Thoughts on Education

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." - Stacia Tauscher

I have been thinking a lot about schools and why they just don't seem to work anymore. America has thrown so much money at schools over the last few decades, and the quality of education has declined, seemingly, in proportion. Here are a few of my ideas about why this is so.

First, and I know this is completely politically incorrect to say, but mainstreaming has to go. When there are 20-30 kids in a classroom, all of varying abilities, no one gets to really do any quality learning. The kids who are at the top have to wait and sacrifice. The kids who are the bottom try their best to keep up and, more often than not, get lost in the shuffle. If mainstreaming were really to work, class size would need to be kept very, very small so that everyone could get the attention he or she needs. Before anyone gets bunched undies, I know of which I speak. I have a child with "special needs" (I hate that term, because every child has special needs). There is no way he would survive in a "normal" classroom. But, that doesn't mean he is unable to learn. He is doing beautifully with me working with him one-on-one. If he were in a classroom where he had to fend for himself, he would have curled into a ball and quit ages ago.

Second, this business of testing, hanging the world on test scores, and teacher "performance" is ruining education. Kids aren't really learning anything. They memorize stuff that they will need to spit back onto a bubble form and then they forget it. There is no imagination in schools anymore. There is no discussion or play - just this crazy teaching to the test. Don't even get me started on this crazy new math the kids are doing! For God's sake! Math has been around for thousands of years; just teach it the way it's supposed to be taught!

Third, there seems to be an expectation in America that the Japanese or Finnish models of education should work in the United States, but for some reason, they are not. No, and they never will. The US has too many cultural differences in its population to allow that to work. Also, because our social systems are so differently structured, education is just not a priority in many areas. Getting food, keeping warm and staying alive are definitely higher priorities in many parts of the US. Education is expendable.

I don't know how to fix any of this, it's just something I am very interested in. I will probably return to this topic occasionally. Feel free to comment.

One Kooky Day

Today, Jim was supposed to have an eye appointment at the VA to get new glasses. So, we all packed into the car at 9 this morning and drove to the VA Medical Center in Bath, NY. I dropped him off and went to the huge Salvation Army store in Bath. I love that store! I got several shirts for me, a pair of pants for me, a pair of pants for Jacob, and several t-shirts for Noah, all for under $25! Then, we ate the M&Ms that we got BOGO at Rite Aid and went to pick up Jim. He was waiting out in front of the building, so I apologized for being late. He said, "Oh, the appointment wasn't for here, it was in Buffalo." Oh. My. God!

He was told a while ago that he isn't even supposed to go to Buffalo anymore because Bath is closer. In addition, his eye appointments have always been in Bath. So, the woman at the desk says, "Would you like to make an appointment here?" Jim replied, "Well, since my glasses have been broken for a month, and I was really eager to have this appointment so that I could get some new glasses, yes, I would like to make an appointment for here." We are going back on Thursday.

I just did some general, normal housekeeping things when we got home. I made the worst loaf of pumpkin bread I have ever made in my life today, too. It wasn't baked all the way through - I think that's why God invented toothpicks. I normally test it, but I just didn't this time, so it's really bad. I might just feed it to the chickens.

Lots of Days Together

Busy, busy, busy. There is always something to do, but it's still not looking like much is getting done. Yesterday I put more yarn into a new bin and consolidated a bunch of stuff on the front porch. I can't wait to get that area cleaned! That way, the kids can stretch out a little bit and not be in each others hair all the time.

Today, the weather was beautiful, so I did a lot of work outside. I picked up two full garbage bags of junk in the back yard. Then, I raked the front yard to get the sawdust, bark, and wood chunks picked up. I had seven heaping wheelbarrows full of stuff! And, yes the front yard does look much better. There is still a lot of work to do out there. I have to micro-rake it, fill in the holes that the dogs made and get the rest of the wood in one place. It didn't do a thing for the inside mess, but the outside stuff needed doing, and the weather was perfect for it.

I have a lovely pork roast in the oven, and the potatoes are cooking. I am so hungry I could eat the whole thing! I want to get supper into Henry so that he can get a bath and go to bed fairly early. I'm pretty sure that he is completely wiped out. He was such a busy little critter today. Now, he's kind of cranky and evil. An early bedtime is going to be most welcome.

So, I'm off to finish food and find some other sort of abject busy-ness to engage in until it's acceptable for me to collapse into a heap and read my book.

