Monday's Tattler

It's an important week! Today we will give lots of time over to campaign speeches for the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. We will talk about what it means to lead the school. Children will be encouraged to speak up and to state their interests in this run for office!

Voting will be on Tuesday. It will be a serious ballot vote cast in private.

We will also run through the play today just to see if the lines fit the child. If all goes well, we will be sending home play lines. Please practice these with your child by reading the entire scene. Just learning a few lines is easy, but your child needs to know where his lines fit with the next child, so read the whole scene.

Candy money still needs to come in.

Please think about a place for your child this summer. We have 33 spaces left. When those are gone, we cannot take more children because we can't fit them on the bus.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate

This week we had egg rolls in school and the children went crazy over them. I think there was not an egg roll left. I've made egg rolls for years along with a lot of Asian dishes. While most people find comfort in mashed potatoes and pot roast gravy, I find comfort in curried rice, egg rolls, and sweet pork dishes.

When Terry and I came here to Indiana, there were no Chinese restaurants to speak of, and I decided to try my hand at making my own Chinese and Indian food, so my children would have the experience of eating that great wide variety of foods that is so healthy.

So this week, I decided to make egg rolls for 50! What a job! I bought shredded broccoli and carrots, chicken breasts, and sheered cabbage. I cut celery, green pepper and sauteed all these veggies in olive oil and soy sauce, ginger, pepper and garlic, and added the already baked chicken breasts that I had shredded.

I packed the egg roll skins that I got at Schnuck's in the green grocer ( fresh fruit and veggie section). It's not hard to do. You set your skins so they look like a diamond - point down. Place about two tablespoons of filling toward the bottom of the diamond, flip the bottom point over the filling. Like an envelope, close the two side points so that the filling is snug but not tight, wet the last point with water using your fingers, and roll. Set aside on paper towels.

At home, I use a lot of left overs - cooked and uncooked. All things are mildly heated with the soy and spices, and I use lettuce or whatever veggie I have a lot of. I've even used collard greens and beet leaves. Cube or shred anything you have left over. Egg rolls are supposed to be filled with leftovers.

Heat an inch of canola oil in a deep pan until it feels very warm when holding your hand over the pan. Don't touch!!! Drop your egg rolls into the hot oil. They will sizzle if the oil is hot enough, and they should. When they are brown, remove from pan and drain on a cake cooling rack. Then move to paper towel.

I serve my home egg rolls on a square plate. I serve them with horseradish, mustard and peach jam. Delicious! At school, we made a cherry sauce from ground maraschino cherries, soy sauce, vinegar, and cornstarch.

Saturday's Under the Sun

Herbs are an important part of my health life because I can take virtually no medications without becoming poisoned. On the other hand, I'm rarely ill. I will literally make a tea out of anything and treat all kinds of issues with herbs. I get a lot of information from a lady named Susan Weed. She has an excellent site at Herbal Ezine. I really enjoy her herbal wisdom. Why not take a minute to look at her site. It's really quite interesting.

Friday's Tattler

This past China week has been a whirlwind of activity and accomplishment. One of my favorite accomplishments has been the Chinese writing. The children did a fine job.

We started the week about China off with some artifacts - a model of a Chinese junk, a big piece of jade, a dragon, and a coal pot. We looked at Chinese art, stories, the Chinese Zodiac, and much more. We made a huge paper dragon, and kites, and drawings of dragons and little village scenes. Great times, lots of effort and lots of participation.

We had Chinese food most days. We loved our egg rolls, our chicken fried rice, our wantons, our Chinese noodles, pork strips and many more wonderful edibles!

Many of the children brought in campaign posters. They are all hanging and all creative and exciting. It's wonderful to see the children involve themselves with such a campaign as a presidential run for the school. We are so proud of them.

Some of the children brought in candy and other great treats to share with friends. All of these things will get a hefty review on Monday as we talk about the presidency and the vice presidency, what it means and what it should mean.

We will vote on Tuesday!

Listening Skills by Judy Lyden

If we could teach every child who comes through the Garden School to listen, we would accomplish every single thing we set out to do. Listening is the most important skill we teach every year.

It has been my experience that few people listen. There are lots of reasons why people don't listen, and most of them come from the angle from which people are viewing life. When you are looking at life through a hand mirror; when the preoccupation is self with the world in the background...chances are, you're not a listener.

Teaching children to listen begins with getting their attention. This is not always possible. Some children have an agenda so opposed to he who is speaking, that the listening never begins. Getting the attention of those mature enough to listen usually takes a little strategy on the part of the adult. The adult who wants children to listen will usually have something to say that children find interesting, funny or rewarding in some way. Being that adult that children listen to because they never know what to expect next, is a talent. Being that adult that children listen to because they know they are loved comes from putting the hand mirror down.

It's the same in the adult world. How often does the homilist at church hold your interest? How often does a speech hold your interest? Can you listen to long runs of music? Can you listen to a book on tape? How about a dullard who is trying to tell you a story? Can you listen to the repair guy at Lowe's while he tries to explain changing the whats it on your thingy?

