Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - Wordless Wendnesday: Grandeur
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - More Derailment in Arizona
I've been so slow with blogging lately! The holiday season has us busy! (My photo host has also been giving me fits in uploading pictures. It is usually fabulous, so I'm spoiled.)
I finally managed to upload pictures, so we'll continue the play-by-play of our Arizona trip!
Over there:
And a then from "over there":
What a beautiful and awe inspiring sight. Pictures (at least my pictures) can't do the Grand Canyon justice.
As amazing as the natural wonder is, anywhere we go I enjoy watching people the people were fascinating, and in return, I realized that people were watching us.
So many people wanted to take our pictures! Oh, yes, a few kind souls offered to take a picture of our whole family (one of them is posted a few posts down). That didn't surprise me. What was odd was those who wanted to take our picture with their own cameras! There were visitors from all over the world--many from Asian countries. The Asian women were fascinated with our children. They'd see Kieran coming around a corner and "ooh!" and "aah" over him. (We think he's pretty cute ourselves.) Then they'd see Keegan and say, "Brother? Oh! he has brother!" A moment later they'd clap their hands in delight seeing the three girls! "All brothers and sisters? All? One, two, three, four, five?" It was astounding to me because while five is more than our national average, it isn't something that usually stops traffic. Several of the ladies asked if they could take the children's picture. Their exuberance and genuine excitement was irresistible, so we were happy to oblige, but I do wish I'd taken a picture of them taking their pictures.
The other picture I wish I'd taken was of the Condor Man. As we were heading back toward the train, we saw a man waving an antenna back and forth. He was off by himself, but as we got closer he looked over at us, and seemed amiable. The children asked what he was doing,. (Ken and I were curious ourselves). We walked over to ask, and ended up being given a wonderful science lesson. He explained that he was picking up signals from California Condors, and provided a wealth of information on the enormous, endangered birds.
Next up, in my super-slow play-by-play, the return train ride. Stay tuned, it might be a day or three unless I can mend my ways.
Friday, December 4, 2009 - Oops... Got Derailed
I started to post about our trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, but got derailed just before posting about the train! We took a train to the north rim, and the ride was an experience to remember!
Before the trip: Kieran got in with a rough crowd, and made the acquaintance of some train robbers!:
The train!
Kieran much prefered this mode of travel to his car seat:
Outside our window--Looks alot like Wyoming!
And in addition to fascinating information told as we traveled, we had great entertainment!
Stay tuned. I really will get to the actual canyon soon! (If I don't get derailed again. It seemed that once we got home and unpacked the Christmas season just hit full force! Life is busy, but good!)
Next stop: The North Rim.
Dec. 1, 2009 - A, B, C, D, & F Too Hard for Parents?
Apparently the Spokane School system thinks letter grades are the cause of ongoing problems with communicating how a child is doing in their subjects. Numbers on the other hand make everything clear. Read the article to find out how.
I have nothing against numbers, and I have nothing in favor of letters--as grades, but the problem the Spokane schools are hoping to solve won't be cured because of their preference for numbers over letters. They could do the exact same report card using the letter system. Nor will telling parents how their children are doing after the term help. Parents need to know how their children are doing during the term. Unfortunately many teachers never communicate that at all and leave it to the report card to do their "dirty" work for them.
Just a few weeks ago I spoke with a mom whose son had been placed in a new school. She thought her son was doing well. She had signed up to be a substitute teacher's aide and one day she was called in to help in the remedial math class. She was shocked to find her son in it. At first she thought he'd lost his way or something, but he soon let her know that this was his math class. It was a rough day for her as she waited for the day to end to find out the answers as to why her son was in this special class and why hadn't she or her husband ever been told?
While the parent should always be the one to keep tabs on their children and not leave it up to the teachers to relay how a student is doing, parents have been conditioned to believe that they have put their children in safe hands and that until they are notified, by report card, everything is fine and dandy.
