Thursday's Thought

Justice

David and Anne were building a garden with bits of branches and twigs and rocks near the sandbox. Jeffy came by and spit on Anne's half. She jumped up and punched Jeffy in the face. That made David mad, and the two boys started calling her names. Anne shouted, "I won't play with you any more," and went away crying; her feelings were crushed.

The provider watched it all happen and just let it go. It was kiddie justice and interfering wouldn't help; it would make it worse. Anne, an industrious child, would find something else to do. The provider also knew that David was a follower, and Jeffy was a bully. Jeffy would sooner or later make David mad too and end up in time out.

Was the provider right? Would you punish? Who would you punish, Jeffy for spitting, Anne for hitting, or all three for name-calling? Most adults would choose Anne because she hit and did more actual wrong than anyone else. After all, what's spitting in the sand, and names are only names, right?

Reviewing this incident gives a wonderful insight into kiddie justice; this time the children were even. The sticks and stones near the sandbox were important to Anne. When her work was spit on, standing up and whacking Jeffy made perfect sense to her.

Kiddie justice isn't adult justice. Kiddie justice is more like Old Testament justice--an eye for an eye. To a child, an eye for an eye is down to earth logic they can understand; it balances the scales.

And kiddie justice isn't bad for kids; it's just immature. Adults are often surprised that kiddie justice doesn't ever include I'm sorry on its own. "I'm sorry," is abstract; it only satisfies the governing adult. I'm sorry means I'm wrong. Kids are very matter of fact about who is wrong, but they don't hold grudges, so it's very possible for David and Anne to play again soon without an "I'm sorry."

Trying to teach children under seven the New Testament-turn-the-other-cheek scheme comes later when children have a better sense of before and after and cause and result. Before seven, it works only in the minds of adults and takes a toll on the weaker, nicer child. It makes him the target of the bullies.

Knowing that kids seek power, just like adults, gives an advantage to adults trying to understand kiddie-group dynamics. Bullies antagonize other children's productivity because they don't know how to produce anything themselves. Hurting other children and their work makes them look like a big deal.

A good provider keeps the bully under control by limiting the bully's play area and giving him or her a lot of assignment play. She might even allow the other children to pay back some aggressive behavior knowing that for the most part, the other non-aggressive children won't hit hard enough to really hurt. The eye for an eye might even stop the bully behavior because a sting says a whole lot more than the meaningless "I'm sorry."

But chaos can't have a free reign in the day care. Providers must try to keep the physical assaults down, and there are times when that's not easy. By taking into account the full picture of why a child hit, spat, or called names, means asking "What did you do?" and keeping to the concrete rather than the abstract "Why did you do that?" (which he/she won't answer) Talking about behaviors in circle time helps a lot. Let kids speak freely.

Bottom line? Order, fair play, and individual attention are the cornerstones of good childcare. Good providers promote the concept that a child's work and play is important and indeed worth protecting. At the same time, she makes every child accountable in his own way to the others for his or her actions.

Wonderful Wednesday

Comment: this is from Wise Woman. It's an herbalist site and wonderful to read. Cooking for Love ... Whole Grains and Breads by Anne-Marie Fryer Wiboltt

Whole Grains and Breads
Excerpt from: Cooking for the Love of the World
Awakening Our Spirituality through Cooking

The sun-ripened golden grains are the heart of my meals. When prepared well, grains have a delicious, sweet flavor. I carefully pick out any debris before I cook them. Then I wash the whole grains gently by covering them with water. I run my clean hands through the grains a few times before I strain the water off. I do this until the rinsing water is clear. Afterwards I add the cooking liquid, which most often is plain water. Stocks and spices are fun additions to the cooking liquid only once in a while. For digestibility, I soak the grains in slightly warmed water with an added dash of liquid from natural fermented foods. I use sourdough for bread making. Most often I make whole wheat bread. I make sourdough breads with combinations of rice, oats, millet, rye, barley and corn flour. When using other grains than wheat, I use less flour. The dough is moist, and can be spooned into the baking pans. Well-done bread is sweet and only slightly sour. Yeasted and chemically leavened (baking powder and baking soda) breads are lighter and quicker to make occasionally but no comparison in quality.

Wheat is a flour grain. Hard winter wheat is best for breads and muffins. Softer varieties are better for pasties and durum wheat for noodles and pastas, bulgur and couscous.

Brown rice is a versatile and delicious grain. I can be cooked whole or milled into flour. Short grain brown rice is a harder variety whereas medium and long grain brown rice are lighter and softer. Sweet rice is sticky and more glutinous.

Oat is a cereal of the north. Rich and heartening this nourishing grain lends itself well to warming porridges and soothing creamy soups.

Millet is enjoyed around the world cooked whole but sometimes milled. The common American type is golden yellow whereas many Asian varieties are red.

Rye is a hard, chewy cereal grain cultivated mainly in Europe where it is used in making the delicious sourdough rye bread. In Denmark rye bread is served almost at every meal.