When working with children the name of the listening game is short and sweet. Children will turn off the "teller" in about twenty seconds or after the first three sentences if the information is dull. Getting out the information quickly is important, but so is making the information count and that sometimes takes a little acting. Children love to laugh, and if the adult is funny, children will zone in and rivet on their entertainment. If the adult is forthright, children are apt to listen. If an adult is serious and has their respect from other times, children will listen.

Following directions is "follow-me" act on listening. "If you are five, stand up and...." Every child in the room ( ages 3-5) will stand and.... "If you have blue jeans on, sit." Not a single child moves. Seventy five percent are wearing blue jeans. When playing the old game of Telephone, the first child whispers to the second and passes it on to the third child until the time is up and the last child recites what he has heard. This is very revealing in the ability to listen. Most children say, "I don't know what I heard." It's an honest response. It's a matter of listening skills that need formation, patience and practice. It's a skill learning to be.

Having children repeat directions helps. Showing children a prototype or a how to also helps. Reminding them along the way helps as well, but nothing is foolproof until a child decides to put down the hand mirror and face the world squarely and accept his or her role, place, and responsibilities in said world. When the child is no longer focused on self, but on the wonderful sights and sounds and tastes and smells, and feel of the world he was meant to explore, he will listen as a natural means of learning. By listening, children learn that that world becomes more explainable and more interesting.

A good listener is always keen for more to listen to because it is through listening that one learns, and the best and the brightest children learn that quickly.

When listening becomes a talent and not a chore, the next step is listening through the ears with a detour through the heart. What someone says and what someone means can be two very different things. The act of listening with compassion, with humor, with correction, is an accomplishment of kings.

And it all starts with the simple act of putting self second for a short time. That's a hard task for many, and it begins in preschool. Good preschool teachers will engage children with a lofty, funny, interesting, and friendly tone of voice that says, "I love you; I care about you; you matter to me just because, and I will fight the dragon just for you."

And a good preschool teacher will know that children need to learn through listening because they can't read. So the very act of reading to them with spirit and verve is important. A dull reader will discourage listening. A lively reader with lively material will encourage listening. And a good teacher will always ask, "Are they listening or are they restless?" What's the point in reading if nobody is listening? Who's fault is that- child or adult? If you can't muster the voice to be entertaining, pass the book to someone who can. Losing the moment is worse than not reading at all. Children can get into the habit of not listening from a teacher or parent who is a terrible reader.

At the same time, right amount of repetition is important, but too much repetition is boring and will turn off the listening ears of any child. Slogans are the master of the listening world. Children learn slogans and apply rules to activities more easily if they hear the same word order again and again. "No talking in the bathroom." "Crisscross applesauce, hands in lap." "Coats off, hang them up, wash your hands..." same call every day. How many listen? Eighty percent.

Practice listening to directions is helped in directed art classes where children do this, then that, then this, then that until the thing they are trying to paint or draw is finally realized. Children who have learned to listen turn out the most wonderful art. Children who have not learned to listen make a mess. It's a curious exercise and never ceases to amuse good teachers.

Listening may begin to take over a child's learning skills at three, at four, at forty...it is an individual process and a process parents should pay very special attention to simply because good listening skills are the primary avenue of learning.

Wonderful Wednesday

The Netherlands in May

At first glance, it looks like a giant child armed with a box of crayons has been set loose upon the landscape. Vivid stripes of purple, yellow, red, pink, orange and green make up a glorious patchwork. Yet far from being a child’s sketchbook, this is, in fact, the northern Netherlands in the middle of tulip season. The Dutch landscape in May is a kaleidoscope of color as the tulips burst into life. The bulbs are planted in late October and early November. More than nine billion tulips are grown each year & two-thirds of the vibrant blooms are exported, mostly to the U.S. and Germany.

Tuesday's Teacher

Teaching very young, high-energy children means understanding how they learn best.

Movement, multiple levels, complexities are all a part of interesting a high-energy child. But another, simpler reality needs to be addressed first, and that’s the issue of sitting.

For many hyperactive children and adults, the very act of sitting down is threatening. Sitting means losing command of the self. It means a kind of terrifying submission.

Hyperactive people survive by means of their strength and vitality. To remove that through forced docility is as threatening as it would be to put your foot on an average child’s head and pin him to the ground.

What few people know is how high energy children suffer by sitting. It actually hurts. The quality of stillness for a hyperactive body is not just simply a discipline we must endure. Stillness means the things driving a child to move must be arrested. The need to move doesn’t just “go away” because a child is finally doing what the teacher wants.

The suppression of movement causes the skin to crawl, itch, and feel as if bugs were crawling all over the body. Muscles that are restricted from moving suddenly become leaden and ache with a nervous tension that is agonizing. It feels like dull growing pains. Headaches, stomachaches, nervous habits, and temper, can all emerge when a body that is meant to move, can’t.

