The Garden School Tattler

School is very hectic this year. We have a very young crew and that means a lot of just getting order to be order - it's like driving chaos into a corral and branding it. Sometimes it's a chore, and sometimes it's not.

The kids are all very sweet and seem to like being at school especially when we serve Popsicles and other treats. Clean up is another story. I think this year the collective thought it, "Who me?"
Clean up is important to share. The little ones are learning that. I asked a few kids standing over a rather substantial mess to help clean it up. Not one child moved but Phoebe, and she cleaned up the whole mess, and I gave her a candy bar. She was so delighted. The other kids all had their hands out too. I said, "But Phoebe cleaned up the mess; what did you do?" They said, "But we want one too!" And I said, "Then you should help with cleanups." It's a quick lesson to learn, and many of those kids learned it on the spot.

Lunch has been an eye opener. Just keeping chairs pushed in so most of the food continues to be in the vicinity of the table is another chore. I'm always surprised when children don't know how to sit at a table for more than a few minutes. Our lunch time goes between prayer and prayer. It's about twenty minutes long. They learn that quickly, however, and are making strides.

Understanding which class they are in is another very funny task to learn. When there is a dismissal by class, every child rises and heads toward the bathrooms. We try to get the older kids out first because they can do it all by themselves, and they go fast. The smaller they are, the more help they will need in the bathroom, so we leave the youngest class for last. But when we call the classes, it doesn't matter how much we explain, every child rises. We have to laugh.

Today in Mrs. St. Louis's and my class, we will try to string again. The children got the idea, but they didn't like the fact that the tasty cereal was not to put in their mouths, but instead had to be put on this irritating string! Again laughs for the moment.

Busy days, blessed days!