Wednesday's Wonder

Just a reminder that we are fragile and need to be careful.


NURSE'S HEART ATTACK EXPERIENCE

This has been passed on from an ER nurse and is the best description of this event that she had ever heard. Please read, pay attention, and send it on!

FEMALE HEART ATTACKS

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I've ever read.

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction). Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack ... you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

I had a heart attack at about 10 :30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on.

I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.

A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR).

This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. 'AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening -- we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, 'Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!'

I lowered the footrest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else ... but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics .. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I unlocked the door and then lay down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like 'Have you taken any medications?'' but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you to know what I learned first hand.

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men's symptoms but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up ... which doesn't happen.
My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before.
It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said ''Call the Paramedics.'' And if you can, take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!

Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER you are a hazard to others on the road.
Do NOT have your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road.

Do NOT call your doctor -- he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep.

Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

Gift Giving and Receiving by Judy Lyden

There is a mystery about gift giving that makes me laugh. Some people readily enjoy beign generious and light hearted about giving of themselves every day all day. But for others any gift giving is a reach so far outside themselves, they recoil from gift giving as a hateful experience. Over the years non-givers pass the trait on to their families, and that's a shame because gift giving has a history right back to God.

If you look at the expressions we use in reference to gifts, you see natural gifts of beauty, charm, intelligence, athletic gift, and we often say, "He's just gifted," which means he stands above the rest.

In religion, there are the "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" and they pertain to internal gifts like wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. These are the truly human traits we all desire for ourselves and hope that we are endowed with by our Maker. My favorite Holy Spirit gift is understanding.

In scripture we see the gifts of the tablets to Moses, the gifts of the Magi or gold, frankincense and myrrh which were both symbolic to the life of Christ and helpful in his ordinary earthly life.

At the very essence of our being, there is the gift of life. There is the gift of our bodies in marriage, and the gift of children to one another. Gift is at the core of our very lives and if one is faithful, to our God. But for some reason, that brilliant sense of giving, that example from on high simply gets lost in the wash down here on earth and ordinary gift giving becomes a nightmare.

It's probably the human condition - self before you except after me. It's simply a matter of selfishness. If God had been selfish with gifts, think of what we wouldn't have. Suppose He was selfish with color. What would the world look like? Suppose he was selfish with water or food varieties?

"I don't know what to buy, to make, to get, to do..." is a common plea for help. Notice the first word in the sentence is "I." When the first word is "I" the focus is on self and not on he who the gift is for. Notice how much easier it is when we say, "My friend loves pottery, so I will," and it's not hard to finish that sentence.

Giving a gift means putting someone else first and that's the key here. Thinking of someone else before we think of ourselves is very difficult for most people these days. Spending time, effort, money and thought on another is just too far to go because all my time, effort, and money must be spent on something attached to me because it's mine.

Gratitude for a gift is also a self deferring ordeal that infuriates many people. There are those who will simply deny a gift, ignore it and treat it as if it doesn't exist, or even be angry with a gift. I remember my mother was such a person. She was very calculating about the gifts she had to give, and when she received one, she would quickly close the box and put it under something. I remember doing a cross stitch of their beautiful stone house as a birthday gift, and she never mentioned even receiving the gift, and later I found it hanging over the toilet. My mother was famous for not acknowledging a gift.

Giving to a child is a whole other matter. Children haven't been jaded by their parents hideous habits. Children love gifts and they should. Gifts are a beautiful part of nature and the good nature of good people. Gifts are fun, exciting and add to life like no other thing. When children's faces light up because they get something new or something they wanted for a long time, the faces of angels are mirrored in them. Joy is something to sing about, and a gift is often the thing that brings on joy. When I visit my grandboys, one of them will say, "What did you bring me?" and I love that because I can give them a stick of gum, and they are delighted. If I have nothing that day, they are satisfied with just grandma, and the conversation often goes to something they can do.

Life is too short for the stingies - calculating every expected date, worrying about what will be expected from others or thought about others only puts self first. Anger at spending, giving, doing is so far from what God does every day, we need to re-evaluate the whole art of giving. Watch a child if you need the best earthly example of giving - they give freely of all they have and the only thing they want is for someone to say with genuine affection, "I love that! You're my favorite today."

Monday's Tattler

Good morning! It's a plain Jane week this week. The book fair goes back today. If you haven't paid for your books, it's time!

Back to normal classes now to the end of the year. It's nearly here. This week we will get an itinerary for summer out to all of you. If you have changes in your summer schedule, please let us know.

This is really a lame duck time of the year. The kids just want to play outside, but there is still teaching to be done. With all the illness at school, and the impending worry from the government about Swine Flu, normalcy is a tough thing to maintain. We will do our best.

Thank you all for your wonderful support of the Spring Sing and the Book Fair. Miss Amy did a spectacular job with the singing, and the kids were beautiful. We couldn't be prouder of them. I was especially tickled by Emma, our president who welcomed everyone.

