This is the highest physical bridge in the world.

Guess what is the highest emotional bridge in the world?

A good preschool program!

A great preschool program, and that includes kindergarten, is a program that children WANT to go to. It’s a program that at its very nature is fun. Fun in child means learning and finding out about things and getting to do – all by myself.

A good preschool program should be safe, and children should feel they are cared for and secure – that mommy and daddy left me in a good place where I can grow and laugh and enjoy my day every day.

So how do you know that a program is going to be fun and safe? Look around.

Every building is different. When you enter, will the child think he’s at the doctors? Will he think “no no!” Look at his face. What is he thinking? When a parent brings their child to school for the very first time, a child should be ready to embrace whatever he sees, and if there is nothing to embrace, perhaps the ideas being put forth from the school are not centered on the child but on the adult, or the board of directors, or the affiliate who is absent, or someone in an office locked safely away.

A good preschool is inviting. It draws a child gently from his parent’s hand and leads him – all by himself – into a world of play. It is bright, there are windows and many lights, the room is filled with growing things, it is filled with toys that are organized and ready for play.

A good preschool program involves many things including some primary care. Washing hands, learning to use a new bathroom, sitting at the table, joining in group activities and listening are all part of primary care. Parents looking for a program should ask about these things. Sending a very young child to the bathroom to wash his hands will not produce clean hands. It will produce an absent child. Children need to be shown – away from home – how to do all these things – away from home.

Once primary care rules are set and followed, the education can begin. Look around again. Are very young children in desks? Are desks really appropriate for young children? Desks say “isolation.” Should very young children be isolated from one another or do children learn better and more when they work together? With no pre-knowledge to draw from, children will always learn more working together. Ask yourself: if you went to a foreign country and were asked to build a well, and you were told to do it “all by yourself” would you have more success by yourself or with a group of people with many ideas and many points of view?

An appropriate work station for very young children is a long table where they can sit or stand according to the work at hand.

So how much of the day should be spent at this “table?” Not a lot. The very idea that someone would encourage a three, four or five year old to sit for long periods of time is an idea that should never have been thought in the first place. Threes, fours and fives are quick learners and twenty minutes at a time is enough “table time.” Then they need a break to do other things.

But those other things do not necessarily mean random play. The directed parts of a good preschool program are carefully orchestrated to play into one another, to compliment one another and encourage more from the child. Science, fine arts, social studies, geography, foreign language, math, reading, word power, are just some of the activities of a good program that are mixed and matched through the day with sit and stand and move and stay and talk and listen times that make sense.

A good all day program will begin with a community meeting or a circle time. In that time certain things will be accomplished: The children might review, might tell each other what they learned the day before. They might reveal what happened at their house the night before. They might acknowledge a birthday or that they got new shoes the day before. Together they might pray if prayer is something that’s important to the school. They will salute the flag, sing the Star Spangled Banner or an American song together because this is something to be learned early. The activities of the day might be announced by the teacher, and in a few minutes, children will move on to other things.

During the day of a good program, there will be a story, poetry, nursery rhymes and fairy tales told because these are a part of a good education. There should be plenty of art and plenty of free play that allows children to use the art supplies. Art is not a self taught gig. It’s a teach me show me then…I can do it all by myself. And art should be admired and complimented by a teacher. It should be respected enough to go home with the child.

Lunch should be a terrific part of the day. Children should look forward to eating something really outstanding. This is probably the biggest possibility for quality food in the child’s life. It’s not a morning pop tart in the car. It’s not a quick burger in the car on the way home. It’s a time when children can sit with friends and talk and joke and have a great time. It’s “out to lunch” with friends – a truly joyous occasion for fun.

At the end of a day, a child should be delighted to see mom and dad because he has learned so much he can’t wait to tell them. He is learning to speak about his day, about his thoughts, about his ideas because there is always something new going on at his school.

Good morning! It should be another hot, hot day. Miss Leigh is back from vacation, and Miss Elise is taking a couple of days break.

We are still working on rules and the way we do things. Children are learning quite nicely about lines, waiting our turn, sitting quietly, and staying put at the table during meal time.

This year all the kids are eager to learn. They are ready and waiting for everything and anything the teachers have planned for them. There have been some real surprises this year. Some of our youngest are some of our best students. They know a lot and learn very quickly. It should be a powerful year.

Yesterday I arrived at school with groceries – what else – and I found Austin’s parents trimming a lot of excess vegetation from the yard. They were volunteering to help with what has become a huge problem. I can’t thank them enough. Austin’s parents are wonderful people. We thank them very much for all their help.

This Saturday the new fence goes up. We are very excited to see what this is like. We have needed a fence for a long time. It should be a really nice addition to our playground.

This is from Food Navigator which can be found at foodnavigator-usa.com

I liked this article yesterday and more today. I went to a lovely party last night. The food was really good and the hostess put a lot of effort into making all two hundred guests feel very much at home. I noticed the menu was mostly high fat, and it was high fat, I think, because that’s what most people eat and are satisfied from eating.

