This past week was a real eye opener. We have a lot of very young children, and they are tackling this play like pros. I’m so proud of some of the kids and how quickly they are learning lines and the right inflections. Some of the lines are downright funny. So proud, so proud.

We are learning how to project and how to not upstage one another. We will get play places this coming week, and use the full carpet. Last week, we sat around the carpet in a ring on the edge to give one another attention and support. This week, it’s on to the big times!

On Tuesday, we were able to take the children to the zoo for a special Philharmonic presentation called the Lollypop concert. It was great fun. They did the Carnival of the Animals, and we got to travel the zoo to find all the animals in the carnival. The kids really enjoyed this.

The weather has been spiky and there are times when we need jackets and other times when we don’t. It’s been odd, and we have given the children a choice. This seems to work well. If a child is wearing a short sleeved shirt, we make him wear a jacket. This week the weather is going to climb into the seventies, so no coats will be needed.

We are trying new foods at school, and the children are really responding to new things well. It’s been a joy to serve new treats like meatballs and different kinds of crisps better known at the Garden School as “Critters.”

Candy sales need to come in because we need to pay the bill. If you have candy sales, please bring them in.

We serve breakfast at 8:00. If your child wakes late, please consider letting him eat at school. We MUST offer every child food at school, and the plate waste is terrible.

Hoping you have had a great weekend.

Obedience. Makes some people cringe. Makes others laugh. Makes others nod with appreciable regret. For a few, the notion of perfect obedience is a goal, a way of life, a task that bespeaks a chivalry often too hard to master.

In ordinary life, obedience is generally something we pawn off on our kids while we reject the idea for ourselves completely. And as children become less and less obedient, we wonder why.

One parent I knew couldn’t understand why his child constantly defied him. I asked him how many traffic tickets he had gotten in the past five years. “Too many to count,” he replied with a smirk. I looked at the man who was truly not admirable. “If you want to know why your child behaves the way he does, go look in the mirror.”

Obedience is the mastery of the human condition. There are simply certain things that we must do (obedience) in order to have a positive (mastery) of life (human condition.) As we absurdly demand obedience for our children, we assume the ridiculous posture of the proverbial free spirit for ourselves casting away the idea of obedience to anyone. It’s a show not to miss.

While instructing a child about good health and yanking a cookie out of his hand and telling him to turning down sweets and eat at appropriate times, the instructor puffs away on a cigarette, has eaten three meals on run, and will finish the six pack upon reaching home.

While insisting a child be trim, clean, and speak well, the parent resembles a small elephant, dresses like a bag person, and destroys the English language so profoundly he can’t be understood by visiting English speaking tourists.

“Go to bed,” yells the parent from the TV room as he gazes into the lifeless tube way into the late hours of the evening. “Go study. Go read a book,” continues the parent to the child. We all want our children to succeed academically, to have a good vocabulary, to be able to think clearly. And we read what? Junk novels and romance magazines?

Old Kinderhook, you say. (That’s where the expression OK came from.) OK, so we’re not perfect. So what? Do as I say not as I do. But that’s not how it works. It works by example Industrious parents most often rear industrious children. Indolent selfish parents rear indolent selfish children. Behavior is taught. Whatever example is set at home becomes the model the child will initially aim for.

The truth is it takes less energy to do nearly anything right the first time. If you don’t over eat, you won’t be sick. If you don’t drink too much, you won’t have a hang over. If you do your homework, your teacher won’t be angry. If you go to bed on time, you will feel good when you wake up. If you put your things away, you won’t have a mess.

Really intelligent gifted children discover early, even when the parent’s example is insidious, that a parent’s failure to understand order and create chaos makes them work twice as hard to succeed. Remarkable children will take a shortcut. It’s called obedience.

Obedience demands a kind of personal surrender as much as it demands trust and example. Is there someone we respect without reservation? Probably not. Is there anyone that could command obedience from us with a single word? There are few if any.

Now the bigger question: are we an exemplary example? Are we trustworthy? What do our children see in us that would herald obedience?

Mastery of the human condition is a never ending story. It doesn’t stop with the high school diploma. It is the ongoing quest for an excellent life.

It’s play time, and lines went out on Monday. Please help your child learn his or her lines. This is a group activity, and lines compliment one another, so as as social learning activity, it is important that every child learns his or her lines!

Our play will be on November 19, and will start at 3:00. The children will be fully outfitted with costumes.

Some parents leave their child’s play lines in the car, and they practice to and from school.

If you have lost your play lines, please let a teacher know, so we can give you another set.

This week is play week. We will be sending home lines. It is important for every child to learn his or her lines. This is homework. We will practice the play twice every day, morning and afternoon.

All costumes will be provided. The play will be acted November 19 at 3:00 P.M. More about that later.

On Tuesday, we will be going to the Lollipop Concert. It is at the Zoo this year, and we will be leaving at 9:30. The program starts at 10:00. The cost for the trip is $10.00. It is our one and only field trip this month. Red school sweatshirts will be in on Monday P.M. and will be issued to children on Tuesday morning.

Hope you have a splendid week!