It's time for shorts and short sleeves. The weather is vacillating between cool and hot. With all the running, shorts are the thing to wear. Please do not send children in any kind of sandals. Sandals and our pea gravel don't mix. They are a no.

Have a great day!

Sunday's Plate

Teenage brain power boosted by chewing gum: Wrigley study

By Sarah Hills, 24-Apr-2009

Chewing gum could have a positive affect on the academic performance of teenagers, according to new research funded by the Wrigley Science Institute (WSI).

The study examined whether chewing Wrigley sugar-free gum could lead to better academic performance in a "real life" classroom setting.

The researchers found that students who chewed gum showed an increase in standardized math test scores and their final grades were better compared to those who didn't chew gum.

The authors concluded: “These results show chewing gum may be a cost-effective and easily implemented method to increase student performance.”

For more of the article, go HERE.

Comment: I thought this was a really interesting article.

Thursday's Teacher

From Education Week:

International Exams Yield Less-Than-Clear Lessons

Differing Demographics, Politics, Cultural Norms, Complicate Understanding

By Sean Cavanagh and Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Almost every time the results of an international test of student achievement are released to the world, the reaction among the American public and policymakers is like that of a parent whose child just brought home a disappointing report card.

Elected officials and academic experts question where U.S. students fell short: Was it our curriculum, our teaching, or a confluence of out-of-school factors? What did other nations do well? And what changes to American classrooms would help U.S. students make strides on the next round of tests?

For more of the article go HERE.

Wonderful Wednesdays

Here's a little something for Wonderful Wednesday. When you get to the black click, click, click...

See the Flowers

Moving On by Judy Lyden

Every year at this time teachers stop to think about what they have given the children over the past year, and in our case, because we all work so closely with all of our children, we think about the whole student body and what we have given each child over the past years.

This year has been a good year. The graduating class seems to have been with us forever, and the memories and the accomplishments seem like a mountain of successes. They will each go off to a new school, a big school with a lot in their repertoires.

When we remember back to how many of these children came to school not knowing much and filled with anxiety about how hard it would be, it's a stretch to look at them now and realize just how much they have learned and what neat people they are.

Learning is a many splintered thing! Learning begins with listening and remembering. If a child does not have the discipline to be quiet and listen, he will not, consequently, he will not learn. If you don't listen, you won't learn. Not all children learn to listen and not all choose to remember even when they do listen. This is a maturity issue. This is always accomplished in the partnership with the home. In homes where listening and remembering are not important, the task of teaching is a very difficult one.

Learning is also a very individual thing. Some children learn by categorization. They learn by taking things a part, sorting them out and putting them back together. They learn by separating the whole and examining the parts. They learn by putting things into groups. Some children learn through art. They hear or see something, and they need to draw it to capture it and make it theirs. Some children put everything to music and sing about what they have learned. There is nothing funnier than a child who is sitting on the toilet singing up a storm about his last geography class!

Some children learn through numbers. They like to weigh, count, collect, touch, and keep many things. Some children are visual learners from the git go and like to watch, see, and find the many angles that make what they are learning make sense.

Some children learn by touching and doing. The hyperactive child is such a child. He will touch everything and copy by doing anything he sees that might teach him something he wants to learn.

Most children are auditory learners and learn by listening. They can learn nearly anything quickly, and this goes away once they learn to read.

The window of opportunity opens for every child at a different time. The window opens when a child is allowed the maturity of his attending adults to explore without fear. Letting go and letting children explore their surroundings is the great window opener.

Parents who let go of children from the beginning and allow a child to discover the world around him will experience a child for whom windows open quickly and easily. Children love to learn, and offering them a world of things to count, sort, touch, listen to, do, and talk about is the way to achieve the most from a child.

Every few months, parents and teachers should re-evaluate their child's surroundings and make changes. Children don't remain fixed in their development and neither should their surroundings. Adding new toys and things, increasing the tools of education should be a constant effort on the part of teachers and parents.

With the seasons changing, it's time to get one more big push to the finish line, and then change atmospheres to summer. Summer is also a time of learning and exploring. Children never stop learning, and teachers and good parents know that. It's never about pushing; it's always about showing.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning! It's a beautiful dark and stormy morning here in Southwestern Indiana. I'm excited to start another week as we begin the last stretch of school. It's going to be sixty today, so we will continue to build our outdoor bodies with sun and play. Lots of running, lots of jumping, so that we will be fit for all the excursions we will go on this summer!

Our book fair is this week. Please visit Miss Kelly's room anytime. If you need a lay-a-way bag please let Miss Amy know. She will be taking care of this in the morning.