Days 7 and 8

Yesterday was pretty busy. I got the kitchen sink so clean I would now be willing to eat out of it, and I did some more counter de-cluttering. I am really getting the kitchen into shape. It is helping that I am keeping up with what I've already done. It's easier to do that than to have to start from square one all the time. I also made a pot of turkey and white bean chili, which gave me leftovers for lunch today.

Today is going to be crazy busy. First, today is Noah's 11th birthday. I can't believe it! He's such a big boy. He's doing so well and I'm eager to see how he progresses over the next few years.

As for the list of things to do, it will be easier to enumerate it:

1. Burn the papers. Yes, it's probably horrible environmentally, but it's what we do. It can either sit in a landfill or be burned here. Either way, it's bad.

2. Vacuum and dust the house.

3. Take out the trash.

4. Make a birthday cake and decorate it.

5. Make spaghetti and meatballs.

6. Do school.

7. Do laundry and hang it out. It's supposed to be kind of cloudy today, but it's also supposed to be around 50 degrees and breezy. It should work.

8. Clean up the dining room because we have a friend coming over for supper.

I'm sure I'll manage to squeeze some knitting in there, too. A girl has to have her priorities.

Day 6

Today was a day that would have been better if I hadn't had plans. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. Oh, I did start a couple of things, but getting them finished was another matter. I washed my comforter today and was so looking forward to sleeping under a yummy-smelling blanket. But, while I was cooking supper, I looked out and it was raining! Aaaargh! The comforter is now drying on the rack by the stove. It just won't be the same.

I think most of the reason I was out of sorts and cranky today is that I stayed up until midnight last night and got up at 5 this morning. Five hours of sleep just isn't enough to have to function properly all day. I don't know how I did it when Henry was a baby. Of course, I don't remember most of his first year, either!

He was cranky and irritable today, too. He looked like he could have gone to sleep at any point all afternoon, but then put up a horrible fight at bedtime. First, his jammies had a hole in the toe, and it was making him crazy. Then, he wanted to brush his teeth. Then, he wanted some water. He got the water, but I know he's going to wake up (and wake me up) soaking wet at about 12:30 or 1. I'll just have a new pull-up and jammies ready for him. The less disruption I have the better it is.

So, for now, I am going to clean up the kitchen and get the coffee pot set up for tomorrow. Hopefully I will get a few things accomplished!

Days 4 and 5

I missed writing yesterday because I was thoroughly exhausted from cleaning, cooking, etc. I did manage to get the school bookshelf cleaned and organized. I did not do the portfolios, but the papers are organized and can be put into the sleeves at another time. I threw away two wastebaskets full of junk! I thought the best bit of stuff that I threw away were the two year old magazines. For God's sake, why do I keep this stuff?

I also made a fantastic (if I do say so myself) turkey dinner. Home grown turkeys are just the bomb. I can't even imagine eating a store-bought turkey again;, with all the injected solution and junk? Ick! Since it was an absolutely enormous bird, there are plenty of leftovers. We had turkey salad for lunch, and I will be making white bean and turkey chili later in the week. I may even make enchiladas!

I got school stuff all printed out and ready to go, too. Monday mornings go so much better if everything is in order. This is probably why I conked out at 10 and slept like a stone until 6:30 a.m.!

Today, I bought a bin to put more yarn in. That should go a long way to getting the front porch organized. If we get the shelves put up, that will help a lot, too.

I also made a big pot of minestrone soup for supper. I have been craving it for the last couple of weeks. I used two quarts of tomatoes that were canned last August, beet greens and squash from the garden that I froze sometime last summer, and our garlic. I had to use store-bought onions, carrots and celery. It was very good. There is enough left to freeze some, and to have it for lunch for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow is vacuuming, dusting and bathroom day. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I will also do at least two loads of laundry. Slowly, slowly, it's coming together.

Day 3

I did get the kitchen counter mostly cleaned off today. That was nice. I really don't know why I let the mess creep up on me so much. I honestly don't know how people have perfectly neat and tidy houses all the time. I wonder what the chink in their armor is. One of my problems is that I don't have a lot of room for storage. I know there are people who have closets packed full of stuff so that no one sees their junk. We don't have closets in this house. Therefore, all of our junk is out for full view and assessment. I suppose it a way, it keeps us honest.

I also got the unique pleasure of cleaning up the mess after the toilet overflowed. I usually stand right there and make sure the five uses and subsequent TP go down without incident, but this time I got distracted. YUCK! Cleaning that mess led to another load of laundry, bringing today's total to 3 loads.

So, I didn't get to the school bookshelf, but that is on the list for tomorrow. We are having turkey and the works for supper, so I will have that delicious smell to work to tomorrow afternoon.