Barley is a hardy cereal grain used in baked goods, soups and porridges. Pearled barley has under-gone a refining process and has been husked and hulled.

Corn comes in many varieties, traditionally cooked with wood ash. Flint corn has hard kernels and matures early. Dent corn has softer kernels than flint corn, matures later and is easier to grind. It is used to make corn meal, polenta and tortillas. Blue corn is similar to yellow flint corn and has a slightly sweeter flavor.

At times I also use teff, quinoa and amaranth native to South Africa, central and South America. They are mainly used whole, prepared with other grains and vegetables. Buckwheat, grown in the cooler parts of the world, is best known roasted as kasha or ground into flour and used in pancakes and noodles.

Crunchy Rice and Wheat Berries with Sesame Salt
Wheat is mainly used in bread making. Soaking and cooking rice and wheat together creates a delicious chewy dish. Sesame salt adds a slight salty and bitter flavor. Pressure cooking brown rice is delicious and strengthening. The grains burst open with sweetness and flavor. Substitute wheat berries with other grains.

2 cups short or medium grain brown rice
1/2 cup whole wheat berries
3 1/4 cups warmed water
1 teaspoon vinegar or liquid from cultured foods
2 pinches sea salt

Rinse the rice and wheat. Soak the grains in the water with vinegar for 8 hours.

Place the grains, soaking water and sea salt in a pressure cooker. Put the lid on tightly and bring the pot to full pressure. Use a flame tamer under the pressure cooker. Reduce heat and maintain pressure for 40 minutes.

Turn off heat and let the pressure come down slowly. Remove the lid and place the rice gently in a serving bowl. Cover with a bamboo mat or cotton towel until ready to serve.

Sesame Salt

1 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sea salt

Wash the seeds and soak for 5 minutes in water. Drain thoroughly.

Preheat a large skillet. Dry roast the seeds over medium heat until the seeds can be crushed easily between the thumb and ring finger. Keep the seeds moving.

Place the hot seeds and salt in a mortar. Grind the seeds and sea salt together using rhythmical, even circular movements. The sesame salt is done when 90 % of the seeds are crushed. Serve in a separate bowl and store in a tight glass container.

Excerpt from:

Cooking for the Love of the World:
Awakening our Spirituality through Cooking


by Anne-Marie Fryer Wiboltt
A heart-centered, warmth-filled guide to the nurturing art of cooking.

"Cooking delicious nourishing meals - with heart and soul - is easy, fast, and fun with this great guide. Everything you need to know is right here - along with exercises and experiences that will help you love cooking, love yourself,
and love the earth."
-Susun S. Weed, Author, Healing Wise

Order Cooking For the Love of the World in our Bookshop

Tuesday's Teacher

Grandma's Hands





Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench.. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands.

When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was OK.

Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. 'Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking,' she said in a clear voice strong.

'I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK,' I explained to her.

'Have you ever looked at your hands,' she asked. 'I mean really looked at your hands?'

I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.

Grandma smiled and related this story:

'Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life..

'They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor..

They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war.

'They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.

They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.

'They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.

They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.

'These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life.

But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God.'

I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.

I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face.

Monday's Tattler

My goodness how the weather has changed! It will be a glorious week! Autumn has started, and our gears will switch from family and community to autumn and the season at hand. We will study all kinds of things that surround the Fall. We will go to the farm, perhaps to Angel Mounds and make leaf collections!

From the kitchen, we will experience all the things from harvest. This week we will taste our first baked squash and harvest breads. The smell of home baked bread will permeate the school. Home made soups are on the horizon. Roasts with all the trimmings loom in the fridges!

Art begins to take on a serious mien with lots of paint and a direction towards Halloween. Paper and glue, paper mache and clay no longer melt in the summer heat... lots to do lots to do!

First report cards this week!

Children may begin to wear long pants if the weather is cool enough.

It's a time to start thinking about that Halloween costume.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate

With the beginning of Autumn, it's hard not to draw attention to the already decline in fresh summer melons and soft fruits like peaches and plums. But with the decline, there is the resurrection of the Autumn harvest of corn, squash, and the re-interest in potatoes and cooked carrots.

This past week, I was surprised when I went to Schnuck's and found a watermelon bin filled with a glorious array of prime squashes. Last year, I made it my business to learn to cook every squash I could find. It was not only yummy, it was down right educational!

From my experience, I have found that squash is one of the most versatile, delicious, usable, and storable foods we can buy. I had good usable squash stored at room temp for eight months that were still good. It's definitely a culinary go!

When you look at the green grocer collection of what seems like fifty different squashes, it's hard to know what to buy. My favorite squash is Ambercup Squash. It tastes like a sweet potato.

But there are lots of different one. Here is a web site to read about squash

When you buy as squash, it's much easier to cook whole than to try to clean like a pumpkin. Just pop the whole thing into the oven by weight. So if you buy a pound of squash, think - one hour. Two pounds - maybe 1.5 hours at 359 degrees.

