Friday was a great end to an interesting week on Russia. We did lots of things this week including a brief presentation about the Russian Circus. The school really shows our work. It’s nice to have our things hanging in the school. This coming week we will study China, so our Russia things will go home.

During the Knowledge Bee we changed up our play. We asked each of our Kindergartners to choose a team of Middles and Littles and together as a team they were to answer the questions asked. The object was for the Ks and the Middles to choose and answer, and for the littles to offer that answer to the school. We are a group activity place and we teach children to work in groups and find niches in which they can be comfortable and learn easily. There is power in a group that the individual child does not have alone. This team effort was a beginning. Later in the day, the teachers put the Kindergartners with the littles to help them do some artwork. It worked very well.

We are working toward listening skills and cohesive learning. This can’t be done when a child has his own agenda. When a child cannot become a member of the group, the Garden School has nothing to offer him. When teachers demonstrate a willingness to work together, students are watching and learning how to do this. When a child rejects the group in order to serve himself, something has gone awry and we need to fix this. There are many forms of fixing including medal loss both permanent and temporary, and when all else fails, dismissal.

This week we will be doing China, and doing some campaigning for the race for the School President, and then play practice starts for the big Spring Play. Looking forward to all of it – busy busy!

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

History Exam… older than dirt here!

Everyone over 40 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 40 you can claim a handicap.

This is a History Exam for those who don’t mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life.

*** Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20.
****Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.

1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch….
c. Next to the horn.

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn’t produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboa rd bottle top..

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn’t tell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a . Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.

9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c. Long pieces of twine.

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. ‘I’ll be down to get you in a ________, Honey’
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy’s pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15 . What was the name of the Indian Princess in the Howdy Doody Show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil’s name on the top, to avoid their failure.

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.

18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song ‘Cabdriver’ a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin
——————————

Taking all Valentine’s Day things home today. Russia studies start today with a lesson on Russia, a mosaic, and some map work for the Kindergartners. We will work on Russia all week with all kinds of experiences including a visit from Karen Tannenbaum to talk about Russian music.

We will get to go outside for the first time since the New Year. Kids really need to run.

Candy money needs to come in.

Enrollment for summer is now. We have eleven children enrolled, and there are thirty nine spots left. The bus holds fifty five people, so our camp limit is fifty. Teachers take up space too! I’m waiting for Miss Sandy to send back my itinerary with a price tag! Hoping it can all be done. It means a great go go go season.

Please remember to keep ill children home!

Watch for new changes in the zoo room. Lots going on…

Have a great week!

Friday’s Valentine’s Party was really cute. The Littles recited Ickelme Pickelme Tickleme Too! and were a great success. They all knew the words and recited it with great glee! We were so proud of them.

The Middles and Kindergartners did a little dance and then danced with their favorites for a little while. They worked hard on this dance and seemed to like choosing partners better than doing the dance. It was fun, and no one complained about doing it.

Thank you so much for the wonderful goodies that you brought to the party, parents and grandparents. It’s such a small space, we are going to re-evaluate the refreshment table.

It’s always nice to see how well supported we are at the Garden School. Thank you all for coming. I know the children really depend on someone being there. If there is ever a problem with attendance, please see Miss Judy before the occasion, and we will make sure your child has someone for him. We had two children unattended and both were in tears.

Judy

We hear a lot about individual education packages offered at the public schools for at risk children. We hear about special needs, gifted and talented, and no child left behind. And these are wonderful initiatives for children. Sometimes they are the thing that makes a troubled road straight again.

As an educator, my orientation is “group.” In the early childhood years, the job is moving a child from “the only child on earth,” which is the mind set for many young children, to “a group” mentality – and that’s my job. Why?

The goal for the young child is to fit into a family, a class, a team, a choral group, a church group or play group and not only blend in, but be a substantial and necessary part of that group. We become incredible individuals because we have a strong platform of belonging. We have learned about being us by sharing, by communicating, by exchanging, through giving and taking and being together. No child can learn to be powerful and accomplished by standing all by himself.

The “island mentality” or the mind set that says, “I can do it alone; I don’t need anyone” will always belong to a few children, and those few will find find the group gig uncomfortable. The discomfort comes from several learned components. One component is selfishness. The selfish child essentially doesn’t want to share – anything – his time, his talent nor his treasure. He will shun any group and insist on standing all by himself stubbornly while the train passes him by.