Unfortunately, in a world where movement in the modern classroom is limited, these children have twice the work, twice the discipline, and twice the bend that other children must endure when days of play at home become days of sitting in nine square feet. Turn the tables. Imagine jumping all day while you work.

One strategy for helping hyperactive children do well is to let them move in the classroom. Hyper kids do better standing up or lying down. Who cares if they are reading on the floor if they are doing the job? Perhaps the discipline of sitting should be saved for group discussions when a child’s mind can move him out of his body.

When the mind of a hyperactive child is fully engaged, his mental imaging actually pulls him out of his body. The very idea that a child can’t focus is absurd when you see him rivet in on something he finds interesting. Interest, of course, comes from nearly anything not predictable.

“Carry me” hands-on learning is a good compromise. Once a child understands a simple math concept, letting him work with manipulatives by carrying math manipulatives from a bin on one table to do the problem at another table. Then he can exercise his muscles while fulfilling the work. It’s a compromise to sitting with pencil and paper. Problem: It can’t be brought home.

Yes, he will be distracting, but average students aren’t supposed to lose concentration from extraneous stimuli, so other kids probably won’t notice if someone is working in the back of the room.

In time, nature will let the high energy body slow down. Puberty helps. But it won’t happen if loving compromises aren’t made. Medication might slow him down now, but what will he learn? The high-energy child is often very intelligent, and depriving him of natural knowledge about his own body is a form of deprivation.

The key to understanding a child like this is to recognize his profound differences. High-energy children will never be ordinary no matter how much parents wish it and work at it. Trying to neutralize him is a little like foot binding. Once you’ve broken the child’s feet, he becomes a prisoner of someone else’s agenda. But here, we are not speaking of feet, we’re speaking of the whole child. Don’t break the child.

Monday's Tattler

Good morning on this first day of China week. Today we will look at things Chinese! We will tackle such great Chinese treasures as jade, the junk, the Great Wall, pandas, the kite, Chinese writing, the Chinese Zodiac, and we will make a big paper mache dragon.

We will eat child friendly Chinese food all week. I hope the kids like this. Beginning today, we will try homemade egg rolls, and chicken fried rice. We will try sweet pork, pizza wantons, chicken and vegetable stir fry, Chinese noodles and fish.

This week is also our campaign for President of the Garden School. Children in the Kindergarten class are welcome and encouraged to run for the School President. They may bring in campaign tokens, banners, signs and printed slogans - whatever they want. Speeches will be next Monday and the voting on Tuesday. The campaign goes on all week!

Lots of things in the hopper....

Sunday's Plate

Truffles, bonbons, yummy homemade candy is really quite easy as Miss Lisa found out this past week. We had a candy day, and she made candy for her boyfriend for the very first time, and she was delighted with the results. All the children got a taste of both this soft truffle and some hard candy we will talk about next week.

Candy is easy and quick if you have the right equipment. It takes a food processor or at least a stand or hand mixer.

Now let's get this lesson right so that we look like the penultimate candy makers!

The basic idea is to make a "fondant" for the center of a truffle or bonbon. The basic center is butter and sugar - that's it. Then you add your tastes and your flavors. It's that simple.

So using a food processor, process 2 sticks of butter and a box of powdered sugar until smooth. Don't over process and don't use margarine. Margarine is one molecule away from plastic.

You can double this recipe if your processor is large enough. If you are going to go to the trouble of making candy, it's always nice to have a BIG batch! Using a single recipe, you should have about four cups of fondant.

Now is the time to think about flavors and tastes.

You can divide your fondant into say six small bowls or 3/4 cup fondant for each bowl give or take a heaping tablespoon.

Into the first bowl, let's say you add finely ground coffee and walnuts. Mix a teaspoon of coffee and a handful of nuts into the mix. Roll this mix into ping pong sized balls, insert a toothpick, place on a cookie sheet in a row marked coffee- walnut.

Next bowl - let's say you have a hankering for orange candy. Grind the rind of half an orange and mix the rind in with the fondant. If you want to add nuts, say almonds or pecans - go for it. Roll this mix into ping pong sized balls, insert your toothpick and line up next to your coffee walnut balls and mark - orange nut.

In the next bowl, you might think - mmmm - toasted coconut! On a flat iron skillet, put a handful of coconut and on high heat stir till lightly browned. Add your toasted coconut to your bowl of fondant and maybe a little vanilla flavoring. Roll, tooth, and line them up and mark.

In the fourth bowl, lemon strikes your fancy. Use a teaspoon of real lemon juice and roll, tooth, line and tag!

In the fifth bowl, chocolate peanut butter says it all. A giant tablespoon of peanut butter and a quarter of a cup of cocoa will do the trick nicely. Roll, pick, line and tag.

One of my favorite tastes is butterscotch. It's not unheard of to chop butterscotch pieces. Heath bar bits makes a fine candy taste. Roll, pick, line and tag!

