We had a curious parent who asked this week why we did so much at Christmas time. Lots of things have become our little traditions over the years. I suppose because we’ve gotten good feedback, and for us at the Garden School, the “always” word is “possibilities.” We never really say, “Well, that’s not possible,” or “Other places don’t do that,” or “We can’t.” We’re a do place and if it’s a possibility, why not give it our best shot.

The holiday season, not my favorite, begins with Halloween and escalates quietly through Thanksgiving and commences with Christmas. It’s a one thing after another time. We begin with an all day dress up and pretend day with Halloween. Getting the kids out in costumes is a battle, but it’s something the kids really love. This year we went to my mother’s nursing home. It was very special indeed to me personally.

With Halloween over, it was time to plunge into the play. Plays are probably the most memorable of all primary years. When you ask a child, “What do you remember about your school years?” or “What was your favorite school memory?” he will likely remember a play. Plays build cohesion, they build solidarity, they build self confidence, and they build a sense of begin, do, and complete – a group of actions too often left unfinished in the modern world.

But writing, learning, practicing, costuming, and directing is a lot of work and can’t be done at recess time or after school. It’s a school hour two weeks. That means a classroom hiatus must give way for the play. Is it worth it? For the most part, it’s my experience that the break actually produces a clearer picture of school work. In my class, after the play, the children suddenly knew all their letters. It’s been noted that the more children are in desks at school, the lower the test scores. The less time children are social and discuss school among themselves, the lower the test scores. People learn by sharing and sharing does not mean hours and hours of silent independent work.

Theatre, art, imagination, creativity, spontaneity, possibility all broadens the child and allows him to think outside the box. These are right brained activities that you can’t get from a steady stream of worksheets and a nose to the grindstone approach to learning. By thinking outside the box, the child begins to explore the disciplines. He is no longer content with the limiting reach of the textbook. He wants to know why and how. This builds scientists and mathematicians.

When the play is over, it’s time to do Christmas around the world. What do other people think of Christmas? What IS Christmas and why is it important? What do we DO at Christmas and why? These are questions that need to be answered for the young child in early childhood or they will not be important. The foundations don’t begin in early adult hood; they begin in early childhood, and in the community. It’s a trust issue. We spend a morning decorating the Christmas tree and making ornaments because that’s our Western Tradition.

We start learning Christmas songs early so that children can really sing them. It takes three weeks of practice, but it’s a life time of remembering. We read children’s stories about Christmas, learn stories about miracles at Christmas time like the story of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, and St. Nicholas, and this year, we are learning the poem, T’was the Night Before Christmas.

During the Christmas season, we try to touch all the bases for those children who don’t get to touch any bases. We will take the children to the Nutcracker today. This performance is a one of a kind in Evansville. It could be the only ballet these children ever see. The information gained today at this ballet could be a part of a child’s imagination that allows him to do any number of things in his life. Ballet offers an out of the ordinary art form that encourages the idea that beauty of motion is very much a part of the human desire to be beautiful, to be flawless.

We produce an art show as a way for parents to inexpensively complete their shopping lists. Miss Amy has displayed the artwork in her classroom with a lot of love and affection for the kids. The children are delighted with their work, and will be delighted to see the smiles on the faces of the grandparents who receive it at Christmas time. It took about 40 hours of teacher work to produce the framing. Why do we do this at a rush, rush, rush time at Christmas? Because we’ve gotten feedback from parents who love it, so it becomes our pleasure. Most of my prominent artwork at my own house is my children’s work from childhood. These things I treasure.

We do an golden angel of the day award and gift which is awarded to a special child every day. The child receives a box of goodies. Why a box? In the story, The Littlest Angel, such a box became the star that led the shepherds and the kings to the Christ child. It’s a beautiful story that we read every year. Children earn angels every day, and one child who has been especially wonderful gets the golden angel. What does this teach? In my experience, the last of the behavior problems often subside with this little activity. The very idea that anything is possible – even really responsible behavior – and that pride and understanding comes from this behavior is often learned through little paper angels and a little box of treats. It’s concrete; it makes sense; it works.