Once your squash is cooked, it's time to clean it. You cut off the top and with an ice cream scoop, you pull out the seeds. Once the seeds are out, it's time to decide what to do with it. I love my squashes stuffed with a mix of precooked brown rice and meat chunks. Then I make a cheese sauce and serve the squash cut like a pie.

Squash is also nice removed from the skin and mashed and eaten sweet with brown sugar, or plain with butter.

No matter what you decide to do with it, it's nutritious, delicious, and so easy to work with once it's cooked.

Here's the recipe for stuffed whole squash:

Cook your squash until it's soft. Cut the top off and scoop out the seeds.

With already cooked brown rice and bacon, mix and stuff your squash.

Cheese sauce: Brown 1 tablespoon butter and 1/4 cup flour in a pan. Add 1.5 cups milk and mix till the flour and milk make a smooth soup. Add six slices of American Cheese. Other cheese, like cheddar, sometimes make you cheese sauce taste like soap, so use American for best results. Add a half teaspoon chicken bouillon, and bring mix to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup sour cream.

Slice your squash into cake or pie wedges, and place on plate. Pour your cheese sauce over the entire thing and serve.

Saturday's Under the Sun

A new creative children’s board book called "My Purple Toes" launched back in July. The producers have been dedicating a portion of its proceeds to support children around the world through nonprofit, Soles4Souls.

“My Purple Toes” is a light-hearted children’s story about enjoying life, being true to oneself and accepting others. Written by nationally recognized lawyer Blair Hahn, the board book tells a playful story about a real experience the author had with his family and features imaginative illustrations including a friendly-frog that hides on each page.

My Purple Toes is a creative children's board book written for children under eight-years-old that tells a story about a father's experience navigating life with purple painted toenails. From mom to the kids to their dog, everyone reacts differently to dad's purple toes showing their surprise, embarrassment, and even laughter.

Throughout the book, children can look for dad's toes in various environments and also find a friendly frog with purple toes that hides on each page. In addition to entertaining, "My Purple Toes" teaches a simple, yet relevant lesson about the importance of acceptance, enjoying life and being different.

"My Purple Toes" features cheerful, imaginative illustrations by artist Tate Nation on its board-style book, offering durability ideal for young children. "My Purple Toes" can be purchased online for $10.99.

Friday's Tattler

A great big Thank You to all the parents and grandparents who made the Grandparents' Tea such a huge success. No count, but every chair was filled- standing room only! The children were wonderful and did a really nice job with the National Anthem, The Pledge, the Hail Mary en Francais, and songs: Grandma is Coming to Town, and The Tootie Ta!

Treats were delicious, and we have some left over for snack on Monday! We had just about everything imaginable on the table: brownies, cookies, cheese cake, apples, fruit bits, chips, marshmallows, and cheese and crackers. YUM!

The academic week was a good one, and lots of kids were able to get golden beads for their medals! This is a great tribute to listening and learning. We are so proud of the children.

Additional prizes on Friday included a special Angel awards to Ayden, and to Rose for exceptional behavior. Jill won an Arithmetic Award. We are so proud of them.

We were stood up again on Thursday by Evansville Living Magazine. Someone was supposed to come talk to us, but failed to show.

We tried some new foods this past week. We tried pumpkin "critter" and piggy pie. The kids really seemed to enjoy both new tastes.

It was, all in all, a great week. So...on to another...

Thursday's Thought

Do kids seem to be ruder and less mannered than ever before?

Some say the profile of today’s typical very young child is a profile which excludes manners all

together. Why, in a culture where graciousness and altruism and that “outgoing resolve to do for

others” do American children suddenly come across as mannerless?

Eight preschool children sit together at lunch. Two fruit trays grace the table each has several kinds of fruit to choose from. One child stands up, leans across the entire table and grabs all the grapes off both plates with both hands. He spills three glasses of milk into the laps of his friends. He neither says I’m sorry nor does he make a move to help clean up.

The essence of manners is to put another person before ourselves. That’s the element that seems to have suddenly evaporated. The new trend is me first --before anyone and everything.

In a crowded fast food restaurant, a child screams for what he wants. Because mom isn’t listening, he kicks her. Mom cowers to his needs. Does this response bring about a social order?

What if mom corrected the child with a single embarrassing moment? A quick swat and a fast trip home empty handed? Would the child learn that the cost of assaulting mom means a great big loss for him?

Bad manners are not learned. Bad manners are natural selfish impulses that children are allowed to have. It’s not a matter of training; it’s a matter of adult neglect. Children with bad manners are children who genuinely are very unhappy because the focus of love is turned on themselves.

Curbing poor manners and developing good ones means placing limits on the child. It means saying no, a lot. A caring adult may have to tug of war with a child to bring about change and to forbid an habitual “me first” attitude. It often means taking ordinary things and privileges away, and that’s tougher on parents than children.

