Saturday's Newbie

I try to put something new on the blog every week. This week, I found a new gadget. It's a search key you can find on the right side of the blog. Scroll down past the slide shows and you will see it. It's powered by Google. I tried it out using the word hyperactivity, and it worked very well. It will take you to all the topics I've written about and also to the Web. I hope this is not only fun but informative. This is really an incentive for me to write more about early childhood.

Friday's Tattler

We had a really hot day, and I'm sure the kids were exhausted when they got home. But as a field trip planner, I have to say that this was a keeper. Land Between the Lakes is just beautiful. If we had known what to do and where to go, it would have been better coordinated. Now I've got the numbers and the information, and next time...

We boarded the bus about 8:10, and started south. It would be a long trip and no stops until we got to the visitor's station in Land Between the Lakes. We crossed some really beautiful water on some really old and really rickety bridges, but the kids loved looking out into the water. They saw a huge nest built on a pole. There were two parent birds in it and probably some youngins we couldn't see from the bus.

We arrived at the visitor's station and planned the rest of our trip - "No, there weren't any beaches for the kids except..."






I was really disappointed.
We went down to the Homeplace, a farm estate that was representative of the 1850s.
It was HOT. We toured the main house,









the work shop, the barns, the smoke house, the creek house, the singles house, saw pigs, oxen, horses, lambs, chickens and baby ducks.

We ate near a stream that had mostly dried up for the season, but we went in anyway. Disappointment big time. Alex cut his foot, but we were prepared and patched him up. It was HOT.

Then we called all the kids together and said, "If you are packed up and on the bus in three minutes, we'll go to that swimming place we hear of in the visitor's place. In 2. 5 minutes we were rolling again. The cove for swimming was cool, sandy and shallow enough to accommodate all our kids. We swam about 20 minutes in our clothes like real kids, and then we had a soda and some cookies and we took off for home.

Next time, we will stop at the nature preserve and see a couple of other things as well.

Teaching Thursday

A good friend made a comment to me recently about language. She said of a professional friend of hers, "How could he have a college degree and still use poor grammar?" Grammar, strangely enough, is not a matter of education, it's a matter of the home.

A professor friend of mine, years ago, told me that if you want to speak properly, you have to choose the right parents. Instantly, I thought back to my own parents who spoke impeccably. My father was a word artist and my mother tagged along. I thought about their parents. My mother's father was an engineer for the State of New York, and my grandmother was a Chemistry teacher. My father's father was a police officer who rose to Deputy Commissioner of New York City, and my grandmother was the daughter of immigrants who spoke seven languages. Back one generation, you run into lots of immigrants who really had to struggle with English. My father's grandparents owned the lofts that made Brooks Brother's clothes and one was a furrier. All these people used language as a necessary tool in communication and moving up the social ladder.

In my family, there came to be money and position, and there better be good grammar, because grammar and manners were much more important than either money or position. I was reared to understand that it was a duty to learn to speak the language as flawlessly as possible, because one could distinguish your family by the way you presented yourself in public. If you "Couldn't speak the 'King's English' then you might as well be the hired help." And speaking of hired help, one was ALWAYS ALWAYS gracious to anyone working in a capacity of service NO MATTER WHAT, and no matter how they spoke. But you didn't copy them...

As I grew up, we moved quite a lot. As a Californian, I struggled with "There's eighteen reasons why." And as I moved east, I began to hear really poor grammar for the first time. "Where is it at?" I heard "ain't" for the first time and people using double negatives. I began to ask questions because it sounded so strange to me. I began to really look at our language and try to understand it simply because that is what my family did.

English is an interesting language. We have tenses unlike Chinese and some of the more primitive languages. We can also un double the negatives to make sense of what someone is saying. We can interpret because of the language not in spite of it.

Today, in a world where the classes are mixed, you hear a lot of language oops and being in college won't change poor grammar unless you make the effort. What your parents give you as "language skills" will probably stay with you because language is sound, and what you grow up hearing will always seem to be correct simply because it is so familiar.

Why bother? Who cares? Isn't it a snob gig... it is and it isn't. If you consider language to be your primary communication skill, then you need to ask yourself if your communication with other people matters and to what skill or level? For whom does communication not matter? Is anyone exempt? Is it OK to say, "I don't speak properly because..." I can't think of an ending to that sentence that isn't poor.

