The Garden School Tattler

What's new? No Snow! Too bad, the kids were looking forward to the white wintry day.

Ian's Grandfather has made us some nice benches. They are absolutely marvelous and we will use them for many things. Yesterday, after school was closed, E and I stayed with the last kids to be picked up, and we thought about several unusual ways of using the benches in addition to using them for seating during lunch. I'm excited. We thank Ron Crowley for his hard work and his service to the school. Ian is a lucky little boy.

We have been exploring new games at school. Our discipline policy is simple. Children are not allowed to be disobedient, disruptive or make another child cry on purpose. This is how they get into trouble. Every once in a while we change our tools. This week, thanks to Miss Lindsay, we have put away the star chart and gone back to medals. Each child has made an honor's medal and wears it as long as their behavior is communal, warm, loving and obedient. When a child disrupts the group unnecessarily, is perniciously selfish, is constantly disobedient or makes another child cry, he will have to hang up his medal. A child without a medal cannot receive treats. This helps a child sort out his behavior problems and become a good citizen.

We understand that in many child care centers any kind of discipline for behavior is not considered a positive thing. The directive is, "Never say no to a child." My understanding is that the staff at childcare centers are there only to facilitate a child's play. Personally, I find this a horrific environment for faculty - for any adult, and that's primarily why there is a terrible turnover in staffing at early childhood facilities. I once heard that a very fine woman told a child "no" for spitting in her face, and she was fired. That's not only ridiculous, but abusive to the child. There is only one time in a human being's life when he or she should be loved unconditionally and that's infancy. Once a child begins to unfold from the infant stage, expectations are a normal part of living in the community and that includes the home. Good behavior is an expectation of any good home, and definitely an expectation at school.

At the Garden School, we believe that the formation of any child is our number one objective. This can only be done with the help and commitment of parents. Our efforts at school will not make a difference in a child's life if home does not follow through. The parents, after all, are the primary educators of the child, and that's the way it should be!

Children often do not behave at school the way they behave at home. One obvious reason is that at school there are lots of children, and in many homes there is one child or perhaps two. Finding a place is not easy for some children especially those who come form indulgent homes. An honor's system allows a child to find his place more easily. All children know the rules and when they break them for their own sake, their own sake needs to either make amends on their own, or amends will be made for them as an act of teacher charity.

Another thing we've been doing is using a new food board. The staff regarded several meals watching the children eat, and we discovered that children don't eat out of habit. We served the most popular foods for several meals and the children ate just as sparingly. We watched as children played, yelled, and did everything possible not to touch their food at breakfast and lunch. Then when snack was served, children wanted triple helpings. We wonder if this is a habit they learned in the toddler stage of grazing. We wondered how many kids are accustomed to resisting table food for snack food. "If I hold out just another couple of hours, I can fill up on what I really want - treats."

So we have established an eating chart of sorts that we are hoping encourages children to eat the good stuff. Every child gets a clothespin every time they eat a food component which is attached to a figure that is on a board in circle time. There are ten food components served every day: 3 milks; 1 juice; 1 meat; 3 fruits or vegetables; 2 breads. We are not including the variable at snack, like cookies, but we are counting snack milk.

Garden School food is made mostly from scratch and is child friendly. We use the best possible ingredients, hand picked by Miss Judy, and always take the child's palate into consideration. Our typical breakfast includes juice, milk, and a bread product like waffles, pancakes, sticky buns, cereal, and home made muffins. Lunch yesterday was homemade pizza, two choices, dipable vegetables with ranch dip, oranges and a child friendly salad and milk. Children can have as much as they want.

We introduce many new things over the school year. Our aim is to increase his appetite for exploration and discovery. A wide variety of food is the healthy choice for everyone. Being open about food is the avenue to being open about other things like friendships and ideas, education, world view, cultures, and finally the acceptance of other people. Creating a healthy palate and healthy eating habits is not just about food; it says something about a way of life. There is nothing which enters our life quite like food or means as much.

If a child eats eight of his components, and retains his medal, he can go to the treasure box. If he eats all ten components, he can go to the treat box and take home something for after dinner. In order to receive the prizes, he must bring his parent to the board and show the parent. Parents are encouraged to become more involved in a child's eating habits. Understanding what a child prefers is a real eye opener.

We hope you like our changes.

Today we will be handing out February calendars.