cooking for him when she was seventeen. He said it would last a week, and it lasted seven years, and she still cooks for him when she visits EVV.

So where do all these tangents lead? I think the success rate for very young children doubles when we let go and let them. If a child's favorite toy is the parent, there is a problem of independence. A lack of independence will manifest itself in selfishness, stubbornness, and neglect of the world. When a child doesn't have to really do anything real for himself, he is negatively charged to be hostilely dependent on the parent, and that's where the poor behavior comes from.

It's a question of motivation or ability - that's where the parent's parenting skills come in. Is my child able to listen to me or not? Is my child motivated to listen to me or not? It's usually pretty clear. Listening to the parent's direction comes from respect. Respect often comes from fear. Sometimes the fear is simply a sense in the child that he or she has disappointed the parent. Most children want to please; it's in their natures; it's a goodness. When they don't listen or don't want to please, the parent needs to find out why and change his or her behavior to accommodate a better exchange.

We had a child at school who could strike and scream at his parents. It was OK behavior. When he did the same thing at school, the parents recognized his behavior, but they could not take the next step to stop it. When the child tied to kick me, and I grabbed his foot and sent him flying, he was so surprised that he quit acting out at school. Why couldn't his parents do this when he first showed this kind of behavior? Probably because hideous tantrums and screaming and kicking behaviors belonged to the parents as well who learned this from their own parents, who...

We had a child who refused to listen and invariably got most work assignments wrong, didn't know what we were doing and generally was lost most of the time. It translated into terrible behavior. When approaching the parents, the subject was changed almost immediately; teacher's sentences were intercepted, and both parents turned physically away from the conversation. Where did the child's behavior come from?

We had a child at school who had no concept of right or wrong. When dealing with the parents, they didn't either, and the child ended up in the special classroom for the socially disordered.

These are extreme cases, but the story is the same. It's a matter of early independence. Give a human being the independence to achieve good things in his life from the beginning, and he will prosper. The nature of the human being is be independent, to make appropriate choices, to achieve on his or her own.

Independence is brought on by doing. A three year old can and should dress himself and should be able to choose his own clothes. A three year old should use the bathroom alone. A three year old should bath himself within earshot of mom or dad and know when he is done. A three year old should be able to choose what on the plate he or she wants to eat and eat it at his or her own rate. There should be consequences and the three year old should know it. A three year old should be able to choose his or her own toys, play with them and put them away. A three year old should be able to begin making his or her bed and putting his or her clothes in the hamper.

Threes can set the table; help feed the house hold animals; help mom choose fruits and vegetables at the grocery store; run household errands like fetching a sweater off a bed, closing a door, finding a pair of glasses.

By six, a child should be able to do a lot more. By letting go and letting a child do, other things fall naturally into place. Nobody wants to be an ornament.

Monday's Tattler

Do you know who these guys are? If you do, you win a free cookie. Just tell a teacher and you'll get your prize.

It's a bright week already. Started with a great day! Kids made parent gifts today. It was a mess, but we are sure you will like the result!

We have school pictures on Wednesday, and then later in the afternoon, we will be decorating the Christmas tree. It's an all school event.

We were very good about bathroom playing today - except for two little girls!

We also created our 12 days of Christmas song which we will practice and sing for Santa on the eighteenth! This year the children were very sweet and the things that are on their twelve days are very cute including FIIIIVE brand new puppies!

Please remember to get your Christmas gift for your child in by next Monday. Please do NOT bring this into school with your child. Please bring it to the kitchen after you drop off your child.

And if you can, please take a heart from the tree at the front of the school for the AIDs gentlemen. On it you will find one of their little needs. Kindness to anyone is still kindness in the eyes of God. "I was naked and you clothed me."

Please stop by and visit all our new animals. We continue to do new things with the pet room. Takes a lot of time, but we think it's worth it. If you have fish you no longer want at home, bring them by. I tried to get some at the pet food store, but they were temporarily out of stock.

Blessings!

Saturday's Newbee

Finally, a super-safe, incredibly comfortable booster seat is available for less than $15.00.

Harmony Juvenile introduces the LiteRider. This booster is incredibly lightweight and at $13.50, it's available for parents who can now have a booster in every car (rather than taking one in and out.)

The Harmony LiteRider is for kids 20-100 pounds. It exceeds the most stringent safety impact testing for ultimate safety and is exceptionally comfortable. There's a belt path that prevents children from sliding under the lap belt on impact.

The Harmony LiteRider is being sold at www.

Walmart.com and www.HarmonyJuvenile.com

Friday's Tattler

Lots going on at school this past week. Learning to think about "outcomes" and learning to think things through has been a kind of theme this past week. The children are all hyping for the Christmas season and their behavior needs a lot more thought. Getting them to think about this is not easy.

We had some winners for the Advent Boxes this week we were very pleased about. The Advent Box goes to the best behaved child in the school each day. The first winner was Trevor, second winner was Phoenix, third winner was Jasmin, and the fourth was Emily. We will announce Friday's winner on Monday.

We are trying new cookies every day. On Monday, we had a little number called Ginger Cream Cookies. Tuesday, Miss Molly made Thumbprint mint cookies on Wednesday, Mrs. St. Louis made cornkrispy treat wreaths. On Thursday, Miss Molly made Oatmeal Raisin cookies. On Friday, Miss Judy made Apple Cherry Crumb Bars - delicious.

We told the story of the Annunciation on Friday during Bible Stories, and on Tuesday, the children were able to intersect the navigation lines for Israel on the map. Miss Amy has been teaching a lot of modern Christmas songs, and this week we start the traditional carols.