Today Miss Judy has the privilege of going to Glenwood School to talk about writing. Writing is an important part of our early experience. It begins with imagining and talking about the fantastic things we can think. As Seuss said, "All the thinks I can think!" Thinking and dreaming and then writing it down is what we learn to do in school. Writing is a very personal experience much like any craft because it so individual. What is in my mind is probably not in yours! Every child should begin with the oral tradition of story telling. When they are old enough, they write their stories down. We encourage a lot of drawing because drawing defines thought.

Today I will go to Glenwood School and talk about the discipline and the craft. My goal is to remind these young people that anything is possible if you work hard enough and stay on track.

We are still working on manners at the GS. We expect please and thank you and quiet inside voices to be used indoors.

On Wednesday we will have costume day. Your child can come to school as a favorite story character.

On Friday we will have a Spring Sing at 3:00. Children need an accompanying adult and a plate of cookies or a treat. The sing will last about 15 minutes, and be followed by the book fair.

Have a great day!

Lunch Box Cards

Here's a great way to keep kids eating lunch. They are Lunch Box Cards and the picture at the top that says "Bunny Quiz" is one of the cards. For more information go HERE.

This is Lunchbox Card's April lunch. It's not only delicious but it's cute. I love the lunch box. They are purchasable through Laptop Lunchbox. What a great way to send your child off to school. I even thought about buying 50 for summer, but there is no refrigeration. The little rabbits are made of rice, and the form is available at Target in the dollar isle.

The muffins are Omega Muffins that you buy. It's so easy to make them - here's a recipe. You can actually keep this batter about a week and make new ones every day.

General batter:
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 oz canola oil
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 large egg - I use blue ;-)
4 cups milk

put in a pitcher with a lid

Monday add cinnamon and make six muffins
Tuesday add ground orange " " "
Wednesday add raisins...
Thursday add coconut
Friday add pumpkin blueberries

Friday's Tattler

It was a crazy week. Teachers were out with illness, family matters, and just keeping staff in the building was a touch and go experience. Only once in a very long time does this happen. Everyone pitched in and helped with covering, and it worked out fine. We got a lot accomplished this week!

This past week we worked on manners, "thank you and please," to be exact. As Mr. Terry said, "Manners are an essential for every child to take with them from the Garden School." I think he has a point. So we are asking every child to be polite every day in every way. It's made a lovely difference.

At the same time, we have put a new golden light on the medal. The medal is worn by honorable children. Some consistently poor behavior is simply never honorable, so the medals have been taken away until behavior changes. We think this will serve our entire group.

We have begun a new game called "Spit Spot." At play times, we ring the bell and every child stops in his play, stands and looks at the bell ringer. The ringer then chooses a child who is closest to his spot and asks the child an academic question. If the child answers, the reward is a biggie. If there is no medal, there is no prize. We hope this encourages a sense of "wanting to keep the medals."

Book Fair has been set up for next week in Miss Kelly's class. Please feel free to browse for books in her room. We have a lay a way program for people who are paid on Fridays. Please feel free to ask a teacher for a lay away bag.

Next week is Earth Week. We will be doing several things with this theme. Miss Elise has already worked on our butterfly project. She is raising butterflies from the larva to the fly. The kids are thrilled with what they have learned so far.

Miss Molly wants to recycle. That's a green light for me, but the company who takes our trash does not recycle businesses. We are going to try to buy some containers and separate some of our trash and see how this works. We will need some hoddies to the recycle places. Not sure how this is going to work.

I am going to try to start putting our garden in today. Please visit our garden with your children to watch how things are going. It's a hillbilly garden because a traditional garden is too hard for me to keep up. I got this design from a country boy from Arkansas years ago who attended St. Meinrad Seminary. He told a delightful story about gardening and I am copying what he said.

On Wednesday, we are having "Favorite Book Character Day." Please let your child dress up as his favorite book character and wear his costume that day. I am going as Catherine Earnshaw. Not sure who the other teachers are going to be, but it should be fun. Please keep masks to a minimum, and keep weapons at home.

Spring sing is this coming Friday. It begins, as all our events, at 3:00 p.m. and will last throught the party. Children will sing, and then parents are free to visit the goodie table and the Book Fair. We hope to see all of you there! Please remember that every child needs an attending adult.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday's Teacher

Here's an interesting article from Education Week. Normally I really despise the ACLU, but this time I think they have a point. Read the article and judge for yourself.

School Strip-Search Case Heads to Supreme Court

By Erik W. Robelen

The U.S. Supreme Court next week will hear a case on the strip-search of a 13-year-old girl at a public school, wading into the legal balancing act between protecting students’ privacy rights and allowing school officials to take steps to ensure a safe campus environment.

The case, which has attracted national media attention—as well as friend-of-the-court briefs from national education groups, civil-liberties advocates, and the Obama administration—could have major implications for how schools proceed when they wish to search students.

