Greetings on another dry and brittle day! It’s great for the kids because it’s warm and it’s dry, but it’s killing the garden! This weekend I watered our poor grape vine, our cherry tree, the strawberries and the herb garden and what’s left of the vegetables and vines. I think next year there will be a soaker out there. I don’t want to talk about what’s going on at home – even with daily watering. I even had to water my pond!

Today is a GREAT day! Lots to see and do. We’re going out to the farm early – about 8:45, so we’ll make sure we call all our stragglers at about 8:15. We’re going out to Mayse farm for a tour, a hay ride, a run through several mazes and the hay castle. Every child will get to pick a pumpkin. Then it’s off to Newburgh for a romp at our favorite park and a picnic lunch. We will have such a discovery day. I can’t wait!

Then tonight, after a 12 hour day, the teachers are going to drive up to Indianapolis for a conference. I was quite interested in the vote positioned in the side bar here on the blog. Two people voted they preferred that teachers do professional development on the weekends. We usually do, but most really good workshops are during the week. Professional development is usually not an add on but part of the work week. Glad to know four of our parents are glad we are doing this. It does give us a boost as teachers to perform better with new ideas.

I am giving a workshop for the local branch of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in October. My workshop will be “The importance of Family Dining.” I’ve offered workshops nearly every year for years. I’m not crazy about public speaking, but I think these local workshops are important. If you have an anecdote for my workshop, please let me know.

Report cards will be out next Monday.

We want to thank all the parents and grandparents who brought such a nice array of sweets and salty treats to school on Friday. Your support helps us so much. Many left over goodies will go on our picnic today. The kids will be thrilled.

Next party is Halloween.

Of all people, you would expect me to be excited about the promise some of the candidates running for President who are saying if they are elected, they will increase spending for Early Childhood. Not so. I’m not an advocate of spending without a plan. As with most government programs, when billions are dumped into a pot, that pot takes off running and is never heard from again!

Early Childhood Education is a very important issue to me, and that means being careful with the funds. Edith and I started our little corner of the world each with a whopping $80.00. We started off simply with a bag full of toys, a stack of books, and a lot of plans and a lot of heart. In 12 years, the GS has grown into a respectable school. Sure we’ve made mistakes, but not billion dollar mistakes!

When you look at the national picture of education, no two government representatives would agree on even what early childhood is. The truth is, most representatives can’t give you a straight answer concerning early childhood at all. They don’t really know very much about it. So the idea that someone even at the top is eager and willing to throw billions into something they know little about is alarming at best. “But if you give the money to people who DO know about early childhood…”

Yeah, yeah, but that never happens. What does happen is that a particular favored group gets a lot of money to build a spectacular building someplace as a show place for education. Now ditto this nationwide and presto bingo, we’ve spent billions. But the level of early childhood never really gets any better. Most funds go into buildings, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with early childhood. When buildings stand as the shining example of how we invested in early childhood education, there really is no improvement at all.

I’m a grass roots builder. I see every problem solved from the bottom up. If our nation wants really good early childhood education, it begins on every block with parents talking to one another about what they want for their children, and then turning a garage into that very special place. It’s really that simple.

Children don’t need a state of the arts building. They need people who love them and teach them. They need people who are there and promise to be there for them, teaching and struggling every day; people who keep those promises. Early childhood is short. It begins at birth ( some believe it begins before birth) and it goes through age eight. There is the infant stage – about a year; the toddler stage – about two years; the preschool stage – about three years and is finished by first, second and third grade. Once children go to big school, the foundation we commonly call early childhood is pretty much over. So what we are talking about are three different cares: infancy, toddlerhood, and preschool (including kindergarten).

I’m an advocate of in home care for children under three. I think homes do better than institutions on all levels. At three, it’s time for kids to start to learn. Sometimes a home can cut it, and sometimes it can’t. But no matter what, the idea of pouring money into a private home is almost silly. It’s the home, the environment, the care provider who is the key here – and no amount of money will change those basic things or make them better. It’s the tenet of the home which is the selling point for childcare.

At three, a child has shuffled off his infancy and toddlerhood and is ready to learn, but once again, he doesn’t need a state of the arts building. He needs solid caring teachers who can teach him what he wants to know. You can buy that with more Federal funds for salaries, but it wouldn’t take billions of dollars and probably shouldn’t.

The real problem with early childhood education is ultimately a problem with staff. For decades, nobody really believed just how important the zero to five formative years are. We believed as a nation that anyone off the street willing to sit with the kids was all that was needed. We believed that we could warehouse hundreds of kids under one roof with a play space no bigger than a king sized bed. We could throw unthinkable food in their direction counting ketchup as a vegetable, provide fewer than one toy per child, and nap them half the day, and presto bingo, we have acceptable “Early Childhood.”