Friday morning we rescued two chinchillas, a cage of six finches, some gerbils, and another rodent. We will be making room for these animals over the next few weeks. Children are welcomed to visit with a teacher.

It's busy, busy, and there is lots to do.

Teaching Thursday

One of the things that is a stumbling block to meal time is the ferocious screaming and talking and playing in the bathroom that children will do if not stopped. At the Garden School we are making every effort to Stop, Think, and Be careful in everything we do.

One of those things is attending our natural business in the bathroom quietly. We have talked and talked to the children about "sharing" in the bathroom because this lengthens the time that it takes to manage thirty five children taking care of their needs, sitting down, taking meal attendance, saying a quick prayer and finally eating.

When boys talk in the bathroom, their natural tendency is to push, to quarrel, and somebody gets hurt. When boys chatter in the bathroom, they will share stalls and somebody's feelings get hurt - not to mention the mess. When dealing with very young children, recess and hand washing effectively is a very hard thing to do well when a teacher is constantly trying to supervise the horseplay.

So since Thanksgiving, we have silenced the bathroom. Every child is reminded when he goes into the bathroom that there is no talking in the bathrooms. He is warned once, and then he will lose his medal. It is amazing how many children think the rules don't apply to them and have lost their medals this week for visiting, directing other children, fighting, and just not "thinking" when they go into the bathroom. This, of course, pulls a present off the Santa Prize string.

On the good side, when silence is maintained, the bathroom trip for all thirty five children is a little over five minutes. When the children are not quiet, the trip is closer to fifteen minutes. The best behaved children wait and wait, and it's simply not fair.

The question for teachers to ask is: Is it too difficult for children to do? Is the bathroom a place that teachers should allow for play? Is this a social zone that teachers are not aware of?

Collectively, Garden School teachers think that every child has the ability to do this. Perhaps the motivation is not there, but the ability certainly is. We teachers think the table is a better social zone than the bathroom. And collectively we think that hot food is better than a hot lunch that has cooled off.

The discipline of the guided child makes for a happier environment. Children come to the table quietly, thoughtfully and ready to eat when the free for all has been squashed.

In big school, children will need to know how to stand in line quietly, how to use the bathroom with other children with a fight free mentality. These are all good things to learn to do. We are proud of most of our children. Please encourage your child not to play in the bathroom at home and to remember to flush, wash his hands, face if necessary, and be quickly and quietly mindful of what he is doing in there !

Wonderful Wednesday's New Cookie Recipes

The Children of the GS really enjoyed these cookies:

Ginger Creams:

1/3 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole grain flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Vanilla frosting

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, molasses and water. Blend in remaining ingredients except frosting.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Drop dough by teaspoons on a Pam sprayed cookie sheet. They will be very runny and spread out on your cookie sheet. Bake for about 8 minutes. Cool and frost with a dab of frosting.

Frosting: in a food processor, put 1 stick of butter, 1 box powdered sugar, vanilla, and if you're daring, one raw egg white. Frost cookies when cool.

Tuesday's Thought

As children grow up and move into their own and independent lives, the role of the parent often continues to be "source and strength" for the child. That ideal of parenthood continues, but it continues on new ground. Many fledged children feel the vitality and freedom to explore and develop the ideas they formed in their teen years that directly contradict their parents philosophies. In response, parents cringe either because it's such a direct conflict or parents see the eventual crush that will occur because they made those mistakes themselves.

As the years pass, the adult child continues to see his or her parents as the ollie ollie oxenfree of their own lives. Whether it's financial, domestic, or their ability to cope, the safety zone of the older parent continues to be home base.

I was told by one of my children that one day in her mid twenties she suddenly discovered that I was human and flawed. It made me laugh at the time, but it ultimately meant that my pedestal had crashed and she didn't need me anymore. Independence has its costs!

One of the things that I reflect on a lot in my older parent moments of reflection are the ever elusive "issues" we all have in life. Did I brush aside my parents' issues because I was too busy with my own life? Did I allow my parents to have issues that I was willing to discuss with them? One of the things I have learned is that older people's issues are often ignored because those issues not so gently gnaw at the very pillars of the pedestals we continue to suspend for our parents. If mom or dad has a problem, it's a lot easier to sweep it, and all that comes with it, under the carpet because dealing with a crumbling mother or father is way more than most young people want to handle at any given time.

But the truth of the matter is that older people do have issues, and their ability to talk about those problems, fears and decisions are real, and they need the same time and effort that they routinely dish out to their children.

The idea that mom or dad never made a mistake and can never make a mistake often comes from a fear that if mom or dad is really human and not super parent, the idea must follow that I might be more on my own than I thought. People make mistakes, they err, and they make unpopular decisions. The question is more one of character than anything else. The question for children to ask about these unpopular times is: Is my parent making a mistake because they have lost character and are giving into popular whim, or are they maintaining a pattern they have always maintained? Is it really a mistake, or is it a decision that I don't like.

One of the things rarely done about unpopular decisions is to ask the question lovingly, "Why did you do what you did, or what were you thinking that made you make that decision?" Too often the ire and impatience of the young takes over, and the questions why and what are backhanded and threatening if they do come out at all. No one likes to be put on the stand as witness to their own behavior. Differences of opinion are best met with love and affection than anger.

Strong people who rarely if ever give over their philosophies and ways of life to lesser things are often regarded as the family stumbling blocks rather than the family cornerstones. The difference between stumbling block and cornerstone is generosity. The generous loving parent who does not bend to whim is a cornerstone. The selfish, ingenuous, mean spirited person who suits him or herself is the stumbling block.

