A Sin And A Shame

There are problems with the educational system all over the United States right now.  It begins in Preschool and goes all the way through graduate school  In a country with so much wealth there is absolutely no excuse for the problems we seeing occurring here.  We are rapidly falling behind other developed countries in the world when it comes to properly educating our future citizens.
We can not fill the high tech jobs available in this country right now because we don't have the people with the proper educational skills to take the jobs.  How ridiculous is that?

Right now, in the county I live in there are horrendous problems in the public school system.  The local School Board hired a new gentleman to come in and try to solve some of the serious problems here.  All he has done is spend huge amounts of money on travel and a proposed plan which will require ALL students beginning in pre-K to learn Mandarin Chinese!  These kids aren't even learning how to properly construct English sentences or spell and now we want to introduce Chinese?  Not only that Mandarin Chinese won't be usable as there are so many different dialects in China that unless you knew the individual dialect you still wouldn't be able to communicate.

Now, the same gentleman, is taking off to go to Belgium on the taxpayers dollar along with two other people to talk about his "Macon Miracle" plan, which hasn't even been implemented yet!  This all seems incredible to me. 

College tuition has gotten so out of control that many people can't even dream of going, and if they do, they will end up in so much debt that they will be forty years old paying it off.  One of the local colleges near me has just spend thousands and thousands of dollars putting in cobblestone walkways and fancy fountains and extremely expensive fencing, etc.  What's up with that?  I would rather see them reduce the tuition and so would most other people.  Where have the priorities gone?  Has the whole country gone mad?

We need technical schools and colleges in this country to education our children now.  We need to find a way for ANY child who wants to go to school, and is willing to put forth the effort, to be able to attend at minimal or NO cost.  This is our future.  We need to stop outsourcing our jobs, and concentrate on growing our economy and it begins by educating our future generations of children.

We can no longer sit back and watch as the educational system in the United States falls farther and farther behind the rest of the world.  Speak up now, and let your Congressmen, School Boards, Senators, Governors, and anyone else who will listen that this must change, and change now!  Teachers need to be rewarded for good work.  Children need to have the equipment they need to learn and advance toward the future.  The system needs to change, or this Country will continue to fall farther and father behind in educating future generations. 

What Are These?

I just came from the local grocery store where I stopped to pick up a few fresh vegetables for today's lunch.  I picked up some beautiful fresh cauliflower, beets, romaine lettuce, tiny yellow tomatoes, celery and carrots.  Nothing unusual there.  Sometimes I do buy what some people might consider unusual vegetables, like fennel, artichokes or celeriac. 

When I got to the checkout counter, a young lady probably in her early twenties was the checker.  As she proceeded to check the items, she suddenly stopped and picked up one of the bags and turned it round and round and upside down looking for a number.  There wasn't one on the item.  She looked very confused and said "What are these?"   What are these I thought....why, beets of course.  Just plain old ordinary beets with the tops on ... nothing different or fancy about that!

I am finding more and more frequently that many young people don't know what fresh vegetables and fruits look like.  This is a failing on so many levels.  Not only are these children not learning at home what these vegetables are, but they are obviously not being shown these things at school.  I actually had one young male checker ask me what a grapefruit was!  My gosh, how can you get to be twenty years old and not know what a grapefruit or a beet is!

We wonder why there is such an epidemic of obesity in this country.  The only vegetable some children know is actually a vegetable is french fries...a sad commentary on the state of nutrition and nutritional education in this country. 

Fresh vegetables and fruits should be the mainstay of your diet, not an incidental occurrence.  Two thirds of the space on your plate should be occupied by vegetables....raw or cooked, fresh or frozen, and if you MUST even canned.  There really isn't any excuse for skipping vegetables, they are easy to cook (actually cooking much faster than meat) and there are so many varieties that you are sure to find a few you can love.  Once, when I was on a vegan diet I actually had someone ask me if it wasn't boring.  Boring?  There are only a handful of types of meats.  I can't even count the variety of vegetables and fruits out there.

I am impressed that at the school where my granddaughter attends, the chef there actually pays attention to what the children are actually consuming.  The children are participating in a game of sorts where they must include a food from each of the food groups on their plate at lunch time.  At the end of the year the class with the most "stars" for achieving this will have a special party just for them.  You wouldn't believe how hard these kids are working at it!  At the same time, they are actually learning new foods and consuming them without complaint.  Amazing.