As far as the lunch table grabber goes, removing the child from the table and taking his plate away until the other children have finished will teach him to think about being first all the time. He might fuss and storm and cry out in kiddie language that his rights have been stomped on, but caring adults will teach him to share.

Teaching good manners is not that difficult. Adults who want to teach manners to children should decide what is appropriate. But just telling a child no and demanding certain vague and disconnected rules won’t work. Teaching manners goes a lot deeper.

Instructing children about the worth of others, and showing them how to be gracious and respectful to those they meet both in public and private whether they return good manners or not is a good beginning.

Simple training means always saying please, thank you, I’m sorry, excuse me. As children grow, they should add a personal touch to simple good manners.

“Molly, may I please have some grapes?”

“Thank you, Mom for taking me out to dinner.”

Teaching manners may begin with lots of nos, but somehow they always end in an “I love you.”

Wonderful Wednesday

From a Romanian Newspaper
:
We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA


Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.

~ An Ode to America ~


Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

On 9/11, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.

Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic , they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unites the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.


Cornel Nistorescu

Tuesday's Teacher

This a cute and informative article well worth reading: It's from Food Navigator

Why cavemen could hold the key to healthy eating

By Jess Halliday

20-Sep-2010

Related topics: Science & Nutrition

There’s something incongruous about the hi-tech modern food industry sniffing around the Palaeolithic era for the next big consumer trend. But hold the side order of cynicism. There might just be some logic to good old-fashioned instinctive eating.

Unilever has unveiled a new research programme that aims to re-create the diet of the caveman and apply modern biological science to it in the hope of unlocking some long-forgotten dietary knowledge that was instinctive to our ancestors.

The idea of eating like a caveman is nothing new. Gastroenterologist Walter Voegtlin first published The Stone Age Diet book in 1975, and other researchers have picked up the trail. US-based independent research group Paleobiotics Lab, has also been flagging up the heavy load of prebiotic fibre inulin in our ancestors’ diets, and the benefits it can bring.

Like many off-beat new trends, it has been a way of life for a handful of health fanatics for decades.

But are we ready for it to enter the mainstream? Your average caveman couldn’t have had a more different diet to the way we eat today. Tonight’s dinner may be a ready meal with an ingredients list as long as your arm – when once it would have been an armful of berries picked from a shrub.

Unilever’s new inspiration is not completely out of left-field.

First, the natural trend has been gathering pace. We have started to snub those complex ingredients list, preferring them to feature foods we actually recognise as foods. How more natural can you get than to eat like your ancestors, who would have had no idea what an E-number is, let alone how to skin it.

Nostalgic eating, too, has been a big hit. Especially in the recession, we have sought simplicity and savings by digging out our grandmothers’ old-fangled recipes. And once we have had our fill of braised offal and apple pie, what about Granny’s Granny’s recipes… and all the Great-Grannies going back 1200 generations?

Unilever is looking at a time when filling your stomach was a full time occupation. If you got the nutritional balance wrong or plumped for the wrong berry, the consequences were – a horrible death.

Instinct, then, was a pretty crucial life skill.

The Palaeolithic era was also the time when the human genome was set. And by gum, evolution just hasn’t been able to keep up with fast moving consumer trends since then. We’re pretty much the same human beings as our ancient ancestor – just with worse spear skills but considerably better at manoeuvring a supermarket trolley.

The ability to eat instinctively for our genes has been largely crowded out by a sensual confusion of branding, tastes and textures. The outcome? Well, heart disease and cancer aren’t pleasant ways to end your days.

What we have instead of instinct is an armoury of technologies that can be turned back to basics. Archaeologists, anthropologists, evolutionary geneticists, food scientists, botanists… that’s the team of intrepid investigators Unilever has put together for its foray into diets past.

We can’t turn back eating habits 12000 years and we probably wouldn’t want to. I would rather my local supermarket ran a special on mammoth chops any day than have to go out and hunt them myself.

But we can certainly use today’s techniques to mine knowledge from the past, and use it to make better food in the future. Working together these scientists might, just might, unearth the long-lost secret of optimal nutritional need.

If it comes with a cute picture of a caveman on the package, I’d buy it.

Monday's Tattler

This week is going to be a hot one. Please dress your child in shorts and a t-shirt that has sleeves. Shoes and socks are always required.

Grandparents' Tea is this Friday. Every child is required to have an attending adult. The tea begins at 3:00 with a little program. There is a party after. Please bring a little treat to share. It doesn't have to be huge. A bag of chips, a plate of cookies, cupcakes or some fruit is a great way of sharing!

This week we are looking at the idea of community. Who is my community? This is a good discussion question to actively involve your child.

There are no field trips this week.

We will be trying some new foods this week. We hope your child is enjoying his meals at the Garden School. Nutrition is an important part of your child's development. Trying new foods, enjoying healthy foods is an investment in his life.