How often are older parents regarded as the stumbling block when they manifest all the traits of the cornerstone! In my own life, I've been regarded as the block of the moment dozens of times. Mostly because the generosity is received as a right rather than a gift, and expected rather than appreciated, and when the ax falls it always makes me the monster of the moment.

One of my unfailing issues is life. As a battered and abused child who nearly died in spontaneous abortion, my life philosophy puts life of the unborn, the ill and the elderly as precious and important. I believe that all life is the cement of a real civilization, and the idea that any one of the most vulnerable of our society would be discarded like garbage is so loathsome to me, I would risk alienation from anyone to defend my point of view.

Regarding the older adult parent as a whole person with a point of view that is often different from a more common newer point of view is an important leap for the younger thinking person. The framework of thought does not start now; it starts in youth, and is built upon many things that are no longer a part of our world. Many things are brought out of childhood as just and right and good, and that commitment to just and right and good will not be deterred by popular whim.

But all these things said, the truth is, as the generations grow old, the young parent of the day will be the older parent of tomorrow, and the battle will continue to wage. It will be asked of any generation, what did they accomplish, what did they do to make the world a better place for the next generation, and the answer should be - much.

Monday's Tattler

Good evening. I finally got so far behind, I am doing a Monday evening instead of a Monday morning.

It's a very busy time of the year. We are involved in so much at school - first the fund raiser. The fund raiser is nearly over, so if you have candy left to sell, do so quickly. Candle sales are due this week. We want to thank everyone for all the work involved in selling this candy. Without your help, we could not run the school.

We are doing something new this year and it involves a treat just after class. We are making a new cookie recipe every day for the kids to sample and give their seal of approval. We hope the children will enjoy this. Today we had Ginger Cream cookies, and tomorrow we will have thumb print cookies with a mint kiss.

As a charity project, we will be adopting four gentlemen who are victims of AIDS. Their needs are few and basic. If you can find it in your heart to give a little something to one of these guys to help them celebrate Christmas, blessings on you! The list went home today with the children.

On December 18th we will be going to the Nutcracker Suite at the Victory Theatre. This wonderful ballet is performed for a children's audience. It's 1.5 hours and beautifully done. The cost will be $10.00.

Information about Santa gifts also went home today. If you have questions, please ask a teacher.

Beve Pietrowski will be taking school pictures on Wednesday December 9. She is a wonderful photographer. She will be at school between 8:00 and Noon.

Just a note: We are beginning to "get quiet" before we use the bathroom before meals, and at the table before grace. This has been hard for the children, but it cuts down on the tremendous and obnoxious screaming that ensues from children who don't start the meal out in silence. Works.

Lots more to come...

Teaching Thursday

A study from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute:

DAY CARE MAY DOUBLE TV TIME FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, STUDY FINDS
New research examines screen time in both home-based and center-based child care settings

SEATTLE – November 23, 2009 – In a new study, the amount of television viewed by many young children in child care settings doubles the previous estimates of early childhood screen time, with those in home-based settings watching significantly more on average than those in center-based daycares. This study is the first to examine screen time in child care settings in more than 20 years. The study looked at television use in 168 child care programs in four states, and was guided by lead researcher Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “Preschool-Aged Children’s Television Viewing in Child Care Settings” is published in the December 2009 issue of Pediatrics, appearing online November 23, 2009.

Previous estimates of screen time for babies and pre-school children relied on parental reports of viewing in the home, yet the majority of pre-schoolers are now commonly cared for by someone other than a parent, away from home in a child care setting. Prior studies have estimated that preschool children watch 2-3 hours of TV per day at home. According to the researchers, previous data on screen time in child care settings are more than 20 years old and don’t accurately reflect today’s cultural factors affecting media use among children.

The study found that among preschool-aged children, those in home-based daycares watched TV for 2.4 hours per day on average, compared to 0.4 hours in center-based settings. Some home-based programs were closer to the center-based programs in amount of time they used television, particularly those programs in which the staff had college degrees. With the exception of infants, children in home-based child care programs were exposed to significantly more television on an average day than children in center-based programs (infants: 0.2 vs 0 hours; toddlers: 1.6 vs 0.1 hours; preschool-aged children: 2.4 vs 0.4 hours). The greatest increase in screen time occurred in the preschool group, in home-based child care settings.

“It’s alarming to find that so many children in the United States are watching essentially twice as much television as we previously thought,” said Christakis. “Research continues to link excessive preschool screen time with language delay, obesity, attentional problems and even aggression depending upon content. At the same time, studies show that high quality preschool can be beneficial to children’s development. Unfortunately, for many children, the potential benefits of preschool may be being displaced by passive TV viewing. I suspect many parents are unaware of the frequency and extent of TV viewing in day care settings. Hopefully, these findings will serve as a wake up call for them.”

The study looked at television use in 168 child care programs located in Michigan, Florida, Washington and Massachusetts, 94 of which were home-based programs and 74 were center-based. The study assessed frequency and quantity of television viewing for infants, toddlers and pre-school aged children. Participants were asked if they used TVs, videos or DVDs in their classrooms. Those who responded yes were asked for which age groups television was used, and for approximately how many hours each week in each age group.

Data was collected about the child care program including hours of operation, number of staff members, number of children cared for, whether after-school care was provided onsite for school-aged children, and the educational level of child care providers.

“I think most parents expect their child’s preschool environment to provide opportunities for cognitive stimulation, social interaction and physical activity. Television is a poor substitute for all of these,” said Christakis. “We are increasingly technologizing childhood, which may prove harmful to the next generation of adults. Parents and health care providers should know how many total hours of screen time and what programs constitute children’s media diet, just as they should know how many calories and what foods they’re ingesting per day.”

