Congrats Capn!

Awww, Dana....thats so cute and milestoneish

Great stuff capn! Happy for you all. :)

awesome cap! congrats!

and cool beans dana!

My afternoon snack.

It was strawberries and cream. I realised that even though my diet is somewhat limited at the moment, it definitely doesn't preclude strawberries, and cream is ok as long as it's unsweetened, and considering I've lost another couple of kg's in the last couple of weeks, I thought it'd be ok to be decadent just this once.

Max enjoyed sharing with me too. :)

So for the last 2 weeks or more the weather here in the Midwest the temps are miserable. I am so proud of the 4-H kids and their families that bought cattle from us this year despite the heat they worked hard and so far we/they have had these results...

2012 Grand Champion Steer Marshall Co. Fair
2012 Grand Champion Heifer Starke Co. Fair [the one in the photo I sent in show us your pets ;)]
2012 Grand Champion County Bred Steer LaPorte Co. Fair
2012 Res. Grand Champion Heifer Starke Co. Fair

That's great. Congratulations!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Prizewinning beeves!

Congrats! Good for you and your cows/bulls...

I don't know anything about this so I'll just ask.
Does this mean they taste better or are better for breeding or is this simply like a dog or horse show type of thing?

I guess what I'm asking is - Is there a benefit to the owner or animal after the win? Whats it all mean? What happens afterward?(seriously asking)

4-H teaches kids about the beef industry. Raising a calf and showing it involves the whole family making it a family project. I don't know of any kids that are involved in livestock projects that are in gangs , addicted to drugs or are school drop outs. We are on our second generation of exhibitors. Most of the parents of the kids we help bought cattle from us 20 or so years ago.

So you're the "pusher man" for those 4-H gangs, eh. :lol2:
I spent a lot of years in 4-H, dairy and horse. It was a real good experience.

Show beef ... the drug of choice! ;)

4-H, or most kinds of livestock/horse showing, is great for kids. Lots of life lessons, lots of character development. I showed horses in my teens - same types of good experiences. Hooray for 4-H!

I'm happy tonight because a) I survived four days of 95-105 degree weather dressed in hazmat-type garb while doing industrial hygiene at a huge facility in the midwest; b) tomorrow I DON'T have to wear hazmat garb! I get to go to a conference on fracking! c) this weekend I get to see a dear friend who's also training me for a vacation where I'll get to ride cutting horses; d) I also get to see other friends and take in an outdoor music festival this weekend!

Big difference from the beginning of July! I am stoked!!

Training you for a vacation? Has it been so long you have to be retrained? :)

The embarrassing answer is: yes!!!

Apart from needing vacation training :p: - he's training me so I can survive a weekend of riding cutting horses :)

Just take away their knives before you get on, and you're good to go.;)

Sounds like life is gooooood Ortho :)

Last day of school today. Well, last half day, I was home by 13.00.
Lots of prizes from the childer - I am always so flattered. Not because of material gain, just that they must mention my name at home in order to justify a parent buying a gift/ card. As it was I mostly received chocolates, all promptly donated to my Mum, who accused me of wanting her to get fat :) Tiger & family got me a cute cat plaque..

I got banana flavoured treats from my class teacher.
And no, not as a knowing joke, she just doesn't know me. Well it's only been 11 months. And yes, I sound like an ungrateful bitch, but the bottom line is I just don't like her. I smiled and thanked her of course - I do have manners.

But, phew - I'm glad that school year is over. I have been asked subtly by other TAs how it was working with her. And responded with equal subtlety. And then we've looked at eachother's wary faces and realised we both felt the same, and laughed and shook our heads. Not a great environment, especially for lower ability children. Tiger Mum was especially just riding out the year.

My bet? Tiger will really flourish next year and a lot of the anxiety he now releases as soon as he gets home will disappear. From that teacher I got a cupcake decoarting kit :) And from the Specialist teacher I work with - cheese and wine. I work with some wonderful people.

I'm going to miss staff and children over the summer!