Then there is the last push to make gifts for parents in the last dash to the big Santa party.

For the party, parents are asked to secretly bring a little trinket toy that looks like it was made in Santa’s workshop, and we have a visit from Santa who brings these things in an enormous green bag. There is a prize for the best behaved child, and a bean feast of cookies and cupcakes, and then it’s over.

For parents, we usually have a charity we’re collecting for because someone in the school community has a need. We have supplied some of our poorer families with whole Christmases right down to the turkey in some years. This year we are collecting for the ill who have been forgotten.

So that’s the ticket. When it’s all over, teachers dash home to do their own Christmas prep. At my house, I have 15 family members and lots of friends and out of town company to think about, so it never really ends until December 26.

And if you think Holiday season is busy, just wait until summer…

We’ve had a lot of printer problems this week, and Miss Molly had to go out and buy another one for the office. I’m sure the following is not our problem because poor Maestro…

But it could be a problem for you at home if you find your printed goods are somewhat in a mess.

Here’s another Africa story. I think it’s interesting how African countries are working to bring education to a standard everyone understands.

Gambia: Butterfly No.1 Nursery School Inaugurated

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

4 December 2007
Posted to the web 4 December 2007

Hatab Fadara

A nursey school built at the tune of D500,000 by the Norwegian Butterfuly Association, Friends of Ebo Town and One People was on Saturday innaugurated at Kiang Nema, Lower River Region.

The school has a capacity of over two hundred students and provides free access to early childhood education with free clothing.

The philanthropists also off-loaded a 40-foot container containing educational materials such as furniture, books, sports equipment and cartons of second hand clothing, amongst others.

In his inaugural speech on behalf of the governor of Lower River Region, Lamin Darboe, deputy governor lauded the project, describing it as an important milestone in the annals of Nema Village.

According to him, a nursey school is not only a preparatory room for learning but helps the child to acquire good character and discipline that will make them become responsible future leaders. He added that it is obligatory upon all human beings to seek knowledge in any form as according to him, it is only through education that sustainable development can be achieved.

“Development in the true sense is not mapped in a single route. It is apparent that the best tool to any meaningful and lasting standard of living is through education. Therefore, the sponsors of this nursery school in Nema have done it all, since the importance of early childhood education cannot be over-emphasised,” he noted.

According to deputy governor Darboe, the descision by the sponsors to build a nursery school in Nema that will provide free childhood education to two hundred students, is in line with the Gambia government policies and priorities in providing quality, accessible and affordable education to all.

He challenged parents to inculcate good morals and learning aptitude into their children as well as to nurture discipline, which he said, is the cornerstone of any viable and decent society. He then assured the sponsors of his office’s unflinching support to the nursery school.

Speaking on behalf of the sponsors, Anbjorg Juliussen, head of the Norwegian group expressed his delight. She hailed the people of Kiang Nema for their loyalty towards the project, adding that more projects for the village are in the pipeline.

Mrs Juliussen used the occasion to disclose some of their projects in the country such as the Butterfly Number 1 ursery school, Jeshwang health centre and the Ebo Town school projects amongst others.

Lamin B Fadera, an intermediary between the sponsors and the village, said the initiative could not have come at a better time than now to help children of the village start their early childhood education at the primary level.

Mama Jarssey-Jawara, president of Nema Keita Kafo echoed similar sentiments and appealed to the donors to assist the village with more project.

Other speakers at the ceremony were Chief Demba Sanyang of Kiang Central and Bakary Seedy Fadera. The ceremony was entertained with a cultural performances.

Here’s an interesting article from Salem News.com. I think it has a lot of merit. What we see more and more is the poorly behaved child who is very far behind. Most poorly behaved children have few friends which makes being behind academically a double whammy.

Study Links Preschool Behavior to Academic Success

Salem-News.com

Results found that every seven-point increase in behavioral regulation over the school year predicted between three weeks and 2.8 months of learning gains in vocabulary, math and literacy.