Center-based child care programs were found to provide an average of 1.84 fewer hours of screen time each day, nearly two hours less than home-based daycares. The impact of home-based versus center-based child care programs differed somewhat depending on educational levels for staff members; having a two- or four-year college degree was associated with 1.41 fewer hours of television per day in home-based programs, but no impact of staff education on television use was observed in center-based programs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Public Education (Pediatrics, 2001) specifically recommends against screen time for children under two years of age, urging more interactive play in its place.

Tips and resources for parents, caregivers and day care providers include the following recommendations:
For babies: Avoid TV for children under age two. Choose activities that promote language development and brain growth such as talking, playing, reading, singing and enjoying music.
For children over age two:

If you allow TV time, choose age-appropriate programs. Involve parents and older children in setting guidelines for what to watch. Use guides and ratings to help, but beware of unproven claims that programs or DVDs are educational. Even cartoons produced for children can be violent or over stimulating. Make sure all programs or DVDs used at home and also in daycare are appropriate.

Limit total TV time to no more than two hours per day. Less is better. Be sure to add up TV time at home plus TV time in daycare.

For parents: talk to daycare providers about your concerns. Find out what children under their care will watch, when and how much. Speak up and set limits. Ask your child what they are watching in daycare, just as you would ask what they eat and what they do.

For daycare providers: remember that screen time is not proven to provide any benefits to children and may in fact cause harm if overused. Television replaces more positive activities like interactive play, singing, reading and talking. Choose to use TV sparingly and deliberately. Talk to parents about how television is used in the daycare setting, and respect their concerns and wishes.

Keep the TV off during meals.

Set “media-free” days and plan other fun things to do.

Avoid using TV as a reward.

Turn off the TV when a chosen program is over. Don’t leave the TV on as background filler or while engaging in other activities. When no one is actively watching, turn the TV off.

Watch TV actively with children. Talk about what you see and engage with children about the content.

Keep TVs out of bedrooms and sleeping areas.

Helpful Web sites include: www.seattlechildrens.org; www.tvturnoff.org; www.childrenspartnership.org; www.mediaandthefamily.org; and www.maketvwork.com.

Christakis’ research partner for the study was Michelle M. Garrison, PhD, also of Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Christakis is co-author of a related resource book for parents, The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids. His growing body of research has included studies of baby DVD products, interactive play and influence on language acquisition, screen violence and aggressive behavior in young children, screen time and attentional disorders, and screen time and language acquisition.

About Seattle Children’s Research Institute:
At the forefront of pediatric medical research, Seattle Children's Research Institute is setting new standards in pediatric care and finding new cures for childhood diseases. Internationally recognized scientists and physicians at the Research Institute are advancing new discoveries in cancer, genetics, immunology, pathology, infectious disease, injury prevention and bioethics. With Seattle Children’s Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Research Institute brings together the best minds in pediatric research to provide patients with the best care possible. Children’s serves as the primary teaching, clinical and research site for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, which consistently ranks as one of the best pediatric departments in the country. For more information visit http://www.seattlechildrens.org/research.

Wonderful Wednesday

Got this from my friend Patty:

A physics teacher in high school told his students that while one grasshopper on a railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following...one light bulb at a time.

A friend was in Lowe's the other day and was looking at hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day she was in Ace Hardware and checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA. Start looking...

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else -- even their job. So, after reading this email, I think my friend is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico...I switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger's. I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. In the light bulb aisle, right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value". I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that the GE bulbs were made in Mexico and the Everyday Value bulbs were made by a company in Cleveland.

So on to another aisle -- Bounce Dryer Sheets. Yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and made in the USA. I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA -- the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Let's get with the program. Help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the USA.

Tuesday's Thought

Children follow the example of their parents. They are always watching. As very young children, under the age of reason which is about seven or eight, children watch but don't always get it right. The question to ask ones self is "what is my child seeing me do?"

As a Catholic, I was brought up to ask not only what was I doing at any moment, but at the same time, what was I failing to do or what was I not doing. It's a good set of questions and covers the whole of ones life. Sins of omission count too!

It's nearly the Christmas season. That means what? What is my child seeing? Is he seeing me cut corners so that Christmas can be eked out of the usual fare? Or does he see Christmas as something more? Is Christmas a magic time when Less Ismore is sent to his room with a spanking, and More Ismore is returned to center stage and made the king of the party? Children are watching.

For some people, holidays are a time to run from, a time of excuses, a time of I don't want to because I'm better than the holiday, and my cares, fears, hurts and woes are more important than anything else. Personally, I am not fond of holidays at all, but you can bet I pour more than heart into them and that's because I am not my first concern - you are.

As a wonderful example to children, the festive "I can do" spirit will eek into their work ethic, their approach to the world, their relationship with other people, their love of humanity, and their ultimate relationship with God. People put limits on everything and that's a shame. Some things, of course, need limits, but many things are limited because of habit and not thought.

Possibility is the name of the holiday season. What are the teaching possibilities during this season that will stay with my child for a lifetime - that's the real question for parents to ask. And within every ornament, every card, every bit of tinsel, every smell, every cookie made, the life of the season is either made to shine, or it's hidden under a bushel basket.

Often it's a matter of words. "I'm not going...; I got this on sale, sale, sale, sale, cheap, cheap cheap; No, you can't; Let mommy do it; I won't; You have enough;" and so many more statements that are huge limits at a time when the table should be filled. Limits are fine sometimes, but if you catch yourself with too many brakes, maybe it's time to wonder if your child will apply these broken statements to his life. "I'm not going to work; I can only love what's on sale cheaply; I can't; Mommy will always do it for me; I don't have to, and a little is all I deserve."

