Monday, May 16, 2011
Bing Maps
I am a huge fan of many google products, but at this moment I think bing maps has the clearest pictures of many rural places. Enter your address at www.bing.com/maps and see what your home looks like. Have fun in the internet time vacuum ;)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Kindergarten Round-up
Today was the big day to finally register Claire for kindergarten. It was a big event where we were moved like cattle through a mountain of forms which all required the same stuff to be written down. Why on earth do I need to give the school my name, address, phone numbers, child's name, child's birthdate, child's SSN, etc.... in the exact same manner on six different forms? Ridiculous, annoying, and a waste of paper.
The school in our area is an exemplary rated school per the state of Texas. Numerous public forum sites also rate the school very highly. I was quite pleased with the courteous staff and the general physical property.
The buzz kill of the entire event didn't happen until I arrived home. Here I sit, looking at the parent information, where I discover that my child needs to be ready to learn her "colors, numbers, shapes and letters". My greatest fears about the public school system are on the horizon and may be creeping up to my doorstep.
Dear Lord, grant me the ability to have the utmost patience and understanding with acceptance that I am financially forced to place my child into the failing lock-step public school model. Grant me the ability to try to resolve my feeling that parents of children who do not already know these basic concepts when entering kindergarten are failures. Grant me the wisdom to continue to intellectually stimulate my child outside of the classroom environment as the institution attempts to teach her curriculum that she mastered more than two years ago.
Will Claire develop behavior problems related to a poorly stimulated educational environment? Will she loose the passion to learn? Will the school help her succeed?
We have a couple of options which will present to us this summer. Claire will attempt to test out of kindergarten in July. We have also applied for a zone variance to get her into a dual language immersion (DLI) environment at a neighboring elementary school. Here's the kicker though: If she tests out of kindergarten, the school we're trying to get Claire into may not be able to let her enter first grade. They have been rather cautious about our ability to enter the DLI at the first grade level unless an existing resident child moves away to open up a slot. So, do we put Claire in a bilingual kindergarten or an English first grade? Risk losing the second language and advance to first grade or maintain the second language but have an absolutely bored child in kindergarten.
I'm truly trying to remain optimistic and hope that mechanisms exist to pull Claire out of the mainstream environment, allowing her to perform at her level. Alas, the no child left behind act as well as local politics have unfortunately tied the wallets of schools forcing them to ensure all children are brought up to the minimum average, eliminating many effective programs which allow the top performers to continue to succeed at learning.
Our options are not clear at this time, but I foresee many sleepless nights this summer worrying about the demise of an individual's talents as she is forced to fit into a room surrounded by intellectual limitations.
The school in our area is an exemplary rated school per the state of Texas. Numerous public forum sites also rate the school very highly. I was quite pleased with the courteous staff and the general physical property.
The buzz kill of the entire event didn't happen until I arrived home. Here I sit, looking at the parent information, where I discover that my child needs to be ready to learn her "colors, numbers, shapes and letters". My greatest fears about the public school system are on the horizon and may be creeping up to my doorstep.
Dear Lord, grant me the ability to have the utmost patience and understanding with acceptance that I am financially forced to place my child into the failing lock-step public school model. Grant me the ability to try to resolve my feeling that parents of children who do not already know these basic concepts when entering kindergarten are failures. Grant me the wisdom to continue to intellectually stimulate my child outside of the classroom environment as the institution attempts to teach her curriculum that she mastered more than two years ago.
Will Claire develop behavior problems related to a poorly stimulated educational environment? Will she loose the passion to learn? Will the school help her succeed?
We have a couple of options which will present to us this summer. Claire will attempt to test out of kindergarten in July. We have also applied for a zone variance to get her into a dual language immersion (DLI) environment at a neighboring elementary school. Here's the kicker though: If she tests out of kindergarten, the school we're trying to get Claire into may not be able to let her enter first grade. They have been rather cautious about our ability to enter the DLI at the first grade level unless an existing resident child moves away to open up a slot. So, do we put Claire in a bilingual kindergarten or an English first grade? Risk losing the second language and advance to first grade or maintain the second language but have an absolutely bored child in kindergarten.