Results found that every seven-point increase in behavioral regulation over the school year predicted between three weeks and 2.8 months of learning gains in vocabulary, math and literacy.

(CORVALLIS, Ore.) – A study by an Oregon State University faculty member shows that preschool age children who do not master basic self-regulation skills such as paying attention and following instructions may fall behind in academic subjects including math and reading.

Megan McClelland, an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at OSU, and her colleagues used a game called the Head-to-Toes Task to assess a child’s ability to listen, pay attention and regulate their own behavior.

The researchers found that children’s performance on the behavioral regulation game significantly and positively predicted early literacy, vocabulary and math skills even after controlling for initial skills in those areas.

These findings contradict a recent controversial study that found weak or no association between children’s socioemotional skills – including attention – and learning.

In contrast, McClelland and other leading child development experts across the country find a direct correlation between specific aspects of school readiness such as self-regulation and academic success.

“How can a child have strong reading or math skills if they can’t sit still, pay attention or remember instructions?” McClelland said. “We found that the gains children made on a five-minute, self-regulation game over the preschool year predicted the gains they made in early reading, math, and vocabulary.”

The Head-to-Toes Task that McClelland and her co-authors used as a measure of behavioral regulation requires attention, working memory and inhibitory control.

More than 300 preschool children were tested at two different sites in Michigan and Oregon. The study controlled for age, gender and other background variables.

Results found that every seven-point increase in behavioral regulation over the school year predicted between three weeks and 2.8 months of learning gains in vocabulary, math and literacy.

McClelland said that some of the new research pointing to the overriding importance of early math and reading skills was based on less sensitive measurement of social skills and self-regulation, compared to relatively strong measures of early achievement.

“I don’t think you can separate a child’s behavior from their achievement during the early years of school,” she said. “When you give a 5-year-old a test to assess early math skills, you might be testing their ability to sit still, pay attention and follow direction just as much as testing their math ability.”

McClelland said the Head-to-Toes Task is a strong predictor of early achievement because it does not rely on parent or teacher reports, which can often be biased. Instead, it independently assessed the child’s ability to follow multiple instructions in the game and tracked their progress over the school year.

McClelland’s findings on the link between behavioral regulation and academic skills came out in the summer edition of Developmental Psychology.

Another paper that assesses the reliability and developmental trends of the Head-to-Toes Task, authored by McClelland and lead author Claire Cameron Ponitz of the University of Virginia, will be published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly in early 2008.

I think Africa is a most interesting place. Here’s an article about Rwanda. There is still a discrimination against girls there, and sadly, in the article it describes the ill treatment of young females a thing we can’t even imagine here in the U.S.

Covance and Care Partner on Rwanda Early Childhood Development Initiative

PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Covance Inc. , a global drug development services company, and CARE, a leading humanitarian organization, announced today that they are partnering to support the Covance-CARE Early Childhood Development (ECD) Initiative for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Rwanda. Covance will contribute to help transform three existing buildings into community day care centers for children ages two to four and renovate two existing nursery schools. Covance will also support the daycare center operations that will provide a safe and secure environment for pre-school children and assist in their physical, emotional, and cognitive development.

A delegation of Covance and CARE representatives visited Rwanda recently to meet many of the community leaders as well as the children and their families participating in this program.

“CARE and Covance share the core belief that education is fundamental in alleviating poverty around the world,” said Donald Kraft, Covance Corporate Senior Vice President of Human Resources, who led the delegation with Deborah Tanner, Covance Corporate Senior Vice President and President of Central Laboratory Services. “We are honored to partner with CARE in its efforts to bridge the educational, social, and developmental gap among the most vulnerable children in Rwanda. The dedication and professionalism of the CARE teams in Rwanda are outstanding.”

“Our employees have demonstrated a strong commitment to making a difference in these children’s lives and contributing to their developmental needs and well-being,” said Deborah Tanner. “Together with CARE, we are looking forward to the development of sustainable learning environments that will help empower and shape these children, who serve as the future of Rwanda.”

