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.

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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.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning!

It's going to be another fabulous day. Play practice this morning, so don't forget to work on your child's lines on the way to school. Treasure box passes for those children who know their lines.

During play weeks, we suspend a lot of classes in order to practice. This gives the kids a nice break. At the end of this period, what we have always found is that children actually do better for the break.

The theme this week is Pilgrims. We will be reading two books about Pilgrims I am hoping the children find interesting.

We will be eating a stuffed pumpkin today. The children seemed to really like this.

No field trips this week, just practice, practice, practice!

Have a marvelous week!

Sunday's Plate

Sweet potatoes from
World's Healthiest Foods

Although sweet potatoes may be part of the Thanksgiving tradition, be sure to add these wonderful naturally sweet vegetables to your meals throughout the year; they are some of the most nutritious vegetables around. Sweet potatoes can be found in your local markets year-round, however they are in season in November and December.

The sweet potato has yellow or orange flesh, and its thin skin may either be white, yellow, orange, red or purple. Sometimes this root vegetable will be shaped like a potato, being short and blocky with rounded ends, while other times it will be longer with tapered ends. There is often much confusion between sweet potatoes and yams; the moist-fleshed, orange-colored root vegetable that is often called a "yam" is actually a sweet potato.

Unique Proteins with Potent Antioxidant Effects

Sweet potato contain unique root storage proteins that have been observed to have significant antioxidant capacities. In one study, these proteins had about one-third the antioxidant activity of glutathione-one of the body's most impressive internally produced antioxidants. Although future studies are needed in this area, count on these root proteins to help explain sweet potatoes' healing properties.

For more information go HERE.

Comment: this is one of the wonderful articles about healthy eating From Food Navigator. It's one of those sites you can go to and explore all the things you've ever wanted to know about good nutrition and food.

Here are some things to do with sweet potatoes:

Bake like a regular potato and serve with butter, honey, or crumbled bacon and cheese.

Cut in wedges and baked like French fries. Skins stay on. Honey butter makes a great "ketchup."

Some people boil them and whip them with brown sugar and butter and make a kind of crust-less pie. They add all kinds of things like nuts and marshmallows to the top and re-heat in the oven until the marshmallows brown.

Some slice them and add ground oranges, nuts, coconut and or pineapple.

I like to glaze them with a glaze made from orange juice, butter and brown sugar boiled on the stove about three minutes. You can thicken this with cornstarch and water and then pour over the sliced potatoes. Then add your toppings and re-bake for about twenty minutes.

Here's a new recipe:

Boil, cool and cube your sweet potatoes (one for each person served). To the hot cheese sauce posted in the right isle of the blog just under the cookie recipe, add raw shrimp and scallops. It will take about three minutes for your fish to cook. Pour over sweet potatoes. Add a garnish of crumbled bacon and raw onions.

Sweet potatoes can be mashed and added to cake batters, muffins, and cubed and added to stews, soups and just about any dish.

Friday's Tattler

It was a great week! We had play practice three times, and the kids were wonderful. A couple of kids know most of their lines already.

On Friday, we went to see Peter and the Wolf at the Victory Theatre.


It was really quite cute. The musicians come down from the stage to the children and get to see the instruments up close, and the musicians play little songs for them.











This year, there were puppets to tell the story of Peter and the wolf. These were large puppets that played on their own stage. The music was wonderful and the children really seemed to enjoy the whole beauty of classical music.



Each child paid attention to the whole production, and we were very proud of them. They looked quite cute in their school uniforms.

We had a pizza party after. They enjoyed that and ate six pizzas!

This afternoon, Miss Leigh made Mexican treats for snack.

Hope you have a spectacular weekend!

Teaching Thursday

Indiana Companies Celebrate First Annual Start!

Eating Healthy Day on November 4th

Area businesses and individuals encouraged to take steps towards healthier nutrition and a healthy lifestyle

INDIANAPOLIS (October 27, 2009) – The American Heart Association has issued its call for companies and individuals to participate in National Start! Eating Healthy Day on Wed., Nov. 4.