At issue in Safford Unified School District v. Redding (Case No. 08-479) is the search of 8th grader Savana Redding by school personnel at an Arizona middle school. The 2003 action came amid suspicion that the honors student possessed prescription-strength ibuprofen tablets, a violation of the school’s anti-drug policy. No such pills were found on Ms. Redding, who stripped down to her undergarments, which she pulled away from her body so that two female personnel, including the school nurse, could inspect her.

Infuriated by the search and apparently dissatisfied with school officials’ explanation, the student’s mother, April Redding, filed suit against the 2,750-student Safford district as well as the school officials directly involved.

For more of the article go HERE.

Wonderful Wednesday

National Geographic Sea Turtle Race!!!

I thought this was really cool. Next week Miss Leigh suggested a theme of Earth Week. And this goes great with Earth Week!!!

Today, Conservation International and National Geographic announced The Great Turtle Race, which follows 11 live leatherback turtles in a simulation of their annual migration from Canada to the Caribbean.

The virtual race starts tomorrow at the National Geographic-hosted HERE . These very endangered and majestic creatures-the leatherback sea turtles-illustrate the increasingly dire plight of the Earth's oceans, thanks largely to human impact.

National Geographic will galvanize the youngest Web audience to rally around the cause with a new, addictive online game, daily updates on the turtles' progress and engaging biographies and artist renderings of the real-life animals and a No More Plastic pledge kids can take to do their part to ensure the survival of oceanic wildlife.

"We especially think The Great Turtle Race is going to resonate with the kids' audience because they're the generation that we are going to empower to protect the planet," says Michelle Sullivan, executive producer of the National Geographic kids Web site, where much of the programming for the two-week virtual race will reside. (www.nationalgeographic.com/kids)

This year's turtle racers have celebrity sponsors including socially conscious pop-culture icons Pearl Jam, R.E.M, as well as a selection of Olympic swimmers from the 2008 U.S. team. More details are included in the release below and later today we will have an MP3 file available of the press conference with comments from Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard, R.E.M's Mike Mills, turtle experts and two Olympic swimmers.

Visiting Grandma...by Judy Lyden

Years ago I remember visiting my mother in Pittsburgh. I had three little kids, and I remember looking forward to getting away from home for a few days. My parents had huge stone house and a lovely rose garden and I could just imagine the "rest." Arrival was filled with hugs and kisses, and more or less it stopped there. I seemed to be "in the way," and the rest I had imagined was mostly in my head. Keeping the children from touching, breaking, and leaving toys around was harder than being at home. Our schedule was different from theirs, and the 6:00 a.m. up and the 7:30 p.m. to bed didn't mesh with brunch at 11:00 and dinner at 8:00. Moved trinkets didn't make up for the child's discovery of something with a number on it - everything in my parents' house was cataloged!

When my mother made the announcement that she would spend her next day at work, I was so disappointed, I think I cried. My father had it easy - he got up and went to work about 6:30. Alone in someone else's house with three kids!

Now, when my grand children visit, it's more or less the same thing in reverse with the exception of the numbered goodies. I buy junk for them to play with and if the junk breaks... oh well.

People of any age have routines that are not as easily put aside as we would like. As an older person, I find my routine to be a blessing. I am content getting up early and being alone in my house. I like that first morning tea and a look at the garden and a review of all I have to do that day without the demands of children. When my grandchildren come, being up with me is wonderful if, and only if, I can share MY routine with them. It is my house after all.

What visitors forget too often is that grandparents aren't on hold until children arrive. We don't live in a vacuum or on a shelf or in a closet until kids arrive. We have real lives and sometimes much more strenuous than our children's lives. It takes a lot of years and "sans" kids to be able to accomplish a great deal without the kiddie interruption!

What many child visitors do not appreciate is that parents often have very complicated lives and a whole list of things to accomplish in order to be emotionally comfortable. Putting aside some chores or activities is a given, but there are other things that must be done. When my children visit, I still have to maintain the school, write for the blog, and take care of a dozen other activities that involve me. Just abandoning all my activities and responsibilities for a week is not possible. Just getting everything done is sometimes daunting enough without the disruption of guests.

But guests are always welcome and the time shared is always a blessing. Unfortunately, the blessing can sometimes be tarnished. The tarnishing comes from one thing in particular. It's the lack of a communication skill. Why communication is so hard for some people is beyond me, but it is.

The most important thing a visitor or visitee can do is ASK A QUESTION about what needs to be done. "What do YOU need to do tomorrow, Mom?" It's the Everest question. That can be followed with "What do you WANT to do tomorrow, child?"

Making the visit a compromise of activities will make relationships grow stronger. It will take the pressure off busy lives meeting. It will unravel nerves, expectations, anger and frustration. Often the visit is around an occasion with several expected extra activities. For any sane adult, those activities are not last minute races to the finish line. I know I plan for everything, and because of a lack of communication, my plans are often bulldozed in favor of a last minute leap into the unknown which more often than not falls on its face. The question again to ask is of the householder is, "What have YOU planned for this occasion?" The follow up question is "How can I help?"

