Story At Home Conference

I attended the Story At Home Conference (family history, storytelling, and blogging) over the weekend that was put on by Cherish Bound partnering with Family Search.  It was very inspirational and I so wish I had been able to attend with a friend or family member.  Because I couldn't find anyone else interested in going, I went alone.  I want to share some of what I learned, but I'm still trying to gather my thoughts.  Plus, with a birthday today (my little boy is one today!), I will probably not have a chance to write more  until later this week...probably not until Friday since the next two days I have a very busy schedule.  That will give me time to formulate what I want to write, though.  So check back in a few days and find out what went on at the conference, what I gleaned from it, and how I will be changing my blog.

Perspective

Isn't it interesting how our perspectives on various things change as we get older? I remember when I was a senior in high school and my English teacher would say every day, "Christmas is coming." That meant that we needed to get our college applications in before Christmas. He said that we had a better chance getting accepted wherever we were applying if we applied before Christmas. I got my application to BYU in by the end of October. But I remember it feeling like he said that over and over for AGES. That first semester of my last year of high school lasted for SO long!

Then I remember when I was a freshman in college and my boyfriend left on his mission for two whole years! Two years was such a long time. I remember after one year had passed when there was only one year left, but one whole year seemed like forever. Now that I look back, two years is nothing!

When I had my first baby, that first year took forever. Each month you marked the milestones your baby would hit. You kept track of every first and that first birthday seemed like an eternity away. Can we keep him alive all the way until he's one? And then when the first birthday came, it was rejoicing! Yes, we survived the first year!

Now, my fifth child will be turning one in less than a week. It certainly hasn't felt like the endless year that it was with my first child! I can't believe that in less than two years, my little girl will be in kindergarten. In only three more years after that, this baby will be in kindergarten.

It's funny how things change, isn't it? I remember when I was a teenager how my mom told me that time goes by faster and faster as you get older. Boy, was she ever right!

More on Preschool

This is a hot topic for me, one for which I have very strong opinions. Yesterday, I read on a news website that our state is considering making preschool mandatory as well as all-day kindergarten. For some obvious reasons (if you've read previous posts of mine), I'm not exactly in line with this type of thinking.

I wish that people could realize how much a child learns by simply exploring their world. That a child can learn so much more in five minutes of this type of exploration than they sometimes can by sitting in a preschool classroom for 2-3 hours three times a week. I wish that more parents would realize that their children can benefit so much from them spending good quality learning time with them.

I just recently read, and I wish I could cite the source as it was only a day or two ago, that by the fourth grade there is no difference between children who went to preschool and children who didn't, and also, in that same study, there was no difference in the early grades between kids who went to preschool and kids who came from strong learning environments at home that didn't attend preschool.

I'm not sure how the state will mandate preschool, if this bill passes. I know that kindergarten used to not be required, is it now? If it does pass and is required, I supposed I can always officially home school my kids for at least preschool, as I already do that and follow a pretty structured curriculum even. But it just makes me sick that so many parents buy into this notion that preschool is necessary.

As far as all day kindergarten, I really don't think that should be required. However, we wouldn't be the first state to do so. Many other states already have full day kindergarten as standard. I do like the half day option, but that's because for some kids, half days are just better. I taught all day kindergarten. Let me tell you, there were kids in that class for whom all day kindergarten was a horrible experience. They were exhausted by after lunch time and became my problem students when in the morning, they were my exemplary ones. They were in all day kindergarten because their parents worked and figured it was a better (cheaper) option than daycare. I get that some parents need to work, so make it an option, not a requirement!

I know that what I've said in the past makes it sound like I hate preschool. I just feel like lots of parents don't realize how easy it can be to teach their kids at home. But as long as it's not required, I guess I'll be happy to just keep my kids at home with me as long as possible. Early childhood goes by way too quickly, and I love to teach my own children these academic basics. I hope this doesn't pass.

Pineapple Dragon Stir-Fry (Recipe Included)

I ran across this recipe in an advertisement for Dole pineapple chunks. Although, I didn't use Dole pineapple chunks, I just used the generic canned chunk pineapple. Shhh! Don't tell!

Pineapple Dragon Stir-Fry

2 cups white rice, uncooked
1 can (20 oz) chunk pineapple
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, divided
2 Tbsp cornstarch, divided
3/4 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper, optional
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup red bell pepper chunks
1 small carrot, thinly sliced diagonally
1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1. Prepare rice according to package directions (although I wait until close to the end to make the rice).
2. Drain pineapple. Reserve 1/4 cup juice.
3. Stir together, in small bowl, reserved juice, water, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, red pepper (if desired), and garlic powder; set aside.
4. Combine chicken with remaining 1 Tbsp each cornstarch and soy sauce in medium bowl. Heat oil in wok or non-stick large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add broccoli, bell pepper, carrot, and ginger; stir-fry 4 minutes or until just tender. Add reserved soy sauce mixture; cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in pineapple chunks and heat through. Serve over rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Don't Blink

"Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did"--Kenny Chesney

I was rocking my baby to sleep tonight and thinking about how in eleven days he will be a one-year-old.  Then I started thinking how my oldest will be nine in about two months.  Then, I realized that ten comes after nine and YIKES!  My oldest will be double digits next year!