No matter what your life philosophy is on a day to day basis, the holidays are meant to suspend some things - remember the quote: Never fast on a Sunday.

Now it's time to put Less away and bring out More. This week is Thanksgiving. Let your child help you cook. If you are going to grandma's, ask if your child can come early and help. If you are taking something to eat with you, let your child help make it, and help carry it in. Be careful ;-}

The next week is the start of the Christmas Season. Why not decorate a little at a time and let your child help. Bake cookies at least once, even if it's store bought dough, and then eat them together. Trace your child's hands on green paper and make your wreath from his hand prints. You can get green wrapping paper at the $store. Let your child wrap some of the presents. Use comic strip paper if it is still available. Let your child trim your tree with you, and last but not least, take your child with you to shop for the gifts he will give. Open your heart to him, and he will open his heart to others.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning!

It's a three day week this week. We are closed on Thanksgiving and the Friday following. We hope everyone has a splendid Thanksgiving break.

We will be hitting the books hard this week, and reviewing all that we know. We will focus on Thanksgiving art projects and take a look at the Jamestown Settlement.

Miss Amy and I worked on the school this week getting it ready for the winter with larger play spaces and more dining and table spaces.

We will be having children's spaghetti on Monday, a ham and cheese casserole on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we will have a turkey dinner. We hope the children get a little practice for their holiday dinner.

Medals have been washed and will be returned on Monday.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful support for our play. It was a huge success. We will be having a cast party on Monday.

Sunday's Plate

This week we are having a turkey dinner on Wednesday as a practice run for Thursday. For anyone who has never baked a bird, here's a little advice.

Baking a chicken, turkey, duck or any bird is about the easiest thing since making tea. What you have to remember is to bake it at the right temperature - 350 degrees - for the right amount of time.

Wash your bird - don't use soap. Clean out all the packing from inside. I'm not a "guts" person, so I throw mine away or give it to a cat.

Stuffing is just bread. You can buy the packaged stuff or make it yourself. I use about a loaf of bread and toast the whole loaf laid out on the middle rung of a 350 degree oven. I use whole wheat bread because I think it tastes better. Once it's toasted, I cut the bread slices into pieces about the size of a postage stamp. I cut celery, onion, and apples and melt half a stick of butter in a pan with a tablespoon of chicken bouillon and a cup of water. At this point, you can add your other additions. I've seen just about everything go into the pot, but my favorite is bacon and walnuts.

Using a teaspoon or more of sage, a teaspoon or more of salt, the butter water mix, the veggies, and the bread pieces toss it all together and stuff in two bird cavities. Don't push or your bird will explode ;-}

Take a handful of cooking oil and rub down stuffed bird. Bake bird by the directions on the label. You should probably make a foil tent for cooking. This foil should not touch your bird

It's really that simple. Don't forget to empty bird after baking because stuffing can really foul a fowl [;-}

When your bird is ready, transfer him to a plate and what is left in the pan is gravy makings. The easiest thing to use is a gravy making pitcher that separates the fat from the good stuff. You can spoon off the clear fat or even use ice cubes to catch the fat to discard it. It will never blend into your gravy, and it's unsightly on the table. Once your drippings are fat free, you can add a little cornstarch - 1/4 cup to 1/4 cup water right to the pan, and before your gravy boils, add the cornstarch and water and stir vigorously while you bring the drippings to a boil. Once it's thick, it's done. Might taste for salt.

Cranberry sauce: My family likes the jelly stuff in the can, but I like a more robust cranberry relish. I use a cup of whole cranberries and a whole orange. I grind them together in my food processor and add about a tablespoon of sugar. This is very pungent, but it's wonderful on just about anything. There is no cooking on this one.

Cooked cranberry sauce is two cups of cranberries, a cup of water, two cups of sugar and boil for about eight minutes and remove from heat. At this point, you can add cinnamon, nuts, orange, or anything that sounds good to you. Raisins might be fun [;-}

Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday's Something New

There is a new book on the market called "The Grandparents Handbook." It's a little gem, and would make a wonderful gift for grandparents to be, grandparents refresher course, and of course grandparents who are returning to it again. There are never too many grandchildren!

It's a must have and it's available through Quirk Books at $16.95. The author is Elizabeth LaBan with Nan Barbara Trostler and Grandpa Myron LaBan.

As a grandma six times over, I can attest that this wonderful book is filled with good advice, with good sense, with how tos, how not tos, games, ideas, and much much more like planting a fairy and goblin garden. It's full of recipes and projects that will keep children busy and entertained and remembering that there is no place like grandma's house.

Friday's Tattler

It was a grand play and all the children were as cute as they could be. Each one delivered his or her line with as much as they could do. We were so proud of them. It was a story of a brave young turkey who set out to find the meaning of Thanksgiving. Passing along the way, the young turkey meets a blue jay and some rabbits, deer, possum and squirrel and raccoon, turtle, fish, frog, and they all tell him to go home, but Chaucer, the turkey, persists on his journey.
♠
Meanwhile, back at the village, two little girls and their brother, and a Native American are pondering the idea of keeping two of the turkeys and feeding them and raising young turkeys and having eggs.

When Chaucer arrives at the Thanksgiving, he is met by the little girls and is saved to "Live a long and lovely lazy life."
And of course there is a little incentive! It was a grand occasion, and the children did a fantastic job. It was ten complete acts, and each act was as cute and well done as the next one. We thank all our parents for their support, and we thank the children especially for their work in the production.