High-fat diets linked to poor mental function

By Stephen Daniells, 14-Aug-2009

Related topics: Science & Nutrition

High consumption of fatty foods may reduce both cognitive function and physical endurance, according to results of a rat study from Oxford University.

I’m late as usual. Lots of things going on over the weekend to keep me away from writing.

We had a really nice week. The kids are super delightful and full of energy and so many are so bright. We have several little artists and several very fine orators. The plays should be magic this year. We have some great writers, some math artisans and a lot of the kids are familiar with the idea of planets and stars. It will be an outstanding year.

This past week we focused on the hows of doing things in a group. Many children come to school thinking that they know how to use a potty, how to wash their hands, how to sit at a table, how to listen to a story, and the truth is, they have the home experience of “when I want and if I want” and at school that all has to be re-arranged to be “now.” So this week we taught “now.”

Biggest problem was putting our toys away when we are finished playing and not drifting off to some other toy and leaving a mess behind. We talked about toys and where we play with them, where they are returned after play, how one toy is played with at a table and on the big floor, and “drifting.” Drifting is the carrying of pieces of a toy through the school. It’s all very new and all very exciting, and the children have learned a lot in a short time. We will continue to work on this the entire month of August.

All in all a very good start. This week our focus is on “Me.”

Please remember to dress children in shorts, short sleeve (with sleeve) shirts, socks and shoes and underwear.

Children who go to bed before 8:00 do best.

Mrs. St. Louis found this from
July 2009: Art and Science Integration

Scientists and artists are equally curious about and delighted by the world, although many educators view art and science as opposing disciplines. The opposite is true, however, especially in elementary classrooms, where students are learning to study their surroundings and can benefit from the creativity inherent in both.

Science Leadership—Make your life as a curriculum leader a little easier—use these ideas for your own professional enhancement (and feel free to pass them along!)

• Enhance Your Content Knowledge—Sublime Science: (Look up sublime Science HERE.) One shortcoming in integrating art and science is that many of us have shallow understandings of art, which leads to superficial connections between art and science. This article explains that one way to more deeply connect art and science is to consider art in its broader form—aesthetics, and in this case, the sublime.
• Get Parents Involved—Send parents to the Activity Sheets section of Smithsonian Kids’ Family Page, from Smithsonian Education. They can download and print activity sheets that include word and number games, art exercises, and fun quizzes. With each activity, kids learn about something new, from the anatomy of the giant squid to the history of chocolate.

• What Does Good Science Look Like?—Art and Science Grow Together: The interdisciplinary connection between science and art is easily made in the elementary classroom using plants as focus organisms. This article explains how observing, dissecting, growing, drawing, and painting plants can be used at multiple grade levels to teach science concepts and art techniques.

Bee-Tees are t-shirts that teach. These are fun and the kids will love them.

Each one is adorned with a bumble bee image and a saying – bee unique, bee patient, bee good, bee yourself, etc.

The line enables children to carry out their spirit and helps encourage positive character. It gives parents the opportunity to discuss character issues as they are helping their child get dressed in the morning.

For their website, go HERE.

Every year we move from a relaxed summer program with old pro kids who know how to do whatever teachers ask to a new school year where new children don’t know to stop and listen to a LOUD school bell. Every year we face the same problems of re-building and building the foundation for a successful new school year.

This first step to that foundation is cooperation. Cooperation cannot be explained, understood or practiced in a day. It takes a while; it takes a kind of trust and affection which makes very young children WANT to be one of many. The child is outside the limits of their family experience, and it’s time to join another group. Children eagerly look at the new group and either like it or disdain it. Bright colors, lots of toys, lots of smiling faces encourage children to step into the new situation with enthusiasm. But more than any of these is the word safety. Safety is the thing most children are looking for, and safety does not come out of chaos but from a trusted order.

Order from chaos means cooperation in a school setting. Cooperation with very young children means communication. Teachers can never be vague. “It’s time to pick up your toys and get ready for breakfast” is a fine command to a group of children who have done this for months, but a group of children who have never done this haven’t a clue what that means or even if they have to do it simply because they have never done this before. Being precise is the job of the teacher at this point. “The bell is ringing. It is time to stop what you are playing with, look at me, and listen to what I say.” Even this does not always get the attention of the children who are playing for the first time.

“Put down your toys, stand up and look at me” is the next command.

“Stop walking, stand still and look at me,” is the third command.

“Stop talking, look at me and listen,” is the next command.

When all the children are finally standing and listening which might take a few minutes, the teacher repeats what she has said, “It is time to pick up the toys YOU are playing with and put them where you found them. If you are playing with puzzles, the puzzles go over here. If you are playing with blocks, the blocks go here, if you are playing in dress up, please pick up all the clothes and dishes and put them here and here. Now GO!”

It’s the same with bathroom lines, lines for recess, lines for going out, the dining table, play stations, art, washing, and classroom order. Everything needs to be a “Stop, Look, and Listen” before we act foolishly and destructively. Remember we are creating order from chaos.