When does the school year start again for you, Sundae? We're already more than halfway through summer vacation here, and mentally preparing to start up again near the end of August...

We're back in school on 6 September.
Summer holidays are generally accepted to be 6 weeks, but sometimes they are a little more and sometimes a little less.

One of my class told me today that it was 45 days - I haven't counted it myself. The same child told me his mother had died and after I found that not to be true I've always been wary of accepting his word.

Oh, that explains it.* Summer vacation is 10 weeks here. We also have 1 week for "Spring Break," and 2 weeks for the holidays in winter.


*"It" being why the US is at the bottom of the list in math, science, literacy, and pretty much every other metric among developed nations.

So are you working with the same teacher next year?

Whereas they have 1 week in october, 2 weeks at christmas, one week in spring, two weeks at easter and one week in may. In additoin to th 6 weeks in summer. Comes out pretty similar in the end.

I'm working with the cupcake teacher :)
I've been with Mrs Banana in the mornings with Tiger all school year, and Miss Cupcake in the afternoons with Mars since February.

I'm moving up the school with both of them (this year at least). I will be with Miss Cupcake in the mornings with Tiger, and a new teacher in the afternoons with Mars.

Tiger already knows Miss Cupcake because he comes into her classroom during assembly some days, to read with me. So as well as taking home a "My Class Next Year sheet for the holidays, he is already comfortable with his new teacher. Also the classroom is right next door to his old one and shares a cloakroom area and toilets.

Mars has a more difficult transition. I've also done him a sheet, and he has spent 3 afternoons in his new classroom, but he will now be in Key Stage 2 in a different area of the school and with different play and lunch times. He is less anxious than Tiger, and acts out displeasure/ distress immediately rather than internalising it. This works for him in school, because he gets immediate attention, but reaction is still poor care. The good thing is that the morning TA in that class has a son who is on the spectrum and specialises in children with behavioural difficulties. She's not assigned to him specifically, but she knows the difference between bad behaviour and autism.

God. Everything gets so complicated for the autistic kiddies. Scary enough moving from familiar classes to unfamiliar ones.


Glad you're not stuck with banana flavour lady next year :P

Yes about the autistic kids.

Down here, the education department recently changed the special needs transport schedule for an autistic lad with NO NOTICE AT ALL, didn't even warn his mother in advance.

Kid had what was described in the media as an "autistic meltdown".

The education department have since publicly admitted that they got it wrong. It takes a lot to make them do that. Seriously, guys, "special needs" should give you a clue.

I think a big part of "it" is that the US is still a haven for immigrants, and immigrants don't speak English well, so they don't learn or test as well. There is a lot of talk in my city of closing the acheivement gap, but nobody is willing to admit that it will never be closed as long as a new batch of ESL kids comes into the system each year.

That probably is a factor in literacy, but Australia and Britain have high levels of NESB migrants too.

The fact that some of your school science books even mention creationism probably doesn't help.

:rant:

I think the problems in education across the board in Australia and most likely other western countries, is the amount of bullshit bureaucracy and administration work required by teachers. I also think that teachers trying to teach who don't speak english properly is a setback for the students right from the start and it really is the biggest irony of all time.

eta: I'm not against teachers from other countries teaching here, but it's stupid that a teacher with an accent so thick it's difficult to understand them, or who can't even put their pronouns in the right place should be teaching high school OP students.

The biggest single factor in educational outcomes is .... the parents.

Poorly educated parents --> poorly educated kids.

Fast forward 20 years (or 10, or 2, sometimes :p ) and those poorly educated kids are now poorly educated parents themselves.

Rinse and repeat.

That's true and I agree. It's so very obvious when you look at the kids my boys are in classes with now. Their parents don't have an education beyond yr 10, and so they have a negative attitude to education instilled in them from the start of their school lives. It's very sad, and it's getting worse due to the larger and larger numbers of parents who are educated, choosing to shun the public system.