Day 2

I didn't do any cleaning or sorting today because I had to go grocery shopping. That was enough to wipe me out. Since my knee is still ouchie from tripping over the dog, it took me forever to limp all over Olean. I did buy plastic sleeves for the portfolios, though. I will be cleaning the school bookshelf this weekend, and getting quite a bit of the portfolios done at the same time.

I also plan on tackling the kitchen counter to see if I can reduce the mess there. This coming week is supposed to be very nice, weatherwise, so I will be able to do a bunch of laundry to get the winter stuff put into proper bins, get my curtains and bedding all washed and sun bleach some garbage cans.

For now, it's bed! The dogs will be up in a few hours to go out. I wish I could just open the door and let them go, but I'm not sure they would come back. Past experience has made me very flinchy. Only a few more days of bundling up (I hope!).

Lent

I gave up on being a Catholic years ago. There are so many things that I just don't agree with regarding the Church, that I decided it was better to leave all together than to be a giant, raging hypocrite. So, here we are, another Lenten season upon us, and I have a strange lost sort of feeling about not giving anything up. The truth is, I don't want to give up anything. I am stressed out all the time, so having the added stress of a sacrifice that is supposed to make me stronger seems absurd. Years ago, the priest at my parent's church said that one doesn't necessarily have to give something up, one could instead do something that would make her or him stronger or better in some way. So, with that in mind, here is what I want to do over the next 38 days of Lent: I want to get my house straightened up. I want to have it clean and organized. I want it to not look like such a dump all the time. This is going to take A LOT of work, but it gives me a goal. I am going to get rid of all of the clothing that doesn't fit anyone, get rid of the garbage and just generally dig out of the mess. I'll keep you all posted on the progress.

I'm Baa-aaa-ck!

At least I hope I am. My life has been kind of crazy, but not so crazy at the same time. Mostly, I just keep my head down and keep my shoulder to the grindstone. Since I last wrote, a lot of crappy things have happened. On September 12, my beloved mother-in-law passed away very suddenly - while I was on the phone with her. Seriously. It was horrible, and the aftermath was stressful and ugly, but has since calmed down. Then, on September 18, my beloved dog, Darkside, walked out of my life. Literally. The dog we kept in the sheep barn got loose and he and Darkside left to do whatever it is dogs do. September was not a good month, to say the very least.

The holidays were stressful and completely unfun. I couldn't wait to get Christmas over with and get the new year started. This year couldn't possibly be as bad as the end of last year, right? The jury is still out. This winter has been very hard on all of us, especially Jim. I hope the weather gets better very soon so that we can put some food in the ground and get going on the things that make us happy.

I am knitting, though. That's a constant. I finished four projects last week! I started a new project today - a design by my friend Lobug of Lobug Designs. She is awesome and I can't wait to really get into this cowl. I also started a counted cross stitch project. It's (hopefully) going to be a Christmas gift for Elias. Therefore, it must remain a secret. Shhh!

Henry has become a completely crazy three year old. He loves dinosaurs, Little Critter and the marble run. He eats like a horse and is as big as a four year old. He's also my sweet little baby who just melts my heart. Thank God for little Henry.

Jacob and Elias are growing into fine young men. I can't believe that Jacob will be 15! Eeek! Time flies. For all of you with wee little ones, enjoy every single day with them. Time passes so quickly, and then their voices change and they have little mustaches and they are grown up. It's like the "Love You Forever" book that just makes me sob buckets thinking about it.

Anna is a sweet young lady who loves reading, horses and reading about horses. She also paints, writes and plays a mean game of Battleship. She's going to give boys a run for their money, for sure!

Then, there is Noah. He is amazing! He is doing such awesome work for school. He is doing late 3rd grade math, reads on a 4th grade level, is a really good speller and loves anything to do with animals. He's also very quick-witted and funny. I couldn't be happier that we are homeschooling him. I don't think he ever would have grown as much as he has if he had gone to school.

There. All caught up. Now, if I can remember to do this a little more often, we'll be in business.

Our New Garden

Another year of gardening has begun! We got the onions and the peas in today. Last year, Jim bought a seeder to make planting the beans, peas, corn, etc. quicker and easier. I will tell you that thing is worth its weight in gold! I got eight 25 ft. rows of peas planted in less than five minutes. Sweet!



Tomorrow, we will start planting the 250 strawberry plants that came two weeks ago. Here is the lovely plot where they will go.



We will put the potatoes in in a couple of weeks, and the rest of the garden at the end of the month. I am so excited and hopeful for this year's garden!