From an understanding of history and psychology, traditionally, people who didn't speak properly usually didn't read well orally, and had less ability to understand what they read on an intellectual level. These people had a diminished vocabulary, couldn't put a sentence together on paper... but it all fit together. Historically, undereducated people didn't need vast vocabularies, didn't need to use language for more than their daily lives, so it didn't matter.

Today, it matters getting the job you want, in keeping the job you want, in teaching your own children, and in presenting yourself to the world on a different plain. Does a company want an executive to present himself by saying things like, "I have went there before?" Companies will interview for a whole day for jobs of importance, and communication skills matter a lot. In fields like education, there are those who "get" the degree and never read another book. There are those who can't read another book because they simply don't have the vocabulary to do so, so the education ends with the diploma and a certain relief that there is a lot of grade inflation, and yes ANYONE can get a college degree if he or she sits long enough.

So how does language change for the poor user? First by listening to it, and then by really hearing it. Language is very closely related to music. When you write, there is a balance and a lilt and you can hear it if you listen. When you read aloud, there should be a music to every line. The music begins, it is either short like staccato, or long like a violin stroke; it has ups and downs, it has a beginning and an end, and the good reader keeps the listeners spell bound by the words presented in the best of communication.

Good grammar flows from rules, so you don't always feel as if you have to go back and re-write what someone said. The rules are not that hard to understand if you listen. Asking questions of what you hear and say is a good practice. Can I "went?" No. I can "go," I can "have been," but I can't "went." The best thing to do is to listen and think and form new good habits one at a time.

Education is an internal thing not an external thing. Some of the best educated people in the world never stepped foot on a college campus. And some of the least educated people teach on a college campus. The ability to be educated is the ability to understand. It takes a certain kind of personality not time in the classroom.

Wednesday's Wonder...

Apparently, this incident happened recently in North Texas.
A woman went boating one Sunday taking with her some cans of coke which she put into the refrigerator of the boat. On Monday she was taken to the hospital and placed in the Intensive Care Unit. She died on Wednesday.

The autopsy concluded she died of Leptospirosis. This was traced to the can of coke she drank from, not using a glass. Tests showed that the can was infected by dried rat urine and hence the disease Leptospirosis.

Rat urine contains toxic and deathly substances. It is highly recommended to thoroughly wash the upper part of all soda cans before drinking out of them. The cans are typically stocked in warehouses and transported straight to the shops without being cleaned.

A study at NYCU showed that the tops of allsoda cans are more contaminated than public toilets (i.e.).. full of germs and bacteria. So wash them with water before putting them to the mouth to avoid any kind of fatal accident.

Teaching Children to Swim by Judy Lyden

Learning to swim is one of the important landmarks of growing up. Swimming is a natural thing for children, and they take to it easily if given the chance or the opportunity to swim often. For non swimming adults, this can be a nightmare. Fear is a natural and healthy part of water play, but follow these next steps, and even non swimming parents can teach their child to swim and will enjoy swimming together.

The first goal of teaching a child to swim is a matter of safety, not skill.

Being safe around deep water takes a kind of discipline many parents are wont to exercise. Deep water is dangerous for non swimmers, so many "nos" come with the first exposure. "No, you may not jump in water over your head; no, you may not play on the raft until you learn to swim; no you may not go with your older siblings to the diving area- YOU can't swim."

Swimming is not a me too situation until me too has learned some basics. Teaching the basics begins with letting a young child simply play in the water. Most very young children or non swimmers will have two different play issues: water in the face, and "It's cold!"

The first few times of being near water, a child will not like most of his body in the water, especially his face, and that's because he is not used to bathing in cold water and playing with water on his face. But more than that, a child feels he has no control of a large body of water and control is a big issue for beginning swimmers. That's why it's a great idea to go to a pool that has a graduated pool surface. Letting a child get wet a little at a time is what will create a no fear zone and encourage swimming because it's a little at a time - his time - his control - his body.

A child who "thinks" will be naturally afraid of being in deep water. Trust is another issue of swimming, so taking a child into deep water too soon can create a fearful situation. It's always better to wait for a child to ask rather than force a non-playful situation - especially around a danger zone like deep water.

So while a child is prattling around in the water, dont' fear, he is learning. He is learning not to be afraid. He is creating a comfort zone, and that's the first swimming hurdle to be passed.

As the child becomes increasingly comfortable, he will begin to be more adventuresome. He will advance on the water, which no longer feels cold, all the way up to his head. That's a good thing because that means he is nearing the next step - head under!