The American Heart Association’s first annual event is aimed at raising awareness for the importance of good nutrition and making the best eating decisions to reduce a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Hoosier companies are encouraged to help the fight against heart disease and rally their workforce by hosting a National Start! Eating Healthy Day activity.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans, but it us also a largely preventable disease.
Companies can take the time to focus on wellness – and help take a giant step towards healthier nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Worksite wellness programs are a proven strategy to prevent the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, according to a statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“Most company leaders know that creating and encouraging healthy eating in the workplace isn’t always easy and can’t be done alone. This is where the American Heart Association’s Start! campaign can help,” says Jay Gilbert, President and CEO, Physicians Health Plan (PHP). “They are dedicated to helping adults get and stay healthy in the workplace, at home and everywhere in between. This is a core part of our mission as well.”

Companies can participate in National Start! Eating Healthy Day by:

• Serving only healthy foods in the cafeteria
• Turning off the vending machines for the day or filling them with healthy alternatives
• Passing out green apples to all the employees with some healthy eating tips
• Organizing a farmer’s market in the office during the lunch hour
• Replace donuts with fruit and low fat muffins at a breakfast meeting

"National Start! Eating Healthy Day is a creative way to help improve the health of our community," said Sue Ehinger, chief operating officer, Parkview Hospital. "Parkview is committed to providing excellent heart care, and healthy eating is an important step in promoting wellness and overall health. We are pleased to be a partner with the American Heart Association and Physicians Health Plan."

Individuals can participate in National Start! Eating Healthy Day by:

• Bringing your lunch to work so you can control what you eat and save money in the process
• Discover a new, healthy recipe and prepare it for your family or friends
• Have a healthy pitch-in lunch at work
• Make a stop at the grocery store on your way home so you can stock up on healthy snacks and food items

Jim England, member of the American Heart Association Indianapolis Board of Directors and President of J.D. Byrider Advertising Group, says “Exercise and diet are integral parts of adopting a healthier lifestyle and heart health. Getting started with either one of those disciplines can be tough…especially at this time of year. We’re hoping that joining in on National Start!

Eating Healthy Day can go a long toward helping people walk and eat healthier through the holidays. That way, they’re better prepared to get started on their New Year’s resolutions of eating right and getting in shape.”

To learn more on how you can participate in National Start! Eating Healthy Day and to download resources for your company, visit www.startwalkingnow.org.

Wonderful Wednesday

Comment: I get hundreds of offers, information bulletins, notifications of all kinds of things out there that people want me to put on this blog. Out of two hundred, I probably delete one hundred ninety eight. This I liked. This might be helpful to some who are moving nationwide or across the street. It's from Peter Sadler:

Moving is often an emotional and stressful period for the whole family. For children, it can be nerve racking and just plain confusing. Leaving behind friends, changing schools and having to get used to a new home can be really difficult. Books can be an invaluable resource in helping to explain to kids that just because you move doesn’t mean you forget your old home or friends.

FlateRate Moving, a nationwide leader in moving and storage, suggests these books to help children have a smooth transition during and after a move.

Moving Day by Meg Cabot - This book comes from Cabot’s series for younger girls, Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls. Known for her entrancing stories in The Princess Diaries series, Cabot takes readers through Allie Finkle’s reaction and reality when her family decides to move across town. Filled with worries and concerns, Finkle has to go to a new school as a new kid and find new friends. But what about her old best friend?

The Moving Book: A Kids’ Survival Guide by Gabriel Davis - Turn moving into an adventure for your tween. This fits somewhere between moving scrapbook and guide to moving. It includes advice on packing, discovering the new house and neighborhood and also getting valuable information from the old neighbors so that they aren’t forgotten in the move.

We’re Moving by Heather Maisner - When kids move, they aren’t just leaving behind their house. They are also moving away from the special things they did with their family there - like plant a garden, play tag in the yard or have an Easter egg hunt. This story for young elementary school kids addresses that, and how you can make new memories like those in your new home too.

The Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day by Stan Berenstain - The Berenstain Bears are moving to a new tree house and Brother isn’t sure he’s going to like it — or make friends. This is perfect for talking to your preschooler about a move, since the Bears are very vocal with their relatable concerns.

Who Will Be My Friends? by Syd Hoff - This is a great book to give your child just before or after a move or if a new family has moved into the neighborhood. Freddy teaches us what it is like to be new and discovers that meeting new people and new friends is not as difficult as he first thought.

Just thought you'd want to know.

Tuesday's Thought

When I was a young woman, my eagerness to please extended to my children. I hated saying "no" and more often than not, I said "yes" to the things they asked for. I've always wondered why I was more of a "yes" mom than the typical "no" mom, and I came to the conclusion that like a lot of things in my life. The question a child asks is like a multiple choice test.