We hope you have a great week. We are looking forward to sharing time with your family on Friday.

Sunday's Plate

One of the questions I've been asked lately, is "When I go to the store, what do I buy to make a successful week of really good meals for just two people? I work full time and am tired when I get home, so quick and easy is my theme song. Going to the store is frustrating because it all looks so complicated. "

This is a really good question because for most people who cook only when they have to, a huge and beautifully set up store looks like Willy Wonka's World. There is just too much, and most of it is not defined or looks precariously hard to manage.

For as long as I can remember, I always bought, and still do, a regimen of things so that all the foods can be enjoyed every week. I buy beef for Mondays, pork for Tuesdays, cheese and eggs for Wednesdays, chicken for Thursdays, and fish for Fridays. This is a great plan for families, but when family is two or even one on some nights or weekends, it's just too much to think about.

But still, creating a regimen for a week would be a good idea. If you shop on Saturdays, pick something that you like to eat. Let's pick pork chops. Then pick out a grain product to go with it: rice, noodles, gnocchi, or perhaps potatoes. Then pick out a vegetable you like - broccoli.

The goal is finding the right amount to cook one day that will last the rest of the time you are home during the week. Four ounces of meat for an adult and two ounces of meat for a child is the right nutrition, so start there. If you will be home three days this week with your child, you need to buy 18 ounces of meat. If that is not enough for you, then buy what you need. Cook the whole thing and refrigerate.

Do the same thing with the broccoli. One cluster of broccoli will be fine for a meal. So buy three. This does not have to be cooked all at once. Use one cluster at a time.

Do the same with the grain or potato. Buy enough for three meals. Make rice up at the same time. It refrigerates for a week. So does pasta. Potatoes are easier because they take just a few minutes in the microwave.

One meal can be whole pork chops, rice, and broccoli. Buy a can of cheese soup, or nacho sauce and use it as a pour on additive.

One meal can be cubed pork chops over the rice and chopped up broccoli in a stir fry. Soy sauce really makes this dish. Use a few tablespoons of butter and a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce as the cooking liquid before adding your rice, meat and broccoli.

One meal can be the pork chop sliced and eaten in a flour tortilla. Mix the last of your rice and broccoli with some shredded cheese and nuke for about a minute.

Once your cooking is done, it's easy to come up with ways of using already cooked food.

Cooking should be fun and something that doesn't take a lot of time or energy.

Friday's Tattler

We had a very nice week.

On Wednesday, Miss Nita called a costume day. The kids took great delight in dressing up. It was last minute, and we appreciate all the work parents did to make this a special day for the kids. We had all kinds of costumes, and each one was more precious than the next.




On Tuesday, we had a visit from the Red Cross. The children enjoyed the information the Red Cross had to offer. On Thursday, we had a visit from the Ambulance service. The children all enjoyed seeing the truck, and visiting with the Ambulance personnel.

On Friday, we had our Knowledge Bee. The winners were Jill, Hailee, Jack, Ely, Garrett, and Makenzie. These children answered a myriad of questions and won a star for their medals.

We have had a lot of misconceptions about medals among parents and teachers. Medals are really called Honors Medals. When a child walks into school in the morning, it is taken for granted that the child is honorable and deserves to wear a medal. Lately, we have been taking medals for light reasons, and that's not what it's about. Children must be directed towards good choices and good behaviors. The three reasons to lose a medal are: making another child cry on purpose, continued disobedience or disruption so that too much time is directed away from the group and onto one child. We are a group activity place. Our job is to civilize children to go successfully off to school.

Wonderful Wednesday

From a Romanian Newspaper

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA


Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.

~ An Ode to America ~


Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

On 9/11, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.

Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic , they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unites the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.


Cornel Nistorescu

Tuesday's Teacher

Published Online: September 13, 2010 By Education Week

Updated: September 13, 2010

Few Changes on SAT Posted by Class of 2010

By Catherine Gewertz

Comment: If you are wondering why we push reading, writing and arithmetic from age three, this is why. Read on, McDuff...

Scores on the SAT improved a little in mathematics in the past year, but remained flat in reading and writing, results released today show.

Students in the graduating class of 2010 who took the college-entrance exam during high school produced an average score of 516 in math, 1 point higher than in each of the previous three graduating classes, but still 4 points lower than the decade’s high point, 520 for the class of 2005, according to results released by the College Board, which sponsors the SAT.

The class of 2006 was the first whose score report reflects a newly reworked SAT, which includes higher-level math questions as well as an essay-writing section.

Last spring’s graduates turned in an average score of 501 on the reading section, the same as the class of 2009, a point lower than each of the two previous classes, and 7 points below the high of the class of 2005.

The average score on the writing portion of the test was 492, continuing a steady decline since it was first given five years ago.

SAT Participation and Scores

SOURCE: College Board

Each section of the test is scored from 200 to 800.