Thursday's Teacher

Comment: I wrote this a couple of years ago for WFIE about our plays. The message doesn't change.>

These last two weeks at school have been theatre weeks. The whole process of putting on a play is important because plays are difficult at best to do. It doesn’t require watching TV, eating fast food, or being driven around in a car. It requires something that’s often lost – the development of imagination.

A play is something other than what a child will usually experience in a day at school. The artistic nature of performing allows a child to separate himself from his dependence on routine and the natural order of ordinary time and fly into a world of make believe that he’s truly a part of. For a short time, the child becomes very independent and this allows for tremendous growth.

Art is a curious thing. In general art not only allows but encourages something that’s inconvenient today, namely imagination. Imagination usually makes a mess, takes an inordinate amount of time, and propels children into an extreme chatty state. But imagination is what builds minds and allows children to discover.

We do a play twice a year. A play is written for the children by one of the teachers. The children are given lines to learn, and to the best of their natural ability, it is expected that they learn those lines and be able to reasonably recite them. The challenge, of course, is saying them in front of 150 people. But that’s what the act of acting is all about. Together in their company, they learn to trust the company and feel safe, and that allows emotional stretching.

It’s not Shakespeare; it’s six to ten words amid 35 other children’s lines. Sometimes it’s a single word. The lines are sent home at the beginning of play rehearsals. At school, the lines are repeated twice a day at play practice. It’s obvious who is a quick study, who got help at home, and who spent the two weeks of practice in a blue cloud because mom and dad are also in blue clouds.

During play practice weeks, there is a lot of free play for children because scenery, backdrop are going up, and costumes are being made and fitted. It’s a fun time, a time of fudge breaks, special hugs, lots of laughs and a kind of discipline that says, “We’re friends.”

Play week teaches teachers a lot about children. It’s an important week for children because theoretically, they will be on their own to perform for an audience for the very first time. Some of them will have to shove the desire to behave poorly into the background and do the right thing for the sake of the other children. It’s a time we work together as a cohesive group and we say in no uncertain deeds, “I care about you.”

This is quality life. This is community at its best. Beginning from nothing, we have made a whole new story about people we come to care about. We have taken on a new character, perhaps it’s a different time or a different species – some of the children became talking turkeys in last week’s play. Jackson, the star, was a vaudevillian turkey and delivered jokes – and he did it well.

Every child responded to the two weeks of direction, the line learning, the costume fitting, and the quiet at the time of the play. And on Monday, we had an ice cream party to celebrate us.

Now the play is over and it’s time to get on with the story of Thanksgiving and the study of Native Americans. We’ll cook this week; we’ll make cranberry bread to take home to share. We’ll learn to eat turkey at school along with sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce so when we go to grandma’s we will be polite and not gag on the new stuff.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning!

Here's the rundown for the week:

Play Week!

Monday: Play Practice

Tuesday: Play Practice

Wednesday: Dress Rehearsal with photographs.

Thursday: Play Practice

Friday:
Our Thanksgiving Play begins promptly on Friday at 3:00 p.m.

After 3:00, front door will be locked. If you are going to be late, please come in the kitchen door..

If you or someone in your party needs a large adult chair, please arrive early. These spots are limited.
Please bring a plate of cookies or cupcakes or chips or pretzels or apples to share after the play.

Every child MUST have an attending adult at the play. Parents who leave children unattended at the play will be fined $25.00.
School dismisses following the party

Sunday's Plate

Making a pizza is not hard. If you have never worked with yeast, it's time you did. Yeast doesn't bite. The only thing you can do to yeast is kill it. Don't kill it.

Making a pizza requires three things: a pan large enough to bake it; a very hot oven; and cheese-- lots and lots of cheese ;-}

First thing: preheat your oven to 450 degrees. I'm afraid of that kind of heat at school, so I use 400, and I cook my pizzas a little longer. You might put your rack on the lowest rung because you want to cook your pizza from the bottom.

Second thing, run hot tap water and heat a large bowl by letting hot tap water run into about two minutes. Then, run tap water to the degree that you would bathe a baby. Let your wrist be the indicator. Pour 1 cup into your warm bowl. Then sprinkle a package of dry yeast onto the warm water. You can stir this or just let it sit for about five minutes. It will create a sponge. I use a little sugar at this point to feed the yeast.

You will need three tablespoons of oil and about a teaspoon of salt. Add two cups of flour and stir. Add another half cup of flour and punch the dough again and again until all the flour is absorbed and the stuff is dough. At this point, you can let it rise or you can use it right away. If you let it rise, you will have two pizzas in about an hour.

Flour a pizza stone, a cookie sheet, or a pizza pan.

Roll the dough out with a rolling pin and don't forget to use a little flour to keep the dough from getting sticky. When the dough is large enough to fit on your pan, fold it in half and half again, lift and place on your pan and unfold. Do this quickly.

Now it's the fun part. Take any kind of sauce you have and place it on the dough covered board. I use blue cheese dressing and salsa combo. My favorite is left over spaghetti sauce. You can use canned tomato sauce or even ranch dressing.

Next step is the cheese. Use a lot of cheese and leave some of the dough exposed to prevent the cheese from melting over the edge of your pan.

Now it's time to experiment. Anything you like on your pizza goes on now.

Bake for about 12 minutes. When the top is beginning to brown it's ready to eat.

Something for Saturday

From Food Navigator

Kids’ soft drink habits predict teenage weight: Study

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 12-Oct-2009

Related topics: Science & Nutrition, Carbohydrates and fibers (sugar, starches)

Five-year-olds’ consumption of sweetened beverages could give an indication of their weight status for the following ten years, according to a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Comment: Soda is a treat not a daily indulgence.

