The Garden School Tattler

We had a spectacular day yesterday. I liked the music best. Mr Ty, an outstanding first grader, and general - let's leave the word there - was eager to sing Jingle Bells. Most of the little kids are happy to sing the chorus, but there are three verses we have been working on, and he seemed delighted with all the words. We will be sending our music home as I think to do it.

We start with the two French songs, and then move to a selection of children's music and classical Christmas carols. I am eager to see what this year's group can do. Last year, we had a group of children who just didn't want to sing. It was interesting.

It's a lot like food. There are applesauce years, corn and rice years, cottage cheese and orange years. This year, the applesauce is an all time poo poo, and the favorite side dish is green salad with cheese.

We are desperately trying to get an art show together for next week. It won't be a party, just a show when you come in. There will be little framed paintings on the tables with a little price tag for parents to buy for Christmas. This will pay for our Christmas field trip. Are there any suggestions about field trip?

The toy contest was fun, but something else happened that is the kind of thing that's just fabulous. One of the toys was just plain cute - Snorta. We all sat down again and again and played Snorta. The kids just love the animal sounds. Well I wrote something about the game, and it was seen on one of the web sites where I'm published, and the maker of the game sent me an email. We've been writing back and forth, and he has sent the school a few games. His name is Matt Mariani. It's such a nice thing for him to do. We will all take time out to thank him.

Things are really rolling at school. We are working on so many projects, I just hope to be able to get it all done by Christmas. I hope each and every one of you is delighted.

Please take a look at your child's angel string about next week. Every day your child can win an angel or more. He has to keep his medal, and then he can do something nice for someone else. Every angel a child wins inches his way toward the big Santa prize.

We will be looking for a new teacher until we find one. We are looking for someone who will take an interest in our program and understand that the care and the feeding of children is our primary goal, and that care is "an enhancement of home."

We are also looking for someone who is interested in the world around them. I've fudged a bit on this lately, but realize that an interest in the world and a basic knowledge is important to the academic running of the place.

Here's my little academic test:

Geography: Can you pick out Iceland, Ireland, Israel on the map and tell me why Ivory Coast is not a soap product.

History: Which was longer the Renaissance or the Middle Ages - which came first?

Literature: Read Jabberwocky out loud

Science: Tell me about the earth's water cycle.

Fine art: Define it.

When we interview someone, we take it for granted that they can do simple math and read simple words and have been trained to teach these things to children. But it is not always the case that someone has an interest or a knowledge of other things children should know. Teachers should read more than catalogues and more than news stand junk. Teachers should read great books and worthwhile novels - that's just an opinion.

So onward and upward. Good grief I'm cheery for the Christmas season!