Dr. Gary Thompson

Wow!  The Utah Office of Education isn't building their case for their decision to implement Common Core very well.  Take a look at what Dr. Gary Thompson said today about a meeting he attended where CC was being discussed.  Way to go Dr. Thompson for making your voice be heard!

• Dr. Gary Thompson said, ' I'm mortified at USOE. I'm half tempted to shoot off (another) letter to the State Superintendent of Schools demanding that they stop all future "informational"meetings until they themselves either know the correct answers, or can be honest and simply state, " we are investigating these issues currently, and we will get back to you when we know the answers." Anything other than that is pure deception, and if they (Judy Park, ect) are deceiving tax paying parents, then they should be asked to resign from their positions of trust. If I here one more meeting filled with deception and plausible deniability, I may take it upon myself to publicly ask for those resignations myself in a very public manner that will make the my Glen Beck appearance look like minor league. 
  
  It is just common respect. THEY asked for my letter of assistance and clarification. Attorney Flint and myself spent an entire weekend drafting it for them and the parents in our community. 
  
  Their response over a week later? 
  
  Crickets. 
  
  Not even a thank you note....and then they have the gall to present a LIVE feed to the entire State filled with definitive answers to parents questions that not only could they not answer during our 2 hour in person meeting, but asked for our assistance to clarify the issues they did not understand. 
  
  How hard would it had been to simply say, "We do not know." ??? 
  Ms. Parks response to questions regarding adaptive testing to children with learning "quirks" (out new name for disabilities) was so devious and deceptive that I had to turn it off. 
  
  Alisa Olsen Ellis, don't you ever stop this fight as long as you have life in you. God bless you.

  about an hour ago via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Gary Thompson and yes, you can repost my response to the world. As long as you correct my IPhone induced spelling errors.

  about an hour ago via mobile

Wedding, Talk, And Job

I have been battling a headache for the last 3 days.  I'm not usually a headache person, so this is new for me.  I think the headache might have something to do with helping the neighbors put in there lawn.  I haven't done been able to do a lot of physical activity for the last several years, so I think I overdid myself.

We attended Jared's brother's wedding on Saturday and it was beautiful.  The sealer in the temple happened to be our Stake Patriarch, President Simmons.  Being in the temple and hearing the beautiful words of the ceremony was touching and the presence of the Lord's Spirit was strong.  It was such a special experience.  Oh, and we're happy to see Grayson married to such a nice girl.

After the wedding on Saturday, we went to a restaurant called Maddox in Brigham City.  The food was delicious.  Little Bruce ate his little heart out.  The kids were so well behaved the entire day.  I was so proud of them.

As we came home from all of the activities that surrounded the wedding, we spent the rest of the day recouping.  Sunday morning church starts at 08:30 and I wasn't sure how I was going to get there because of how exhausted I was.  We had to help Vanessa write a talk for Sacrament meeting as well because she didn't plan her schedule carefully during the week.  Her talk was on the apostasy and the restoration.  Her talk was really mine and Jared's talk and I told her that that is the last time that will happen.  She is almost 14 and in my mind it is completely unacceptable for a parent to write a perfectly capable daughter's talk.

Jared's temporary job is about to become a permanent position.  That doesn't mean Jared gets the position, it just means that his company is placing the job up for bidding.  Jared will apply for it and we will see what the Lord has in store for us.  We continue to place our faith and trust in the Lord and we will accept whatever happens.  We know we are in His care.

Home Schooling

I am home schooling again and this time for keeps.  I home schooled our children 5 years ago for 2 years.  If you've spent any time learning about what is going on with our public schools, you might be tempted to pull your children from their schools.  I understand.  In fact,  a few of my neighbors have found out that I have pulled all but my oldest daughter, Vanessa, from public school and they are asking me questions.  Vanessa will finish out her 8th grade year and I'll home school her again through 12th grade.  But, I am happy to tell my neighbors what I have found out and point them to the people who have informed me.

I love home schooling.  I love learning with the kids and having them look at me as their teacher.  I love that the kids and I are really bonding.  There is such a sweet spirit in our home.

For those of you who are wondering how I am doing it, I'll tell you a little bit about what I am doing.

I use Saxon Math textbooks.  I went online to amazon.com and found the oldest textbooks I could find.  The new Saxon Math textbooks have Common Core State Standards in them.  I am not interested in that at all, as you know!

For English/Literature I am frequenting the local library.  The kids are checking out classics, like Peter Pan and Where the Red Fern Grows.  We are reading and talking about the characters in the books.  I am guiding the kids to look at character downfalls, main plot, and then we look at the conclusions of the books and analyze the outcomes.

We memorize a scripture every week as a family.

We pray.

We sing.

We cook together.

Jared is teaching the boys the cello.  Jared recently purchased a cello for himself and we are borrowing an old cello from Jared's parents for the boys to learn on.

Jared is teaching the boys how to play basketball.

We have plans to plant our vegetable garden in the next couple of weeks.

We are looking forward to teaching our kids in all walks of life.