I'm truly trying to remain optimistic and hope that mechanisms exist to pull Claire out of the mainstream environment, allowing her to perform at her level. Alas, the no child left behind act as well as local politics have unfortunately tied the wallets of schools forcing them to ensure all children are brought up to the minimum average, eliminating many effective programs which allow the top performers to continue to succeed at learning.
Our options are not clear at this time, but I foresee many sleepless nights this summer worrying about the demise of an individual's talents as she is forced to fit into a room surrounded by intellectual limitations.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter Sunday - From Christianity to Bunny Worship?
We had a good morning celebrating Easter Sunday, but were presented with a very logical question. Where did the bunny come from and what does it have to do with Christianity? Off on the hunt....
I checked out a few places, and came up with the following answer paraphrased, maybe pirated, from unnamed sources. It came from the internet, so it must be true:
The customs of Easter Sunday, as with many holiday traditions, have evolved over time. Our Easter origins actually start before Christianity, represented in many religions that celebrate a rebirth and the new life found at the beginning of spring. Easter is celebrated according to beliefs of differing religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day of resurrection. The concept of an Easter sunrise service, celebrated by many Catholics, was actually brought to the US from Protestant settlers.
The word "Easter" actually comes from the name Eastre, who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Her existence was celebrated at the vernal equinox of each spring.
So, how does the bunny work into this holiday?
As with my children, many eager young children wake up on Easter Sunday to find baskets of treats. Lucky children will spend time burning off the day's wasted empty calories hunting for hidden eggs.
The Easter Bunny originated as a representative symbol of fertility, with the knowledge that rabbits have frequent, multiple births. Rabbits often nest in small dens on grassy knolls. History supports a childhood belief that hares laid eggs in the grass in order to reproduce, a misconception imaginatively held when a child would come across a rabbit den filled with tiny newborn rabbits. Romans held the belief that all life comes from an egg, while Christians hold the egg as a symbol of the seed of life. I wonder how many children felt the rabbits found in the ground mimicked a bird's nest.
This strong symbolic representation of the bunny as a fertile spirit, accompanied by the belief that eggs are the new birth, may be how our traditional associations of the Easter Bunny and the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually make sense.
I checked out a few places, and came up with the following answer paraphrased, maybe pirated, from unnamed sources. It came from the internet, so it must be true:
The customs of Easter Sunday, as with many holiday traditions, have evolved over time. Our Easter origins actually start before Christianity, represented in many religions that celebrate a rebirth and the new life found at the beginning of spring. Easter is celebrated according to beliefs of differing religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day of resurrection. The concept of an Easter sunrise service, celebrated by many Catholics, was actually brought to the US from Protestant settlers.
The word "Easter" actually comes from the name Eastre, who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Her existence was celebrated at the vernal equinox of each spring.
So, how does the bunny work into this holiday?
As with my children, many eager young children wake up on Easter Sunday to find baskets of treats. Lucky children will spend time burning off the day's wasted empty calories hunting for hidden eggs.
The Easter Bunny originated as a representative symbol of fertility, with the knowledge that rabbits have frequent, multiple births. Rabbits often nest in small dens on grassy knolls. History supports a childhood belief that hares laid eggs in the grass in order to reproduce, a misconception imaginatively held when a child would come across a rabbit den filled with tiny newborn rabbits. Romans held the belief that all life comes from an egg, while Christians hold the egg as a symbol of the seed of life. I wonder how many children felt the rabbits found in the ground mimicked a bird's nest.
This strong symbolic representation of the bunny as a fertile spirit, accompanied by the belief that eggs are the new birth, may be how our traditional associations of the Easter Bunny and the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually make sense.
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