Changing that idea starts at the bottom not at the top with more money thrown away. But the powers that be would disagree.

In my town, the local high brow magazine declares the same terrible childcare institution as “the best childcare in the city” every year. In reality, this place is a blight to childcare anywhere. The administration refuses to allow teachers to teach anything to the children including letters or numbers. The teachers never read to the children, never take them outside. The meals are horrible, scanty and there is often too little to share among the kids who are hungry. Licensed teachers are penalized for having an education. The children are expected sit hour after hour in tiny noisy rooms where they are also expected to sleep, eat and go to the bathroom. There are no field trips, no adventure, no stretches. And THIS is the best childcare in the city? So says the local magazine, and so says the funnel of money our government pours into this horrible example year after year. Money, by the way, that is used to buy doors and floors and concrete play spaces. In my humble opinion, it’s a lost cause from the beginning because doors and floors and concrete won’t elevate childcare to a learning discovering environment. No amount of funding will ever manage to change the face of early childhood when administrations have little concept of what the meaning of the expression “to explore” means to a child.

So throwing tax dollars away are not going to make early childhood any better. What is going to make it better are the loving efforts of parents. This will elevate early childhood to the kind of positive experience children will carry with them all their lives. Only parents can make early childhood better by helping those of us who provide childcare be responsible for all we do for the young child. It is through cooperation that we will together raise the expectations of the early classroom to the heights it should be.

Here’s a new idea from an old one – cardboard toys. I think this is a fabulous idea for smaller homes. For children who tire of expensive toys quickly, this might be the answer! They are not expensive, can be folded down to store and brought out for rainy days!

Visit this site for more information Creativetoys

Here’s an article from Teacher magazine about sleep and teachers. We are always saying to parents that children need more rest. In our busy world at school, the minimum is just that — a minimum, and for those of us who are not minimalists ( I really despise minimalism) the minimum of anything regarding children is just that – bottom line. Children need 12 hours of sleep every day, and after age three, that should not be a split session. Four hours at school and eight hours at home is not good rest. Choosing a bed time and keeping it is one of the best things a parent can do for a child. Children who are sleep deprived often have other problems.

Sleep should be a positive and fun time. It’s a time when that bed has a goose down topper, the sheets are crisp and fresh, the pillow fluffed and inviting. The covers just right to snuggle in all night. After a nice warm bath, a nice cup of herbal tea with mom(it’s a way drinking warm milk 😉 a story told or read with the lights on, it’s time to brush our teeth, say our prayers and jump into our snuggle bed. Our favorite stuffed toy tight in our arms and a night light close. Kisses and hugs and a promise for tomorrow. It takes five minutes to put a child to bed – or should. Going to sleep in his own bed in his own room can be one of his favorite things to do.

Now for parents. As a firm believer in sleep, I think parents need to have a regular bed time as well. The lack of sleep will age you. Like sugar and salt, a lack of sleep will put years on your face, and will draw your tired body into a poor posture that could have ill effects. Feeling good begins with a good night’s sleep. Tired people tend to have poor diets because it’s just too hard on the body to eat much more than sugar.

There is an article posted in Teacher Magazine that talks about teachers and their notorious lack of sleep. To read the article, go HERE.

Here’s a little article from Food Navigator about chocolate! As a one serving a day, dark chocolate is actually good for your heart :-)))

Children love chocolate when it’s presented as a food treat. Chocolate as a food needs to be eaten as a food simply because it is a genuine food. Chocolate should never be put into the junk category of most candy.

To read the article go HERE.

I know, I know, Miss Judy is a nut ball when it comes to food safety and nutrition, but I read this nice article from Food Navigator and I wanted to share it. If you are a Splenda user, you might be interested in this new study. Apparently, the researchers think it could damage bacteria in the system and could cause a problem in absorbing nutrients while it causes you to gain weight. If you are interested in reading the article, go HERE.

It’s been a great week so far! The weather has been surprisingly dry with humidity scores of 17; 24; and 26 percents. It’s like a desert out there! Everything is dry in the garden and we’ve noticed a lot fewer birds. The stray cats from the barn next door are wandering in for a drink in our pond.

At school we are preparing for Grandparents’ Tea. We’ve learned some things we want to share at 3:00. Lots of parents have said they didn’t know it was Grandparents’ Tea. We send a lot of material home to announce these things including the handbook, the calendar and flyers, not to short change the parent board or the blog.

We’ve been readjusting the afternoon classes and we’ve added a health class! On Tuesdays, Miss Kelly teaches science to the K-1. I will be teaching health to the 4-K. We had a blast this last week with the new subject. The kids seemed to really enjoy the idea of what makes their body parts all work together.