What a joy to have the opportunity to get the kids ready for their lives as husbands, fathers, neighbors, community members, etc.  I love having the opportunity to choose with my children what they want to learn.

Birthday, Christmas Concert, And Christmas

I haven't posted any family pictures in awhile and thought today would be a good day to catch up a little.

Rex turned 7 in December.  We had a birthday party and he had 6 friends over for a party.  Rex is working on completing his 1st grade.  He loves his friends.  He loves to sword fight with his friends and brothers.  We moved his bed downstairs and he now shares a bedroom with his older brother Eric.  He loves to be outside.  He is a good boy and is a big helper.

Vanessa had a violin concert at her school in December.  And here are a couple of pictures of our Christmas morning.  I am realizing I need a new camera and I need to start taking more pictures.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

As a general rule of thumb in my life, I really try to avoid begging.  I am not going to try to avoid it today.  Please, please, please learn about Common Core State Standards that your state has adopted from the United States Department of Education for the free public education for your children.  If you don't know where to start, look up the website utahnsagainstcommoncore.com.  Even if you don't live in Utah, that website will point you in the direction of your own state and how your state had adopted Common Core as well.

Check out what Glenn Beck said today on his radio program about who is supporting Common Core.   

http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/04/11/youll-never-guess-who-is-supporting-common-core/

Here is a comment a teacher made from the Jordan School District in Utah.

“I recently attended a common core day of cheer leading for the sixth grade teachers in my district.  Money was used to pay for subs so that we could all hear for a day why the common core was so wonderful.  We were told that students would no longer be graded on completion of assignments or an average of assignment and test scores over a grading period.  Instead grading will be based on mastery of a subject.  How do we determine mastery?  The district has provided bench mark tests in language arts.  We were told that these are not mandatory BUT that if we did not use them they would become mandatory.  I find it scary that students will now be graded only on tests written by the core.  The final assessment was a research paper on modern revolutions.  Interesting how now in the sixth grade learning can be skewed to a political point of view that may or may not be historically accurate.  I find the curriculum scary and the measurement of learning terrifying. I know though that any questions I asked contrary to the core were met with anger and frustration. It was NOT allowed and dismissed to ask a question that was not common core friendly. I along with other teachers are afraid to speak out publicly against the core for fear of losing our jobs. I work in the Jordan school district.”

**Edited to add some meetings held in some Utah school districts where Common Core will be talked about with county representatives.  My counties was held a couple of night ago, but I didn't hear about it until today, so I missed it.  If you can attend, this might be a great way to see what your area parents, teachers, and representatives think of Common Core.  

**IF YOUR DISTRICT IS NOT LISTED, CALL THE UTAH STATE OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND ASK FOR A MEETING ABOUT THE COMMON CORE TESTS.  Or Call your state's office of education.

Alpine District4–6 pm District Office575 N 100 E, American Fork Tuesday April 16

Weber District4–6 pm District Office / Board Room5320 Adams Ave. Parkway, Ogden Tuesday April 16

Logan District4–6 pm District Office/ Board Room101 West Center, Logan Wednesday April 17

Juab District4–6 pm Juab High School / Little Theater802 N 650 E, Nephi Thursday April 18

Nebo District4–6 pm District Office/ Board Room350 S Main, Spanish Fork Tuesday April 23

Davis 4–6 pm District Office / Kendell Bldg (2nd Floor)70 E 100 N, Farmington Thursday April 25

Uintah District 4–6 pm Maeser Training Center1149 N 2500 W, Vernal

Food

Our family loves Chinese food.  We also love our recent commitment to reducing our eating out.  I always have my eyes out for yummy recipes that won't break the budget.  We have been eating a lot of rice these days.  And I mean a lot.  I'm trying to keep the kids from getting too tired of it.

I found a recipe online, from facebook that I'm going to make soon.  It looks like a simple recipe.

It's fried rice:

Fried Rice 

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)
3 tbs sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce


On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated! **You could really play around with this rice too! Try adding some diced ham, or green onion :) Yum!

Baking Soda And Deoderant

In talking to my friend a couple of months back, we were discussing deoderant.  Don't ask me why.  I don't remember.  She told me what she does for deoderant.  She pours a small amount of baking soda onto a dish rag, and then pats her underarm with the baking soda right after she gets out of the shower, or first thing before dressing for the day.  Weird!  I thought.  It is a bit of a mess, she said, but after some practice, she said the messes get less and less.

Well, I have been having a struggle finding a deoderant that I like and that keeps me smelling good all day long.  I am also very tired of yellow stains under my white shirts from the deoderant.  My friend says she no longer has that since using the baking soda.  What bothers me the most about store bought deoderants is that late in the day, I don't smell good at all.  My sweat smell mixed in with the deoderant just smells, well, nasty. So, I was willing to put the baking soda to the test.

Today I'd like to report the results of my baking soda deoderant test.  I love it!  It works!  I no longer have that nasty late afternoon smell.  And my shirts don't stink at the end of the day.  Even my hubby said I smell better.

Give it a try, if you are having the same issues I was having.  Let me know your results.