Now I'm hyperactive having scored 100% on the DSM 4 test. I'm not attention deficit because I think attention deficit is just a lot of sloth and bad habits. I don't even put hyperactivity and attention deficit in the same rowboat. But that's another story.

For the typical hyperactive thinking, a multiple choice test is deadly. You read the question. You read the choices for answers, and the speed of your mind makes every one of the answers correct by changing this or that, problem solved in lightening speed and then you can't remember which is right and which is wrong. Give me an essay any time.

So when a child asks, "Can I..." your mind actually creates a multiple choice answer. You think of all the variables of the question, the probable outcomes, the emotional play, the learning aspects, the clean up and the "yes" "no" becomes very complicated. The answer "yes" always seemed to be a "do" answer rather than a "don't do" answer, and when you want your children to experience "yes" more than "no"...well you get the picture. I bought futons so more children could spend the night...

I tried to rarely say "no" with my own children, and today with my little students, I try to say "no" as little as possible. Children should learn from doing.

This theory about doing is a marvelous theory, and very helpful in the discipline area. If children are constantly busy with doing, then they are less likely to be caught being disobedient or rude or getting into trouble because their energies are well spent. It's a very good rule of thumb.

"No" should really be saved for absolute nots like rudeness, aggression, and destructive behaviors. The more mannered a child is, the more he gets to do. I will trust a well behaved child in the pet room long before I will trust one of dubious respect. It's a package deal.

One thing I've noticed is that many parents say no to "doing" but not to behavior issues. When this is the case, the whole world becomes a giant "NO" because poorly behaved children can't be trusted to do without issues.

When parents are afraid of saying "no" to a child who is misbehaving, the child spends most of his time in tears, tantrums, whining, pay backs - and these all ensue from a child whose parents fear him. When children are in the driver's seats of their parents lives, it's a dangerous place. Driving lines are not for children. Children have enough to manage without taking the parents' roles.

Telling a child "no" should be short and sweet, and if a tantrum or tears pour forth, parents should stick to their guns and not be deterred from being parents. It's the job of parents to run things not to be run.m Tears, tantrums and attempted pay-backs will not break a child.

Walking away from tears and tantrums is the best way to handle them. You will never convince him or her, so give up right away and slip into that bigger than you are role, or the "I said so" role.

The child, after all, is looking to get his way, and giving in will only make getting his way a possibility. Don't let that happen. Will the child break or dissolve or have permanent damage if he can't have or do what he wants? What we find at school is that children who are told "no" and they are on a regular basis, find something else to occupy them in moments. It's a plea that's fleeting.

One of the best discipline tactics is to never ever ever break a promise. A promise to a child is as binding as an oath. They will remember all the promises broken and remember them all their lives even on your death bed. So when a child asks, and you say yes, yes better be the outcome or you're a welsher.

Saying yes makes everyone feel great. It's a real boost to the person - the brain, the emotions, the mood, the scope. Yes is a wonderful gig. So in the future the goal is: say no to rude, nasty, destructive behaviors, and that will make saying yes to doing a lot easier all the way around.

Monday's Tattler

Good morning! Today begins the first day of play weeks. We will be focusing on learning lines, making decorations, wearing costumes and making backdrops. It's a fun time, and children should learn to step out of self a little and become somebody else for a little while. It's a great way to introduce an illusive fine art to little ones.

Learning lines is a parent and me activity. The younger children will have fewer lines - probably two or three. The older children will be responsible for learning many more. It is important that parents help their child with the entire scene. By learning their own lines only, they will not know when it is their turn to speak. So when you practice, you need to read the other children's lines and then instruct your child when to say his.

Your child will receive a costume courtesy of Mrs. St. Louis.

The play will be Friday, November 20 promptly at 3:00.

This week on Friday, we will be going to the Lollipop Concert in the morning. We will leave for the concert at 9:30. Your child will need to wear BOTH his green shirt and his red school hoodie. Please do not send children in shoes other than athletic shoes. There are many steps at the concert, and we don't want anyone to fall. The cost for the field trip is $10.00.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate Making Stuff from Scratch...

Lots of parents ask, "What WAS that you served on name a day? My child just loved it." Generally, I love giving out recipes but it's hard for me because I rarely measure anything, and I'm just not sure what I put into it that particular day. I wrote a novel called Pork Chops and the main character had this same problem. It is a very funny book and available at Amazon, and the character is as variable in the kitchen as I am.

