Here is a wonderful article for all our moms and dads who never put themselves first. If you are exhausted and overworked to the point of tears, you need to read this article from the Spark People. It’s about taking time for self as a legitimate goal. As always, our prayers go out each day to our families, our friends and those who are suffering.
For the article from The Spark People go HERE.
We made a neat new dish today. We baked a pumpkin whole. It was stuffed with ground chuck and rice. It was soooooo easy. We had some tiny pie pumpkins at school. I have been wanting to make something out of the pumpkins for a long time, and this week while we are studying Native Americans, I thought it would be a great time to do that “something.”
I cut the top off and reamed out the pumpkin which was probably the hardest part of the job. After reaming, I put already cooked hamburger and rice which was about 50/50. I salted it somewhat and used a little pumpkin pie spice. I baked the pumpkin for about 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.
I made a cheese sauce to put on top of the finished product.
Cheese sauce is easy. You melt about a tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan. You mix about 1/4 cup of flour into the melted butter until you have a paste. Add two cups of milk and bring to a boil. Add 5 slices of American Cheese – not cheddar because it will taste like soap – and a teaspoon of dry chicken bouillon. When it’s thick and actually looks like you want to eat it, add a glob of sour cream. Use a whisk as a tool.
When I got home from school, I made another stuffed pumpkin for Mr. Terry. This time I used vegetables like mushrooms and leeks and walnuts, and made a bouillon sauce for it. Instead of rice, I used bulgur. It was very nice. It didn’t need the cheese sauce.
We had corn, applesauce, and flat bread with cheese as the rest of our meal.
If you have any questions about this pumpkin business, let me know. It was a real success with the kids.
Good morning! Another fine day. Although it’s been unseasonably hot, it’s been dry and I think a lot of us are kind of enjoying this. I’m still looking for the fog, rain, overcast blustery day, but this will do for now. Today will be another 85 degree day, so shorts, shorts, shorts, please!
On Friday, we had a visit from PBS. Steve Burger came by to record the kids about their thoughts on the creative process. We had an art class, and then the kids were free to build, or do art as they wanted. It was a very productive morning. Steve was fascinated by the children’s ability to work and to play at that work. He spoke to a lot of the kids about what they had done, and then he followed the boys into Miss Amy’s classroom to talk about their building a house on the carpet. He was very interested in the Garden School’s core curriculum – the arts.
I told him that no matter the standards, a child is MUCH more likely to be a better student who has a lot of art and music, because most school work is a matter of “what to do” to get it right. Whereas art is a matter of “how to do” and the question “how” lends itself to more depth of thought, more possibilities, more creativity, a broader ability to tackle any problem. That’s why we do art in the classroom every day, and we try to make our art projects as open ended as possible.
The program will air on November 11. More details later.
This week our theme is Columbus and the Native American. We will look at Columbus’s voyage and what he discovered when he got here. We will look at the Native American as a stone age person and what that means in a world that was rapidly changing.
On Thursday, we will go to Angel Mounds for a tour and then go out to Fortress of Fun for a picnic before returning to school.
This week we will be sampling some Native American foods a la Americana. Watch the meal binder in the front of the school for details.
Another exciting week.
One of the ten perfect foods is kale. Not sure I’ve ever eaten it, but you can trust I am going to try soon. Kale has been given a place among the ten perfect foods list along with broccoli, sweet potatoes, raspberries, eggs, yogurt, quinoa, almonds and two more I can’t remember now.
Trying new foods with children means making it attractive and desirable. We’ve been trying new foods with the kids every week just like we’re trying new life skills. This is one of our kids climbing down from the Survive Alive House.
For more on Kale from World’s Healthiest Foods go HERE.
Want to know why blueberries are one of the best fruits for your kids? Here’s an article from Food Navigator that has all the information. You can be sure we will be having blueberries on the menu this week!
To read the article on blueberries click HERE.
Early Childhood Education is a passion with me. Sometimes I think my passion is a means to set the story straight. As a very neglected and brutally abused child, I want to reorder the world. Sometimes I think my passion is more related to “seeing all they can do.”
As an early childhood educator, my experience with teaching the youngest class teaches me that the more you offer a child, the more intellectual gas you put into his tank. And that doesn’t only apply to the brightest and the strongest. It applies to all the children.
Offer a child ten minutes a day of story or art, and you get a child mildly interested in stories and art. Offer a child an hour of wild and crazy art with colors and textures and you may help develop an artist. Offer a child a foreign language, and he may discover the world of linguistics. A real experience with theatre and acting and the sky is the limit.
Children gain their love of real work from doing real work at school and having the right person tell them they are wonderful. Not every child will be thrilled with every subject, but every child needs every subject to discover what does thrill him and what makes him excel as a whole person.
Offering children new intellectual experiences at three, four, five, six, and into grammar school is what every early childhood place should be doing. The nice thing about the years before grammar school is that the freedom of the hours lends a creative approach to framing in time so that there are many things all day every day.
Fitting everything in is the hard part. And some things are better every day like foreign language. Children need to hear the new language spoken as often as possible, and they need to learn expressions that they can learn and say. Once a week is not enough time spent if you want children to really learn to experience a new language and understand what language means.
Theatre, on the other hand, is one of those things that is very consuming all at one time. To do theatre every day would be exhausting. But there should come a time when a school is working on a play, and all the kids are involved from morning to night for several weeks in a row. It’s a good way of teaching “plan, do and review” as a life lesson, as a means of understanding organizational skills.
