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.

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.

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.

Few Changes on SAT Posted by Class of 2010

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.”

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!

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.

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 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!

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.