CARE International developed the innovative 5×5 ECD Model, which is being implemented in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. Its aim is to promote the well-being of vulnerable children below school age and address the significant gap in programming for preschool Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Africa. The model also builds on CARE’s strengths in fostering community economic development, OVC support, and child health, nutrition, education, as well as their rights. In Rwanda, CARE International is piloting the ECD project in the district of Kamonyi, which will assist communities to set-up and run three ECD centers for children ages two to four in Musambira, Karama, and Nyarubaka sectors. The organization will also support two nursery schools for children ages four to six in Gacurabwenge and Karama sectors.

“We have been truly impressed with the strong support and commitment from the Covance employees for this important cause,” said Elie Nduwayesu, CARE International Orphans and Vulnerable Children Program Manager in Rwanda. “The long-term impact of deprivation in early childhood has been well documented. The majority of children who are not in school in Africa are girls and are more likely to experience abuse, neglect, and child domestic labor. The ECD program will protect these children from all types of abuse and contribute significantly to their healthy development.”

Up to 16 percent of all orphans in Africa are under five years of age. An estimated 70.9 million children in this age group are living in conditions of extreme poverty and disadvantage; one out of ten will not see their fifth birthday. The sheer scale and complexity of the problems of AIDS, conflict, natural disasters, diseases, and poverty are eroding traditional support networks and leaving these young children without the care that is critical to growth and development. These vulnerable children face unprecedented threats from arrested cognitive and emotional development, preventable illnesses, malnutrition, HIV infection, and child rights violations. CARE International’s objective is to learn from the pilot in order to scale-up the 5X5 ECD model in Rwanda in the near future.

About CARE

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places a special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity, and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. For further information on CARE’s mission and programming, please visit www.care.org.

About Covance Inc.

Covance, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies with revenues over the last twelve months of approximately $1.5 billion, global operations in more than 20 countries, and approximately 8,700 employees worldwide. Information on Covance’s products and services, recent press releases, and SEC filings can be obtained through its website at www.covance.com

It’s the Christmas season and kids are going to eat a lot of sugar, but that doesn’t mean we need to increase the already unnatural load with sugary drinks. While reading a list of new articles from Food Navigator, I stumbled on this and thought it was interesting.

At school, we find that those children who drink soda at home are those who learn at a much slower pace. These kids are often the ones who respond, “huh” to a question, to a problem to an interaction. Forming nice clear ideas is often tough for the child bound to a diet of soft drinks and junk food. To be behind the other children in academics and then to be behind in health is a problem that begins in the home. There are a dozen children who come to school and won’t drink milk because it’s not soda, and that’s a shame.

The whole process of drinking is a quick way of getting food and calories into the body quickly. Did you know that drinking a 10 ounce glass of juice is like eating ten oranges with as many calories.

So read the article and see what you think:

Sugary drinks linked to Alzheimer’s, says study

By Lorraine Heller

12/10/2007 – Researchers in the US have found that mice given a sugar solution as part of their daily diets showed increased signs of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings, by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), could place more pressure on soft drinks manufacturers, who are already under attack for their role in the rising obesity epidemic.

Although both obesity and diabetes have already been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers Ling Li and her colleagues aimed to examine whether high sugar consumption in an otherwise normal diet would affect Alzheimer’s progression.

Using a genetic mouse model that develops Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in adulthood, the scientists supplemented the balanced diet of half of the animals with 10 per cent sugar water.

After 25 weeks, they found that the sugar-fed mice had gained around 17 per cent more weight than the controls, had higher cholesterol levels, and developed insulin resistance.

Following memory skill and brain composition tests, the sugar-fed mice were also found to have worse learning and memory retention and their brains contained over twice as many amyloid plaque deposits, an anatomical hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

The researchers stated they “cannot be certain if the increased mental impairment resulted specifically from the higher sugar intake or higher calories in general”.

However, they said their findings “highlight the potential risk of sugary beverages”.