How did I not realize that ten was after nine?  I just kept thinking the past several years that he had so long to go until he was in double digits and all of a sudden, he has just over a year left before it comes.  And once he hits ten, it's not very long after that the others do too.

Sometimes, I find myself trying to remember what my oldest was like as a baby, if my youngest is much like my oldest, and I honestly can't remember the cute things my oldest would do.  I think that one of the only things that makes me sad (according to my understanding, that is) about eternal life is that we are only children for one small brief moment in all eternity.  Childhood is so sweet and so fleeting.  I love the people my children are slowly becoming, but it is happening too fast.  Yet, it's hard for me to enjoy the babyhood part of it because it's so hard, with the frustrated crying and the sleepless nights and the teething, etc.  I have a hard time seizing those special moments and cherishing them.  I know they will be gone so quickly, but being in the here and now can be so hard sometimes.

It's like a constant contradiction--I want them to grow up so they can do more things but I want them to stay little so they are sweet and innocent and adorable forever!

Book Review: The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book. It was thought-provoking and I was completely wrapped up in the story. I felt it was well-written and easy to read. The only part I didn't like was the ending. I was disappointed that things didn't work out for Aibileen to stay with her family because that little girl really needed her. Even though it was fiction, I'm sure there were situations like that for real where the children suffered because of the choices of the parents (as there always are) and those stories always break my heart.

I did feel like I learned more about what it was like during segregation in the south. I learned all that history in school, but always from a very dry perspective (this happened, etc.) without any feeling attached. Reading this, I was able to gain a new perspective and actually think about how it might have felt to have been there. I love well-written historical fiction books that help history come alive!

I did see the movie and thought that it was a good adaptation to the screen. Of course they left out some parts and changed things around, but I think it moved along well and hit the key points of the book.



View all my reviews

Choosing Your Child's Teacher

This year, our elementary school has decided that parents will be more involved in their child's education by choosing their child's teacher.  I am excited about this, yet skeptical.

When I was a teacher, at the end of the school year, we put together cards for each student.  Each card contained information about how they did academically and socially and any special notes for that child.  It also contained their picture and other personal information.  All of the teachers of the grade level sat down one day after school and sorted through all our students.  Previous to this meeting, individually, we had sorted through our stack of cards and grouped the students according to ability and social skills.  When we got together, we would simply take turns grouping students into piles of no more than 20 (20 was the class size limit at that time) to piece together a possible class for the next year's teacher that wouldn't contain all students who struggled or all students who excelled, sort of a way to pre-determine the classes so they were evenly distributed.  However, there were several parents who would request certain teachers.  I had a few who came into my classroom to observe at the end of the school year and then they could make a formal request with the school to place their child in a certain class.  The school tried to honor those requests but sometimes just couldn't, based on the distribution of students in the teacher's classes.

Today, I went over to the school and asked about how they would proceed with letting parents choose.  I found out that they are not planning on having any sort of "meet the next year's teacher" night.  They don't have any biographies or anything of that sort on the school website for the teachers.   I asked about contacting the teachers to see if I could come observe in their classrooms or even just sit down with them for a brief interview before or after school.  The office staff said that was probably fine but they felt most teachers wouldn't want to do that.

So how, I ask you, am I supposed to choose the appropriate teacher for my child if I don't even know who the next year's teachers are and am not allowed to meet them or find out anything about them?  They have time slots for each grade set up during which we parents get on the website and select our child's teacher.  If we don't make it in during that time slot, they will choose the teacher for us anyway.

I wonder about how this will work out.  Will they end up with a class entirely made up of gifted students or students with special needs?  Will large groups of students who are friends ask their parents to request certain teachers and then those classes end up being a class of a bunch of friends which will make the teacher's job harder?

I applaud them for wanting to involve parents.  I was going to make a request for my next-year second grade son anyway for a certain teacher, but the other two, I really have no idea who I want them to have.  My son starting kindergarten would probably do fine with the teacher that my other son had, but I was kind of looking forward to working with a different teacher for him, depending on who the school assigned him to.  I have not met any of the fourth grade teachers for my oldest and don't even know their names or if they're male or female or how many classes they will have of fourth grade next year.  And for second grade, I really loved my oldest son's teacher and wanted to request her again for my second child, but I don't have a clue about any of the other second grade teachers at all.  For that matter, in later years, I don't know any of the other first grade teachers either because my two sons have had the same teacher.

If we aren't allowed to meet them and aren't given information about them, how are we supposed to make a good choice?

I wish I could get some other parents together to rally the school and show them how important it is that if we are left to make this decision that we have some knowledge to help us make the decision in the first place.  However, I've learned in the past that when I try to initiate such things, nobody sees them the way I do and they don't seem to care about the same things.  I wonder if any other parent at that school has even asked these questions.