Putting a face in the water is not easy for some children. I attribute it to difficult births. Children who struggled to be born seem to have a difficulty with swimming. Their eyes are closed and they are trusting that they will be OK. It's a big step. Going under all the way is an even bigger step because they are taking themselves out of the air and the light and the company, and they are "going under" which is a very brave and frightening thing to do - first time.

Once a child is willing to go under all on his own because he wants to is the time to show him that he should be horizontal in the water instead of vertical. This is a key to swimming, and many children skip this step. It's also a safety factor. "Will the water hold me up," they wonder. "What happens if I can't touch the bottom?" It's also a control issue.

At this stage, it's time for the adult to get involved. Taking a child to a deeper part of the pool and catching him as he jumps into the water is the next step. Most children who are not afraid to go under will love jumping to an attentive adult. They will hurl themselves off the edge of the pool into the adults arms and gleefully "get back to the side of the pool" so that they can climb out and do it again and again.

During this fun, the adult needs to show him that he can paddle and kick so that he can get himself to the side of the pool quite nicely. The adult needs to show him that kicking is the power behind swimming. Many children want to swim with their arms, and never become strong swimmers because their feet are always searching for the bottom of the pool. The feet are the engine for the body, so kicking with power will give him the control he is naturally looking for. Encourage him to kick, kick, kick.

So when that child jumps the adult must be ready to move deeper and deeper into the pool to make the jump a big one. Always catch the child but let him go a little deeper every time and make him swim longer and longer to the side of the pool, and encourage him to kick his feet and paddle his arms.

When a child is swimming fifteen feet or more without difficulty, it's time to let him jump off the board. This must be his decision, and he needs to want to do it. Once a child can jump off a diving board and swim to the side, he's a swimmer. He will be able to swim anywhere in the pool, and do well. He understands most of the swimming issues, and he will begin to challenge himself.

That's swimming. It's that easy, and children will not even think, "I'm learning to swim." They will just do it in the play and the excitement of the moment.

Monday's Tattler

Good morning! Another prize winning week ahead? We hope so. This week we are planning our usual trek to the pool on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be a little cool to swim on Tuesday, but with luck, the temps will rise and we will have a great day.

Thursday is spelling test day. This weeks words are animal words. Please help your child study.

Friday we will be going to Land Between the Lakes. This is a new trip for us. We have never been there before, so it will be quite an adventure. We will be touring the Homeplace, a mid nineteenth century working farm and then, hopefully, we will be picnicking near a beach. Not sure how we will handle the swimming yet. A letter will go home on Wednesday.

Please continue to check your child's popsicle status. Three popsicle sticks, and your child stays home on the field trip.

There will be a $25.00 charge for late pick ups on Friday after field trips. There were three families who picked up children late. We close at 5:30 and make every effort to be at school by that time unless posted. This past week the bus rolled in at 5:20.

Please do not send children in long pants. It is simply too hot. Children sent to school in long pants will be sent home. As well, please do not send children to school in dresses. It's summer and they are too much for summer days. We have a new mister for the garden and we would like to use it on the kids, but when there are long pants and dresses, we can't.

Today's menu is Pizza and fresh fruit :-}

Have a splendid week!

Sunday's Plate

Last Thursday night, when I came home from work, I picked up the new copy of Yoga. It's a great magazine for people wanting a better kind of life. It's filled with articles on exercise, food, and meditation. One of the articles that really struck home was one about wheat.

Wheat is one of the things we all take for granted.
It's in many many foods, and it is very very good for you.

But for some people, eating wheat is a real liability. An inability to digest wheat can mean several symptoms of illness: chronic fatigue, migraine headaches, chronic abdominal pain, chronic sinus infections and other more disturbing problems like Celia's disease.

I notice when I eat a lot of bread made from wheat, I feel draggy. I feel like I weigh more than I do. I feel bottom heavy, sluggish, and my temperament declines. I get unusually sleepy even when I shouldn't be tired at all.

I took wheat out of my diet this past winter for a time, and I felt good. Now I generally feel good, but I felt "good!" But like all attempts to make changes, only some changes stick,and I slid back into wheat flour about as quickly as I came away from it.