Now freeze your tray. When balls are frozen, they will either keep for months or can be dipped immediately.

Here's how: In a tiny pot, melt a half sheet of Gulf wax and a cup of your favorite chocolate chips. Watch your heat because this will scorch very quickly. Use more chocolate if the mix is too thin. While your candy is frozen, dip each piece twice in the hot chocolate and wax and let the excess drips drip off back into the tiny pot. Lay dipped candy on Ziplock bags. Wax paper will do as well. Once the candy shell hardens, you can twist the toothpick out and re-dip the top and place an identifying mark on your truffle - a peanut for the chocolate peanut. A bit of coconut for the coconut and a tiny piece of orange...etc.

Don't miss keeping back some of your candy for the inscrutable guest who suddenly appears at your door. I keep my tiny pot of dipping chocolate ready most of the time. You can gather a dozen balls and dip them in five minutes and look like the queen of homemaking - any time you want.

Easter is coming, and candy made with real butter is healthier than storebought.

Happy candy making!

What's New Under the Sun?

I promised I would put a plug in for homemade bisque clay.

Here it is:

Using two cups of baking powder and a cup of cornstarch, mix 1 and 1/4 cup water into this mix using a deep stew pot. Bring the mix to a boil and stir constantly. The mix will bubble and clots will begin to form. Keep stirring until the mix is like very lumpy wallpaper paste. Keep stirring until the mix becomes like mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and let stand until cool. The mix will make all kinds of things like beads, animals, china like bowls and plates and cups. Bake in a 350 degrees oven or air dry. Lots of fun. Clay lasts about two weeks in the fridge.

Friday's Tattler

Friday was a great end to an interesting week on Russia. We did lots of things this week including a brief presentation about the Russian Circus. The school really shows our work. It's nice to have our things hanging in the school. This coming week we will study China, so our Russia things will go home.

During the Knowledge Bee we changed up our play. We asked each of our Kindergartners to choose a team of Middles and Littles and together as a team they were to answer the questions asked. The object was for the Ks and the Middles to choose and answer, and for the littles to offer that answer to the school. We are a group activity place and we teach children to work in groups and find niches in which they can be comfortable and learn easily. There is power in a group that the individual child does not have alone. This team effort was a beginning. Later in the day, the teachers put the Kindergartners with the littles to help them do some artwork. It worked very well.

We are working toward listening skills and cohesive learning. This can't be done when a child has his own agenda. When a child cannot become a member of the group, the Garden School has nothing to offer him. When teachers demonstrate a willingness to work together, students are watching and learning how to do this. When a child rejects the group in order to serve himself, something has gone awry and we need to fix this. There are many forms of fixing including medal loss both permanent and temporary, and when all else fails, dismissal.

This week we will be doing China, and doing some campaigning for the race for the School President, and then play practice starts for the big Spring Play. Looking forward to all of it - busy busy!

Wacky Wonderful Wednesday

With a block of wood & a knife most people couldn't even carve their initials. Check these out.

Can you believe what this man has done with wood?

Amazing Talent!

Wonder what he does in his spare time????

Wooden you like to know!

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching Tuesday...

History Exam... older than dirt here!

Everyone over 40 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 40 you can claim a handicap.

This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life.


*** Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20.
****Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.


1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch....
c. Next to the horn.

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboa rd bottle top..

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a . Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.

9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c. Long pieces of twine.

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey'
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.


15 . What was the name of the Indian Princess in the Howdy Doody Show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.

18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song 'Cabdriver' a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin
------------------------------

------------------------------


ANSWERS

1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60's to catch on.

2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?

3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top.

4 . (a) Blackjack Gum.

5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.

6. (a) 1946 Studebaker.

7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.

8. (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.

9. (a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.

10. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.

12. (b) Taxi , Better be ready by half-past eight!

13. (c) Macaroni ....

14. (c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.

16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.

17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.

18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.

19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.

20. (a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.

SCORING

17- 20 correct : You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with mental abilities. Now if you could only find your glasses.. Definitely someone who should share your wisdom!

12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there.

0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your experiences.

Monday's Tattler

Taking all Valentine's Day things home today. Russia studies start today with a lesson on Russia, a mosaic, and some map work for the Kindergartners. We will work on Russia all week with all kinds of experiences including a visit from Karen Tannenbaum to talk about Russian music.

We will get to go outside for the first time since the New Year. Kids really need to run.

Candy money needs to come in.

Enrollment for summer is now. We have eleven children enrolled, and there are thirty nine spots left. The bus holds fifty five people, so our camp limit is fifty. Teachers take up space too! I'm waiting for Miss Sandy to send back my itinerary with a price tag! Hoping it can all be done. It means a great go go go season.

Please remember to keep ill children home!

Watch for new changes in the zoo room. Lots going on...

Have a great week!

Friday's Tattler

Friday's Valentine's Party was really cute. The Littles recited Ickelme Pickelme Tickleme Too! and were a great success. They all knew the words and recited it with great glee! We were so proud of them.