Communication among parents and teachers is bound to get worse, not better, no matter what grading system is used as long as parents continue to blindly follow the blind.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Monday, November 30, 2009 - En Route to the Grand Canyon
Your guesses were right on the photo in the post below! We did indeed go to the Grand Canyon, and it was Grand indeed!
Ken's accustomed to staying up at night, having a night-shift job, so he decided we'd do the bulk of the 14 hour van ride while the sun slept.
The children were fantastic travelers, but some found it easier than others. This photo pretty much sums up Kieran's thoughts about 14 hours in a carseat--he was good and didn't really cry or grumble, but he wasn't exactly excited:
Keegan and the girls were more cheery, but then they understood the destination a little better:
More coming as I get the pictures up. Not only did we stop by and enjoy the Grand Canyon on the way to see Ken's brother in Arizona, but we took the... oopps, I'm getting ahead of myself again! Stay tuned...
Sunday, November 29, 2009 - We are home! (Can you guess where we went?)
I apologize for the unexplained blog absence. Ken kidnapped us and took us on a ride--a long ride. We had a fabulous time, and I'll update more later, as I'm catching up on laundry and decorating for Christmas tonight!
Meanwhile, can you guess where we were? Photohint below:
Nov. 24, 2009 - NEA Puts Power Ahead of Kids
It's really no surprise to anyone ever that the NEA was more interested in protecting its power than educating children. What is surprising is that they actually feel confident enough in their power to admit it. Here's the NEA's General Counsel admitting as much in his retirement speech this past summer.
"Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power....
This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.
(View YouTube video on this subject here.)
If you're a parent with children in the public schools you can voice your objections here. But the best way to object is by removing your children from their schools. Without your children they have no real power.
In a related story, future teachers in Minnesota are being "reducated" and become "culturally competent"
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin in order to obtain a teacher certificate.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
Nov. 18, 2009 - Homeschoolers and Health Care
For all my homeschooling friends who think ObamaCare will solve their financial and health insurance woes, think again. It may give you temporary relief for your financial headache, but it may also invite government nannies into your home to improve your child's well-being and health.
HR 3200 that passed the House of Representatives, currently has a provision for funding states that implement a "voluntary" home visitation program for parents with young children or who are expecting. (See Sec. 1904 sec. 440)
The intended purpose is to " improve the well-being, health, and development of children by enabling the establishment and expansion of high quality programs providing voluntary home visitation for families with young children and families expecting children."In America we used to believe that was the role of the parent, but now it's the role of our benevolent and compassionate Uncle Sam. A gaze over the Atlantic will show us exactly where we're headed,
"Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.New guidance drawn up at the request of the Department of Health urges councils and other public sector bodies to “collect data” on properties where children are thought to be at “greatest risk of unintentional injury”.
Council staff will then be tasked with overseeing the installation of safety devices in homes, including smoke alarms, stair gates, hot water temperature restrictors, oven guards and window and door locks.
The draft guidance by a committee at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has been criticised as intrusive and further evidence of the “creeping nanny state”.
Where are the safety devices for the "creeping nanny" who keeps sticking her nose into our personal lives?
Why homeschoolers support this bill or President Obama is beyond my understanding.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
Nov. 17, 2009 - Counting down until Thanksgiving Break!
School has been going pretty good this year. Right now I'm behind on grading papers, but tonight or tomorrow night I'll get caught up with that. I'm almost done making assignments until Thanksgiving break. I'm going to have the kids do school on Monday and somewhat on Tuesday. It will be more of "holiday school". We'll be shopping for food items, reading Thanksgiving books and watching holiday movies, but it will also be a catch-up day for my high schoolers if they need it, and they probably will.
Monday, November 16, 2009 - Daybook: Monday November 16th, 2009
Outside my window… the sun is low in the sky, casting a beautiful light over the snow-covered fields.
I am hearing... the washer and dryer running, pages turning as the girls read from the book baskets.
I am creating… another flannel petticoat. I think this winter is gonna be cold!
A picture thought to share: Double Bubble Trouble
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