One Baby Step Closer

We now have clear and absolute proof that Jim is not crazy. We went to a rheumatologist today who made it clear that Jim does actually have a connective tissue disorder. More blood tests were taken to determine, if possible, what he actually has.

I cannot express the feeling of relief that I have that a doctor has finally acknowledged the fact that Jim is truly sick. It was music to my ears to hear the doctor say that Jim is a relatively young man (43), and men of his age just don't get this sort of illness EXCEPT FOR THE MILITARY VETERANS he has seen. This might not make everything okay, but we think that it is a pretty good start.

All of the sudden, things have gotten very strange around here. We have finally come out of the closet that we think Jim's illness is Gulf War Illness. We feel that we are getting a run-around from the VA. We feel that the government has let us down in a very big and serious way. I think this is what people who suffer identity theft must feel like. It is disgusting that the person who has suffered the injury has to do all the legwork to make sure restitution is made. The government knows what went on, and they won't admit fault. There were vaccines given that were documented as Vaccine 1 and Vaccine 2. What is that all about? I just read an article that says some of the vaccines given were experiments. Didn't the government learn anything from the Tuskegee experiments? We don't do that to human beings. Period.

Not only am I feeling raw and betrayed, but I, and we, have to deal with people who think that GWI is a lie and a farce. That, too, is like believing in Santa Claus - some do, some don't. I can say, without equivocation that something is very wrong with my husband. He is not the same person, physically, that he was even five years ago. He used to be able to work for hours and still play with the kids. Now, the can't get through any work without needing a nap. When people call and ask for him, and he is sleeping, I just tell them that he is out of the house. If I do say that he is sleeping in the middle of the day, I get a lot of very rude comments. People think he is lazy, slovenly, depressed, etc. He is none of those things. He is sick.

I have to admit that even I didn't want to admit it for a long time. After my last post, I was contacted by someone who is very involved with the fight to get diagnosis and treatment for GWI. She's heard this story from hundreds, if not thousands, of people since 1993. She has pointed me in the direction of articles that have left me numb. I told her that we feel like we are out in the wilderness screaming and no one can hear us. There is an Advisory Committee meeting regarding GWI in Washington, DC at the beginning of May. We won't be going, but we are certainly going to try to submit some testimony.

Even writing this is making me feel paranoid. Am I flagging myself as a malcontent? Will all of this come back to bite me in the behind? I know that the Pentagon, State Dept., CIA, Dept. of Defense all know what happened. Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, George Bush senior, and GW all know. If they do not own up to their complicity in harming thousands of people's lives before they die, I hope they twist in the pain and agony they have caused for eternity.

There. If that doesn't bring the NSA to my door, I guess I'm not doing my job right.

One Chullo Down

I finished this hat in about a week and a half. It was so much fun to knit. I learned how to do two-strand colorwork when I did some test knitting for a designer friend of mine. It took me five months to do her test. You can see that my speed has improved a bit. I had to do some fiddling with the i-cord edging. Since my spatial relationship skills are horrible, I had to start the i-cord from both sides, when it is supposed to go all the way around. If you look really hard, you can see all of the mistakes. I also have lots of ends to weave in. On the next hat, I will just knit the ends in to save time. I am researching a book called 1000 Great Knitting Motifs for the next hat. I am geekily into this!


On the non-knitting front, there is a lot going on that I will probably be writing quite a bit about in the future. My husband has been suffering from what we believe is Gulf War Illness for several years now. Lately, it has gotten really bad. He is sore and exhausted all the time. We keep getting ridiculous answers from the VA. They keep trying to tell him that he is getting older, so some aches and pains are bound to creep in. He's only 43! Hell, I'm almost 40, and I hardly get any sleep, but I'm able to get through my day, play with the kids, do school, etc., without needing to sleep for a couple of hours between activities! The VA was instructed back in the '90s to diagnose all of the Gulf War Vets with PTSD, instead of owning up to the fact that they poisoned the troops who were there. It's a very long story, and I am shocked and disgusted at what I have found out. Please keep him and our family in your prayers.

The sweater - FINISHED!!

Okay, I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to see the sweater that I have been talking about for so long. Here it is. It is the Happy Husband, designed by Janet Szabo. I did it as a part of of KAL (Knit A-Long) on the Aran Yahoo group. It was such a joy to knit. The sleeves got a bit monotonous, but the rest of the sweater just grew and grew under my needles. I loved knitting it and I am looking forward to starting another soon. I am already looking at yarn and patterns.