Another learned component is pride. “I’m certainly not going to share with the likes of you!”

And another is simply an unawareness of the world and what it has to offer. Some children are in a dreamland all their own, and some children lack cognitive development that would allow them to see the possibilities of the group.

The job of the preschool and kindergarten teacher is to present group activities carefully to the all the children. The teacher knows that each child in the group is an integral part, an essential part of the group, and each child must be treated as if his importance is primary. Bringing the selfish, proud, and developmentally delayed children into the group is also his or her job. It takes time and patience and a remarkable sense for each child. Blending every child is the goal.

The job of bringing children into the group is mirrored in the job itself. Teachers who are successful are successful because they have blended with their groups, and they know the end product is strength. But blending means working well with others. It means sharing as a part of the teacher’s daily agenda. Successful teachers communicate ideas and plans all day with one another, and that kind of group activity offers a teacher the kind of platform that makes the tremendous task of teaching easy.

When teachers work together, the children will see the friendships and exchanges. They will see how naturally teachers laugh among themselves, pat one another on the back, and accomplish anything they set out to do. The children will come to admire what they see among those people who model group behavior.

When children see teachers step up to help one another for the sake of the group, they will come more easily to understand the power of a group, the importance of a group, and the safety and care of a group.

Individuality is never lost in a group. There is always one child who stands out in reading, in math, in art, in building, in house playing, in cutting, in listening, in memorizing…in most things. The ability of a child to perform is comforted by the acceptance of the people most near and dear to the child — in his group. Without the group, who cares that you won the knowledge bee? Who cares that you got the prize for the best picture? Who cares that you answered correctly?

So when someone asks me about special-ing children, my response is always the same: We’re a group activity place. We learn from within a group, and if a child is not able to belong to a group for any reason, we have nothing to offer him or her. Yes, there will always be the special help, the extra rewards, the additional attention that any child needs to keep up with the group, but they have to be part of the group to get that attention.

So next month, when our children come together to build the next play, The St. Patrick’s Day Play, they will find that their reliance on one another all winter for play, for companionship, for encouragement, for acceptance, will take on a whole other dimension. And the finished product will illustrate like no other thing the power of a group.

We are opening at 10:00 a.m. this morning because of the icy roads. My street is a sheet of ice. Please bring children to school at or after 10:00 to enable teachers to prepare the building. Thanks!

YACHT DELIVERY

Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries with cream and music dockside for the excited ‘soon to be owner’ and a small group of his friends $1500.00

Two corporate representatives, crane, and rigging $2,500.00 a hour minimum…
complete with a faulty $25..00 dollar turnbuckle.

Note the owner in the stern / back of the yacht

Watching your 7 million dollar dreamboat nose dive into the harbor, accompanied by two corporate representatives from the company that built it just prior to
‘inking’ the final paperwork and handing over a 7 million dollar bankers check…

PRICELESS!

So,
How was your day?

From Foodnavigator-usa.com

Poor childhood diet linked to low IQ, suggests study

By Nathan Gray, 08-Feb-2011

Related topics: Science & Nutrition, Fats & oils, Health and nutritional ingredients

Comment: I always say that food in early childhood is an investment in a child, his body, his future and his life. Teaching children to eat a wide variety of food, fresh and homemade while preparing the absolute best foods for children is not only a moral issue for me, it’s an investment.

A diet high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood may result in lower IQ scores, while a diet rich in healthy foods packed with vitamins and nutrients may work in reverse, suggests new research.

The study, published in BMJ’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reports a “weak but novel” association between dietary patterns in early childhood, and general intelligence assessed at eight and a half years of age.

The results of the study suggest that the eating habits in early childhood – particularly up until the age of three – may play a role in shaping the development of the brain, and thus affect behaviour, learning performance and IQ in later life.

“In this population of contemporary British children, a poor diet, associated with increased intake of processed foods, fat and sugar, in early childhood may be associated with lower IQ at the age of 8.5 years. In addition, a concurrent healthy diet may be associated with higher IQ,” said the researchers, led by Dr Kate Northstone from the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK.

The importance of healthy diets

Commenting on the new study, Barbara Gallani director of food safety and science at the UK’s Food and Drink Federation told FoodNavigator that it would not be surprising if a healthy, balanced diet is important in IQ development, “just like it is generally for children’s health and growth.”

