Early Education

During the last several months I have seen many articles on the need for "Education Reform." Clearly the public education system is not as good as it should be and there are changes that need to be made. I personally am of the opinion that no matter how many changes are made there is nothing that is going to "fix" public education. It cannot be fixed because that is not the way children are meant to learn. One of the things that concerns me though is the growing trend to push children into "formal" learning at younger and younger ages. One of the articles I read talked about the need for more Head Start programs at earlier ages with more formal learning. They already take them at 3-4 years old how much earlier can you get? People were disgusted that the children in these programs were not sitting down and learning anything. Instead they were able to play for 3 or more hours a day. Does anyone remember when Kindergarten ages (5-6) was nothing more than a half day of playing? 3 and 4 year old children should spend their whole day playing.

Even in church I have noticed that people are sending their children at younger ages to Sunday School. I teach a Pre-school Sunday School Class geared for 4-5 year olds with short lessons and a fun craft. Lately, we have been getting children as young as 2 because they shouldn't be "wasting" their time playing in the nursery. They need to be learning something.

I don't think that children at these ages require any kind of "formal" learning. My children all learned to walk, talk, feed themselves without me ever sitting them at a table and telling them how to do it or giving them a worksheet on it. The best way for children to learn is by observing what is going on around them and through their play. Anthony (3) knows all of his numbers 1-10, alphabet, colors and shapes but I never sat him down and taught it to him. He learned by listening to me read and by playing with him. I remember when Nick learned that if you mix white and red it makes pink. I could have sat him down and taught it to him, but instead he discovered it by himself when he mixed ranch dressing with ketchup on his dinner plate and he was delighted with the discovery. If we continue to push children at an early age, all of their love of learning is going to disappear. Instead, learning is going to be for them part of the boring monotony that many of our older children face every day.

Tweet

4-H Breads Contest

Yesterday was the annual 4-H Breads contest, so we did not do our "regular" schoolwork. Instead we had lots of fun lessons in the kitchen (math, science, reading, health, clean-up etc) as Chelsea, Nick, and Alex each made their own bread recipes. There were several categories to choose from and each child could enter up to 3 categories, but because of cost of supplies and a limit of time I only let the children enter 1 category each. Chelsea decided to make Yeast Rolls, Nick made Cinnamon Rolls, and Alex made Chocolate Chip Muffins. They all did a great job making their recipes and we taste tested each one when they were finished. Chelsea won 1st prize for her rolls, Nick won second prize for his, and Alex got a participation ribbon for his. Alex was a little disappointed at the contest because they only announced 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of each category and so he didn't think he was going to get a ribbon. He was much happier when he did get a ribbon like Nick and Chelsea. It is fun to cook for a contest, but I also want when children to learn and remember that the ribbon doesn't really matter. They all had a great time cooking and that is the important part.

Tweet

My Baby Shower

Monday night some friends of mine gave me a Baby Shower. It was a great way to get out of the house and spend some time with friends without our children. I got some really sweet little girl things like hair bows, frilly socks, shoes, and pink blankets, clothes and sleepers. Along with that I also got some important practical items like diapers and wipes. It was very sweet of them to give me a shower and now I just can't wait until I have the baby to put her in all of the sweet clothes. Only a few more weeks to go!

Tweet

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Hot Pockets

Homemade Hot Pockets taste much better than the frozen ones at the store, and they are easy to make for lunch or supper. They also freeze and microwave really well.

1.Make a batch of your favorite biscuit dough.
2.Divide the dough in half and roll out onto a lightly floured surface.
3.Using a butter knife slice the dough into sections depending on how big you want your hot pockets. I divide it into 5 sections giving me a total of 10 per batch of dough.
4.Fill with 2-3 TBSP of your desired filling using pre-cooked meats like: ham and cheese, chicken broccoli and cheese, or meatballs, sauce and cheese.
5.Fold in half, match the edges and pinch them closed all the way around.
6.Freeze until ready to bake, or bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Tweet

Monday Morning Project: 4-H Cloverbud Journals

This week our Cloverbud Journals are due for 4-H. The Cloverbuds are a group of 4-H children ages 5-8. It was designed to start introducing the children t0 what kind of things they will be working on as they get into the older 4-H groups ages 9-19. My boys really enjoy the different kinds of fun things they get to do as a Cloverbud, and Chelsea also enjoys her 4-H group. The journals are a record of what the children have worked on during the year, and since they are due on Wednesday, we used our project time to finish them yesterday while Anthony and Christian colored. They have to list what their main project and other projects are along with their Community Service, Leadership, and other activities they do besides 4-H. They also draw or attach pictures showing what they have done throughout the year. They did a good job and it only took about 20 minutes to complete.

Tweet

Christian's Big Boy Bed

Friday night was Christian's first night in his big boy bed. At first he was very excited to be going to bed with the boys, but that wore off pretty quickly and he began wandering around the room and playing in the closet. I did have to go up and lay down with him for a little while to settle him down. He fell asleep and slept through the night, even after he fell out of bed. Art and I heard a thump about 11:00 and there he was on the floor. He was still asleep so we put him back into bed. I couldn't believe he fell out even with the bed rail. My husband, the engineer, got some zip ties and made the rail more secure so it can't fall out again. Since Friday Christian has been sleeping fine, but I still am laying down with him for a little while to keep him from climbing in and out of bed. I hope after a week or so he will be more used to it and I won't have to do this anymore.

Tweet

Preparing for the New Baby

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I keep thinking I have lots of time left when in reality we only have 5 1/2 weeks until my due date. I went to the doctor yesterday and I am 1 cm dilated. That's not anything too exciting but because I am having alot of Braxton-Hicks contractions she wants me to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. I have never had a baby early and don't intend to this time either, but I realized there are some things I need to take care of soon.

1. Christian has to be moved out of the crib into a big boy bed. Usually I would have done this already. I have been procrastinating because he is such a good sleeper and I am afraid putting him in a new bed will mess that up. Also, I am not looking forward to the couple of days of chasing him back to bed when he realizes he can get out. But, we are going to make the switch this week-end.

2. I would like to get some meals frozen and in the freezer for after the baby comes. I am very blessed to be able to have my mom and dad come for about a week after the baby is born, and to have friends that will provide meals for a few days after that. But, I would like to have some food stocked up for at least another week while I am still recovering and figuring out the baby's schedule. You know how it is when you are trying to make dinner and just when you get started you have a screaming infant.

3. I have to pack my bag for the hospital, and a bag for the children in case I have to drop them off somewhere. Again, I wait for the last minute usually, but I do not want to leave this chore up to my husband.

4. I have to buy some infant diapers.

5. I need to get some clothes ready. While shopping last week-end I bought an outfit to bring her home from the hospital and a few pink sleepers. I still have that little voice in the back of my head that wonders if the tech was wrong and the baby might be a boy, so I am hesitant to take the tags off of some other clothing and bedding my mom bought for me. I have started to go through my baby clothes and pull out all of the neutral colored clothing.

6. The house needs to be cleaned. This is an ongoing chore of course and is never completely cleaned.
I am sure this list will grow as I think of more things that need to be done.

Tweet