Although many studies have looked into beverage intake and weight among children, there have been inconclusive results regarding different types of beverages, such as sweetened soft drinks, milk, and fruit juice. The authors of this latest study examined beverage intake of different kinds in a final sample of 166 girls in central Pennsylvania every two years across a ten year period.

They found that girls who consumed two or more 8 oz. servings of sweetened beverage a day at the age of five “were more likely to be overweight than were girls classified with lower intakes over the study period.”

Specifically, 16.1 percent of five-year-old girls who drank one serving or less were overweight, peaking at 24.2 percent at age nine, before declining to 18.5 percent at age 15. Of those who drank two or more servings of sweetened beverages at age five, 38.5 percent were overweight, reaching 53.9 percent at the age of 11, and 32 percent at 15.

No effect for fruit juice, milk

However, the authors did not find a link between milk or fruit juice consumption and weight status over time.

“Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued fruit juice consumption recommendations, no specific recommendations have been made regarding sweetened beverage intake,” the authors wrote.

“Guidance to limit the early introduction and intake of sweetened beverages and to reduce their availability should include recommendations to substitute these beverages with healthy alternatives, such as reduced-fat milk and water, while also limiting fruit juice, which is consistent with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

They also found that girls with the highest intakes of sweetened drinks at the age of five had “significantly higher intakes from age 7 to 15” than those who drank one serving or less. Consumption remained stable for those who drank one to two servings a day, the authors wrote.

Study participants were predominantly non-Hispanic whites from well-educated families, with average household income of $50,000 to $75,000.

Source: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

October 2009

“Beverage intake of girls at age 5 y predicts adiposity and weight status in childhood and adolescence”

Authors: Laura M Fiorito, Michele Marini, Lori A Francis, Helen Smiciklas-Wright, and Leann L Birch.

Friday's Tattler

It was a nice week. Lots of good lines delivered by the children. They were funny and made each other laugh, and that's the way play practice should be. Mrs. St. Louis brought some absolutely darling costumes in that she has painstakingly made with lots of heart and lots of humor. We are sure the children will love them. I won't say a lot about the play because it's just down the way...

We played a lot outside this week because the weather was just delicious.

Not a lot of us are sick, and that's a very good.

We brought a lot of the plants in from their summer spots and the pet room has a whole new look.

We enrolled a new little boy named Nathan. We welcome him with great open arms.

We tried some new foods this week and the children were receptive. We stuffed a pumpkin, and when some of our grandparents came to lunch a little late, it was all gone.

Lots to do next week. Have a great weekend.

Thursday's Teacher

Marking School Time

By Peter Berger

Comment: Here's an excellent article by Peter Berger about longer school days. It was published by Education Week on line ezine. You can find it HERE.

When President Barack Obama prescribed “longer school days and school years” in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce last spring, it wasn’t the first time the subject had come up. For decades, experts and politicians have called for longer school days and an end to summer vacation. As academic achievement and our global pre-eminence have slipped, the campaign to extend school hours has heated up.

The issue isn’t whether we want American students to grow up to be literate, productive, responsible citizens. The question is, would lengthening the school day and year help achieve that objective? Even if it might edge us in that direction, what economic and social costs would be attached?

The Associated Press recently covered students’ responses to the president’s school-time proposals. One 5th grader declared her intention to “walk straight out the door” if they were implemented. Her comment and the AP’s willingness to spotlight it say more about America’s scholastic problems than any classroom clock could. A 10-year-old who thinks she can walk out of school when she decides she’s had enough probably also thinks she can decide what she should learn there.

I was hardly a classroom shrinking violet, but when I was 10, if my parents and teachers had told me I was staying in school till the moon rose, it never would have occurred to me to threaten a walkout. Experts gush about empowering kids, but we’re really just teaching them to think more highly of themselves than they should. When I made foolish adolescent pronouncements, the wire services never carried them.

Arne Duncan, our federal secretary of education, has joined the chorus deriding summer vacation as a relic of our bygone “agrarian economy.” Inconveniently, his complaint ignores a few facts. First, farms are busy places, even when it isn’t July and August, like during spring planting and autumn harvest. Second, it’s been a hundred years since most Americans lived in the country, let alone on farms. Summer vacation remained a positive aspect of American life even after most of us had moved to suburbs and cities, and while we were becoming a superpower. Third, our current two-month summer recess became an institution not because of farmers, but largely at the insistence of a 20th-century urban middle class that demanded an upper-class summer out of the city.

The president wants schools to “stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.” I try to keep my students safe every day, but that’s not the purpose of my classroom. It’s been more than 25 years since A Nation at Risk warned that expecting schools to solve problems “the home and other institutions either will not or cannot resolve” exacts a crippling “educational cost.” We need to stop making that mistake.

If America’s homes aren’t safe places for children, that’s a problem school reform can’t fix.

Experts often attribute American students’ disappointing international test results to shorter school days and years. For example, in 2003, Japanese students averaged 926 hours in a school-based education program, while American students spent 799. Japan placed fourth in an international math assessment, while we placed 24th. Finland, on the other hand, spent 861 hours and placed first, while Italy spent more time than we did and placed behind us.

These statistics deserve skepticism, but two things are true. How much time you spend on learning matters. But what you do with that time matters more. That means what teachers do with the time, as well as what students do with it, and afterward, when they’re home.

---

Proposals for longer days include everything from remedial instruction, which used to be known as after-school extra help, to chess and drama clubs, which used to be known as after-school chess and drama clubs. Proponents also plan to nurture vaguer “nontraditional skills” like “leadership” and “resiliency” in a “seamless learning experience” that includes a “web of community services” as well as opportunities in “relevant real-world settings,” formerly known as after-school jobs.