In the meantime, I am making chullos for the kids for their First Day of Winter gifts. This is also just a really fun thing to knit. I thought they might take a long time, but I am already over half finished with the first one. Now I know that it won't take me from now until December to make the other four. I will have some time to play with colors and patterns, which is more fun than being under the gun to finish gifts.

The weather is taking a really yucky turn this week. We are supposed to get measurable snow between tonight and tomorrow. I could do without this, but who am I to argue with Mother Nature? Oh, well, more knitting time for me!

Spring Play

After a very long, and very housebound, winter, we are revelling in this wonderful spring weather we have been having lately. We played outside in the sunshine most of yesterday afternoon. We played baseball and threw the frisbee around. How soon do you think the majors will pick him up?

A good time was had by all.



Finally!

Let's get serious

Okay, I have to get this off my chest. I am so sick and tired of people ragging on President Obama about not having fixed the economy yet. He's been in office for just over sixty days. He inherited a mess that will take many years to unravel. Unless he really is a superhero, I don't see how this could all miraculously clear up in a couple of months.

I have been doing a bit of research into the deficit. As it turns out, the deficit under President Bush was HUGE, but no one knew that because he kept the cost of the war off the books. How does one hide that kind of cost? It's like he was a cheating husband with a secret credit card. Unfortunately, it came to light, and now we are all stuck with the bill. President Obama did not give us the cost of the war. He did not give us the AIG mess. He did not give us the very sorry state of education in the United States. Now, as our president, he is trying to fix it, and he is being vilified for it. I think of it as this: He's one of those guys who spins plates on sticks in the circus. He has several sticks and he has to get all of the plates spinning at once. Then, he has to keep running back and forth to keep the plates spinning. It's a big job. The very least the Republicans could do would be to listen to him, and if they don't like what he is saying, they need to come up with a plausible plan. You can't stand on the corner yelling about how bad something is if you don't have the faintest notion of how to fix it yourself.

Happy Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring, everybody! We had lovely weather today after waking up to a dusting of snow on the ground. We had to do our grocery shopping today, which is always very busy and exhausting. The kids got some new cards (Pokemon and Chaotic), and Noah got to spend his birthday money. He got $30! He got a five pack of Hot Wheels cars and a Pop-Up Playset. He made his decision very quickly and easily, so I know he is happy with what he got.

I got a book of knitting motifs at the library. Ooh, the fun I am going to have with this! I got a pattern for Chullo hats from Knit Picks. I like the patterns that came with the kit, but I wanted a little more variety. I am just itching to cast on and play! These hats are going to be for the kids' First Day of Winter gifts. It's a good thing I have all summer to work on them.

Back Again!

I had the wonderful chance to talk to a dear friend from college today. We hadn't talked in years. I was told that I haven't posted to my blog for a very long time, so he didn't know what was going on in my life these days. Imagine my shock and surprise to hear that someone was actually reading this! It was very nice to know. So, here you go, another stimulating blog post. I am going to try to get back at least once a week to let everyone know what is going on.

Right now, we are receiving packages of seeds every few days. Jim started some herbs in the greenhouse the other day. I am determined to have an herb garden this year. There is nothing like fresh parsley or cilantro to make just about anything taste better. We will be starting tomatoes, peppers, etc. soon. I am getting very excited. I miss gardening. I miss good, fresh food. The good news is that we should be able to put in peas in a few weeks. Let the games begin!

We are almost done with lambing for the year. Usually, we wouldn't even be started yet, but last summer didn't go so well and the rams were never separated. Therefore, we started having lambs in January. We suffered a few losses at the beginning, but the rest made it, thank God. I am hoping that the bigger boys will be able to go to market for Easter. Otherwise, they will all wait until fall to go. Either way is fine with me, as long as they do well. We will have to get out within the next few weeks and build some serious fence to keep them in. We promised Jacob that he wouldn't have to spend his summer running after sheep every day. He's skinny enough as it is.

I know you are dying to know what I'm knitting right now. Well, I am about 12 inches away from being finished with an Aran sweater for Jim. Ironically, the pattern is called The Happy Husband by Janet Szabo. I wanted to knit it for him secretly, but there is no way I could do enough while he is at work or sleeping to have it finished in this lifetime. It's a great sweater to knit, it's just involved and BIG. I will post a picture next time.

So, there you go, you-know-who-you-are. Drop by and see me often!

A Great Day

Today was possibly the greatest day that I have personally lived through, historically speaking. I can't express how thrilled I am that we have a new president. President Obama fills me with such hope. I pray that this country will turn its course and we can once again be "the greatest country on earth." We all need to work together to help each other and to help our country. We can do it. I have faith.