If a teacher sends a room filled with newly schooled children to the bathroom without a lot of guidance, the chaos and the chance for an accident is begging to happen. Here is a picture of typical boy’s chaos in a bathroom: Fifteen children will all race into a bathroom designed for four. Because there are not enough toilets for fifteen, ten children will have their pants down looking for a toilet. Children don’t count. Many can’t count. Many are not even aware of one to one correspondence – one toilet to one child.

In chaos, some children will actually urinate on the floor or the other children. The sink becomes a play zone. The first child will not relinquish the sink and will end up spouting water at all the other children. The toilet paper becomes the next toy and is ripped from the roller and goes flying across the room. In less than three minutes three children will have fallen and cracked their heads. Two children will have pushed other children into the commodes. The room is on fire with fighting and tears.

So the wise teacher lines up the boys and monitors the bathroom letting enough children into the bathroom as there are toilets. She will wash each child’s hands to show him how to do it. She will talk to him about his hands as she washes them. She will send every child to a commode one at a time while the line waits at the bathroom door. Order ensues from chaos, children learn by doing the first time.

Ditto with playground lines. When a teacher announces it is time to go outside or inside, there should be a whole set of directions about how to do this. Stickers on the floor help to guide children to make lines inside. Paint splotches on the patio or walkway help children form lines outside. Making the crowd quiet is a first step to going quietly into the building. Quiet children stay quiet. Noisy children stay noisy. Noisy children don’t listen and often hurt one another.

When children are finally quiet in line, the next step is to tell them what you expect. “It is time to go into the building, wash our hands and sit on the carpet in such and such a room.” Now it’s a given that sequencing is not a child’s strong suit. The only thing that helps sequencing – doing one thing, then another, and then a third, like go into the building, wash your hands and sit down – is only done when practiced. Practicing means from the first day, and that means teacher direction. No teacher should send children into a building without back up. One teacher needs to be waiting in the bathroom, one in the place where the children will go. No child should ever be sent in from recess without a plan to wash his hands.

Teachers need to work together, verbalize constantly with one another and be in agreement about what the goals are and how this is to be achieved. If one teacher is not concerned about how quiet the children are, and another does not care how a child washes his hands, and a third doesn’t care how they sit in a classroom waiting for the next activity, there is chaos and chaos leads to accidents and the inability to actually get to the next activity. Teachers must be on the same page.

When planning a school year with very young children, setting the priorities and building the foundation of behaviors always comes first. A group of children who knows how to enter a building, how to use the toilet quietly, how to find their place, how to sit and wait patiently for the next activity will learn so much more than a group of children who push one another, scream, and run around with no sense of where they are to be and what they are to do.

The mistake many teachers make is the assumption that this comes out of the air. It does not. It comes from very hard work done by united teachers who all know the rules and want the children to learn them as well. School is a community of participants. It is not a sea with many primitive islands. Rules take communication between every member of the school. It’s too far to shout between islands.

Good morning and welcome to the first day of school in the 2009-2010 calendar. It’s going to be hot today, so please dress children in cool clothing. Shorts, short sleeved shirts with sleeves, athletic shoes and socks!

This week we will stay at school all week. We will be reviewing lines, sitting, quiet, eating, toileting and washing – important things to learn or review. The approach to a class, or lunch, or just arriving in the building quietly makes a big difference in a child’s ability to listen later.

Here’s a tip for parents: Don’t carry your child from your car to the door. Your child feels much more independent walking. Carrying your child pulls him back to a toddler age and all the expectations he had as a toddler. By letting him walk, he tells himself, “I am a preschooler, and I can do this all by myself.”

On the menu this week is spaghetti, breakfast for lunch, pizza, chicken legs, and fish sticks – all kiddie friendly foods. Lots of fruit this week.

We will be doing a lot of combination classes this week to figure out where everyone is academically. We won’t make this decision until later this week.

Please make sure you get your health form and your food program forms to school this week.

Lots to do. I hope it’s a great week for parents.

Milk guzzling children may live longer, says study

From Foodnavigator.com

By Guy Montague-Jones, 29-Jul-2009

Consuming plenty of dairy products at a young age may lower stroke risk and lead to a longer life, according to a 65-year follow up study.

Here’s the recipe for the cookies we had on Friday. It makes a double batch: Making a double batch means having a slice and bake ton of cookie dough in the freezer:

mix together:
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of canola oil
3 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 cups coconut

add a little at a time:
1 cup oats
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
.5 (1/2) cup soy flour
.5 cup mung bean flour
.5 cup cranberry bean flour
.5 cup brown rice flour
.5 cup chickpea flour

Subbing “odd flours” for regular flour =3 cups white or whole wheat flour.

But see what you ate and enjoyed it. Miss Judy has trouble eating beans, so using bean flour, which lowers cholesterol and adds a lot of extra vitamins is a green light. I find baked goods using alternate flours tastes better and lighter and nuttier without the nuts. If you want some alternate flours, just let me know.