SCHOOL KIDS! And Holly, on vegetables.
[email protected]
Welcome back, DiAnna!
I wish I could drive long enough to do road trips with kids. I get
dangerously sleepy after a couple of hours.
In a message dated 3/20/02 7:36:01 AM, rsrascals@... writes:
<< "I wouldn't want to go to school.
Those kids are loud and pushy." Hurray for us! >>
We used to meet weekly or more in public parks. Sometimes a busload of
schoolkids would show up (usually a pre-school coming there for lunch or
play, sometimes a mid-school track team, or whatever). Marty, when he was
six and seven, would shoot straight up like a prairie-dog lookout and yell
"SCHOOL KIDS!" and start gathering up our play equipment like we had to be
OUT of there before the last of them touched the grass. It was partly a
joke, but it had happened several times that our park sessions were ruined by
other kids coming up, being stingy with the slides, taking our kids' buckets
and shovels and balls away from them, just getting on their bikes and riding,
etc. The difference in behavior was notable.
But I always smile when I think of Marty's reaction. Still now if we're at a
zoo or museum and a school group is coming, he'll elbow me and nod toward the
direction we should escape.
Sometimes I like to just stay and let the whole group wash over me and pass
on. It's a good reminder that my kids ARE learning and are thoughtful and
more safe at home (emotionally, socially, morally).
Holly always wants to discuss the kids' behavior, and it surprises her most
that they're ignoring the cool stuff--museum displays, animals, or
whatever--in favor of just playing around or pushing each other, or running
back and forth. I try to tell her that they're not used to freedom and large
spaces.
It's interesting to me to see her first impressions of information about
school. It's just not the same to hear about it as to grow up in it.
Yesterday morning Holly was talking to me about dessert and meals. That was
the first time she found out that some families make kids clean their plates,
and that they purposely rotate through vegetables the kids don't like, and
make them eat them or they don't get dessert. She looked at me with true
surprise. I mentioned "liver" and "tongue" (both things my husband's mom
subjected him to; I myself liked liver, but my parents were hunters and it
was usually venison). She had never heard of a family doing that. I asked
if she knew any families where the kids couldn't eat a snack before a meal.
She said no, but sometimes the snacks were just crackers or something the
kids didn't want.
A few hours later, Holly came and said this cute but sad thing: She said she
guessed in a family where the parents were going to force the kids to eat
things they didn't like for dinner, that if those kids went to school they
could just eat a really big lunch so they could last until breakfast. I told
her school lunches were famously small. She said "Not in England!" but on
questioning, she said they could have had several sides, but only one entree.
She told me a few weeks ago (over a year after it happening) about one of the
girls at the school she visited in England looking over at Holly's lunch tray
and saying "You forgot your pudding."
Holly looked at her tray, at the other girl's tray, at her friend Jasmine's
tray, and said "I didn't see any pudding." The girl pointed at her little
cake. They use "pudding" generically for any dessert, but Holly didn't know
that, and as she's not dessert-trained, she had just passed by the cakes and
such.
A question for the Brits on the list: She really liked the entree, and said
it was a meat layer with mashed potatoes on top, and a pattern on top of the
mashed potatoes. What was that?
Sandra
I wish I could drive long enough to do road trips with kids. I get
dangerously sleepy after a couple of hours.
In a message dated 3/20/02 7:36:01 AM, rsrascals@... writes:
<< "I wouldn't want to go to school.
Those kids are loud and pushy." Hurray for us! >>
We used to meet weekly or more in public parks. Sometimes a busload of
schoolkids would show up (usually a pre-school coming there for lunch or
play, sometimes a mid-school track team, or whatever). Marty, when he was
six and seven, would shoot straight up like a prairie-dog lookout and yell
"SCHOOL KIDS!" and start gathering up our play equipment like we had to be
OUT of there before the last of them touched the grass. It was partly a
joke, but it had happened several times that our park sessions were ruined by
other kids coming up, being stingy with the slides, taking our kids' buckets
and shovels and balls away from them, just getting on their bikes and riding,
etc. The difference in behavior was notable.
But I always smile when I think of Marty's reaction. Still now if we're at a
zoo or museum and a school group is coming, he'll elbow me and nod toward the
direction we should escape.
Sometimes I like to just stay and let the whole group wash over me and pass
on. It's a good reminder that my kids ARE learning and are thoughtful and
more safe at home (emotionally, socially, morally).
