Christmas of our past

Our own "Monkey Ward" book; we wore that thing out.  We kept it up into February when it was shredded. Are there are Wards fans out there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These gems are from "Google Images vintage 1950s Christmas photos", Pinterest, and many other great sites.

Fish on the line

                                                                         

I enjoy fishing.  Really.  Catching fish is other story but I give it a good try.  One time my brother Don and I went deep sea fishing in San Diego.  Amazing. I learned to bait the hook. I laughed when it fell off and some stray mackerel grabbed it. Good memory.

Fishing went well 

  

His mom will always remember this. 

 

An outdoor boy 

 Daddy and daughter, good times.

A previous post had a 3 yr. old catching a fish, with Daddy's guidance. This is a followup.

I had surgery done on my right hand, 9/7. Please add your comments to keep me enjoying life. I love reading what bloggers write and think.

Purple is the color.

 

                                            parents and purple baby

 

 

“Here are your desk numbers…Can you find yours!?”  Ms. Tyrone threw on a chipper, oh-this-will-be-so-much fun smile.  Confusion covered the children’s faces.  The parents who clustered in the back of the room were equally confused.

Finally smart 32 # raised her hand, bold and brave.  

“Mrs. Tyrone…why do we all have just numbers?
  
And why are the numbers followed by #, % or *?
  
And, why are we all wearing these tee-shirts of “purple penguins”?  And why…”

Ms. Tyrone held up her hand.  “I am to be called ‘Ms. Tyrone’ since that will not indicate whether or not I am married…er… 32 # .  The Purple Penguins shows all that being a girl or boy or one who is not sure, we all are exactly the same.”

Oh those parents are not happy, not happy at all.

                                            Penquin parent with baby

 

Ms. Tyrone continued, sweat covering her face. “Having a number completely eliminates having your own name, which invariably would indicate that you are a girl or boy or one who is not sure.” 

Dear Lord, I hate this, I hate this…

"And then finally, 32 #, we have these symbols---  # or a * or %--- next to your number. These will help me call you up by groups, to work especially with you or to arrange the desks.” 

I wonder how long that will last…

Some parents snickered, some looked confused, and a good number looked angry.

“Well, then!  26 % , will you please read the rules on the board, and we’ll get down to all the wonderful new history we will be learning this year."

I think I am going to vomit…” which she did, on 32 #.

partyplace: nice stuff

 

"Purple Penguins" is also a computer game in which children can play with other children in a protected site and monitored by the parent.  That is all I know.  I'll ask my gr-kids. 

For further information on this issue in education, please go to these sites:

Purple Penguins,  To Help Teachers,  What if I am a red penguin?,  Journal Star

This is a huge issue in education, and will increase.  If you want to know more, access Google where both sides will be presented.  The above sites are a mixture.
                                                    And, now....

# * %... These are entirely my idea, maybe my projection into a time where this will become reality.  A bit of 1984  thrown in, followed with Attica, The Giver, Hunger Games, and with Animal Farm on the side.

Now, "Common Core" is radically changing education.  Please research this and come to your own conclusions.  And the Purple Penguins say, "Hi!"

 Twenty years ago in a staff meeting, the Principal informed us that there were some big changes in education coming in 15-20 years.  The NEA (National Education Association, one of the most powerful unions in California, if not all of the USA), along with many lobbyist and special interest groups, were promoting changes in the curriculum that would drastically change education to reflect new approaches, all of which would require revisionist viewpoints.  

I asked what-if questions:  What if the changes conflict in the teacher's  beliefs?  What if the changes eliminate or rewrite important elements of education ?  He told me (all of us), "Those are good questions."

As a teacher and a parent, I believe that math should be taught as math, not with an agenda.  Reading and writing should promote improved reading and writing skills, not a chance to indoctrinate.  History should reflect the history of our nation and world, including every single person in those events.

I also believe that any student who bullies another student should receive severe consequences.  Anti-bullying should become part of instruction in the classroom and at home.  Every child should have a safe classroom.  

What is deemed to meet these standards should be approved by independent educators, not special interest groups.

Parents should be given back the power they once had, and teach standards at home.  They must make the decisions that were/should be theirs to make.  

Source: Very Interesting

So here we are, and he was right.  I am retired.  

 

This was written in 2019, predicting what was coming in education. What Christian teachers do? Stand up for beliefs, get fired by the District school board.   

 

Oh, it's perfectly normal!

 

4th graders

'Oh, dear Lord, please help our nation.  Please help and protect our children. Parents must take charge to keep students safe."

Here is a sample of what is being supplied to our babies:

                                                            books online, cheaper that hardback

Mother Magazine

Obscene Sex Ed  "Legal" in 43 States! Obscenity Exemption Allows Teachers to Show Obscene Materials to Minors

Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education is not what it was 40 years ago. It's definitely NOT just about human reproduction! Dangerous messages laced with obscenity can be shared in the classroom, under the guise of Health Ed.  Laws in 43 states provide exemptions from obscenity laws permitting sexually explicit materials in schools. These materials can influence and promote illegal behaviors!  Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal group is rallying parents against these laws which effectively protect porn in some educational settings.                                                                   adult to child sex

This is what our children are being spoon-fed. Some parents do not want to buck the school district decisions. But it comes down to decisions, do you want to challenge the school board? Do you want to stand up, literally? This will affect your children his/her entire life.  What your child is being taught now will only increase, all the way through his life.  First graders will be "groomed" to learn more.

"Being groomed" is another term for preparing a minor to be willing to have sex. Pedophiles groom their victims to ease a child into a relationship. A child will develop a online connection and then the pedophile will suggest and arrange a meeting. Look it up. Sadly, the pedophile is often a teacher or any adult in direct contact and a place of authority.