The whole idea around cooking is to have the ingredients on hand and be really familiar with them and not to be daunted with experimentation. One of the things that has been asked for is our school cheese sauce. The story behind the cheese sauce is a funny one. I used the best ingredients for years to make cheese sauce, and it always tasted like soap. The more cheddar cheese I put into it, the worse it got. Never willing to give up on anything, I finally found out - don't use cheddar - use American. Swiss or mozzarella will be stringy.

When you make any kind of a sauce, be it a plain sauce for casseroles, toppings, a gravy like substance or the goo to latch everything together, always start with butter in pan deep enough to boil. Be generous. Melt the butter and add enough flour to make a nice paste. You don't have to measure...you can see it happen in front of you. Now cook that for a minute. Then, add your milk. You can add soy, rice, or regular cow's milk. You can even use half and half or cream. The amounts are about half a stick of butter and 1/2 a cup of flour to two cups of milk. Now as the milk is warming, add a tablespoon of chicken bouillon and stir. Then add your cheese - American please. At least two pieces for everyone eating. Two cups of milk means about eight slices. When the mix begins to boil, take it off the heat and add a cup of sour cream.

Breaking this down into smaller portions, use 1/4 stick butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 4 slices of cheese and 1/2 cup of sour cream.

A good substitute is: saute onions and mushrooms in the butter then add the flour and 1/2 cup of white wine. Then milk or cream, then Parmesan cheese. A little tomato something will turn it pink.

Cheese sauce will last a week in the fridge. You can use it on lots of things: potatoes, rice, noodles, eggs and as an addition to meat. A cheese sauce made plain with blue cheese makes a great beef sauce. Cheese sauce glues anything together in a casserole dish. Reduce the milk, and it becomes a layer in a casserole. Poured, it's great on fish, chicken, and pork. For pork, add a little horseradish. Sometimes I put a cheese sauce into a pitcher so people can help themselves. My daughter, Anne, likes to put in carrots, potatoes and chicken pieces already cooked, and add a stunning crust and bake as a pot pie.

This Saturday, I bought 1/2 pound of fresh large shrimp and 1/2 pound of fresh cod fish. I used half the fish and cubed the cod fish and cut the shrimp into the same size pieces as the cod. I made a sauce with red wine and Parmesan cheese and a little salsa. When the sauce was bubbling, I put in the fish and shrimp and let it sit about three minutes and served it over whole grain angel hair pasta.

The next round with the rest of the shrimp and cod will be made into a tomato thing. The fish cost about $4.00 per night. A little pricer than I usually go, but it fed three.

Lots to do with cheese sauce and the variations. Enjoy.

Friday's Tattler

Friday was a special day. The children all came in in costume. They were adorable. Each child was so proud of his costume, and they shared and shared who they were and how much they liked dressing up. We had a new breakfast of homemade donuts dipped in glaze and sprinkles, and then we decided since the rain was holding off, that we would go visit the elderly.

Miss Sandy picked us up about 9:30 and we loaded on the bus wearing our costumes. It was really a very nice day for this because although it was looking like impending rain, the air was a nice temperature.

We went to where Miss Amy's husband works, Oak Grove, and we sang and sang. The residents clapped for the children and the children were very kind and went to visit the residents. I was particularly proud of Austin and Elayna. Each of these children introduced themselves and shook hands with the older people. Elayna actually put the elderly hands into hers, closed hers sweetly around them and talked very kindly to these elderly people.

Then we jumped on board the bus again and went up to a special place in Boonville. This is where my mother spent her last days. The home is small and private and the people are wonderful. As the children sang, Miss Leigh leaned over to me and reminded me of a project she wants to do with the children - pen pals - now that they are writing and learning to spell. She mentioned that instead of trying to get another school interested, we need to fill a need at the nursing home and have the older children write to a resident who can write back, and have the younger children draw pictures for those too in-firmed to respond. A brilliant suggestion.

When we arrived back at school, Miss Judy quickly made chicken noodle soup, and the response was, "Can we have this again?" The answer is "Of course!" We had open face cheesewitches, and fruit.

Children went to sit with their attending adults and then at 3:00 we all sang again. Then it was treat-ville. The treats were wonderful, and delicious. Thank you all for coming and for bringing such delicious treats.