About QM
Quick n dirty? about : Hi, I’m Jenn. I have five kids, two 18 year olds (not mine, but in my care, my siblings), a nine year old, a seven year old and a five year old. We also have my dad, some pets and a ton of fun. Yep yep. This & That : Hobbies I have actually kept up with are knitting, cooking, baking, tattooing(learning) and...
101 in 1001
This is my first 101 in 1001 period; I attempted to make a list a few times over the last year or so, but failed. In ever could reach 101 things without feeling like I was cheating in some way. I have a couple of friends who made (new) lists this year, so thanks to both of you for lighting a fire under my ass and giving me a starting...
House & Home To Do
Strikethrough means we have completed that goal. Italics mean that goal is in progress. I think we’re starting this in March 2010. In the mean time, I am FreeCycling and cleaning like crazy! repair windows – Sara & Michael’s windows both need to be repaired/replaced purchase first floor accordion hurricane shutters and...
wishful
This is not only an on-going wishlist for me, it’s also a list of “Hey, I need to get that someday!” So when you see some of the more expensive items… feel free to skip on by! Now, if you know someone getting rid of a juicer or a spinning wheel… well, I love some “free for shipping” items, so point...
Broward schools to consider cuts to arts, music, physical education classes
What a bunch of bullshit! our kids are forced into a freaking FCAT box, we take away gym, music and art, and we wonder why our kids are fat, lazy and have no imagination? Idiots.
Read MoreBroward schools to consider cuts to arts, music, physical education classes
Elementary programs face big changes next yearFacing huge cuts in state money, Broward’s public elementary schools next year could see major changes to their art, music, physical education and library programs.
Under a proposal the Broward School Board will discuss Tuesday, the district’s 140 elementary schools will have four options for how it handles those non-core classes.
The choices: Four schools in the same zone would share a media specialist along with an art, music and physical education teacher; electives would be incorporated into classroom teachers’ daily lessons; teachers of electives would be required to teach two classes at once, with the help of an aide; or specialty teachers would serve as consultants to their colleagues on how to incorporate electives into the curriculum.
School Board members were told last month the district could lose $80 million to $100 million in state money and have to make up for $60 million in one-time money spent in last year’s budget. Board members are supposed to see proposals for cuts in the coming weeks.
Other changes being discussed Tuesday include using a school’s size to revise staffing numbers for administrators and guidance counselors; and again eliminating extensions under the Deferred Retirement Option Program. The state retirement program allows teachers to extend their retirement date three years. Broward stopped granting them last year, affecting 233 teachers and school support staff. It prompted a lawsuit from the Broward Teachers Union that the union eventually lost.
Tuesday’s debate on elementary electives will include a proposal that schools supplement arts and music education with virtual field trips, video conferences, the Student Enrichment in the Arts partnership with the Broward Center for Performing Arts and other options.
That portion of the discussion is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the school district’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters, 600 SE Third Ave.
Laurie Firestone, of Coral Springs, has a son in the second grade at Maplewood Elementary School, which has already scaled back library time to once a week, art to once a week, and music and physical education to every other week.
She said teachers won’t have time to build electives into their regular lesson plans, so students likely would go without. “All they’re doing is studying for the FCAT,” she said.
Blame budget cuts and the state Legislature, said School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Gottlieb.
“They are scraping us to the bare bone. It’s been that way for the past few years,” she said. “Until the state starts to adequately fund public education, these are the conversations we unfortunately have to have.”
But other board members wonder whether there are other areas to consider cutting.
Board member Robin Bartleman suggested scaling back work calendars of new administrators, or looking at district contracts to see whether there are programs that aren’t worth renewing.
“Those music classes, those art classes … you can’t take that stuff away from kids,” Bartleman said. “Sometimes that’s the only thing that’s sparking the interest of the kid.”
Kathy Bushouse can be reached at kbushouse@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4556.
Copyright © 2010, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Poncho for Eshiva
I made this over the last couple of days for Eshiva. She had a cotton one that was given to us (purchased, not hand made) but she outgrew it, so I made her a new one :-)
Read More“God Said Multiply, and Did She Ever”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/nyregion/21yitta.html WHEN Yitta Schwartz died last month at 93, she left behind 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren and so many great- and great-great-grandchildren that, by her family’s count, she could claim perhaps 2,000 living descendants. Mrs. Schwartz was a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose couples have nine children on average and whose ranks of descendants can multiply exponentially. But even among Satmars, the size of Mrs. Schwartz’s family is astonishing. A round-faced woman with a high-voltage smile, she may have generated one of the largest clans of any survivor of the Holocaust — a thumb in the eye of the Nazis.