Holly always wants to discuss the kids' behavior, and it surprises her most
that they're ignoring the cool stuff--museum displays, animals, or
whatever--in favor of just playing around or pushing each other, or running
back and forth. I try to tell her that they're not used to freedom and large
spaces.
It's interesting to me to see her first impressions of information about
school. It's just not the same to hear about it as to grow up in it.
Yesterday morning Holly was talking to me about dessert and meals. That was
the first time she found out that some families make kids clean their plates,
and that they purposely rotate through vegetables the kids don't like, and
make them eat them or they don't get dessert. She looked at me with true
surprise. I mentioned "liver" and "tongue" (both things my husband's mom
subjected him to; I myself liked liver, but my parents were hunters and it
was usually venison). She had never heard of a family doing that. I asked
if she knew any families where the kids couldn't eat a snack before a meal.
She said no, but sometimes the snacks were just crackers or something the
kids didn't want.
A few hours later, Holly came and said this cute but sad thing: She said she
guessed in a family where the parents were going to force the kids to eat
things they didn't like for dinner, that if those kids went to school they
could just eat a really big lunch so they could last until breakfast. I told
her school lunches were famously small. She said "Not in England!" but on
questioning, she said they could have had several sides, but only one entree.
She told me a few weeks ago (over a year after it happening) about one of the
girls at the school she visited in England looking over at Holly's lunch tray
and saying "You forgot your pudding."
Holly looked at her tray, at the other girl's tray, at her friend Jasmine's
tray, and said "I didn't see any pudding." The girl pointed at her little
cake. They use "pudding" generically for any dessert, but Holly didn't know
that, and as she's not dessert-trained, she had just passed by the cakes and
such.
A question for the Brits on the list: She really liked the entree, and said
it was a meat layer with mashed potatoes on top, and a pattern on top of the
mashed potatoes. What was that?
Sandra
The Mowery Family
Monday we were at the YMCA for Dana's swim class. Dana was in the pool and
I was in the hallway watching. Down the steps comes a (school)teacher
followed by at least 30 children age 6 or 7. Teacher instructed the
children to MARCH, and was saying left, left, left right left. I turned
around in amazement, actually I was appalled. The children were not allowed
to talk, touch or stop and watch the kids in the pool, just march to their
bus. I was sad. Dana is part of a homeschool gym/swim thingie at the YMCA
on tuesdays. They treat the kids so differently. No parent marches them
upstairs to the gym for the first hour, no one directs the kids to their
parents(or not, the olders are able to do their own thing) after gym to get
ready for swim - they just let our kids go - which I LOVE. The kids range
in age from 5 to 13. If a little has to potty while they are in the gym,
one of the instructors will bring them downstairs IF the child requests
assistance, if not the kids can do what they need to do by themselves. The
way the children do things together makes me feel so happy for Dana.
When we do park day or other outings, we seem to automatically huddle
together until the mass hysteria of school kids pass or we pack up and end
park play. It is just too overwhelming to be in their presence.
My mom always says Dana could become a vegetarian no problem, that kid will
pick veggies(just about any kind) before anything else on her plate - most
times she skips her meat altogether. I always offer the meat cause just in
case she is in the mood for it.
The meat thing with potato layer - could it be shepards pie?? Just a
non-brit answer =)
sistakammi
I was in the hallway watching. Down the steps comes a (school)teacher
followed by at least 30 children age 6 or 7. Teacher instructed the
children to MARCH, and was saying left, left, left right left. I turned
around in amazement, actually I was appalled. The children were not allowed
to talk, touch or stop and watch the kids in the pool, just march to their
bus. I was sad. Dana is part of a homeschool gym/swim thingie at the YMCA
on tuesdays. They treat the kids so differently. No parent marches them
upstairs to the gym for the first hour, no one directs the kids to their
parents(or not, the olders are able to do their own thing) after gym to get
ready for swim - they just let our kids go - which I LOVE. The kids range
in age from 5 to 13. If a little has to potty while they are in the gym,
one of the instructors will bring them downstairs IF the child requests
assistance, if not the kids can do what they need to do by themselves. The
way the children do things together makes me feel so happy for Dana.
When we do park day or other outings, we seem to automatically huddle
together until the mass hysteria of school kids pass or we pack up and end
park play. It is just too overwhelming to be in their presence.