Assuming is a nasty little one-ups-man-ship. Assuming says, "You're incompetent, and once again I have to take over and do this for you." This breeds contempt on both sides. It is a contempt that does not have to ever come into play if one's communication skills are at even a C-- level.

Next time you visit or have a visitor try asking in the last telephone conversation, "What do you want to do and what do you need to do when we come or when you come to visit?" Then follow it up with more questions and less assumption.

I promise that this will make all visitations filled with green lights.

Monday's Tattler

Good morning!

It's a rainy Monday, but it's not as cold as it has been. I thought I'd freeze all day yesterday!

It's still the Easter Season and will be for 40 more days, so expect the Easter art to keep on coming!

If we get a break in the rain, we will do our hopining today. Please bring in your envelopes and donations for Easter Seals as soon as possible.

Today the weather is supposed to be 62 for a high. That's still pretty chilly for short sleeves. Children still need a light jacket.

Listening has been a problem at school lately. Please continue to ask your child questions and listen to the response. Also, ask children what you have said and expect them to repeat what you have said. Not listening is a thing learned from too much TV. TV expects passive listening because it doesn't expect a response. Children who watch too much TV don't learn how to respond and certainly only listen selectively. If the TV suggests cleaning up, who is there to reinforce the suggestion. At school, sometimes teachers feel as if we are TVs only suggesting an activity, and the passive listening is rampant! I am sure you guys feel that way as well. So, at home, when you are needing a child's attention, it's nearly always a good idea to turn off the TV for some active listening.

It's an ordinary week. We may or may not go on a field trip on Friday. It will be posted.

Have a great day!

Cookie Corner

Someone asked me for our most recent cookie recipe and here it is: It changes from time to time as tastes and children change:

1 cup butter
1 cup canola oil
1.5 cups white sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned oats

Combine in a mixer

Add 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour and 2 cups white flour

Add 1 cup caramel balls, 2 cups dark chocolate chips, and any other addition at this point like wheat germ, bran, other spices, orange peal, etc.

I use an ice cream scoop to make cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until they look like you want to eat them. Remove from cookie sheets asap because caramel balls will make it nearly impossible to remove later!

Enjoy

Sunday's Table

This article is from Lunchbox Kids and Laptop Lunches. It's a site that is on my "fun corner." I try to post an article on nutrition on Sunday or a recipe, but this week I am posting a good article on picky eaters. Please remember that often a picky eater is simply in the habit of not eating.

Do you have a picky eater in your family? Here are a few ideas for helping him or her transition to a healthier diet:

• Prepare your child. Talk with your child about nutrition and the importance of developing a healthy body. Together, come up with a family plan, including a list of steps the family wants to take to transition to a more healthful diet. Post the list in a place where everyone can see it.
• Think Positively. If your child sees you enjoying these changes, he will be more likely to join in.
• Involve your child. Children of all ages can help with menu planning, shopping, and preparing meals. Children who feel they have had a part preparing the meal will be more likely to eat it.
• Introduce a wide variety of foods. Offer a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. Offer a few teaspoons of each at every dinner. Even if your child eats only two bites, he will understand that these are the foods that make up a healthy diet. When he starts wanting more than two bites, expand your offerings to include more foods. As your child grows, increase serving sizes.
• Experiment with old favorites. Offer a new food with a familiar one. Applaud adventurous eating.
• Offer the same food prepared in different ways. Offer foods alone and prepared in combination with other ingredients. Cut foods in different ways. Try carrot sticks one day and carrot coins another.
• Don’t Give Up. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, many children will not accept a new food until it has been offered at least ten times. Continue to offer new foods until your child considers them familiar.
• Introduce foods one bite or several bites at a time. Some children become overwhelmed by large quantities of food on their plate. Others will feel more successful if they can finish a small quantity of food you have provided, so keep portions small.
• Serve vegetables and new foods as an appetizer. If vegetables and new foods are served last or with other foods, children can easily fill themselves up and leave vegetables behind. Start dinner, for example, with two green beans and two carrots or a green salad as a starter. When everyone has finished their, serve the rest of the meal. Consider serving fruits with the meal or saving them for dessert.
• Institute the “two-bite” rule by eating two bites of each item on their plate. Explain that our tastes change as we grow up and what we didn’t like last week we may like this week. Explain, too, that eating a variety of food builds stronger, happier bodies. Remember that children’s food preferences change frequently. What they don’t like on Wednesday might be a great hit on Friday or vice versa.
• Consider the possible unspoken meanings of “I don’t like it.” “I don’t like it” might really mean “I’d rather have a piece of chocolate cake” or “I’m not in the mood for that right now.” Insist on the two-bite rule.
• Don’t become a short-order cook. Prepare only one meal for the entire family. At first your child may refuse to eat dinner. Remain calm, stand firm, and ignore tantrums. Your child will not die of hunger from skipping a meal, but will likely come to the next meal with a healthy appetite and a willingness to eat what is served. Allow each family member to plan one dinner a week. Doing so will ensure that everyone has at least one dinner to look forward to.
• Don’t make a big deal when your child rejects a food. Stay cool and reaffirm the boundaries you have established by insisting that your child eat two bites before leaving the table. Don’t let your child engage you in a power struggle.
• Give your child a choice. Give your child some choices within the boundaries you establish. For example, instead of asking, “What do you want for lunch?” ask “Would you like a turkey sandwich, or a quesadilla?”
• Do not completely forbid certain foods. Forbidden foods can quickly become the foods of greatest desire. At school, for example, children are more likely to trade for foods that are not allowed at home. Allow your children to choose a special food from time to time and let them eat it guilt free. Teach your children the difference between everyday foods and occasional foods. In time, they will start making healthy choices on their own.
• Encourage children to bring home their lunch leftovers. Looking at leftover lunches is a great way to get information about your children’s lunch preferences. Find out why certain foods have come back uneaten. Did your child not like it? Was she not hungry enough to eat everything in the lunchbox? Was there a birthday celebration at school that day? Did she share someone else’s lunch instead? Maintain a dialogue without criticizing. Consider making a list of foods that your child likes to eat for lunch and update it regularly with input from your child. You may find that she prefers romaine lettuce to red leaf lettuce. By making this simple change, she might start eating salads more regularly. Providing a dip for carrot and celery sticks might make eating them more fun.
• Use the Star Incentive Chart (see Appendix 2 in The Laptop Lunch User’s Guide). If your child is resisting the change to a waste-free lunch program, try using the Star Incentive Program described in Appendix 2. Younger children may respond well to stickers, especially if they can help pick them out.
• Use the HealthPoint System (see Appendix 3 in The Laptop Lunch User’s Guide). If your child is resisting the change to a healthier diet, try using the HealthPoint System. Allow your child to take one point for each healthy food eaten, four points for each day without junk food, and four points for each day that they exercise. If your child has received a certain agreed-upon number of points by the end of the week, do something special together.
• Avoid food rewards. Neither dessert nor candy should be used as a punishment or enticement. Rather, you must establish and enforce rules for when and how many treats will be consumed.