Cookbooks
I am addicted to recipe books. My gram likes to remind me that when I was a kid I told her “if you can read, you can cook” and I still believe it today. You may not have the best technique in the world, but a good cookbook will take you pretty far in the kitchen.I love to cook. I love to bake. I love to feed my friends and family. I love to go food shopping. It’s a wonder I am not twenty times the size of the house. I think I have over a hundred cookbooks all told, and my collection just keeps growing. Most are dogeared and written in and well loved. Some were my mothers (whose idea of cooking was dialing the telephone) and some we my grams. Some I picked up on a whim and turned out to be a gem. Some I’ve never made a thing out of but they sure are a good read. Some are stored outside in the garage because my bookshelf is overflowing. I read them like books. Some of the newer ones are books that just happen to have recipes thrown in for good measure. Those are the best kind.
Read MoreIt never ends
Well, eventually it does, but why does everyone lump together?
My kids missed most of last week due to strep. Michael picked Eshiva up today because they think she has the pox. I am hoping she does, and we’ll verify it at the doc this afternoon. I hope it is, and I hope the boys get it too. Still sucks.
I wrapped up my dental till at least the end of March this morning. Last week I had a gum transplant (yah, ouch) and this week I had a filling and a spackling. The tooth I’ve been looking at for 20 some years is now smooth. Weird. It had a little indentation at the top – not a cavity, just an imperfection. The dentist wanted to “fill it” to prevent gum problems as it was right at the gum line. I go back to the perdiodontist in a month for a last check up, then a cleaning, then braces! I think I’ll be sticking to a cleaning every 3 months from now on. It’s deductible, right? ;)
Michael goes in next Monday for some basic dental stuff as well. I think we can drive our teeth now :( I know some of you know how that is.
We had a lovely dinner out last night. We got all dolled up and had a fabulous dinner at Melting Pot.
Dorian made honor roll this quarter. He started guitar lessons yesterday. He gets his braces in about a month. Oh, and he’s all of 6 or 7 inches shorter than me. The boys eats like a horse and is growing like a weed.
Malachai lost another tooth yesterday morning (his third) and it’s been hanging on by a thread for a week. I’m surprised it took so long. The tooth fairy forgot to come last night, but she made a surprise appearance (delayed due to snow in the North East) and left two golden dollar coins. He was thrilled. The boy loves coins. You have no idea how much the boy loves coins lol He got a citizenship award this quarter in school and is not currently trying to outgrow me as much as his brother is ;)
Eshiva is being retested in school so we can have a parent-teacher conference so they can tell me my child is a genius. She is super cute in her recital dress, but is otherwise an annoying five year old little girl. Those of you with girls know exactly what I am talking about. Those of you with boys, be happy! Seriously, the boys at five did absolutely nothing to prepare me for a girl at five. Nothing. I want to sell her to the gypsies at a discount price at least once a day. Too bad they don’t want five year old little girls either.
I have been obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race (http://rupaulsdragrace.com) and missing my old friends. I think Michael is tired of it, but hey, it’s entertaining at least. Last seasons queen’s were bien mieux than this seasons :( I miss Nina lol She was my kind of queen. You should check it out if you haven’t. It’s on Logo, last season they aired on Lifetime (? no, but it aired on a reg. cable channel last season but I can’t remember which one, sorry! Maybe VH1?) but I think they are showing them on the website after they air on Logo.
So, that wraps me up. I’ve been nursing sick children all week, and I suspect I’ll be doing the same in the coming week.
Read MoreHappy Valentine’s Day
We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, just because Michael makes sure to tell me every day that he loves me, and I do the same. It’s not a once-a-year type thing. You should celebrate your love for the people in your life every day. While some of the people I love are so very far away, they might fall by the wayside now and again, I try to let them know at other times of the year. I feel like Valentine’s is so forced – it’s something you are suppose to do. Michael made me a cute card and put it on my keyboard after I fell asleep last night. I didn’t get him a card this year. We are going out to dinner tomorrow night (and getting dressed up too!) and Eshiva picked out a cake that we’ll have tonight.
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