My mom always says Dana could become a vegetarian no problem, that kid will
pick veggies(just about any kind) before anything else on her plate - most
times she skips her meat altogether. I always offer the meat cause just in
case she is in the mood for it.
The meat thing with potato layer - could it be shepards pie?? Just a
non-brit answer =)
sistakammi
----- Original Message -----
From: <SandraDodd@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 10:35 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] SCHOOL KIDS! And Holly, on vegetables.
> Welcome back, DiAnna!
> I wish I could drive long enough to do road trips with kids. I get
> dangerously sleepy after a couple of hours.
>
> In a message dated 3/20/02 7:36:01 AM, rsrascals@... writes:
>
> << "I wouldn't want to go to school.
> Those kids are loud and pushy." Hurray for us! >>
>
> We used to meet weekly or more in public parks. Sometimes a busload of
> schoolkids would show up (usually a pre-school coming there for lunch or
> play, sometimes a mid-school track team, or whatever). Marty, when he
was
> six and seven, would shoot straight up like a prairie-dog lookout and yell
> "SCHOOL KIDS!" and start gathering up our play equipment like we had to be
> OUT of there before the last of them touched the grass. It was partly a
> joke, but it had happened several times that our park sessions were ruined
by
> other kids coming up, being stingy with the slides, taking our kids'
buckets
> and shovels and balls away from them, just getting on their bikes and
riding,
> etc. The difference in behavior was notable.
>
> But I always smile when I think of Marty's reaction. Still now if we're
at a
> zoo or museum and a school group is coming, he'll elbow me and nod toward
the
> direction we should escape.
>
> Sometimes I like to just stay and let the whole group wash over me and
pass
> on. It's a good reminder that my kids ARE learning and are thoughtful and
> more safe at home (emotionally, socially, morally).
>
> Holly always wants to discuss the kids' behavior, and it surprises her
most
> that they're ignoring the cool stuff--museum displays, animals, or
> whatever--in favor of just playing around or pushing each other, or
running
> back and forth. I try to tell her that they're not used to freedom and
large
> spaces.
>
> It's interesting to me to see her first impressions of information about
> school. It's just not the same to hear about it as to grow up in it.
>
> Yesterday morning Holly was talking to me about dessert and meals. That
was
> the first time she found out that some families make kids clean their
plates,
> and that they purposely rotate through vegetables the kids don't like, and
> make them eat them or they don't get dessert. She looked at me with true
> surprise. I mentioned "liver" and "tongue" (both things my husband's mom
> subjected him to; I myself liked liver, but my parents were hunters and it
> was usually venison). She had never heard of a family doing that. I
asked
> if she knew any families where the kids couldn't eat a snack before a
meal.
> She said no, but sometimes the snacks were just crackers or something the
> kids didn't want.
>
> A few hours later, Holly came and said this cute but sad thing: She said
she
> guessed in a family where the parents were going to force the kids to eat
> things they didn't like for dinner, that if those kids went to school they
> could just eat a really big lunch so they could last until breakfast. I
told
> her school lunches were famously small. She said "Not in England!" but
on
> questioning, she said they could have had several sides, but only one
entree.
>
> She told me a few weeks ago (over a year after it happening) about one of
the
> girls at the school she visited in England looking over at Holly's lunch
tray
> and saying "You forgot your pudding."
>
> Holly looked at her tray, at the other girl's tray, at her friend
Jasmine's
> tray, and said "I didn't see any pudding." The girl pointed at her little
> cake. They use "pudding" generically for any dessert, but Holly didn't
know
> that, and as she's not dessert-trained, she had just passed by the cakes
and
> such.
>
> A question for the Brits on the list: She really liked the entree, and
said
> it was a meat layer with mashed potatoes on top, and a pattern on top of
the
> mashed potatoes. What was that?
>
> Sandra
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
Dan Vilter
on 3/20/02 7:35 AM, SandraDodd@... at SandraDodd@... wrote:
schoolchildren. I am able to arrange tickets for some of these performances
for homeschool groups that I have a connection to.
The house staff has quite a set of procedures for filling an auditorium of
that can hold 1500 people with school groups. Busses often arrive hours
before the performance, sometimes before any of the performers and staff.
There is lining up, escorting through the lobby, and having an usher going
down each row with the students, pointing to each seat they need to sit in.
To head off non-productive interaction, the high school students are
segregated from the primary students.