The Middles and Kindergartners did a little dance and then danced with their favorites for a little while. They worked hard on this dance and seemed to like choosing partners better than doing the dance. It was fun, and no one complained about doing it.

Thank you so much for the wonderful goodies that you brought to the party, parents and grandparents. It's such a small space, we are going to re-evaluate the refreshment table.

It's always nice to see how well supported we are at the Garden School. Thank you all for coming. I know the children really depend on someone being there. If there is ever a problem with attendance, please see Miss Judy before the occasion, and we will make sure your child has someone for him. We had two children unattended and both were in tears.

Judy

The Group Mentality by Judy Lyden

We hear a lot about individual education packages offered at the public schools for at risk children. We hear about special needs, gifted and talented, and no child left behind. And these are wonderful initiatives for children. Sometimes they are the thing that makes a troubled road straight again.

As an educator, my orientation is "group." In the early childhood years, the job is moving a child from "the only child on earth," which is the mind set for many young children, to "a group" mentality - and that's my job. Why?

The goal for the young child is to fit into a family, a class, a team, a choral group, a church group or play group and not only blend in, but be a substantial and necessary part of that group. We become incredible individuals because we have a strong platform of belonging. We have learned about being us by sharing, by communicating, by exchanging, through giving and taking and being together. No child can learn to be powerful and accomplished by standing all by himself.

The "island mentality" or the mind set that says, "I can do it alone; I don't need anyone" will always belong to a few children, and those few will find find the group gig uncomfortable. The discomfort comes from several learned components. One component is selfishness. The selfish child essentially doesn't want to share - anything - his time, his talent nor his treasure. He will shun any group and insist on standing all by himself stubbornly while the train passes him by.

Another learned component is pride. "I'm certainly not going to share with the likes of you!"

And another is simply an unawareness of the world and what it has to offer. Some children are in a dreamland all their own, and some children lack cognitive development that would allow them to see the possibilities of the group.

The job of the preschool and kindergarten teacher is to present group activities carefully to the all the children. The teacher knows that each child in the group is an integral part, an essential part of the group, and each child must be treated as if his importance is primary. Bringing the selfish, proud, and developmentally delayed children into the group is also his or her job. It takes time and patience and a remarkable sense for each child. Blending every child is the goal.

The job of bringing children into the group is mirrored in the job itself. Teachers who are successful are successful because they have blended with their groups, and they know the end product is strength. But blending means working well with others. It means sharing as a part of the teacher's daily agenda. Successful teachers communicate ideas and plans all day with one another, and that kind of group activity offers a teacher the kind of platform that makes the tremendous task of teaching easy.

When teachers work together, the children will see the friendships and exchanges. They will see how naturally teachers laugh among themselves, pat one another on the back, and accomplish anything they set out to do. The children will come to admire what they see among those people who model group behavior.

When children see teachers step up to help one another for the sake of the group, they will come more easily to understand the power of a group, the importance of a group, and the safety and care of a group.

Individuality is never lost in a group. There is always one child who stands out in reading, in math, in art, in building, in house playing, in cutting, in listening, in memorizing...in most things. The ability of a child to perform is comforted by the acceptance of the people most near and dear to the child -- in his group. Without the group, who cares that you won the knowledge bee? Who cares that you got the prize for the best picture? Who cares that you answered correctly?

So when someone asks me about special-ing children, my response is always the same: We're a group activity place. We learn from within a group, and if a child is not able to belong to a group for any reason, we have nothing to offer him or her. Yes, there will always be the special help, the extra rewards, the additional attention that any child needs to keep up with the group, but they have to be part of the group to get that attention.

So next month, when our children come together to build the next play, The St. Patrick's Day Play, they will find that their reliance on one another all winter for play, for companionship, for encouragement, for acceptance, will take on a whole other dimension. And the finished product will illustrate like no other thing the power of a group.

Thursday - Open at 10:00

We are opening at 10:00 a.m. this morning because of the icy roads. My street is a sheet of ice. Please bring children to school at or after 10:00 to enable teachers to prepare the building. Thanks!

Wednesday's Wonder

YACHT DELIVERY

Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries with cream and music dockside for the excited 'soon to be owner' and a small group of his friends $1500.00


Two corporate representatives, crane, and rigging $2,500.00 a hour minimum...
complete with a faulty $25..00 dollar turnbuckle.









Note the owner in the stern / back of the yacht

Watching your 7 million dollar dreamboat nose dive into the harbor, accompanied by two corporate representatives from the company that built it just prior to
'inking' the final paperwork and handing over a 7 million dollar bankers check...



















PRICELESS!


So,
How was your day?

Tuesday's Teacher

From Foodnavigator-usa.com

Poor childhood diet linked to low IQ, suggests study

By Nathan Gray, 08-Feb-2011

Related topics: Science & Nutrition, Fats & oils, Health and nutritional ingredients

Comment: I always say that food in early childhood is an investment in a child, his body, his future and his life. Teaching children to eat a wide variety of food, fresh and homemade while preparing the absolute best foods for children is not only a moral issue for me, it's an investment.