She added that it is important for everyone, not just children, to eat a wide variety of foods, noting that it is possible eat a healthy diet and still include some ‘treat’ foods.

Gallani said that food manufacturers are leading the way when it comes to providing clear labelling on foods, as well as changing recipes to make old favourites healthier, which “makes it even easier for parents to choose a balanced diet that’s right for their families.”

An intelligent diet

Northstone and her colleagues noted that previous research investigating possible associations between nutrition and IQ in children have tended to focus on the use of dietary supplements or on intakes of specific nutrients.

For example, several studies have examined the effects of vitamin supplementation on IQ in children, with mixed results.

However, the authors said that studies investigating the long-term effects of nutrition on intelligence are sparse and conflicting. “In particular …there appears to be little known about the effects of the diet in early childhood on general intelligence later in life,” they said.

“We do not eat foods in isolation, rather consuming combinations of foods in meals and snacks,” explained the authors.

“Assessing dietary patterns as opposed to individual foods or nutrients allows to us take into account these intercorrelations, which may otherwise be overlooked,” they said.

The new cross sectional study, based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), examined the links between dietary patterns through early and mid-childhood (3 to 8.5 years) and IQ assessed at 8.5 years of age.

Study details

The researchers measured dietary patterns using principal-components analysis (PCA), which provide overall summaries of dietary intake. The diet data, measured at the ages of 3, 4, 7 and 8.5 was then examined for any associations between diet and IQ in nearly 4,000 children.

Three consistent dietary patterns were found from PCA at each time point: a ‘processed’, ‘traditional’ and ‘health conscious’ pattern.

The ‘processed’ pattern was illustrated by foods containing high fat and sugar content and by higher intakes of processed and convenience foods. The ‘traditional’ pattern was associated with consumption of generally home cooked meat, poultry, potato and vegetables, whilst the ‘health-conscious’ pattern was predominantly made up from high intakes of salads, fruit, vegetables, fish, pasta and rice.

“On minimal adjustment, all dietary pattern scores were associated with IQ with the exception of the ‘traditional’ pattern,” said the authors.

Before adjustment for confounding factors (such as parental influence, social and economic status, and other environmental factors) the researchers observed that the ‘processed’ food pattern was negatively associated with IQ at all ages, while the ‘health-conscious’ pattern at all ages were positively associated with IQ.

However, after adjustment for a wide variety of potential confounding factors, they reported that many associations between IQ and dietary pattern were lost, and those that remained (‘processed’ pattern at three years and ‘health-conscious’ patterns at 8.5 years) “were markedly attenuated”, according to the authors.

For the remaining relationships (after full adjustment) the ‘processed’ food pattern at 3 years was found to be such that a one point increase in the PCA score resulted in an almost two-point decrease in IQ at 8.5 years. Whilst the ‘health-conscious’ pattern was associated with an increased in IQ of 1.20 points per one point increase in PCA pattern score.

Interpretation

Northstone and colleagues said that the results of the study suggest a more “long-term effect of diet on the child’s ability to ‘learn’,” they noted that this could be in part be explained by favourable growth of the brain in early childhood – They noted that it is known that the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first 3 years of life.

“Studies have shown that head growth during this time is associated with cognitive outcome, and it is possible that good nutrition during this early period may encourage optimal brain growth,” said the authors.

However, they added that given the levels of attenuation seen in the effect sizes when adjusted for confounding factors, “we cannot exclude the possibility of residual confounding.”

Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1136/jech.2010.111955
“Are dietary patterns in childhood associated with IQ at 8 years of age? A population-based cohort study”
K. Northstone, C. Joinson, P. Emmett, A. Ness, T. Paus

Good morning! It’s Valentine’s Day week with a party on Friday! Children should bring 50 Valentines to school on Friday that are signed but not addressed!

There is a party this week on Friday at 3:00. Every child needs an adult to attend. School closes at 4:00. Please plan to bring a treat for four people to the party.

We will be studying Europe this week including Italy, France, Germany and England. We will be sampling foods from each of those places at lunch time. It’s all kiddie friendly!

Please remember to return candy money with your tuition check. We would REALLY like this to be done.

We will try to go out this week. Make sure your child has his hat and mittens.

If you are returning your USDA Child Care Food Program paperwork, please fill out all the pages and return it quickly.

Have a great week!