In another 10yr or so, I suspect it will become uncommon for anyone wanting to go to uni being enrolled in public schools during their senior years. There is only 1 OP english class for yr 11 at Aden's school and that's being taught by an idiot teacher. The maths B teacher (1 class again) is from India, and can't speak english properly, and has had complaints from numerous parents about his inability to impart the knowledge in a way that the kids can understand due to his poor language skills.

Please suffer a ? from a Yank...
How are the public schools funded in Australia ?

I was in Melbourne and Syndey once for ~ 27 minutes on a business trip,
and over dinner my host was telling me that, unlike the US
where (real estate) property taxes are the key source of school $,
that parents do everything they can to pay tuition so kids can go to private schools.
Therefore, the privates are much better than the publics.
Is that anywhere near being the case ?

My opinion is that it's getting to be more and more the case here. Funding doesn't come from a specific tax though. It just comes out of the government pool of funds from general taxation (from what I know. I may be wrong) It is my understanding that the way all sorts of public amenities are funded is much different over here than in the US.

I've spoken about the failure of public schools in Australia quite a lot over the last few years, and it's a difficult issue regardless of which side of the coin you're on. Dazza and I want to support the public system by keeping our kids in it and contributing to the social capital going into the school, but there aren't anywhere near enough parents with similar levels of education and intellectual ability doing the same, which makes it a bit of a losing battle. Most people in similar situations as us choose to send their kids to private schools simply because the child will get a better education there, and the parent wont have to worry about helping the child with homework etc because tutoring is covered in large part by the school through various avenues. Most private schools offer greater opportunities in sports and the arts also which is a big draw card for many parents.

Don't get me started.

:rant:

Too late.

Public schools (the government ones) take all students in their district and charge only minimal costs -stationery, excursions (field trips).
Private schools (often Catholic, but other religious and secular schools, like to call themselves "independent") can be selective and charge fees.

All well and good so far.

The federal government does all the tax collecting, and gives a portion to the state governments who fund the public schools.

The state governments also fund all the curriculum development, exam moderation etc for the final two years which determine university entrance etc. The independents get to ride on this for free.

In the last decade or two, the federal government has been giving increasing amounts directly to schools - some to public schools, but even more per student to private schools. This is pretty much a form of middle class welfare done for purposes of vote buying.

I find this highly objectionable.

Why are my tax dollars going to elite private schools with vastly better facilities than public schools? Why are the being used to subsidise the brainwashing of children into a medieval make-believe game? If you want to forgo the place you are entitled to in the public system, that's you're choice, but don't expect me to subsidise your alternate choice.

There have been some half-hearted attempts to link these payments to the incomes of the parents, but this is done by looking at the average income for the postcode (zipcode) of the students, which is frankly ineffective.

Yet, as Ali rightly says, the private schools are generally better. Thus anyone who cares and can afford it will send their kids to a private school, unless they are motivated by social conscience as Ali and Dazza appear to be. This just bleeds more funding from the public system into the private.

Neither of our two main parties have the nerve to deal with this, and the more right wing party has at times touted a "voucher" system, whereby each student would get their bucket of funding and take it to whatever school they choose, where their parents can then top it up as they see fit. The vouchers aren't enough for a good education, hence the top up for the private schools, leaving a second rate education for the lower 2/3rds of the population.

In my view this is little short of class warfare against the poor. Bad education policy, bad monetary policy, and worst, very bad social policy. Australia is one of the more egalitarian societies in the world, and this is part of a current trend toward a lasting social division into the haves and have-nots.

Pardon me, I think I need to go and have a cup of tea and a lie down. Or a revolution.

Yep, highly objectionable indeed!

Putting it bluntly, it gives me the shits.

I'm a supporter of the Public School.

I was public schooled and turned out OK academically....I realise a lot will have to do with the Teachers, but a lot has to do with the student as well.

Back in my day, by friends parents were sending him to Private School, to the tune of $14,500 per term, he walked out of that school with a below average comprehension of Maths, English and Science, but did quite well at sport. He wasnt a bad student, never in trouble, he didnt try and they didnt really push.

