The Garden School Tattler

There are so many good things in a day it's hard to list them all. We were a little squirrelly today, but we were also filled with energy. Energy is a good thing provided it's managed. Management is a two way street. If you manage yourself, say I, then Miss Judy won't need to manage your time.

We did a whopping nearly $1000.00 in book sales, and we started using the books right away. There is a contest each morning for those who like design. Today we did what looks like a nuclear design. Coloring prize goes to Dawson. We started reading a Tinkerbell book and the kids the characters. I saw them smile.

We started a new geography contest. We are learning the countries and where they are. So far we have had Hadley point out Australia and know it is not a state but a country. Peyton pointed out the South Pole and the United States of America as a country. Jackie pointed out the equator. Mayli pointed out the North Pole. We are working on some of the other places we have studied. It will take time.

I've invented the toughest Bingo game ever. It's a design sheet 11X14. There is no pattern and the uneven shapes all have a number from 1-99. Tomorrow we color the sheet to get familiar with where the numbers are. Then later this week we will try out calling the numbers in a row, then randomly. Should be interesting.

We built words today. Lots of copying. We are learning the number words, is, the, a, and a variety of verbs because we are starting to write a short story. Children will take home copies of the story every day, but the original won't go home till it's done.

Mrs. St. Louis reports all her children know their alphabet, and are working on their numbers to twenty. Please count with your children by touching the objects while you say the number. It's called one to one correspondence.

And while working with children, teach them to use both upper and lower case letters. WILLIAM is not correct. William is, however. When a child comes to school with all caps, it's hard to unteach.

The big question is: "Why won't my five year old learn what other five year olds learn?"

Learning is a separate individual process. Every child, every person learns differently and at a different pace. Some people never learn certain things. Some children are fierce learners, gobbling up information like a fast train gobbling coal. Other children are lackadaisical and ho hum it into grammar school. Still others try but can't. We had one beautiful child who learned when we applied music. The problem is pushing.

By nature, I'm a pusher. "You can do it; trust yourself. Try." But there are times when a child just can't. He or she is just caught in a web of confusion only time will release. And it's important for teachers to know who needs to be pushed and who doesn't.

We've had several children at the GS whose psychologists thought were mentally retarded. With enough time and encouragement, these children went to regular classrooms. What you have to remember is that the parent is the primary educator of the child and with enough attention, and that means turning off TV, a child will finally surface and begin to understand. They will catch up, but all the pushing in the world won't do it. Security and affection will do more for a child's learning than all the pushing in the world.