Wordless Wednesday

A Call to Arms

I've been reading a great deal lately about public school lunches and the push to improve them. I graduated in 1983, a great deal of things have changed since then (and believe me, I'm not saying that "then" school lunches were wonderful, fresh, nutritious meals - I don't think the concept of salad bars in schools had even been thought of yet - but they were tolerable, and I had the option of taking something from home if the offered menu wasn't tasty). I wish I'd known then what I know now, in more ways than one.

I see what's documented on this blog:

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

and I'm floored. Those poor kids!

Then today there was this article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36664612/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition

that taught me a great deal. I didn't know that school lunches originated because new military recruits were undernourished and the military encouraged the government to solve the problem. Now it appears the kids are overnourished - fat. And in all likelihood on their way to conditions brought on by obesity that will further tax the health care system (doesn't matter which one, Obamacare or whatever).

My kids are homeschooled, so obviously none of this "directly" affects me, or them. But MY kids aren't the only kids I care about. Not all families have the option of homeschooling or even of sending their kids to school with a healthy alternative to the school's lunch packed and carried along with them. The more I read, the more upset I am. How are today's kids supposed to learn when their bodies are fueled by this junk?

The Books Are Here!

The books for the next school year are already here. Not the DVDs, just the books. In the wee small hours of the morning I was checking the content of 4 big boxes against the packing list... and I had to skim through some of the books. Our daughter is going to LOVE this year! It's the first "real" study of geography, and she loves maps.

They saw the boxes, of course, and want to start NOW.

She's already finished 2 of the readers. The rest I hid, LOL.

Our son is still wishy-washy on the whole education thing, but it'll come. It has to, at least by August!

Our Little Helper

Needs to wear his gardening gloves, LOL.

Have a blessed weekend. : )

Set for the Next School Year

This week we signed up for lessons for the kids' next school year. Our son will start first grade and our daughter will tackle third. We use Abeka's video program.

Why? Simply put, I'm boring. We tried a video-less curriculum on the first go-around with our daughter, but I couldn't keep her focused, she didn't learn much. The presentation style on the videos is far more entertaining than I could ever be, LOL, and keeps her focused and learning, and when she does get stuck, I've been listening so I can expound on what the video teacher said, or sometimes say it in a different way so that it "clicks."

It's a bit of an expense, but it's worth it to us to see her learning so well and to be so EXCITED about learning on top of that.

Most days. She has a few days where she'd rather be left to be creative in some medium that's consumed her rather than do seatwork, but overall the programs really work for us. And the little one, well, if SISSY did it....

Teaching and Gardening Together

Behold the humble beginnings of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Starting from seed under a grow light in our dinette, which doubles as part of the classroom.

I've read a lot about getting kids to eat vegetables. Hiding them in foods so they don't know what they're eating, dressing up the food to make it fun to eat, but I think that getting kids involved in the growing and preparation of their food is likely the most honest way to get them eating veggies. My kids, even the littler one who can't read yet, know about germination, hardening off, transplanting, polination, and they're not afraid to get in the dirt and get involved. Works up quite an appetite, too.

Speaking of appetite, my son is still off and on with wanting to learn to read. He wants to do Headsprout, and Starfall, and talks incessantly about beginning first grade this year, but he doesn't really want to talk about, say, "V" and what it "says." But repetition is the mother of retention, and he'll learn.

This week Abeka is having a seminar, we'll be getting our order in to get the goods required to start 1st and 3rd grade in the late summer.