A diet high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood may result in lower IQ scores, while a diet rich in healthy foods packed with vitamins and nutrients may work in reverse, suggests new research.

The study, published in BMJ’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reports a “weak but novel” association between dietary patterns in early childhood, and general intelligence assessed at eight and a half years of age.

The results of the study suggest that the eating habits in early childhood – particularly up until the age of three – may play a role in shaping the development of the brain, and thus affect behaviour, learning performance and IQ in later life.

“In this population of contemporary British children, a poor diet, associated with increased intake of processed foods, fat and sugar, in early childhood may be associated with lower IQ at the age of 8.5 years. In addition, a concurrent healthy diet may be associated with higher IQ,” said the researchers, led by Dr Kate Northstone from the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK.

The importance of healthy diets

Commenting on the new study, Barbara Gallani director of food safety and science at the UK’s Food and Drink Federation told FoodNavigator that it would not be surprising if a healthy, balanced diet is important in IQ development, “just like it is generally for children’s health and growth.”

She added that it is important for everyone, not just children, to eat a wide variety of foods, noting that it is possible eat a healthy diet and still include some ‘treat’ foods.

Gallani said that food manufacturers are leading the way when it comes to providing clear labelling on foods, as well as changing recipes to make old favourites healthier, which “makes it even easier for parents to choose a balanced diet that’s right for their families.”

An intelligent diet

Northstone and her colleagues noted that previous research investigating possible associations between nutrition and IQ in children have tended to focus on the use of dietary supplements or on intakes of specific nutrients.

For example, several studies have examined the effects of vitamin supplementation on IQ in children, with mixed results.

However, the authors said that studies investigating the long-term effects of nutrition on intelligence are sparse and conflicting. “In particular …there appears to be little known about the effects of the diet in early childhood on general intelligence later in life,” they said.

“We do not eat foods in isolation, rather consuming combinations of foods in meals and snacks,” explained the authors.

“Assessing dietary patterns as opposed to individual foods or nutrients allows to us take into account these intercorrelations, which may otherwise be overlooked,” they said.

The new cross sectional study, based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), examined the links between dietary patterns through early and mid-childhood (3 to 8.5 years) and IQ assessed at 8.5 years of age.

Study details

The researchers measured dietary patterns using principal-components analysis (PCA), which provide overall summaries of dietary intake. The diet data, measured at the ages of 3, 4, 7 and 8.5 was then examined for any associations between diet and IQ in nearly 4,000 children.

Three consistent dietary patterns were found from PCA at each time point: a ‘processed’, ‘traditional’ and ‘health conscious’ pattern.

The ‘processed’ pattern was illustrated by foods containing high fat and sugar content and by higher intakes of processed and convenience foods. The ‘traditional’ pattern was associated with consumption of generally home cooked meat, poultry, potato and vegetables, whilst the ‘health-conscious’ pattern was predominantly made up from high intakes of salads, fruit, vegetables, fish, pasta and rice.

“On minimal adjustment, all dietary pattern scores were associated with IQ with the exception of the ‘traditional’ pattern,” said the authors.

Before adjustment for confounding factors (such as parental influence, social and economic status, and other environmental factors) the researchers observed that the ‘processed’ food pattern was negatively associated with IQ at all ages, while the ‘health-conscious’ pattern at all ages were positively associated with IQ.

However, after adjustment for a wide variety of potential confounding factors, they reported that many associations between IQ and dietary pattern were lost, and those that remained (‘processed’ pattern at three years and ‘health-conscious’ patterns at 8.5 years) “were markedly attenuated”, according to the authors.

For the remaining relationships (after full adjustment) the ‘processed’ food pattern at 3 years was found to be such that a one point increase in the PCA score resulted in an almost two-point decrease in IQ at 8.5 years. Whilst the ‘health-conscious’ pattern was associated with an increased in IQ of 1.20 points per one point increase in PCA pattern score.

Interpretation

Northstone and colleagues said that the results of the study suggest a more “long-term effect of diet on the child’s ability to ‘learn’,” they noted that this could be in part be explained by favourable growth of the brain in early childhood – They noted that it is known that the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first 3 years of life.

“Studies have shown that head growth during this time is associated with cognitive outcome, and it is possible that good nutrition during this early period may encourage optimal brain growth,” said the authors.

However, they added that given the levels of attenuation seen in the effect sizes when adjusted for confounding factors, “we cannot exclude the possibility of residual confounding.”

Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1136/jech.2010.111955
“Are dietary patterns in childhood associated with IQ at 8 years of age? A population-based cohort study”
K. Northstone, C. Joinson, P. Emmett, A. Ness, T. Paus

Monday's Tattler

Good morning! It's Valentine's Day week with a party on Friday! Children should bring 50 Valentines to school on Friday that are signed but not addressed!