If you are a parent or grandparent it is part of your responsibility to introduce your child to new and different foods.  They may or may not be crazy about them.  They don't have to eat a plate full, but just "taste" the fruit or vegetable.  You would be surprised how if you start children off at a very young age eating a large variety of vegetables, they will continue to do so all their lives.

Both of my granddaughters were introduced to vegetables when they first started to eat baby cereal.  Instead of mixing the cereal with milk or formula, I actually pureed a vegetarian vegetable soup which I kept on hand and mixed their cereal with that.  They loved it!

Some children prefer raw veggies like carrots that they can "dip" in ranch dressing.  Cherry tomatoes in various colors are fun for small children.  Make it interesting.  But, whatever you do, introduce new fresh and frozen vegetables to your child.  Don't be afraid to try several times.  Sometimes that first bite of a fresh roasted beet might not impress, but with repeated tastings, the child will come to love that bright red treasure.

No purchased bottled vitamin is as good for you as fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can not take the place of the valuable enzymes and vitamins in fresh foods by popping a pill.  If we want to end the cycle of obesity and poor health we see in this Country today, we MUST begin to educate our children about the value of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I hope someday I will not have to tell the checker in the grocery store what a grapefruit or a beet is!

EASY FRESH VEGETABLE RECIPE OF THE DAY



1 Large head Cauliflower
1 Large sweet Onion, sliced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Garlic Salt to taste

Separate cauliflower florets into 1/2 inch pieces.  Slice onion into thin slices. Saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, then add cauliflower and garlic salt.  Continue to saute onions and cauliflower in large frying pan, occasionally adding low salt chicken broth or water to keep it moist until the cauliflower is crisp tender.  

You can sprinkle this with a little parmesan cheese for an extra treat !
Eat your veggies!!!


God Bless and Good Health

No Child Left Behind

None of us wants ANY child to be "left behind."  The mess caused by this "program" however, will take time to heal.  For one thing, all children do not and can not learn at the same speed or in the same way.  Trying to make children all fit into the same round hole causes too many problems to list.

Children who do and can learn faster should be allowed the opportunity to do so.  In an effort to make everything "equal" we have actually penalized many bright children by forcing them to sit bored in classrooms while their teachers struggle to assist those who are on a slower learning curve.

Just as not everyone is capable of or even wants to be a doctor or lawyer, not every child is capable of or wants to attend a four year college in academics.  There are technical schools and colleges and trade schools to meet the needs of all students.

Standardized tests forcing schools to make sure all children pass or meet certain standards, have been a disaster and I am glad to see this is finally about to end.  We definitely need to improve education in this Country, but No Child Left Behind has not contributed to improving school systems as a whole.

Parents must also take an interest in their children's education.  Learning begins at home, and the desire to keep learning and growing must be fostered at home.  Just as in discipline, many of today's parents believe it is just the responsibility of the school system.  Responsibility for caring for a child and fostering his development begins the day that child is conceived.  It is not to be taken lightly.

I am happy to see No Child Left Behind disappearing.  Perhaps now our school systems can work together to develop a plan for better educating children at all levels of learning. 

What Are They Thinking?

Education in America is definitely in trouble.  A perfect example of some of the perverted thinking in this Country was witnessed in Macon, Georgia today.  The brand new Superintendent of Bibb County Schools has suggested that 12 schools be closed and 300 teachers be fired!  Exactly how is this supposed to help increase the quality of education in the County.  Teachers can not handle the overcrowded classrooms they already are experiencing.  Where will the students go when the schools are closed?  My Gosh!?! What is this man thinking.

Unless we quickly realize how rapidly we are falling behind the rest of the world in education we are doomed to failure.  Public schools in America are struggling in every area.  People who can afford better are sending their children to Private Schools at a price which is burdening them nearly into bankruptcy.  We are paying taxes and contributing to lotteries which are supposed to help paying for the public school system.  Where is the money going? 

We need to refocus in America and get back on track.  We need to INCREASE funds for education.  Budget cuts need to be made in areas other than education.  We need great teachers and we need to PAY them.  We need smaller classrooms, and programs which will help those students who have fallen behind.  We must change our ways now or fall still farther behind in the education of our future leaders.

Wake up America!  Speak up Americans!  Education of the next generation is critical to the survival of the USA as a world power.