As I was reading the article, I kept wondering if Mr. Terry would benefit from a "no wheat" diet. I took the article to him, and as a last ditch effort to shake the sinusitis he's had for almost a year, he agreed to stop eating wheat. Terry has never been sick a day in his life, and he's been really struggling with this for months. The sinus gig has made him chronically fatigued.

"Not so easy," he said after visiting the store on Friday and finding little food substitutes. "There is little to eat and it's all expensive," said he. Fearing he would be instantly discouraged, I told him that shopping was all about the approach, and Saturday morning I visited the store and read and read. It took about an hour.

What I read were the odd packages of flours that you look at but never buy. I bought three. Brown rice flour, potato flour and an all purpose gluten free flour all by Bob's Red Mill. I read the back label stem to stern, and these flours are not processed with wheat at all. Some other flours might not be wheat, but they are processed with wheat and are therefore not suitable for this no wheat diet.

In addition, I bought Rice Chex, fruit, veggies like always, meat, fish and dairy, and rice snacks for when I get lazy...

Now the big question was: could I sub a gluten free flour for whole wheat? The answer was in the mixing. I beat two eggs with a little sugar, baking powder and oil until light and then added milk. I added about 2/3 a cup of each flour, a cup of coconut, some walnuts and some cheesecake pudding mix just for fun. The muffins came out light. I was surprised. I thought they would have dropped like glue pods to the bottom of the stone muffin pan and then abruptly burn.

OK, I thought, I can make dessert stuff, but what about regular bread? Before I try the yeast gig, I thought I'd try a kind of pancake flat bread that Terry can wrap ham and cheese in. Using the same recipe as the muffins minus the sweet stuff, I made the batter runny and used a hot saute pan and presto bingo, the best tasting, best looking "sandwich wraps" came forth easily. Yeah!

Palettes are different, health needs are different, religious choices about food are different, as well as tastes, likes and dislikes. Luckily for me, I'll eat anything with the exception of guts or innards. And fortunately for us, food is abundant here in America, and taking advantage of that is something that is precious. Being able to choose from so many foods is a blessing that I treasure.

This time, there was no demanding health issue involved. It's just an attempt to change something in the diet to incur a change. I know, most medical people would direct a person to a pill, but I'm not a medicine person; I'm an herb person. I truly believe that what you eat has a tremendous affect on your body. So changing my diet is hopefully tantamount to changing the source of the problem. Effecting a cure of the sinus problem could be as easy as taking wheat out of Terry's diet for a time.

As far as the GS children are concerned. They will continue to get whole wheat and whole grain foods. But for a time, T and I are going to try this. I'll keep you posted...

Friday's Tattler

We arrived at the zoo with few problems. There was a single lane most of 64,, but the bus made great time. We were excited to get there and we left our lunch at the front of the zoo and toileted and counted heads and then took of. It was a great day. It was cool and the animals were pretty lively.





We went to the dark houses first. The first thing we saw was the orangutan who greeted us with as much curiosity as we met him. He seemed interested in amusing the children which they loved. He was a lot bigger than I remembered, and the children were just fascinated with him. It took quite a while to peal them away.




Then the children got to see an albino crocodile. It was almost eerie. The caging was very nicely done. We stood on a platform and the croc was down in his pool, about as you would imagine if you came across him while out in the wilds.





Then it was off to see the penguins. They were wonderfully lively and we got to watch one come down the rocks and dash into the water. It's funny how they balance on the rocks. Lots of rocking lots of hopping. Many of the children did not like the fishy smell of the penguin house.







The next stop was the snake and spider house. One of the children was really surprised by what he saw. We saw lots of poisonous snakes, and spiders and huge frogs and my favorite, the bats. They were vampire bats and were feasting on little bowls of blood. I always find bats interesting.










Once outside, we made another head count. Very important for safety. It was crowded at the zoo, and the children mixed with lots of schools and lots of people. They did a great job.





We visited all the animals on one side of the zoo including the gorillas which were very accommodating and fun, and then we sent the men for lunch and walked down a pretty substantial hill for lunch.











The children got to play on the playground while we made a nice lunch for everyone, and everyone ate. They were starving!








After lunch we took off our shoes and socks and played in the water park. The kids had a ball.







They were soaked, but we knew they would dry off quickly, and they did as we walked back up the hill and saw all the animals on the other side of the zoo.









The lions were majestic and we got to see the baby giraffes.











We stopped for a little while at the petting zoo, and Miss Judy met an old goat she had known years ago...











