The Garden School Tattler

Yesterday was a lot easier than we expected. We had two teachers out for professional development. That's a big expression for, they went to a big workshop in Indianapolis to learn the latest teaching techniques. Every teacher needs this gas tank occasionally, and this is the first time in a while that we have been able to send a teacher.

Locally, we have two workshops a year - one in the spring and one in the fall. Miss Judy has presented at these for a long time. This spring I gave a choosing the right calories workshop, and this coming fall I'm doing one on the importance of eating together.

Getting teachers and early childhood professionals together to discuss the problems and the new trends in childcare and teaching is important for the whole teacher. New ideas, exchanging ideas, being reassured that you are on the right track, and that what you are doing is working is a big plus in the job.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it's also nice to know that you are covered. Mr. Tom and Miss Lindsay came in early and stayed all day to cover. They did a fine job - even on Monday.

Monday's are sometimes really hard because children come to school with a lot of negatives from home. On Mondays we see the child "fresh from the house." Often it's on Monday that we can see what is going on at home that's creating a problem. Children often come to school speaking too loud with an infant slant on their speech. This means to a teacher, "He's not getting enough attention at home."

Most children come to school on Monday not eating ANYTHING. That's why we start Monday with cold cereal - it breaks that mold right away. Monday's food is mostly throwaway. That means there are no food expectations going on at home. Usually on Mondays we serve something everyone likes. We see right away which families eat together and which ones don't. One way of reading the home life is how children sit at the table during a meal. Many children can't because they don't at home. When meals are in front of TV, children don't eat. TV dining has too many obstacles to encourage the good habit of eating well.

Good behavior is also a thing which is expected or not, and on Monday we can see who is expected to behave at home and who is expected to not behave at home, because on Monday every bad habit comes out to play.

Mondays are real eye openers for teachers.

Today we are back to regular shop. One thing I noticed is how much these kids want to learn and how much they enjoy school. I was really touched yesterday by their desire to be in the classroom and yet do something academic during play time. We looked at shells yesterday, and they really enjoyed that. There were a million questions as kids poured over the science table shells. "But what kind of shell is this?" asked nearly every child. "It's a muscle; it's a cockle; it's a scallop; It's a conch; It's a snail; I don't know; I don't know; I don't know," were most of the answers.

Today perhaps we will get out the pine cones...