Saturday's Friday...

Comment: I saw this and thought what a great way to acknowledge Holy Saturday - a day of waiting.

As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'

Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference.. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed One of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and Cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it..

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

Friday's Tattler

I've been trying to post for a few days, and was confounded by machinery!

Our Easter windup was busy busy. We sent Easter baskets home on Wednesday because so much was going on on Thursday. The amount of candy in each basket represented your child's good behavior and exceptional behavior. Lots of kids got extra candy for good work and for doing something special. We were very proud of our children.

On Thursday, we tried out a new staff member. Her name is Julie and comes highly regarded by a very dear and old friend of mine. Julie has been working in early childhood many years, and has a special love of nature which she will most like find a niche in teaching. You will be seeing Julie in the afternoons at the GS. She will be getting acquainted with us a little at a time and come on full time this summer.

On Thursday we celebrated Andrew's birthday with cupcakes. It was lovely to share. We thank all our families who help us celebrate their children's birthdays.

On Thursday we celebrated the birthday of the school and Miss Judy's 107th birthday. Our school is thirteen years old this year. Thank you all for making it a go. We had cake to celebrate.

On Thursday we sent home report cards and K-1 testing. If you have any questions about the testing, please see Miss Kelly.

Miss Amy is working diligently with the children for Spring Sing which is at the end of April. Please make note. At the same time we will be having our book fair. The book fair is from Scholastic and will go on for almost a week. This is your chance to buy inexpensive books for your child. These are wonderful books and last a long time. Many of the books in out library at school came from my house and belonged to my children who are grown up now. They last a very long time. The GS is the smallest school allowed to have a book fair. We are very proud of that.

Monday is the hopining. We will hop Monday morning and send the results home that day.

Have a splendid Easter day!

Sorry

I haven't been able to post in the past few days because of technical difficulties.

Time for Reflection by Judy Lyden

The Easter Season is a wonderful time to reflect on one's life and how one lives that life. It's a time to enjoy the early spring and realize just how we are part of everything around us. It's important to help children ask that question as well. Even if it's just a brief muse, it's well worth the time.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with someone about my own life. Precisely, it was about spending my life on children - very young children. It's my favorite age, although I do love high schoolers. Very young children represent the future to me. They participate in the present, but they are a glimpse into the future. Not all children are well behaved, brilliant or aimed in the right direction. It's always a pleasure to work with the good, the smart and the kids who are focused on achieving, but they aren't the only kids.