Then, as it grew late, we made a beeline for the park entrance and had a brief soda and cookies to refresh us, and we climbed the bus for home. Twenty two children were asleep by half way home.

Saturday's Something New

Sent by an old high school chum...

Look what's new...

Field Trips by Judy Lyden

Why field trips? Isn't it better for the parent to know that a child is safely where he or she left him or her? After all, it's only ten hours or so until the parent returns. And isn't it too much for the staff to plan and then execute a trip with small children? What about the cost?

The missing variable in this is the child. Have we forgotten about the child altogether? Is the parent our first priority or is the child? In our business, the child is our number one priority and that means field trips at the GS.

Let's talk about the child.

The first question is, Why field trips? The answer is simple, because field trips teach more than any other activity. When I was writing a novel that took place in the Middle Ages, I read that at least fifty percent of all people at that time traveled extensively. It surprised me. People love to go and do and always have no matter the difficulties, the obstacles and the trouble. People love to see the world, experience new and different sights, sounds, smells, and be a part of what they see. It's called being alive and responding to life in a very real and positive way!

People, and children included, are not content staying still. When you consider what the usual "day care" situation is, one room all day, drapes drawn, thirty five square feet allowed per child, you can imagine how a child feels day after beautiful day. You can imagine the frustration of having to nap all afternoon when all the child really wants to do is to run out side and play. But for the convenience of adults, the child is stuck year after precious year waiting for his or her parent!

Part of the fun of field trips is taking the whole school along for the ride. A child who is lucky enough to go on field trips gets the best of both worlds. He or she gets to go with their friends. It's like a family vacation with all your friends. If the field trip is exciting enough, parents will go along, and that's fun too.

And sadly, there are many children who will not get a summer vacation in the traditional sense of the word. So taking children on field trips becomes their summer vacation. When they go back to school, they can say, "I did this and this and went there and there..."

Next question: Isn't it better for the parent to know that their child is safe... Safety should be the first consideration when planning a field trip or do anything with young children. When you use a school bus, you are choosing the safest mode of transportation there is. When your staff knows each and every child well, you are encouraging the best part of safety. When you choose a field trip that is child friendly, you are staying within the same safety zone. Taking along an attendance sheet, counting every little while, breaking into groups are all ways and means of keeping everyone safe. So is insisting that children wear a school shirt. The school shirt is an absolute. You can spot a child at a hundred yards. But if your staff is on top of things, you won't have to spot anyone. They all stay where they belong.

Now I return the volley about the question isn't it better for the parent to know their child is...
What? Stuck in a room all day waiting to go home? And ten hours in a child's life stuck in a room is a waste of his life. These are the learning years - the years between 3-5 are when any child learns the most. So probably not. Children are not boutique items. They are human beings wanting to go, do and learn.

Next question: Isn't it too much for staff to plan and then execute a field trip? If it is, it's time to find new staff. The purpose of providing care to a child is to provide care to a child...that can either mean the least I have to do to get by without losing my job or the most I can do at all times for the sake of the child. The latter is what we want working in childcare. The staff that hangs back, does the least, doesn't want to pitch in and help are staff who need to find other jobs today.

Planning a field trip is not hard. The first thing to establish is a relationship with your bus driver. You want the same driver every time. You want to know who you are leaving town with and how good they are. At the Garden School, we have had the same driver for fourteen years. We ask her about certain trips. She can tell us how long certain trips will take and where are the best places to stop for toileting. Miss Sandy is a partner in our excursions, and she is a fine person and a good friend. I wouldn't want to do it without her.

The second batch of questions to ask is: can the children do this? Will the children want to do this? What will they learn? And the answers should be yes, yes, and lots. I never plan a trip that is longer than three hours on the bus. And at the end of the three hours, it better be worth it. The kids will let you know if it is or it isn't. Our longest trip is to Mammoth Cave which is the biggest and most exciting cave in the whole world. It's worth it.

Planning to take food is another big issue because there are safety matters to deal with. Let's face it, a picnic is a picnic. The adult in charge can either make it or blow it. Pre-made sandwiches and a cup of milk won't cut it when kids are hungry. If they have exercised all day, they will EAT. So taking a variety of stuff is the ticket. How do you do that?