The test-taking patterns of the class of 2010 mark the first time that the SAT has slipped behind its rival college-entrance exam, the ACT, in popularity. The ACT has been gaining ground, fueled in part by a growing list of states that administer the exam to all juniors or seniors.

In the most recent graduating class, more students took the SAT than ever before—1,547,990, by traditional College Board cohort measures. But nearly 21,000 more students took the ACT, which last month reported total participation of 1,568,835 for the class of 2010. Equal proportions of the class of 2010—47 percent—took the ACT and the SAT. In 2005, 49 percent of the graduating class took the SAT, compared with 40 percent for the ACT. ("Rate of Minorities Taking ACT Continues to Rise," Aug. 25, 2010.)

New Numbers Reported

The raw-numbers comparison between the SAT and the ACT changes, however, if a typically excluded group of SAT-taking students is counted.

In past years, the College Board has excluded from its national report the scores of students who take the SAT for the first time in May or June of their senior year. This year it supplied the number of students in that group—49,339. With those students counted, about 28,500 more took the SAT than the ACT.

The College Board did not include the scores of those “later-testing seniors” in its detailed trend analysis to allow consumers to compare this year’s results with those of previous years.

In a conference call with reporters, company officials said they reported the additional group this year—and will include them in trend analysis beginning next year—because they have been noticing an increase in that group of test-takers—44 percent since the class of 2006 took the exam, said Laurence Bunin, a senior vice president at the College Board.

Mr. Bunin attributed the change to growth in the number of students thinking about preparing for college, a shift he welcomed as “positive news” in the nation’s push toward better college-completion rates. If the later-testing seniors’ scores are factored in, the average SAT score in each of the three tested areas drops by 1 point, a result Mr. Bunin said was not surprising since those students “may not have been focused on college preparation” until later in their educations.

One area of concern highlighted by College Board officials was the writing exam. Of the three areas tested, they said, it is the most predictive of success in students’ freshman year in college. For that reason, and because it is an “essential skill” in careers, the fact that scores have been steadily dropping every year that test has been given is of particular concern, Mr. Bunin said.

“The downward trend must be reversed,” he told reporters. “Writing must be made a higher priority in secondary and K-12 education.”

Gaps Persist

Students from some racial- and ethnic-minority groups, and those from disadvantaged families, continued to turn in lower SAT scores on average than those of their white, Asian, and more-affluent peers, patterns that have held their shape for the past decade.

In reading, for instance, white students’ average score was 528, and Asian students’ was 519, compared with 454 for Latino students and 429 for African-Americans. In math, white students outscored blacks by 108 points and Latinos by 69 or more points. Asians’ average math score was 55 points higher than that of white students.

Officials of the New York City-based College Board noted that the population of students taking the SAT has become increasingly diverse, with racial- and ethnic-minority students making up nearly 42 percent of the test-takers in the class of 2010, up from 40 percent the previous year and 29 percent in 2000.

Students’ scores continued to reflect their family income and parents’ education. Those in the lowest-income brackets, and whose parents had the least education, scored 125 points or more below their peers at the top of the family-income or parental education grid.

Clear correlations existed, as well, between students’ scores and their coursetaking patterns: Those who took more years of math or English scored better than those who took fewer, and those who took Advanced Placement or honors courses scored better as well. That held true across subjects, too; students who took four years of English, for instance, scored better on the math section of the SAT than did those who took fewer than four years, and those who took four years of math did better on the reading SAT than those who took fewer.

FairTest, a Cambridge, Mass.-based group critical of standardized testing, was quick to jump on the SAT report as a sign that the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires widespread tests as part of school accountability, has failed in its stated purposes: to improve overall student achievement and close racial and socioeconomic gaps.

College Board President Gaston Caperton told reporters that while he wouldn’t dub the law a failure, he thinks it “certainly hasn’t accomplished what we must accomplish in this country. We don’t have enough students going to college. We don’t have them well enough prepared. We have to add a lot more rigor. Kids have to work harder. They have to be engaged and committed. I think it’s a great problem in this country, and something that we all have to work on.”

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning! It's Monday again, and the week ahead seems to be well in the making.

We will do regular classes in the mornings, and then on Monday afternoon, Mrs. St. Louis is going to finish the Creation story. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Denny is going to do a class on bones. Then on Wednesday, Miss Nita is going to do a class on the history of costumes. It should be a great week.

We will do the Golden Bead awards this morning, and go over some of the rules the kids seem to break readily.

We need to know our full name, Mom's and Dad's full names, our address, our phone number. Please work with your child.

No field trip this week.

Fiction and Non Fiction are our vocabulary words this week.