If some students need remedial help beyond current school hours, schools can offer it to them, as many already do. But we shouldn't compel every child to stay just because some may need to.

Proponents of longer school hours contend that “poorer kids” face “problems that interfere with learning,” according to the AP, including “less involvement by their parents,” while children from more-affluent homes benefit from parents who “read to them, have strong language skills,” and “give them learning opportunities.” I suspect many nonaffluent parents would object to that generalization. But even where it is true, the solution doesn’t require longer days and years for every child. If some students need remedial help beyond current school hours, schools can offer it to them, as many already do. But we shouldn’t compel every child to stay just because some may need to.

Ironically, at the same time experts are prescribing more school hours, they’re also complaining that American children lack sufficient “playtime.” They’re demanding longer recesses during the school day to meet that “troubling health and school issue.” In other words, instead of sending kids home to play after school, let’s make the school day longer so we can give them more time to play before they go home.

How nuts are we?

If we’re serious about school time, we can address truancy. Roughly 10 percent of 1st graders nationwide are chronically absent. The percentage rises dramatically in districts serving poor children, in some cases ranging above 50 percent. Those children’s scores predictably depress overall school averages, and remediating those students cuts into teachers’ class time with their other students who don’t miss school. Besides, expecting kids who already don’t attend school to attend longer school days and years doesn’t sound like much of a solution.

We can also address how many minutes and hours teachers are compelled to spend on classroom management, and how much chaos their students are forced to endure at the hands of a disruptive few because perverse regulations, the threat of litigation, and pipe-dream behavior theories continue to rule in our schools.

We can address how much time schools divert to social services. We can address how vague, nonacademic objectives have supplanted academic content. All this folly costs more than a summer every year.

Finally, we can understand that giving children the summer away from school isn’t a waste of their time. Unless we’re saying that being home is a waste of their time.

If that’s the case, we’ve got a more perilous problem than an eternity in my classroom can cure.

Peter Berger teaches English in Weathersfield, Vt., and writes the newspaper column "Poor Elijah's Almanack."

Tuesday's Thought

What exactly is "knowing one's letters?" We always ask parents of children aged four and five, "Where is your child academically?" And the answer is always "Oh, he or she knows his or her letters." So the fair response from a teacher's point of view is, "What DO you mean?" Mostly, what parents mean is that a child can sing the ABC song and only slur the L,M,N,O,P!

I could go on and on about what knowing your letters is not, so let's cut to the chase and say what it is:

Knowing one's letters means:

Recognizing all 26 of the upper case letters of the alphabet.
Recognizing all 26 of the lower case letters of the alphabet.
Being able to say all 26 phonemes (sounds letters make) with the variations on the vowels.
Being able to write all 26 letters on kindergarten lined paper both upper and lower case.

Da, Da!

This is supposed to happen in kindergarten if not earlier. Yes, three year olds are teachable and actually love playing with letters and are most capable of learning phonemes and reciting them and putting them together into sound groups. It's a step by step process and completely fun if you approach it as a fun activity.

Most threes don't recognize any letters because it's something that must be taught. But by telling short stories about each letter, they will learn quickly. Best plan of teaching is to present letters that have no additional pictures. Each letter is its own picture and does not need more. When children learn letters with pictures, it presents a roadblock to learning. Any child will look at the activity picture and not the stylized letter, so it's best to have just the letter.

When showing a child the letter A, the teacher turns the letter on it's side, and says. "This is 'A' and 'A' is an airplane that flies in the sky, Airplane, A." The child is welcome to say that the letter shown again is either an Airplane or A. B is another little story. B is like a butterfly, and then the teacher makes her hands into a butterfly by latching her thumbs and having the butterfly fly.

Every letter has a story, and very young children learn the stories first, and then slowly go over to saying the name of the letter. Teachers can invent stories that both the teacher and the child will remember. This way it's a quick process and it's fun.

One of the mistakes parents make with phonemes, or sounds of the letters, is adding a short "a" sound to consonants. It is not Ba but B like a bop on a bottle. Vowels have long and short sounds and children should be aware that vowels and consonants are like air noises giving life to words, and consonants are like mouth noises and can't be pronounced without their sister and brother vowels.

When it's time to start writing letters for real, about age four, it's best to start with a marker rather than a pencil and rather than a crayon simply for the lack of drag a marker has compared to either a pencil or a crayon. Always, always, always, always teach from top line to bottom line. Children are determined to make letters from the bottom up and this always has to be re-taught simply because well formed letters cannot be made from the bottom line.

The other thing is to teach an upper case letter to start a name and all the rest lower case letters. This also has to be re-taught and that's harder than learning the right way the first time.

Writing has a lot to do with hand strength and coordination. This is often determined by how much coloring a child does. Children who do not like to color and don't know how will have a lot more trouble with making letters than children who like to color and learn to color well.

Tiny Legos, stringing beads, and doing play that creates a structure like Tinker Toys, little blocks, little toys that need assembly or dressing will add to a child's ability to write because these activities build hand strength.

For parents who dread the coloring route at home because of the mess, the best solution is to put children at the kitchen table and that's where the color crayons and all art supplies stay.

How necessary is it that a five year old know their letters? In a world of competition, it's best that all children begin to learn their letters as soon as possible. Children love this activity. They want to know this material and enjoy the accomplishment of knowing.

A four year old who can put his or her name on his or her paper is a happier child. It's a matter of being in command or dependent. Children love being independent.

There are four great independent milestones in a child's live. The first one is toilet training, the second is reading. Start your child early and watch him grow.