"Oh, dear Lord, please help our nation. Please help and protect our children. Parents must take charge to keep students safe. Give them courage."

Books by Robie Harris can be found and purchased on Amazon: 

 "Fully and fearlessly updated, this vital new edition of the acclaimed book on sex, sexuality, bodies, and puberty deserves a spot in every family’s library." as per Amazon.

Be proactive in your response to this horror. Saying "I'll pray for this" is not enough. Prayer with action is the best way to be active.

 

Thankfully, God is in Charge

 

I am.

Who's in charge here? I have heard that question in so many voices, situations. 

Sometimes I am in charge, good or bad. I gladly ceded that responsibility now that I am retired. For twenty years and six-hundred students, I was in charge. 

Parents, we were/are in charge. For feeding, clothing, and all sorts responsibilities for our children, we were/are in charge.

Paying bills, having the oil changed, finding lost items, etc.--we adults: we're in  charge.

Given all that, some of the most amazing I'm in charge here people are children. They have no power, no reason to believe that they are in charge. 


Even though you and I know that a child should not be in charge in critical areas,  they are in the sweetest and most amazing ways.

(The longest video is the last one. The others are less than a minute )

I have shown them before, but darn it, they are so cute.

A three-year old taking charge here, maybe

Expressing himself to one he loves

Helping mommy 

Who in charge here?  Both.

There are many elements in all lives when exasperation leads to a  real question:  Who is in charge of me?

He is.

We are traveling to Switzerland to see our gr-sons and their parents.  I won't be posting anything for part of the time in early October.  I know, it hurts. But it has to be done.  I am not super human, not sub human, just me.

I will be gone until mid October. Please continue to comment, since I will repost a few semi-good posts.

This is repost from 2019 April. 

Cause and Effect in the College Years

Fresh air, breathed in and then exhaled, echoed:  Free at Last!  Free!  Free!  A flurry of  young freshman  girls unpacked boxes from car to dorm, with parents’ help.  No need for help it turned out.  The girls had been planning their escape for the past year.

Then the freshman mixer after reluctant parents disappeared was rife with giggles and nervousness.  The school year began.

source

The fresh batch of fairly innocent freshman girls were greeted a bit too friendly by older class males.  Ah!  Innocence—how nice it smells.  Red Riding Hood enacted on a college campus.

Some of female dorms were noted as the “free and easy dorms”, making the marks a bit too easy.  Really easy.

“Every year this happens.  You’d think the parents would talk to their daughters about this.  But, no.  To discuss this is to condone it. So, here we are, again,” Nurse Ruth cursed.

Read the information first!!

What happened every year?  The young gullible girls on Third Floor Jennings Dorm (the easy dorm; not the real dorm name) had just learned about birth control pills, the miracle of birth control pills!  One girl made an appointment to see a doctor and brought back the round container of pills.

Sooo, when one had a date, she would take one pill and tah-dah she would be safe from getting pregnant.  One pill = no pregnancy.

In three months, three girls were sent home to finish out their pregnancy. 

Fresh air! Free at last!  Free!

Do you recognize boy, left, bottom row?

Late 1960s senior photos:  note hair and clothing styles.

Ashes to ashes

source: rgbstock.com

Deborah answered her phone and recognized the nurse from the care facility.  Your father has died.  No surprise…it had been a long time coming, with a devastating illness that took his mind away..

Deborah flew in from San Francisco, arriving in time for graveside service where ashes-to-ashes, appointed time of three score and ten, verses were recited.  Then taps were played, flag was folded by Veteran of the Foreign War members, and presented to a relative Deborah did not know.

Deborah sat in a rented car and waited until everyone had done their jobs and disappeared before she could return to the grave site. 

Deborah knelt at her mother’s grave and wept.  How she had loved her mother…how her mother had loved her.  she pulled away some large bouquets from her father’s grave, overflowing with blooms.  Tenderly, she placed the flowers at Mom’s grave.

Then Deborah stood at the new grave, covered with accolades and flowers.  She whispered, “I loved you so! I did everything I was supposed to do.  I honored and obeyed you, I respected and tried to please you. Even when you were old and I was middle years, you still tried to control me, hurt me with your words.

Another pause.  “You broke my heart.”

Deborah returned to the rental car, thinking where she should go next.

Source

Random Acts of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness Blogfest May 27-31, 2013

A teacher gives so much, almost everything inside the brain and heart.  That is what I always believed, always did.  I arrived at school an hour and a half before the required time to make certain that the day’s preparation was just right.  I stayed two hours after school to review student work and make adjustments for the next day.  

Every day for years, this was my work ethic.

Then, one day I received an irate letter from a father who ripped me apart.  

He had found typos in an assignment I had copied from a professionally produced  book of black-line masters.  He did not appreciate the topic being pursued and wanted to adjust it to his superior understanding.  He thought his child needed more explanation and monitoring—by discussing each lesson taught and assignment given, after the rest of the class had been dismissed.  

The letter, written in small font, covered a full page.

My entire being sagged in defeat, taking my heart and brain with it.  I left after school, numb and confused.  Was there more I could have done?

Flashing forward-- I tightened up my checking-for-typos, adjusted my explanations of all assignments, and double checking everything.  It didn't change that father, but it changed me.  For better?  I didn't know.  

 MANY years later, I received a card from the parents of another student.  

While going through old videos, they discovered a video of their son’s reading and speech presentations recorded that same school year.  They expressed their thanks and appreciation for giving their son such a wonderful year, for teaching him.

They will never know how much this act of kindness meant to me.  I could tell them “Thanks!” but that would be inadequate.

I still have the letter and read it occasionally.  And I praise God for these parents who gave me more than they could ever know.

Source: ChIandra4U