He's now a Cabinet Maker.

The boys will be public schooled unless something changes dramatically.

Holy shit! If anyone tried to give tax dollars directly to private schools here, there would be a riot. On the other hand, a good portion if not the majority of our private schools are not religiously-based. Also, we very well may be giving money to religious private schools in the form of tax breaks, I don't know. But state money directly to the schools that are already attended by rich kids? No freaking way.

That's why we give them the money indirectly.

But aren't the parents of those kids (independents) paying taxes to pay for that as well as paying taxes that support the public schools?
If the parents are paying taxes which support public schools, and coughing more money for private schools, how is this bleeding funding? Sounds like the government is dropping the ball.
Have fun storming the castle... and being revolting. :haha:

All parents have the same right to send their child to a public school, but some choose to forego that right and send their kids to private schools. If they choose to 'cough more money' for private school, that's their personal choice.

It's like having a free ticket on the bus but deciding you want to fly. You'll still get there in the end, but one's going to cost you more.

Just for the record, I'm not against private schooling for kids. I'm against tax payers funding the personal choices of more wealthy parents.

I'm against a lot of the new 'tax reforms' the labor gov have brought in over the last few years also. I'm so sick of them I'd like to spill blood over it.

Beware of the word "vouchers"

They haven't really taken hold in the US politic,
but now we have "charter schools" which is
pretty much accomplishing the same thing.

Except charter schools actually get less money per student than the public schools, and also have higher success requirements to meet in order to avoid having their charter revoked. And charter schools are required to open their lottery to any student living in the county, they cannot reject students like a private school can.

I was camping with my friend, B, and he passed me a bag of trail mix. I had some then commented that he had pretty spartan tastes in trail mix. He took the bag back and said "doggone it, S went through and high graded my trail mix!". I'd never heard that phrase before. Here's the definition:

This is exactly the fear I have of charter schools. That they can pick and choose what students they accept *and* accept public money for the education of those students will inevitably lead to the weakening of our public education system. The remarks by several above indicating a desire to contribute to the social capital of our society by actively participating in Public Education (as payers and students and parents) are echoed in my heart and actions as well.

There is no more precious or fruitful wellspring of prosperity than the education of our young. And as far as we all participate and benefit from society, we all should contribute to this irreplaceable source of new creative minds, active workers and entrepreneurs. ZenGum's alarm call of class warfare is not hyperbole--it is worse than mere warfare, it's killing the golden goose, to mix my metaphors. Who will serve the drinks? Who will valet park the cars? Who will trim the hedges and polish the weather domes on the security cameras? A strategy of every man(family) for himself is a good one--for precisely one generation--no more.

I have longer range aspirations for our country though.

There is a lot of debate over each of those statements, especially the $ and success rates.
Obviously, there are many different kinds of "charter schools".
But every charter school takes $ out of the public school system.

When the charter school takes the $ from a finite and limited source,
or when the charter school appeals to more talented/motivated/capable students and parents,
the public system must manage with less funds and a more difficult population of students.
In that sense, the charter schools are taking the "cream of the crop",
while the public school outcomes are pushed further towards a self-fulfilling prophesy.

In reality, it is the religious component to charter schools that is most bothersome,
because it funnels public $ from the education system into "charter schools"
set up primarily to foster a group's particular religious views.
This is happening in Oregon, and it's not hard to find evidence of it in other states too.

To Wit:
The Dallas Morning News
JESSICA MEYERS
Nov 22, 2010

Charter schools with ties to religious groups raise fears about state funds' use

Charter school discussion moved here.

Today I am happy because I've had my hair cut and I have pink hair again - for the summer.

I had it dones yesterday, and liked it, but I was in a narky mood. Everytime I started to type about my hair I wandered off into something Mum had said or a moan about something else.

Far better to just be happy with my hair and think "Yippee!" every time I pass a reflective surface, which is how I feel today.

Excellent!