There is a party this week on Friday at 3:00. Every child needs an adult to attend. School closes at 4:00. Please plan to bring a treat for four people to the party.

We will be studying Europe this week including Italy, France, Germany and England. We will be sampling foods from each of those places at lunch time. It's all kiddie friendly!

Please remember to return candy money with your tuition check. We would REALLY like this to be done.

We will try to go out this week. Make sure your child has his hat and mittens.

If you are returning your USDA Child Care Food Program paperwork, please fill out all the pages and return it quickly.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate

This week at school, we will be studying some of the countries in Europe and decided to use lunch as a compliment to our studies by serving a slightly Italian, French, German and English lunch at school just for fun.

On Monday, we will have lasagna - everyone loves lasagna. It's an easy meal to make if and only if you use pre cooked noodles. I've struggled with boiling pasta for years, and finally went over to the precooked noodles just for the convenience, and presto bingo - I make a lot more lasagnas.

For children, I make it simply. I brown ground meat, drain, spice and add just enough tomato sauce to make the sauce thick, and then I set it aside.

I mix a gallon of cottage cheese and five eggs and a pint of Parmesan cheese together and set aside.

I line my pan with Pam and the instant noodles. I add the cottage mix, more noodles, the sauce, and then on the top I pile on the mozzarella cheese and bake for an hour or so. It's so easy.

On Tuesday, we will try to serve strawberry crepes. I haven't made crepes in years, but there is no time like the study of France to call to mind some of the French goodies on Valentine's week.

I will make a super thin pancake batter and cook the crepes until done then roll fresh strawberries and strawberry jam inside the crepes. Should be delicious. We will serve with hard cheese and fresh fruit.

On Wednesday, we will serve German food - not my favorite. We'll have baked sausage, potatoes, apples, carrots and biscuits.

On Thursday, we will have fish and chips, and on Friday, we will have American Pizza.

I thought to make one of my favorite dishes - coq au vin - for the kids, but I was afraid they would not like it. This is a must try at home, however. The recipe is easy:

Wash your chicken pieces. Fry a quarter pound of bacon and drain. In the tablespoon of grease still in the pan, slightly brown chicken, onions, carrots, and mushrooms. Add a cup of chicken broth or bouillon and a cup of red wine when veggies go limp, and simmer for about an hour. Thicken if you must, the sauce with a mix of cornstarch and water - about a tablespoon of each. Serve over brown rice. No bacon? Do it without. Use olive oil. No red wine? Use grape juice. Works.

Simple pleasures are the best pleasures.

Friday's Tattler

The day started off in the usual morning chaos: while parents were arriving and paying field trip fees, the Fire Marshal arrived for an inspection. While he was enjoying the animal room, breakfast was in high gear. Following breakfast, we did our Golden Bead club and awarded our best kids with new goodies for their medals. In addition, Ely won an Angel Award for conduct. So proud of him.

Then we had the Knowledge Bee. So many of our little scholars did such an amazing job. We are soooooooooo proud of them.

Then it was off to Cancun Restaurant. About half of the children ate everything they could find. Some of the children lamented the fact that we had not provided kiddie food, but that's not what we were about. We can ALWAYS have kiddie food, but this was our chance to sample Mexican food, and those who ate, ate well. We actually finished everything on the tables.

Following the field trip, we came home to Mexican ice cream, and then play. In the afternoon, we burst a pinata and build some pyramids and finished our movie on Mexico. Lots in the hopper and we had some very very tired children. A great day!

Saturdays News

Got this from a friend, and I believe it works. I know I use Vicks for dry skin, and NOTHING works better. I know that it works on foot fungus and many other things. But try this for coughing!

VICKS Vapor Rub - INTERESTING

During a lecture on Essential Oils, they told us how the foot soles can absorb oils. Their example: Put garlic on your feet and within 20 minutes you can 'taste' it.

Some of us have used Vicks Vapo Rub for years for everything from chapped lips to sore toes and many body parts in between. But I've never heard of this. And don't laugh, it works 100% of the time, although the scientists who discovered it aren't sure why. To stop night time coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vapo Rub generously on the soles of your feet, cover with socks, and the heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly,

Just happened to tune in A.M.. Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good, due to the chemicals in them This method of using Vicks VapoRub on the soles of the feet was found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bed time. In addition it seems to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

A friend tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes. So she went from; every few seconds uncontrollable coughing, she slept cough-free for hours every night she used it.

If you have grandchildren, pass this on. If you end up sick, try it yourself and you will be amazed at how it works.

Classroom Personalities by Judy Lyden

The bell rings. The children stand and listen. The teacher with the bell explains to the children that it is time to pick up their toys and put them away. It is at this point that a child's character really shines or fails to shine. One of the things you can count on in early childhood are toys taken out and not put away by the person who took them out. So when that bell rings and the direction is "put your toys away" several personalities are going to show.

