It was an interesting day at school. We stayed in most of the day because it was so horribly hot and our teachers felt it was best to make the day as easy as we could because tomorrow will be a long one.

We want to thank Miss Susie for holding down the fort with Edith this morning while Miss Kelly and I went to the new United Way Coalition meeting concerning childcare in Evansville this morning. It was surprising to note how many organizations touch the world of children and how many people showed up this morning interested and concerned with childcare today.

Miss Kelly and I were the only teachers there. I’ve always thought there has always been a division between the powers that run childcare locally and those of us who work in it. It’s like the aristocrats and the serfs. I have always wondered about the division.

The kinds of things these people want to implement in the next twenty years are: a concentration on nutrition and health, a foreign language, a consistency in care, better teachers, better programs, better communication, and a lot of childcare services. Sound familiar?

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Today was our marker day for the trip tomorrow. Anyone going home today with a third green face took a letter home saying they could not come tomorrow.

Every year we fold on behaviors and end up taking some desperately ill behaved children just because we care. This year we are caring for those who have earned a really nice trip without the trailer of disruptive, disobedient children on the bus. Four children did not make the trip.

As I told one parent, this is not a trip we can easily turn around. If we were going an hour up the road, we could return if we had to, but not three hours away. Besides, I told her, some children earned this trip and your child didn’t. Every child was told that his behavior would determine his going, and he had to make the choice. We spend most of our day guiding children away from poor choices, and when a child knows better than all the good will in the world, he is going to take a big fall.

A parent of one poorly behaved child told me she had to work. The focus of the Garden School is on the child, not the parent. When parents go to work, they can know for sure our first thought is the child in our care. Formation of the child is our first priority. Rewarding terrible behavior is not formative; it’s destructive.

Tomorrow will be HOT. Please dress briefly. If there is a better than 60% chance of rain, we may cancel because of the possibility of dramatic storm and the danger of traveling in such a situation. It’s 50% right now. If we do cancel, we’ll do something else locally – something different and fun.