There is a company that makes "takeable" equipment that keeps food cold for hours. We have several of these takeable food containers. We start at 6:00 a.m. baking cookies. We put together fresh tuna, egg, because this is what the kids will eat. We take peanut butter, jelly and honey and give children a choice. For the parents, we add crab and shrimp salads and sometimes chicken salad. We now make a really nice vegetable salad. We include ham, turkey, balogna, salami, and cheese for the children to choose from. We take long hoagy buns to make sandwiches on the spot so they are fresh and yummy. We take along chips, the cookies, a watermelon, apples, carrots, pickles and dip. We take milk and water and soda for parents.

The key to taking is to have the equipment to take, regular bins for this or that, and a routine of how it's all suppose to be put together. A picnic lunch for 40 takes an hour to prepare and can be taken in a small cooler and a couple of carry on bags.

The only other consideration is clothing and illness. It's frightful to take sick children along on a field trip. We had two sick children one year on the same trip. They vomited all day. It's best if children are checked for temps before they leave their house. Clothing is another issue. Shorts that are drowning the child will encourage heat prostration if it's a hot day. Cute is not cute in an ill child. Better that a child wear something really hideous and be comfortable than something trendy and hot. Shoes are also a big consideration. Slip ons, shoes that are too tight, his sisters shoes and no socks create blisters and woes. No woes please. If a parent cannot find a child's clothing before a field trip, the child should not go. It's as simple as that.

So there are some of the reasons, the methods and the problems of field trips. Ultimately, it's up to the parent to make it a go for a child.

Wonderful and Crazy Wednesday

I am writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it all of my married life, as my Mom always told me it was the best. Now that I am in my fifties I find it even better!

About a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My inconsiderate and uncaring husband started to belittle me about how clumsy I was, and generally started becoming a pain in the neck.

One thing led to another and somehow I ended up with his blood on my new white blouse! I grabbed my bottle of Tide with bleach alternative, and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out!

In fact, the stains came out so well the detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests on my blouse were negative and then my attorney called and said that I was no longer considered a suspect in the disappearance of my husband.

What a relief! Going through menopause is bad enough without being a murder suspect! I thank you, once again, for having a great product.

Well, I gotta go - I have to write to the Hefty bag people.

Monday's Tattler

This week at the Garden School we have a new little newspaper called the Flower Box. It's a parents' guide through the week. It was put on every child's folder this morning. Please read it to know what we are doing this week.

On Monday, it's a regular school day. Spelling lists were given out to the middle and top groups. Spelling test will be on Thursday afternoon. Children should learn as many words as they can. The test is to write each word so that it forms a sentence. These spelling tests will be made into a book as a keepsake. Every page will be about a field trip we took this summer.

Tuesday and Wednesday are swim days. We leave at 10:40 and return at 3:15. Children must wear flip flops or beach sandals. Your child's suit has been laundered. Please do not take it home. We will be having a swim club as soon as we can. Children who can swim or who graduate to the deeper parts of the pool will be in the club. This encourages children to do their best and learn to swim. It's an important part of childhood.

Thursday is a regular school day.

Friday is field trip day. We are leaving at 8:00 a.m. and returning at 5:00 p.m. Please send children to school in shorts, the school green shirt, socks, shoes, and sunscreen. Teachers will not be sun screening children that day with the exception of faces.

We will not be using medals this summer. It is too dangerous to take children to the playground wearing something around their necks. For the summer we will be using a disciplinary scheme of Popsicle sticks. If your child is misbehaving to the point of belligerence, hurtful behavior or dangerous disobedience, he will get a Popsicle stick in an envelope which parents will find at the front of the school by the parent board. Earning three Popsicle sticks means the child may not attend the field trip on Friday. Children who misbehave at home can't be trusted to behave in the next state.

We are trying new casserole lunches at school. Today's lunch was pizza casserole. It is made with beef, tomato sauce, whole grain noodles, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. The kids loved it and ate "the whole thing..."

We have added a sandwich this week. Hard salami. Kamden asked for it twice, and I bought it this weekend. This is their summer. If they want it, Miss Judy will provide it if possible.

Parents are welcomed to come on field trips. Please let me know in advance, and the cost is $25.00.

Sunday's Plate

Often on Sunday I post a Garden School recipe that the kids are really enjoying. This summer we are trying out some new casserole recipes because during the winter the kids loved two things: the breakfast casserole with potatoes, bacon, cheese and eggs, and the lasagna we made a couple of times.

This summer on Mondays, we will be trying several new casserole treasures. The one we had last week was spaghetti casserole with cream cheese and sour cream filling. The kids loved it. This week we will be having pizza casserole.