“The human equivalent of the mouse diet would be roughly five cans of soda per day, although since mice have a higher metabolism, it may actually take less sugar intake in humans,” they said.

Currently, about 12 million people in the US plus the EU suffer from Alzheimer’s, with some estimates predicting this figure will have tripled by 2050. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer care is over $100 bn (€ 81 bn) in the US alone. The direct cost of Alzheimer care in the UK was estimated at £15 bn (€ 22 bn).

Evidence has emerged over the last five years that many of the conditions that raise the risk for heart disease, such as obesity, uncontrolled diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, also increase the risk for Alzheimer’s.

A study published last year in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found a “strong correlation” between obesity and Alzheimer’s.

Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Western Australia, found that the fatter a person, the higher their blood levels of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein substance that builds up in the Alzheimer’s brain.

According to the researchers, beta-amyloid is thought to play a major role in destroying nerve cells and in cognitive and behavioral problems associated with the disease.

The researchers claimed their study was one of the first attempts to try to find out on both the pathological and the molecular levels how obesity was increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s.

I’m posting this comment from a reader because it’s so near and dear to my heart. The little girl mentioned here has about the best manners of any child I know. She is also intelligent, artistic, interested and beautiful. But these attributes won’t take her as far as her brilliant manners:

The best compliment someone can give me as a parent is to tell me my child is well mannered. This is something we talk about and work on nearly every day – it’s that important to our family. We even discuss situations that she has experienced when other children were ill mannered and how that makes her feel. I think sometimes she learns more from the bad manners of others and how it makes her feel than anything we could teach her. Hopefully the lessons she has learned at home and her time spent at GS will carry through her lifetime.

Who is noticed in a classroom today? Mostly it’s the kids who can’t sit, can’t keep quiet, can’t put their own desires second to the order of the group. But the experienced teacher sees that the few who always sit quietly, always listen will recognize these children as their golden kids.

Why is it that so few children understand that the order of the day, the order of the group is important to the very life of things at hand? Because the very idea that you come before me has become an alien idea in a push shove world. We have pampered ourselves to the point that our needs, our likes and dislikes, our desires come first. The person next to us only matters if they can add to our lives and what we want. So the idea that kindness to others for the sake of kindness becomes lame. Why should I?

Does a life of kindness towards others mean our own life becomes meaningless? Must we depend on tax money to be our “kind” agent? Children don’t know about tax money yet, so do we just nix the idea of kindness toward one another until they do understand?

Every day there are thousands of opportunities to be kind to those around us. Kindness is the route of good manners because kindness is the emotion that surfaces in the human heart when we recognize the needs of others and rally to their cause. Teaching children to recognize the needs of others seems almost impossible sometimes unless parents are teaching the same lesson at home.

Here’s a classroom scenario: A child raises her hand and is called on. “Miss Jones, Brian doesn’t understand this page, can you help him please?”

“That’s none of your business,” snaps the teacher.

Brian continues to egg on the other child for the answer. The teacher sees the two children talking and punishes both.

In a fast paced careless age, it’s easy to think the one child is tattling on the other and the two children are making mischief in the back of the classroom. But by listening with the heart to the two, another result should have emerged. It’s not always easy to be a listener – especially when half the class is poorly mannered. Sometimes a tired teacher will take the low road and learn from the kids, and that’s a shame.

The question to ask the self is: What do I see when I look at another person I don’t know? Do I see a potential friend or a potential enemy? Do other people pose a threat or are other people mostly benign? The way you see the world is probably the way your children will enter the world because they will be watching you watch the world. Personalities are often developed by unspoken information.

When children enter the world at school, they watch the adults and they often emulate what they see. Teachers who restrict kindness, who pull away from children, who refuse to personally and emotionally enter the life of the classroom will only strengthen the idea in a child that self matters most. On the other hand, great kindness and great involvement will teach children that other people can be a great source of pleasure to them and will add immeasurably to their lives.

