Hi, Parents!
We broke new ground tonight. Your kids had an opportunity to spend a little bit of time in the office (and yes, several of the kids brought in LUNCH Points certificates and had an opportunity to play the Wii). Then we headed off to John O'Groats to the private dining room and spent the remainder of the evening there. In the waiting room, it was interesting to watch how many spectator kids began to converse among themselves and took an interest in watching the 4-6 kids who were involved in playing the Wii. The tone in the waiting room was very quiet, with occassional bursts of enthusiasm, and it was impressive to watch. The kids walked from the office, leaving at about 5:00 pm, and we arrived at John O’Groats at about 5:15 and remained there until 7:00. You might think that is a long time, and I guess it is. But, I wanted them to experience a more formalized dining experience that doesn’t just take up a short period of time and where there aren’t a lot of extra activities throughout. This was 100% successful.
The kids had a choice of ordering off the early bird special, the kids menu or the regular menu. As is our usual practice, they had to use polite manners in ordering, and the server was instructed to simply skip that person if they did not do so, and one of the counselors would explain that they would get a second chance when she came back later. That was consistently effective for the few kids who tended to either “bark” their orders to the servers, or were unacceptably brusque as they ordered. What was most impressive, however, was the number of who kids who spontaneously ordered in a polite and respectful manner. You should be proud of your kids!
As the ordering concluded, I queued up a slide show, letting them see what they had done recently at laser tag. Once again, it was impressive to see how much gentle and integrated conversation occurred as they watched the slide show. They certainly became excited when a particular child saw themselves on the screen, but they also commented on each other. It was really enjoyable to watch.
So, fortunately or unfortunately, for a period of time, there really wasn’t much for myself of the counselors to be doing, because everything was going so smoothly. When dinner arrived, we focused primarily on manners and alternating eating and conversation. A couple of kids ate too quickly for us to catch, and that is something that we will try and monitor more closely in the future. Other kids, due to difficulties with fine and/or gross motor control, tend to hold their silverware “caveman style,” or pick up food (such as French toast with maple syrup) that was really designed to be eaten with a fork and knife. And yes, a couple of your kids did order breakfast for dinner. John O’Groats has a great breakfast.
We ended by showing some animations. One in particular that I had shown previously, which is a gentle alien animation on compromise, was a big hit. The evening ended successfully with parents coming right on the dot at 7:00, and all of the kids being picked up and on their way by 7:05.
Just to let you know, if your child tells us right as we are leaving that they have to use the bathroom, we are going to let them know that they need to come outside, and then that becomes the parents’ responsibility. This is simply pragmatic in nature. We do have enough staff to be able to take kids to the bathroom, but, in reality, when you are on your way somewhere, you want a child to be planning ahead and requesting to use the bathroom before it is time to leave. So we use it as part of a teaching, self-monitoring approach with the kids. In all, it was an extremely easy group to run, and an enjoyable time, I think for your kids, and I think they will be looking forward to a return visit.
See you in March, and remember there is a parent meeting from 6:00-7:00 on March 3 for the group. Please remember, no siblings. -- Bruce
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