Mum was only saying the other day (when we saw a girl with bright pink hair) how much she likes your hair when you go really vivid.

just got a couple ice cream sandwiches from the ice cream truck, one for me, one for SonofV. Delicious! The chocolate cookie top and bottom were slightly crunchy, and the ice cream was firm. Just delicious!

I'll back that, Sundae! You go!

I'm happy today because I got some COOL stuff for my cowgirl weekend in Colorado, coming up in a few days ... my favorite is a very cool pocket knife, my first ever. I got the outdoor store guy to show me every knife in the place, tested them all, and got one that isn't over the top but very nice - two edges, nice release and fold, lightweight. And some other camping stuff I've always wanted but ex-husband never approved. So I'm playing with my new toys and feeling happy, getting ready to go herd those dogies :)

I had an appointment at the hospital today and the docs are very happy with how I'm managing my GDM, so I only have to test my blood half as much now. Only 2 pricks a day instead of 4.

All right! Good news, Ali ...

the fewer pricks in our lives, the better.

Seriously, I'm glad you're managing your GDM well and numbers are looking good. Very good news for you and the baby.

Thanks ortho. Things are going well, so under the circumstances, I'm pretty happy. I would just like to sleep for the last bit of a while. Unfortunately, the other grommets wont allow for that. :(

I am so happy the weather has been pretty good over the last week or so. It's great to have Max playing outside with the dogs and his bikes and stuff instead of cooped up in the house.

I can't get excited about a knife personally, Orth, but I am pleased that you are so happy.
Ali - way to go! Impressed at your resolve to do what's right by you & yours.

Went to see the kittens yesterday. All is well. One tiny nark - why isn't she using the room thermometer I bought her? She said they weren't sure how many layers the babies should be wearing in this weather. Tell you what love, plug it in, check the temp, refer to the enclosed leaflet which is BMA etc approved. It even says to add one more layer for underweight/ premature babies. Still I didn't say all that. Just gently suggested it might help. Her babies, her rules of course.

Anyway.

Liam being fed.
Jack and me.

Went to The Mann Music Center last night with my 21 year old daughter. We saw The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra perform THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SYMPHONY OF THE GODDESSES.

Although this cup of coffee doesn't rank with new babies, or going to the symphony with my daughter (or son) to hear a performance of game music, I am happy to have it. A bit jealous--no, tha's not the right word... I'm happy for my cup of coffee, and I'm really happy for my friends and the wonderful experiences they've shared. Those both look and sound sublime.

Cheers~!

V, sounds like you grabbed a different cannister to make your coffee this a.m. ;)

Cheers~!

Maybe because you don't know me very well.

There's nothing better than a new baby. The meaning of the universe is and understatement. And hanging out with my not-so-baby children like Spexxvet described would be sublime. SonofV loves the music of his video games. He's been known to setup his computer next to his keyboard and step through videos of various game music themes trying to learn them for himself. If we attended a performance by the symphony of music from The Legend of Zelda, my place in the Dad Hall of Fame would be a lock. And just look at those tiny babies!!

Spent 4 hours with Tiger & Kitty today.
Family Fun Day in the Vale Park.
We've agreed we'll meet up when they have the Petting Zoo in Kingsbury (another free event) and possibly go to Oak View Farm together.

I've also agreed with Mum that we'll go to Wendover on Saturday as one of the deli's there is having some tasting sessions and I get a free glass of fizz. Mum had a voucher too, but she threw it away - we were given a lot of bumf for completing the Gemstone Walk and I read all mine carefully before disposing. We've already had free make-overs from my careful culling... I like Wendover, it's a pretty town with some of the independent shops I miss by living here. I expect to come back with some photos. And not having spent too much money...!

Some Tiger pics in the Aylesbury thread. I didn't even need to pixellate - I'm afraid the Sports Setting on my camera did not do as well as I thought when I looked at the photos real size.

Ahem. I mean I didn't do as well of course...
I don't think the BBC are going to be in touch for my skills at action photography for this Olympics anyway.