Next week we will be having a ham, chicken, pork tenderloin, sweet potato, apple thing I think they will like as well.

When I was on vacation, I bought three cookbooks - I buy cookbooks every week because I love new ideas. I bought one on pot luck, and one on snacks. The pot luck cookbook had a lot of these casseroles, and I thought, "mmmmm, they liked the breakfast one, why not...."

Along with the casserole recipes, there was a recipe for butterscotch muffins. It's made with pudding. So today, while at Schnucks, I bought not only butterscotch pudding, I picked up the lemon and the cheesecake puddings. I'm not a pudding by box gal; I'm a scratch pudding person, so this was all news to me!

There was also a pernicious little treat called Rocky Road Bars which we will have for snack tomorrow. New ideas....

The spaghetti casserole was interesting. It had a layer of sour cream and whipped cream cheese. I added a cup of Parmesan cheese. It's a layered dish of spaghetti sauce, noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese, sauce. The kids ate it up.

Tomorrow's has spaghetti sauce, noodles, mozzarella and pepperoni. I think it will be a hit.

On picnic, I've begun taking a new sandwich for the teachers. Children can share once they have had a sandwich with protein. Our new sandwich is chopped vegetables: carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes lightly salted and spiced. I add ground crab or shrimp. I also take chicken pieces for those who like things fowl :-}

Our children's sandwiches include: ham, turkey, cheese or any combination therin. Tuna, egg, peanut butter with or without either jam or honey. I added hard salami for this week. We take apples, carrots and dip, watermelon, pickles, whole grain chips, milk and water. It's a nice spread. We are leaving the cookies at home because the kids eat better without them. We will take them to Louisville to be eaten after the zoo.

We need a parent who is willing to donate 40 lemon lime sodas for after the Zoo. It makes the trip going home much easier. The salt in the soda actually keeps kids from needing to use the bathroom.

Just a plug for something called Tiger tails - this whole grain noodle is a favorite of the kids.

Friday's Travelor

We had an outstanding day yesterday. It was one of our best ever field trips and it us usually our least. For some reason, going to New Harmony is often just too hot, too much walking, and the kids don't get it.
We choose New Harmony as a field trip site because of the time it takes to get there. We need to see how the children are behaving close to home before we take them as far away as Louisville.







Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that our field trip faculty is outstanding. The old standbys, Judy, Edith and Amy work very well together.

And this year, our young gals, Elise and Leigh are doing field trips too.







The project for faculty is to make every trip as memorable as possible for every single child or what's the point?









Yesterday, that happened. What a joy.

We had a really nice breakfast together of whole grain orange pancakes and vanilla syrup, juice and milk and headed off on the bus. The children were actually very well behaved on the bus, and all the teachers were delighted. We had one child on the bus who did not go to the bathroom before he left school, and he learned a really good lesson!




We arrived at the Athaneum and used the facility and then took off to the demonstrations at the log houses. We learned about candle making, cooking and housekeeping in a 200 year old house, and then we went to a Harmonist house and learned about how they lived. We saw herbs, tasted homemade bread and ate home churned butter. Some of the kids liked it and some did not. Some of the older girls decided that we need a butter churn so they could make our daily supply of butter. It was easy to see how the chores went between sitting, standing and bending. Truly a balanced day.

We learned about lufa squash, and actually got some seeds to plant. Can't wait to do this today!

USI was excavating some old crockery at a site where the original Harmonist pottery barn was once located, and we got to look into the "dig." The kids really enjoyed this.

Then we looked at the roofless church, and the dark garden.







Lunch was eaten in a huge park in New Harmony. It was a beautiful day and the children enjoyed playing on the wonderful playground.

Then it was off to the maze. The kids loved running through this delightful series of paths and plants.

On our trip home, there were 20 children asleep. We came home to chocolate chip cookies and milk and then played outdoors.

It was a splendid day.

Soda and More by Judy Lyden

This is a comment I received that is too important to just post and ignore.

"You also think every obese child is because of soda. I have a heavy child you blamed on soda and she never drinks it. I can see your point but it isn't always correct."

In all my years of working with very young children, I have never said that soda only makes a child put on the pounds. Yes, it can be a contributor, but it is not really the culprit in most cases. What I have said, and rightly so, is that I have discovered that many children are drinking too many calories during the day. Too many can often be excessive and this can contribute to too many pounds. If that's soda, it's absolutely true, but it doesn't have to be soda. It can be milk, juice, or other things that kids drink.