Our French class has been going great guns. The kids seem to really enjoy the challenge. We’ve been counting and have climbed up to 60 and will go to 70 today. We are learning all kinds of body parts, days of the week, and small statements like “are you my friend?”

Outside, the kids are learning to climb trees. It’s been a lot of fun. If you can’t climb into the tree yourself, you will have to practice until you can. And once in the tree, you may only climb as far as you are willing to fall! That keeps them close to the ground.

Report cards will come out October 6.

Today on the lunch menu is baked chicken legs, corn on the cob, buttered noodles and fruit.

Last week at school we looked at bugs. We went to the bug exhibit at the Botanical Gardens in Owensboro Kentucky. It was a wonderful outing and the kids loved it. Then, a package arrived. Miss Kelly said, “Your package is perishable; we better open it right now.” The children were all eating lunch at the time.

Carefully packaged were a dozen bottles of Probugs! It was a gift sent by the Lifeway Foods company in Morton Grove, Illinois. They make a wonderful and delicious Kefir cultured milk product called Probugs.

We divided the wonderful bottles between all the children and they got to sample the Probugs Kefir Milk and there was not a drop left. They loved it. It came in flavors like Goo Berry Pie and Sublime Slime Lime and Orange Creamy Crawler. It tastes a lot like yogurt, but it’s thinner, so it’s drinkable.

It’s definitely something I would buy.

Here’s more about the Probugs:

As Americans’ concerns about diet increase and many have begun to embrace the trend of natural and organic ingredients, Lifeway Foods has introduced ProBugs for kids to their line-up of dairy products that help boost the digestive and immune systems.

This organic milk is actually a form of a drinkable yogurt that has long been popular in Europe, containing 10 live and active kefir cultures (most yogurts have two to three) and providing the benefits of probiotic bacteria.

ProBugs won’t upset your stomach if you’re lactose intolerant, and it gives you more energy while aiding in vitamin and mineral absorption—a great product for growing bones!

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‘Take a Child Outside’ Week Gains Some Ground

Hundreds of Organizations in the US and Canada to Participate ‘Take a Child Outside’ Week

By BETSY TAYLOR

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS

Comment: people always ask us, “Why do you do what you do?” And the answer is because it’s good for the kids and good for the teachers. We are outside more than any other full time children’s facility in the city. It’s a part of every child’s right to “be outdoors and play.”

A large group of well-meaning officials from several states have a message for you and your family: Go take a hike.

They’re urging moms and dads to take their kids away from the television and go outside for some fresh air as part of “Take a Child Outside” week from Sept. 24-30.

The special week began last year in North Carolina, and has now spread throughout much of the U.S. About 250 organizations in the U.S. and Canada are taking part this year.

Do children really need a themed week to encourage them to play outside?

Supporters say it certainly could help. With child obesity on the rise and children spending more time playing electronic games or surfing the Internet, supporters of the effort are extolling the virtues of getting out of the house.

“There’s just a disconnect with the natural world around you,” said Sue Holst, a spokeswoman for Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the state parks. “Today’s children do not seem to have the same connection to the outdoors.”

Liz Baird, director of school programs with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, agrees: “When I was a kid, you had to come inside when the street lights came on.”

Baird, who came up with the idea of “Take a Child Outside” week, said now parents often have to tell their children they must go outside for 30 minutes.

Baird read Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods,” about the disconnection between children and nature, and invited him to visit the museum where she worked.

“I struggled with what the museum could do, because we’re indoors,” she said. “We’re a fake outdoors!”

But she said the museum drew from its knowledge of educating and activities for children.

The effort comes at a time when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 17 percent of U.S. youngsters are obese and millions more are overweight. Obesity can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep problems and other disorders.

Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources is suggesting that parents take a hike with their children, go fishing, take a float trip and camp together — or even just sit at a picnic table and watch kids explore. The department also has a year-round effort called “Get Out and Play” to support more free time for children outside.

Attendance is down about 2 million visitors at Missouri’s state parks, from about 18 million annually in 2004 to 16 million in 2007. Park officials can’t say conclusively why that is — rising gas prices may play a role — but they think families also need to be reminded of what parks offer and the benefits of outdoor play.

Child development specialist Jane Kostelc she hadn’t previously heard of “Take a Child Outside” week but thought it was a good idea.

“There’s a different dimension to their development when they play outside,” she said. She works for the St. Louis-based Parents as Teachers National Center, an international parent support and educational program.

Outdoor play allows for freedom of movement and more vigorous movement. It also sparks creativity and observation skills, as children use outdoor materials in their play and take in the changing world around them, Kostelc said.

Baird acknowledged it may be a sign of the times that promotions are needed to encourage outdoor play, but she hopes families will spend more time in the natural world the rest of the year.

“I always end by saying my honest hope for the week is that one day it won’t be needed,” she said.