%g.oo.
Ieanirre back in t.o work on the callv:ls. 'I'his is fascinalirrs. 'I'he kids, tlrrecr ol'tlrerrr,.jtrrnp rr;t arrd crow<l near tlrc ulass cloor to watch. 1'ltev clirnlt trp orr a neitlby ltench t() g(:t a ltetter. look. Now they're lookirrg over his shorrlcler, Sotrp gets cold.
Alier a wlrile tlrc rnan packs trp his paints ancl bnrshes, folcls trp his little easel. He leavcs, we think, brrt tlrcn Ire: enters the restaurant and comes ()ver. He starts talking to the kids, to us,
Kids Earning Money Julie Scandora (WA) urites: Barbara Benson's article in GWS #103 about her children earning money ties in with rny ideas. I anr glad to hear of another parent who sltares in the spoils as well as the labor. For several years, my children sold juice and cookies on hot days. It was not unusual for them to take in more than $25 in two hours. Ye t I arn the only parent on the block to reqtrire reirn_ bursernent for rnattrrials ancl foo<l tlrcr
chilclren trsecl or solcl. Yet the requirenrent to repay nle never hindered thern. In fact, they set up their stand morc ofren tlran all tlte neighbor children combined. They clid rnost of the work, including baking cookies and cleaning up. Maybe because they investecl more of thcir own time (rather than, Ibr example, selling what Moln had bakerl, as dicl the other children), they fourrcl rnore satisfaction in their work. Tl.rcy lcarned ltorv ro rleal with rhe ptrlrlic, too: rvhen olte man gave thent an I I (
tip and susgested they have a crrp marked "tips" so they could set extra money, they politely srniled. They knew thar rhey got rnrrch bigger rips lly nol ltaving such a sugeestion orr display. They leanred about marketing: even though they liked peanut blrtter cookies for a clrarrge. tlre prrblic ovenvhelmingly pref'ers chocolzrte chip. They learned basic aritl-rrnetic: how to handle motrey, hor.v to figtrre change. They alsd learned finance: while the profit rnarein is fantastic orr cookies, tl-rey also neecled to sell the less profitable juice to ger cust.()lr)e rs.
I tvas glad to see that they hacl a balancecl vicw of' their rnoney-rnakirrg ventrlre. When they could get a friend
to.join them to help pass the time when sales were slow, they were glad for the company. Even tltough it meant less money for each, it was more important to have fun than to make a lot of money.
person, someone fighting the ele_ ments, doing sontething as real as
Learning in the Community George
Tlmlnult (VI') uite.s:
It's a rainy IVIonrlay, i31-r clegrccs, in carly l)eccrnber. Morn's back at wrlrk alier a nice weekend rvith the kirls, Drew (8) andJarnie (5). Adjustnrent time. Snuggle up and read the last clrapters of Straubnry Girtby Lois Lenski. What next? A couple of chores, but tlren the vacutrnr cleaner breaks-
This is :l l]tessase.
C.e
t the ltathins
suits. wc're eoirrg to tlre y. Btrs clowntown in late mornins, tnrdge thr.orrsh
the colrl rain. Aha, friends join rrs for the onehotrr swirn in the progr:rrn pool (lvar.nr lvater) . Kids boisterous, leaping zrnd jumping, practicing the "strearnlinins" tlrcy lcarncd tlris past summer fr.orrr thcir corrsins. We adjourn later, two fanrilies, to City Market down the street, 2r lvarm ancl informal little restzlrlrtutt. Rain still pourine dolvn. I get two rolls to go rvith the sorrp we brrrught in. Kids starrt rnunchirrg btrt tlrc'rr stare at a Iigrrr-e hrrdriled orrt of the rairr on the fiont steps of the rest:ruriult's second errtrance. It's a nran painting, leanine out into tltc
rain to ltecr down tlte strcet ancl tltcn
l8 GR.rrn'rru<;
shows ns the painting. f'alks witlr Bonnie, my friend, about what he's trying to do, the type of paint he's using. He takes orrt Itis business carrl, which is a postcar.<l-sizccl prinr of'a pairrtirrg lre rrr:rrle in Frarice ir fcw yeat's ago. The kids ask a question or two. 'Iltey're totalll, in awe of this
making a painting, right in tlteir towrr near the YN4CA. He rells the kids it's OK to go home anrl draw or paint on the b:rck of his carcls. He packs up asairr and heads o{I. Ilack to tlre colcl sorrp arrcl thr: lolls, anrl to thinking abotrt the spccial pace irnrl serer-rdipity of' lrornesclrool_ irrg lili', rvlti<:lr is rt':rlly r'onrrrrrrrritv lili,.
Organizing a Detective Club Drry l;arerrga
Latrlen (8)
uiles: secrrrs to have :rlrvays
enjoyccl prrzzles, nl;tz.es, an<l little trezrsrrrc hunts. As rcarlirrg ancl writilrg have becorne purt ol lrer lil'e, slre lras er-r.joyed doing worcl se:lrches arrcl learning about other languages, especially sien lanerrage, hieroglyphir:s, arrcl Spanish. When we reacl scvcral bcrcrks irr 'l-he Boxcar Ohildrenseries, abotrt a group of childre n who solv<: rnysteries, l,auren's inte rest in n)yster_ ies
slcw. Throush
li-ie ncls and orrr
librarizrn we found a c<>trple of clozcr.r other grcat m)'stely ltooks. The rnost irrvolving arrd excitine series fbr rrs by far were tlre Meg Maclrrtoslt books. Meg Maclnstosh is a yotrng girl detective. That's notlrins new, btrt the author, Lucinda L:rnclon, writes these page-trlrners rvith <lrrcstiorrs ltosed :rt the cntl of':r page t<l scc if'you can ligrrn' orrt r.r'lr:rt slre is ligrrr.ine orrr.
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