First, there is the model child who naturally puts his own toys away and is also willing to put every other child's toys away as well. This is the caretaker child. This is the child who takes responsibility for himself and everyone around him. He doesn't waste the teacher's time by asking, "What would you like MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE to do?" It's not the first time the bell has rung; it's not the first time toys have been put away; and most importantly he is not the only person in the room. It's not time for discussion; it's time for action, and the caretaker child knows what to do, how to do it, and if you asked him to think it through just a tiny bit, could probably tell you that if the toys are not put away, breakfast or lunch or class or whatever is coming next could not be accomplished.

Secondly, there is the dutiful child who puts his own toys away and quietly goes to his place on the carpet. This child goes by the book. He understands what his duty is and does it. He's quiet and right on the mark. It wouldn't occur to him to put any other child's toys away, because his focus is on refining his own world - not some other child's world. If you watched him, he would put just about half of what he and his friend were playing with away. If you asked him to help another child clean up, you would see the irritation rise in his face. He would do it because you asked, but he wouldn't be cheerful about it, and he would never think to help another child on his own.

Thirdly, there is the shirker child. This child will run to the bathroom every time the bell rings, and he will hide in there until all the work is done. It's never his mess; never his toy, and never his responsibility to pick up anything. After all, he didn't get anything out; he didn't play with anything; and even if he did, you couldn't prove it - so there. The attitude is, "You rang the bell; do it yourself!"

Fourthly, there is the child who hears the bell and can't wait to make order into chaos. Mr. Chaos will race through the playroom knocking toys out of everyone's hands; roll in every pile made on the floor and generally reek havoc where order begs to be made. He is loud, disrespectful, and ultimately serving his own purpose.

And lastly, there is the child who hears the bell and ignores it - Mr. Selfo. "Not me, not now, not ever," is his response to responsibility. "I'm special and you don't understand; I don't have to." It's the daily report.

On the job the same people play their parts - only adults are bigger and the responsibilities are greater. There is the caretaker personality - the person who takes charge because they can imagine the predictable outcome of the job failing. The caretaker would never ring the bell and then tell the children to pick up their toys and promptly leave the room because he or she has thought out the chaos that would ensue. The caretaker teacher knows that there are several personalities working here and all needing his or her care NOW.

The by the book teacher rings the bell and instructs the children and then promptly folds. He or she doesn't leave the room, but he or she might as well. The ringing and instructing concludes the job for him or her. The idea that MORE than that must be done - keeping the personalities in check, making sure that the shirker stays to help, that Mr. Selfo contributes, and that Mr. Chaos is put in check is way way beyond what the book teacher is willing or able to do or even thinks to do and is actually amazed when another teacher suggests that - uh, the job isn't done!

Then we have the shirker teacher. This teacher leaves the room every time a task must be accomplished. This teacher never rings the bell, because responsibility is calling.... This teacher is notorious for starting irrelevant conversations just as the bell rings simply to avoid work. This teacher is the last to volunteer, the last to speak up, and the last to take his or her turn at what everyone else has spent hours struggling with. It is simply not his responsibility. One almost wants to believe that this teacher believes the task or work is beneath him.

I've hired teachers in the past for very short periods of time who mirror the chaotic child. This teacher thrives on confusion and is determined to pull apart any day and any activity. And last but not least there is the teacher who is never quite sure what the bell was rung for and can't ask because he or she didn't think to ask and ultimately really doesn't care a whole lot.

The human character is built in early childhood. It is during the first five years of life that parents teach children how to treat the world. If a parent is a caretaker, the child will most likely follow suit. Adults who take responsibility naturally teach responsibility - simply by doing. Caretaker children thrive on caring for their world and their neighbors' world. These are the children who have a constant smile, who are always cheerful, and who are the greatest achievers in the classroom, the school and the community.

Adults who teach their children to do only a little and do it by the book will have children who do little and only by the book. These are neither the negative nor the positive classroom personalities. These are the kids who never really shine. They have an emotional limit for everything and a dead end before any great finale of life. The colors are dimmed.

And likewise with shirking and being chaos makers and ultimately being so special that nothing applies except the candy and the extras - especially at home.

Parents teach children by example. Children thrive on that example and the positive rewards that come from life's successes. Some children really struggle to pull away from the limitations parents have put on them from infancy, and that's a shame. These kids will never win kudos from their parents.

So the big question to ask is, "What personality do I have, and what personality do I want my children to have, and what am I willing to do or change or encourage to get that outcome?"

The big key to making changes or encouraging an already caretaking personality is to help the child look beyond the task at hand to the outcome and understand what it all means. Teaching a child to think his behavior through to the end of the activity is the name of the success game. "If I help Donnie clean up his blocks, we will all get to eat sooner." A caretaking child always sees the bigger picture. He always understands the human condition, and he's willing to take a chance to be that classroom mench. And as this child grows up, he becomes the delight of his parents. He's the child who will win good sport awards, the leadership awards, the best friend awards.

Always encourage your child to take care of his world, to be involved, to let his limits soften, to look beyond what is to what will be and what could be. He will be the one who is constantly smiling.