My real talent lies in working with those who are less fortunate either by accident or by design. Over the years I've devoted my work and my prayer to the children who ordinarily would be left behind and kicked from one day care to another. These are kids who come from homes where discipline and care are less than they should be. The children go home to chaos, a poor meal and a constant drone of TV. Mothers who think the domestic achievement is in avoidance of rather than creating a home, so the children are constantly in an emotional need, and they lash out with poor behavior, constant testing or they just never catch up.

These are the children of Easter. These are Christ. These are the children with the enormous question on their face, "Will YOU care for me? Will you love me anyway? Will you think of me when I am gone?"

A friend, thinking she was being funny about some of my antique treasures, said of me, "If Judy Lyden can't love it, nobody can." I've treasured that remark ever since.

As our bishop once stupidly said, "There are no throw away priests" but intimated that there are throw away children. I correct him boldly and say, "There are no throw away people." People make mistakes and sometimes they are terrible and hateful and egregious. If we don't stop those mistakes in the making early, we have lost an opportunity to be truly good ourselves that moment we can never share again.

The problem with working with very young children is that they are not rational, and any child will try on behaviors that seem at the time acceptable simply because someone else is doing it. The reason is often lacking, and the model is often too tempting to pass by. It is not unreasonable to believe that most children will fall off the good pedestal for the swamp of iniquity if the piper is corrupt simply because other people are doing it. So when a child goes home to a swamp every night and sees poor example, he will come to school with that example every day. Every single day the example has to be replaced with good example. Sometimes the child begins to understand, and sometimes he does not, and therein lies the story of early childhood.

In my career, I've accepted the very worst behaved children into my life. Several have landed in the hospital for the severely emotionally disturbed. I struggled year after year with this until a few years ago when I decided that for the sake of the good children, I would limit it drastically. The children at the GS now are, as a cohesive group, very well behaved with a couple of exceptions.

Teaching the very young child should be a pleasure, with a few exceptions. With a keen eye, it should be a discover zone. Children evolve much like their parents or any other human being - a little at a time. You begin to see that when you work in small groups and see a child learn all his letters and sounds and start to count, and begin to express himself out loud, write his name and think before he does. When a child scribbles one day and draws a face the next, it's grow time. It's spring.

This Easter season, and it's not over with Lent! Let's be aware of all the good we see. Let's offer every child all that we have for the time he is with us. Let us enjoy being parents and grandparents and teachers and try with the best of our poor power to love as Christ did and not fall off the pedestal into the swamp.

Sunday's Plate

From World's Healthiest Foods

Onions

Comment: Children don't usually like onions because raw, they have a startling "bite" and cooked they become slimy. Getting children used to onions can take a lifetime, and what a shame someone does not enjoy the taste and health benefits of onions.

What would a kitchen be without the distinctively pungent smell and taste of onions filling out the flavors of almost every type of cuisine imaginable? Fortunately, yellow storage onions are available throughout the year but sweet varieties have a much more limited growing season and are available only a few months out of the year.

The word onion comes from the Latin word unio for "single," or "one," because the onion plant produces a single bulb, unlike its cousin, the garlic, that produces many small bulbs. The name also describes the union (also from unio) of the many separate, concentrically arranged layers of the onion.

available HERE.

This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Onions provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Onions can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Onions, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.

• Health Benefits
• Description
• History
• How to Select and Store
• How to Enjoy
• Safety
• Nutritional Profile
• References

And more.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning!

This is Easter Week! We will be exploring Easter complete with Passion and bunnies. It's a nice combo.

Miss Kelly has been testing the children in her class, and she asked to have report cards held another week so she could send the test results home with each child with the report card. We were very happy to do this. If you have any questions about the Kindergarten Standards Achievement test, please see Miss Kelly.

We will also be working on handwriting across the whole school. This seems to be something the kids like to do, and we have been having contests to see whose handwriting is best for their class. Handwriting is an important part of communication, and the ability to communicate through good handwriting is an important step to going off to school. Our job is to see that our children go off to school with the best abilities.

This is a short week. We will be out on Friday because of Good Friday.

On Thursday, we will send Easter baskets home. These baskets represent your child's behavior during Lent. We don't use candy during Lent, and when your child keeps his medal or does something extra wonderful, he receives the gift of candy for his basket. Some of these baskets are brimming. One child will have to have an auxiliary bag! If your child is not at school much, his bag will not be as full as a child who is at school every day, so don't worry, part time parents.

When we come back to school after Easter, it's push push push to the school finish line. We are still honing the summer program, and by May 1 we will be sending home an itinerary for summer. There are some changes being made that you will just love.

Have a great week!

Something New for Saturday

I found this on Food Navigator and couldn't resist it. It is something new indeed. I wonder if the kids would like this?

Scientists edge towards squid sausages

By Stephen Daniells, 19-Mar-2009

Related topics: Science & Nutrition

Muscle from jumbo squid can form stable gelled-emulsion products, according to Mexican research, offering potential for a range of products like squid frankfurters.