Spaghetti, hot dog pockets, bacon pizza, roast chicken legs, and baked talapia are on the menu this week. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate

This weekend, I was shopping for jam, and I realized just how expensive it is. My husband usually buys jam at Aldi's which we call "East Germany" for a reason. As I was musing, I remembered back to a time when I made jam. I never remember it being a tough thing to do. I remember hearing stories from people about making jam in a hot summer kitchen, and how all these ladies would gather around doing various and sundry jobs, and how this huge production would make what amounts to ten jars each and create enough dishes to call it Purgatory.

As a natural simplifier, as a busy person with many interests and not a lot of time, I have to re-evaluate nearly everything, and find an easy precise, timely way to do just about everything. So while I was holding a six ounce glass jar of jam which was mostly sugar and thickener, I put it back and marched over to the green grocer.

I picked up $5.99 worth of strawberries and added them to my cart. Then I picked up a box of fruit pectin. Then, finishing my shopping, I came home.

At home, after putting all the groceries away, I left out the strawberries. Gathering my wits and a heavy bottomed pot, I hulled and cut four cups of fresh strawberries, measured out three tablespoons of pectin, dumped it into the pot with two cups of sugar and brought the whole thing to a boil for about two minutes. Then I ladled the boiled fruit and sugar into some jars, and screwed the lids and put them by in the fridge. I made four half-pints or $24.00 worth of jam for $6.50. Plus I had a third of the strawberries left. Plus the outstanding taste was well worth the fifteen minutes it took to complete the task including the clean up.

Years ago I made jelly from frozen concentrate grape juice and apple juice.

Jars? I store my leftovers in glass because plastic leaches. I always have jars at home, but always canning jars or the big glass jars you find at the Dollar Store. Those are great for storing food - cranberries especially, so you know how many you have.

The whole scheme of jam making is: use half the sugar of the fruit. So if you make strawberry jam, and you are using four cups of fruit, use two of sugar. If you are not using apples, throw in a tablespoon of pectin for every cup of fruit.

Making fruit, just like making bread, or cookies, or cake does not have to be a huge ordeal. It should be a quick, easy, fun gig, you can do while doing something else.

Try it while the berries are still available.

Saturday's Under the Sun

The Sailor Pictured Below Is,

Navy Petty Officer,

PO2

(Petty Officer, Second Class)

EOD2

(Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class)

"MIKE MONSOOR"

April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2009

Mike Monsoor,

Was Awarded "The Congressional Medal Of Honor" Last Week,

For Giving His Life In Iraq , As He Jumped On, And Covered With His Body, A Live Hand Grenade,

Saving The Lives Of A Large Group Of Navy Seals That Was Passing By!

~

During Mike Monsoor's Funeral,

At Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery , In San Diego , California ..

The Six Pallbearers Removed The Rosewood Casket From The Hearse,

And Lined Up On Each Side Of Mike Monsoor's Casket,

Were His Family Members, Friends, Fellow Sailors, And Well-wishers.

The Column Of People Continued >From The Hearse, All The Way To The Grave Site.

What The Group Didn't Know At The Time Was,

Every Navy Seal

(45 To Be Exact)

That Mike Monsoor Saved That Day Was Scattered Through-Out The Column!

~

As The Pallbearers Carried The Rosewood Casket

Down The Column Of People To The Grave Side.

The Column Would Collapse..

Which Formed A Group Of People That Followed Behind.

~

Every Time The Rosewood Casket Passed A Navy Seal,

He Would Remove His Gold Trident Pin From His Uniform,

And Slap It Down Hard,

Causing The Gold Trident Pin To Embed Itself

Into The Top Of The Wooden Casket!

Then The Navy Seal Would Step Back From The Column, And Salute!

~

Now For Those,

Who Don't Know What A Trident Pin Is,

Here Is The Definition!

~

After One Completes The Basic Navy Seals Program Which Lasts For Three Weeks,

And Is Followed By Seal Qualification Training,

Which Is 15 More Weeks Of Training,

Necessary To Continue Improving Basic Skills And To Learn New Tactics And Techniques,

Required For An Assignment To A Navy Seal Platoon.

After successful completion,

Trainees Are Given Their Naval Enlisted Code,

And Are Awarded The Navy Seal Trident Pin.

With This Gold Pin They Are Now Officially Navy Seals!

It Was Said,

That You Could Hear Each Of The 45 Slaps From Across The Cemetery!

By The Time The Rosewood Casket Reached The Grave Site,

It Looked As Though It Had A Gold Inlay From The 45 Trident Pins That Lined The Top!

This Was A Fitting End To An Eternal Send-Off For A Warrior Hero!

This Should Be Front-Page News!

Instead Of The Garbage We Listen To And See Every Day. ~

Friday's Tattler

Friday was a glorious day. We packed our usual picnic lunch before the kids got to school. We had a light breakfast and then proceeded to go to Audubon Park in Kentucky, just across the bridge. It was a misty kind of cool rainy day, and the kids were excited about being out in it. We met Miss Jackie ( a friend of 30 years) at the museum, and we headed out into nice nearly fall weather.