A life of kindness and compassion is a life of joy. You can’t teach this; you can only experience this when you copy the life of someone who behaves that way. To say that loving one’s neighbor first hand makes time spent in the world delightful goes lame and becomes a dead end if the intent behind it only strengthens the selfish side.

In the same way, manners put on for “a result” are not manners at all. “Getting something” because I said the right words or played the game for fifteen seconds is not the mirror of kindness. Real manners come from a way of life – putting the self after the next person for the sake of harmony is the beginning of a life of kindness.

And children need to learn that everyone won’t receive their kindness with the same enthusiasm with which it’s delivered. A child’s disappointment needs to be worked out at home by a loving parent. In time, and with maturity, children will learn that no act of kindness is wasted even if it’s not received well. They should learn that some people will refuse to participate in good manners and a life of kindness no matter what he or she does.

The lesson to learn is that loving those around us is the core of good manners. It’s a whole other world of understanding some people will learn and others won’t. That’s what the child in the italics learned very early, and she learned this from her parents who also live that way.

We’ve had a lot of printer problems this week, and Miss Molly had to go out and buy another one for the office. I’m sure the following is not our problem because poor Maestro…

But it could be a problem for you at home if you find your printed goods are somewhat in a mess.

Today at our small school we will be decorating our gigantic Christmas tree. Unfortunately, it can’t be a live tree because our heating system is in the ceiling. A live tree dries out in minutes and it becomes a fire hazard. But it will still be fun to dig through the ornaments left from last year and make new ones this year and hang our things on the tree. The old and the new… Today will be a lend and borrow and use and “can I have” day. This is a day when our best manners count.

I always tell the children that manners are a way of taking care of our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? Everyone we meet today. They are our friends, our mothers and fathers, other children’s mothers and fathers, even the man who comes in to change the mats and bring paper is our neighbor. The idea that everyone is our neighbor in the big wild world is too big a concept for children – even for us sometimes, so if we settle on those we can see today, the lesson is begun.

Taking care of our neighbors means recognizing them as like kind. Many children are suspect of like kind and treat each other as if the species ends with self. Many children are not even suspect that there ARE any other children and go about truly believing they are the only child – even in a crowd. Manners toward anyone die with a love of self.

Using the words please, thank you, I’m sorry, and excuse me are often foreign words that never seem to find a space in the word bank of a selfish child. This is part of communication skills 101 and needs a lot of work with every very young child. Gentle reminders help. So does ignoring especially rude “I want more milk.” We always look at a child who demands rather than asks and cheerfully say, “That’s so interesting; I’m glad you told me.”

Pushing, shoving, antagonizing other children is part of the bad manner scheme that’s become an epidemic today. Just getting children to stand in line quietly is a feat of engineering that sometimes leaves us dismayed. Yet there are some children who are so brilliantly behaved and so obviously aware of each other that it brings tears to our eyes. What makes the difference?

Again, manners are first taught at home and then re-enforced in the public arena. Trying on manners is a personal choice for children these days, and many parents don’t think they are necessary or useful in a push shove world. Children who live in homes where manners are something that never apply will have a tough time in public places like school.

Putting someone else first is the best manner possible. Explaining that to a selfish child is like explaining quantum mechanics to me. Selfishness is the antithesis of communication and the ruination of social behavior. So the first thing to suppress in a manner-less child is selfishness. That can’t happen if it doesn’t happen at home.

Ultimately, most children know what they are supposed to do. Explaining often helps, but first a child has to listen to understand what the instruction is. So you can see it’s a wheel of behaviors. Getting on the wheel at the right time is the key. Days like today may be one of those opportunities.

Today we will talk about caring for one another, sharing, complimenting and taking care of one another’s needs. It’s a good practice for manners.

More about specific manners later.

Comment: I thought this was an interesting article. Might be fun to offer the test to your child. It’s really amazing what they pick up and keep as information to be used later. Yesterday we talked about St. Nicholas. I wonder how much they remembered. You can find SavvySource here.

From Read/Write Web

Savvy Source Launches Customized Educational Toy Gift List
by Josh Catone