I usually meet my group of homeschoolers 15 minutes before the show out in
front of the theater where the kids (and adults) chat with their friends
they haven't seen in a while or start playing games, and generally start
having fun from the minute they arrive. When it's our time to go into the
theater, some of the kids have fun "lining up" most of them make fun of it,
and we take our seats without much supervision.
Afterward, I am often leading tours backstage for the homeschoolers. So our
group has to wait for the House to clear, and for the stage crew to make it
safe enough for the tour. So we chat about the show and answer questions
while we watch the school kids march out to their buses.
The contrast between the groups is quite profound.
**Almost without exception, members of the House staff talk to me afterward
about how polite, courteous, and pleasant my group had been. Or they comment
on what good questions they were asking me.**
-Dan Vilter
> Sometimes I like to just stay and let the whole group wash over me and passAt the performing arts center where I work we do many performances for
> on. It's a good reminder that my kids ARE learning and are thoughtful and
> more safe at home (emotionally, socially, morally).
schoolchildren. I am able to arrange tickets for some of these performances
for homeschool groups that I have a connection to.
The house staff has quite a set of procedures for filling an auditorium of
that can hold 1500 people with school groups. Busses often arrive hours
before the performance, sometimes before any of the performers and staff.
There is lining up, escorting through the lobby, and having an usher going
down each row with the students, pointing to each seat they need to sit in.
To head off non-productive interaction, the high school students are
segregated from the primary students.
I usually meet my group of homeschoolers 15 minutes before the show out in
front of the theater where the kids (and adults) chat with their friends
they haven't seen in a while or start playing games, and generally start
having fun from the minute they arrive. When it's our time to go into the
theater, some of the kids have fun "lining up" most of them make fun of it,
and we take our seats without much supervision.
Afterward, I am often leading tours backstage for the homeschoolers. So our
group has to wait for the House to clear, and for the stage crew to make it
safe enough for the tour. So we chat about the show and answer questions
while we watch the school kids march out to their buses.
The contrast between the groups is quite profound.
**Almost without exception, members of the House staff talk to me afterward
about how polite, courteous, and pleasant my group had been. Or they comment
on what good questions they were asking me.**
-Dan Vilter
Cindy
SandraDodd@... wrote:
school groups there. I noticed that one of the groups had handed
out notebooks with questions that their students needed to answer.
I thought how sad that those children couldn't just relax and enjoy
the place. My children learn so much every time we visit - they
had to show Rob all their favorite places - he's been working too
much lately and hasn't been able to go with us. Rob and I were
much more relaxed when all the school groups left. I don't think
Megan and Alex even noticed them - the aquarium is much too interesting
for them!
--
Cindy Ferguson
crma@...
>We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Friday and there were a few
> Sometimes I like to just stay and let the whole group wash over me and pass
> on. It's a good reminder that my kids ARE learning and are thoughtful and
> more safe at home (emotionally, socially, morally).
>
school groups there. I noticed that one of the groups had handed
out notebooks with questions that their students needed to answer.
I thought how sad that those children couldn't just relax and enjoy
the place. My children learn so much every time we visit - they
had to show Rob all their favorite places - he's been working too
much lately and hasn't been able to go with us. Rob and I were
much more relaxed when all the school groups left. I don't think
Megan and Alex even noticed them - the aquarium is much too interesting
for them!
--
Cindy Ferguson
crma@...
moonmeghan
<<<<> Holly always wants to discuss the kids' behavior, and it
surprises her most
Tamzin is always discussing others' behaviour. She is always
curious about it and analyzing it. She is often appalled at the way
some parents treat their children and the way some children
treat each other.
<<<<> A question for the Brits on the list: She really liked the
entree, and said
of it.
Meghan
surprises her most
> that they're ignoring the cool stuff--museum displays, animals,or
> whatever--in favor of just playing around or pushing each other,or running
> back and forth. I try to tell her that they're not used to freedomand large spaces. >>>>
Tamzin is always discussing others' behaviour. She is always
curious about it and analyzing it. She is often appalled at the way
some parents treat their children and the way some children
treat each other.
<<<<> A question for the Brits on the list: She really liked the
entree, and said
> it was a meat layer with mashed potatoes on top, and a patternon top of the
> mashed potatoes. What was that?Sounds like Shepard's Pie to me. I make a mean veggie version
>
> Sandra>>>>
of it.
Meghan