Writing in the International Journal of Food Science & Technology, the researchers note that jumbo squid mantle muscle used to make frankfurter-type products performed well in sensory tests.

The results suggest that the mantle muscle of the cephalopod could open up “a range of possibilities for product development”, wrote the authors, led by Anibal Felix-Armenta.

“The importance of the present study lies in that no work has been published about the elaboration of gelled-emulsified type value-added product made of jumbo squid mantle muscle,” said the researchers.

Product formulation

Using the mantle muscle of jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas), reportedly an abundant species in the Gulf of California, the researchers evaluated the formulation, processing and physicochemical characteristics of a gelled-emulsion frankfurter-type product.

The researchers note no changes in the pH or the water holding capacity of the product, a result they took to show as “an indication of the great stability this product can show during cold storage”.

Analysis of the sensory qualities, including colour, flavour, aroma, texture and overall acceptability found that colour was most negatively criticised factor. This was followed by aroma and texture, said the researchers.

The panellists involved in the sensory tests said they ‘liked slightly’ the product. One explanation for this relatively low score, said the researchers, was that this “might be […] the panellists’ first introduction to this type of product, as no seafood frankfurter has been introduced in the regional market”.

Microbiological analysis

The researchers noted an unfavourable microbial profile, with growth of aerobic bacteria observed during 27 days of storage.

“The results […] indicate that, although a stable product may be manufactured, more work needs to be done to increase the further physicochemical and microbiological storage life of jumbo squid frankfurters,” said the researchers.

“This study showed that having a proper post-harvest control of raw material (jumbo squid mantle muscle) results in the production of a wholesome gelled-emulsified type product.

“In general, from the physicochemical stand point, frankfurters showed good storage stability during the evaluated period. However, microbial growth was the decisive factor for their storage life,” they concluded.

Source: International Journal of Food Science & Technology
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2007.01709.x
“Jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantle muscle gelled-emulsified type product: formulation, processing and physicochemical characteristics”
Authors: A. Felix-Armenta, J.C. Ramirez-Suarez, R. Pacheco-Aguilar, M.E. Diaz-Cinco, G. Cumplido-Barbeitia, G. Carvallo-Ruiz

Friday's Tattler

Friday we had a splendid trip to the zoo. We are getting in the mode for summer trips, so good discipline had to be kept about staying with the group, and for the most part, the kids did a great job. A few tried to proceed me, and lost their medals, but for the most part the children were well behaved. A few lost their medals for harassing the animals. Good behavior in public always begins with good behavior at home. What is expected at home continues out the front door.

We arrived at Amazonia early and there were few people there. Many of the children were more eager to race to the finish than to observe what there was to see. Once we blocked the path, they settled down and began to look at all the wonderful animals and plants. It was then the kids began to see everything and discovered things even the teachers did not see. Addie pointed at a flamingo that was perched high up by the glass ceiling. We noticed the toucans were breading and had a big nest in the side of the wall. We saw a tiny possum in a wall cage that was just darling. We found a big snake coiled under a bush, and we enjoyed the paranahs and turtles that were in the bottom of the exhibit.

The rest of the zoo was alive because of the wonderful weather. The kids enjoyed watching the tiger pace, the zeebras move around and the wolves come right up to the window. Everyone seemed to be filled with that spring time energy. The petting zoo was being cleaned and we got to watch the zookeepers work. I saluted the hippo who is my age exactly. I asked her how she keeps her weight down, but she was too busy eating to respond!

We went to Price Park for half our lunch, but it was too cold to even play, and after eating everything I had in the way of sandwiches, we left for school and a warm room to finish our carrots, apples, pickles and cookies.

The rest of the day was spent on play and more discovery about the Amazon.

Next week is a short week. We will be in school, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We will be looking at Easter.

Immigrants for Thursday's Class

From Education Week. This is an interesting story in a time when the battle of the borders is increasingly in the news. My in-laws were immigrants from Ireland. They came over in the 1920s and made a go of it in New York. My father in law was a bus driver and my mother in law worked at the local Catholic school. They turned out a nurse, a secretary, and a college professor. Not bad for 3rd grade educations. Nicest people in the world.

Scholars Mull the ‘Paradox’ of Immigrants

By Mary Ann Zehr

Providence, R.I.

The academic success, tendency to stay out of trouble, and physical health of children of immigrants to the United States tend to decline significantly from the first to the third generation.

That troubling pattern brought researchers together here recently at Brown University to examine a provocative question: Is becoming American a developmental risk?

More than two decades have passed since researchers began to document what they call the “immigrant paradox”: Immigrants generally do much better in American society than expected, given the challenges of navigating in a new culture, not speaking English well, and often having little money, yet their early success often is not sustained by later generations.

For more of the story go HERE.

Something Wonderful for Wednesday

Just a little something to make you laugh. We're doing a lot more with listening skills now at school and I thought this was funny.