Let's look at a child's diet through the day. Many children from infancy will opt to drink rather than eat because drinking is easier to do than eat. If that lazy habit continues into the toddler stage, and then into the preschool stage, it can offset the balance of calories and cause a child to be heavier. Why?

Drinking is a very interesting thing. Drinking is something that allows a lot of calories to enter the body quickly. You can drink 6 ounces of water in about five seconds. That's true for any liquid. That's one of the reasons I think drinkable yogurt is so awful. First, most store bought yogurts are laden with sugar. Many will have as much as 35 grams of sugar in a six ounce container. That's almost nine teaspoons of sugar per six ounces. If you make that drinkable...

Let's look at orange juice. Few people would say that orange juice is bad for you, simply because that would be crazy. Oranges are one of the world's healthiest foods. Check out Worlds Healthiest Foods site; it's a marvel. Now let's look at orange juice closely. It takes about an orange to give you two ounces of juice, and that's a bit of a stretch on some oranges. So if a child is drinking 6 ounces of orange juice, say three times a day, the child is in effect eating 9 oranges in a day. Each orange is about 100 calories, so that the child is consuming 900 calories in orange juice.

Now let's move on to milk. There is no more wonderful food for kids than milk. Some children don't drink milk, and that's a shame because this is an excellent source of vitamin D. At meals, children will often reject dinner and fill up on milk drinking two, or even three glasses. This is a common children's shill. It allows a child to be "temporarily full." We see this every day at school. A glass of milk has 120 calories in it. When you double that, the child is drinking his dinner at 240 calories per meal or more, and that is 720 calories if a child has three meals.

Now let's look at other stuff kids drink through the day. "Mom I'm thirsty," comes the plea. And more than likely, a child will be given a glass of apple juice. Unfortunately, the apple juice is often the 20% kind which is just sugar water. Hi C, Hawaiian Punch, Koolaid, some of the pouch drinks, and a lot of quick snack drinks are lethal, filled with sugar and loaded with empty calories. Look on the side of your juice bottle to see how much real juice is in it.

Through the day, children will come back to the kitchen over and over for this sugar fix. Even those children consuming a lot of real fruit juice is a concern because ultimately, too much juice is just plain fattening. When you use disposible cups and set those cups out on the counter and add them up at the end of the day, you will probably have to add another 600 calories to the rest of the "drink only" pile of now 2400 calories.

When you add 2400 calories to what a child is eating... you're shot before you even get off the ground. I know this because I've watched it for years. I had four children who would drink thousands of calories in real fruit juice every day for years. As a daughter of the golden west, a Californian by birth, I believe that fruit juice is the golden drink, but I also understand that one has to work off those calories. As a believer in "get out, out won't kill you," children need to use their calories playing outdoors hour after hour. Today, that's not always possible, so the golden drink becomes a real liability. An hour at the park isn't going to use up that many calories.

Now let's look at food choices that go with the desire to shill the dinner and escape with a belly filled with drink. There are too many picky eaters today, and I blame a lot of that on junk drinks. Junk drinks say, "It's only good if it's sweet." The sweet expectation is enormous today. When a child really doesn't like the food basics, won't eat meat, won't eat vegetables, won't eat fruit, but likes bread, pizza, potatoes and pasta, all made from white flour and white sugar, the calorie wheel turns at a prodigious rate, and the nutrition level drops like a stone.

What to do?

This is where the parent needs to re-evaluate drink, because drink is what is usually causing the problem. If a child receives water all day and only a single juice or a single milk at meals, the calorie count will drop a lot in most cases. Water will also build up a natural hunger that will force even the pickiest eater to eat at meal time. Second milk or juice at meals? Water makes a nice block to meal avoidance. And how about seconds on veggies and fruit only? For the child who is looking for the sugar fix of pasta, bread, and potatoes, seconds on fruit and veggies only will put on a pretty good brake.

And as a final note, sippy cups are a detriment to child rearing. Throw them out. They ruin teeth, they add a thousand unnecessary calories, and they are bacteria laden, filled with old spit and often snot out in the air and multiplying by the billions. They create all kinds of health issues. Children don't need to drink non stop. Neither do adults, and the example of constant drinking by parents holding what amounts to baby bottles or adult sippy cups is what is causing an obese America.