We first encountered a millipede - in fact - we encountered several millipedes! The park was covered in them. We saw all kinds of bugs, leaves, nuts, and mushrooms. We even sang mushroom songs. The kids wandered here and there on the trail looking at different interesting wood stuff with little magnifying glasses. It was great fun.

We finished our tour and headed up to the playground where we ate nearly everything. We had tuna, egg, bologna, cheese, peanut butter sandwiches - chicken salad for adults - watermelon, carrots, pickles, and chips. The kids had a last minute dash - a race - and Garrett, Ayden, Reese and Jayce won it.

We moseyed back to school and played several things the rest of the day.

Jill and Reese won the Knowledge Bee. Gold beads will be given out on Monday.

We ended the day with Chocolate brownies and ice cream. Great day!

Thursday's Thought

Dear Judy, Jennie Garth, star of "Beverly Hills, 90210," thinks greasy school lunches are not so cool--and the mother of three wants Congress to help students get better options. In a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Garth urges Rep. Pelosi to throw her support behind a House bill that would fight childhood obesity by assisting schools in serving healthier choices. “I’m writing to you because I am passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles,” writes Ms. Garth in her letter. “This past year, I have been working to educate and motivate children to make healthy choices. But nutrition education isn’t enough: We also have to make sure that every child in America can find healthy foods in their school cafeteria.” The bill Garth supports, The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act (H.R. 5504), would help schools serve more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat plant-based meal options. Ms. Garth is one of more than 30 celebrities who have written to Congress to ask for healthy school lunches. Would you like a copy of Jennie Garth’s letter? And would you like to interview a nutrition expert? Best, Tara

I received this letter today from a media source. As a grass roots person, I'm not sure that this is the way to go. A bill in Congress to help schools serve...is not going to get it on the tables. The United States Department of Agriculture Child and Adult Food Program which has been the school lunch ruling authority for decades indicates the rules by which schools must serve our lunches to children. It dictates that early childhood places must serve:

2 ounces of protein
4 ounces of fruits and vegetables
1 ounce of grain
8 ounces of milk

at lunch. More to bigger kids. Now what you do with those components is the real issue.

True, most school based lunches swerve the rules and end up containing three starches and something non-describable from a can, and consequently there is more than 85% plate waste. Therefore, school lunches are mostly thrown away. But the program of serving children lunch in school is still a good one. Considering the lunch from home I found on the bus one day containing some fruit snacks, a candy bar, a coke, and a bag of chips, a school lunch can't be worse.

Let's face it, few people eat well or know how to eat well, and by the looks of many of them, that includes congress. How many really understand what this bill would have to manage to get the job done right? Does a bill that calls for more fruits and vegetables take into account the present plate waste? Probably not. Is offering children 6-8 ounces of fruits and vegetables instead of 4 an idea that will produce a balanced diet? I have my doubts.

As someone who tried for a year and a half to softly and carefully begin a program of healthy eating in Evansville through the combined efforts of the childcare centers in our city within the new city wide coalition - mouthful - I know I couldn't get passed being ignored. I was tabled so many times, I just gave up. In the same regard, I'm not sure Congress is going to be able to do much with this since they are all fighting for their political lives right now. They might willy-nilly allocate a billion dollars to someone for something, but the lunches won't change because the "interpretation" of the rules will always yield to the "doer." The doer, or producer of meals wants ease and convenience and with food that does not mean extra work.

It's really a matter of understanding food, and few people do. Someone who says, "I made a yummy lunch of pork steak in a nice thick milk gravy, instant mashed potatoes with lots of margarine, canned buttered corn and a popin' fresh biscuit just oozing with margarine," is not going to be as optimistic about baked soy burgers on whole wheat buns, half an apple and two ounces of carrots.

Most children would want the hot greasy lunch because they crave the calories and the warm food rarely gotten in most homes. And few are going to go for the soy burger because it's not what they get at home. Really, how do you make a soy burger taste good?

Finding a common ground with kids is not that hard. It's always a balance between what they will and should eat. It's a matter of simplicity, recognition, fun and taste.

Let's look at the pork steak meal. There is nothing wrong with pork steak. But instead of cooking it in gravy, I would bake it hard in the oven and serve chunks of meat as a finger food to be dipped into a little fresh honey. I would change the instant potatoes to whole fresh potatoes that have been quartered and baked like giant home fries and served with ketchup. I would serve the corn without the butter and cooked very lightly, and it would have to be frozen if not fresh. And lastly, I would serve a choice of whole wheat breads. No margarine. Margarine is half a molecule away from plastic. Better to use a jelly or a Benedictine fudge - something mixed with honey.

If you presented the differences between the two meals in the last paragraph, you would bore the heck out of Congress and nothing would be done at all, so it's a losing battle from the git go. It's really a matter of hiring people in the kitchens of schools who will first buy good food, and then make good food from the guidelines already available, and no bill in congress, even floating down to us on the backs of angels is going to make the lunch less greasy.