August 5, 1956 The Most Pleasant Summer, The Gravel on the Patio, The Turtles and The Fabric Scrap

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Our hot weather didn't last long and we've been enjoying wonderfully cool days again with some rain.  Today is steamy though so we may be in for it again.  This is the most pleasant summer I can remember since we moved to Illinois.  It has been almost like a Connecticut summer.

B is painting the garage gutters today.  He put them up so the yard wouldn't wash and then took them down again (the downspouts anyway) to paint since they fit so close to the garage.

We have gravel on the patio and plan to borrow a lawn roller to help settle it.  It looks pretty good but still has soft spots.

We still have all the turtles.  Bob has promised to get several for other children when we come home.  I probably told you that our sandbox is an old tractor tire.  It makes a wonderful turtle pen.  They have shelter inside the tire and plenty of sand to crawl in.

The children are happy school is out.  They enjoyed it though.  Ann's room did a lot of things like making cookies and such.  They gave a real nice program for the parents.  She was in a room with handicapped children.  There was one blind child, some crippled ones, deaf ones, and one "hair lipped" child.  There were some normal children too, of course.  I wanted her to understand the children and I guess she did.  On her report the teacher said Ann helped the handicapped children a lot and without being told to.

Report with name spelled incorrectly--no e necessary.

B and I went to an exhibit of art work the children had done in summer school.  A few children were there to show how different things were made.  Bob made an ash tray of clay as his job.  Lynn painted some clay things she had made.

Sorensens were here twice this week.  They are getting ready to go to Canada for a vacation as well as to get some pictures to fill in some gaps in a book he's working on.

I've been to church twice this week.  Once to a committee meeting and once to cut cakes for an ice-cream social.  I took a chiffon for my part.

We took Wattersons on a picnic last Sunday and had a good time.  Watty had helped B paint so much we wanted to do something.  They still haven't got their house started and are beginning to worry about getting it done this fall.  The farm papers aren't complete yet.  I think I'd give that lawyer a boost.


Don't work hard while it's so hot."

                    Lots of love,

                            Bonnie

Can't find stripes.  How do you like this piece.  It doesn't show the pattern but the colors are nice.  It's .98 a yard--called topsoil.

NOTE:  Summer school at the University Lab Schools was largely designed for children with special needs, although they also accepted a few faculty and community children as well.  I feel privileged to have had the experience of being in classrooms with exceptional children throughout my school years.   ISNU had, and still has, a national reputation for excellence in training teachers in Special Education.  The building that housed the program was considered state of the art, specially equipped and staffed with experts in the field.  It was one of the few programs of the time in which handicapped and non-handicapped children were educated in the same classrooms.  I thought it was absolute magic that my teachers could interact with children who had no sight or hearing and I was intrigued by their techniques for doing so.  One of my best childhood friends, a classmate, was deaf.  I am certain that these experiences ultimately helped to drive my education and career choices which led to a Ph.D. in Special Education, Learning & Behavior.  My dissertation topic was Children's Altruism--Inclinations of Non-Handicapped Children to Help Their Handicapped Peers.  That was a long time ago.