Then there are the other subjects like science. Science is a constant “work in progress” or something that curiously invades our lives every day, but something we don’t often take the time to look up or do anything about. So science class should be a meeting place where we discuss all those neet things we saw this week and need to share. It’s also a time to be introduced to new natural ideas.
Then there is music. Music is a more than once a day thing. Music is like praying twice! It’s the song of our hearts being creative with our world. Kids need to sing every day, they need to play music with their hands and understand music in their minds. Listening, playing, singing, dancing, and the sound of poetry are all parts of music that need to be engaged, and setting aside at least one daily time is essential.
But there are other things that involve learning like culture, like holidays, like weather, like nutrition, like exercise, like friendship, like building and sewing and clay. All these things should have a time planned out by the people who say they love your child.
A good early childhood program should be inventive and creative and wide open for every possible experience because children need this. Parents need to treasure all their children do.
The winner of our beautiful baby contest is Kylie!!! Yeah Kylie!!! :-))))
Kylie won with a whopping $20.45. Andrew was our beautiful boy with a whopping $20.02 Runners up were Austin and Jaylen. Congratulations. Our proceeds will go to buying a new piece of playground equipment. Thank you all for such a beautiful event. Pictures will be returned tomorrow.
We want to thank the parents for supporting us during the conference. Without a great group of parents, it would not be possible. Teaching needs a breath of fresh air once in a while, and this conference really hit the mark. All of us are using what we learned and the kids are having a lot of fun with their new words. It is always surprising what children don’t know. Too often we take for granted that they understand what we read and what we say. Many times that is not so. So we are being very aware of what words we use. We want our children to have the very best vocabularies in the city.
This week is Fire Safety Week. We will be going to the Survive Alive House on Wednesday. It’s a great experience for the children and makes them very aware of home safety. We will be giving out grids for parents to help children draw their home and create a fire escape route. Parents will be encouraged to work on a family escape plan. Children will be given information about getting out of the house safely. We hope this can be a family learning experience.
Report cards will be going home with children on Monday. In many respects they are the kinds of report cards children will receive for years. In other respects they are a specialty of the Garden School. Please read the key. It says the children’s work ethic, ability and contribution to class are either excellent, good, average or poor. Nobody fails!
Please notice the new “French Word Wall.” These are the French words your child is learning this week. They have to do with fire and fire equipment.
An English vocabulary word wall will begin soon. We are very excited about our new focus on vocabulary.
This week will be extraordinarily hot. Please be kind and send your child in long pants.
OK, I’m the downer of the moment, but Christmas IS just around the corner. I knew that when I realized we are in the month of October and Halloween is weeks away. The holiday season is a tough season for any woman who works, or any man who is left without a woman. If you’re like me, the holiday list grows every single year. It’s hard enough to get all the kids covered, but those people you love who have nearly everything…
One of my distributors sent the most fantastic product – The Shape Up Shoe. I unwrapped this shoe and thought, “What is this?” But all of our teachers tried on this wonderful toy and found that wearing this marvelous shoe for half an hour was exactly what the promise says – like exercising ferociously! It’s shaped strangely, and if you actually roll with the shoe, it strengthens your legs and you can feel it right to the navel.
For children needing more exercise, this is a real possibility. Many children don’t want to exercise simply because they haven’t. Kids will find these shoes fun, and they will strengthen muscles and make running and jumping more of a pleasure.
My distributor said:
Every woman knows that exercise is so important to a healthy lifestyle but finding the time to work out is extremely difficult.
With work, family and social commitments most women are just too busy for the gym.
Now there is an amazing new way to exercise while you are simply walking around each day!
Shape Up Shoes offers a convenient way to get fit and firm up your body.
By wearing these innovative yet comfortable shoes only 30 minutes a day, you will notice a positive change in your legs, glutes, and core musculature.
Wear these fabulous fitness shoes while doing menial, everyday tasks that need to be completed and you are on your way to a toned and fantastic new body! ShapeUpShoes
This is truly amazing! Cannot even imagine the work, time, and money that went into this venture. It’s also amazing to see how large this is – and that the fact it is to scale of biblical times. Enjoy. This is a working Replica of Noah’s Ark Opens In Schagen , Netherlands
The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was thrown open Saturday for the first crowd of curious Pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it’s only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That’s two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy.
Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck – not quite ready in time for the opening – will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats, and one camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned. ‘It’s past comprehension, ‘ said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw The ark looming over the local landscape. ‘I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.’
There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark.
Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands , where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. ”If You Need Help, Ask God. If You Don’t, Thank God”… ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’ Psalm 23:6
When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Live today to the fullest because tomorrow is not promised.
If you think this costume is cute, it’s nearly free – it’s a make me at home. We’re all feeling the squeeze from the economic downturn but that doesn’t have to mean cutting corners on family fun this Halloween. Craft magazine illustrates how to make fun and funky costumes for your kids with a visit to your recycling bin, sewing box or local craft store – much easier than standing in line at a crowded costume shop and a bit easier on the wallet, as well.
You can quickly and easily whip up these five amazing kiddy costumes using supplies you probably already have on hand, plus a bit of creativity. These custom-made outfits also have more staying power than most flimsy store-bought costumes, and you’ll love how cheap and quick they are to make. Follow the links below for full instructions:
Bee: http://craftzine.com/halloweenkids/#bee
Monkey: http://craftzine.com/halloweenkids/#monkey
Lego: http://craftzine.com/halloweenkids/#lego
Sushi: http://craftzine.com/halloweenkids/#sushi
Pirate: http://craftzine.com/halloweenkids/#pirate
