"I Hope Their Feelings Got Hurt Really Bad."

Big graduation pep rally at North High School in Bakersfield, California.  Two truant officers read the names of 34 teens who would not be graduating and instruct them to come forward, look at their fellow senior friends and "say goodbye."

FOX News interviewed a "motivational speaker" who says that the teens should have been publicly shamed because they've demonstrated they're not even smart enough to graduate from a (said sneeringly here) public school.

"I hope their feelings got hurt really bad," he said, adding that this is going to really inspire these students to go to school every day it's open and complete their studies.

Here's a link given by the school's website about how teachers can avoid bullying.  Examples:  don't give any indication of a student's grade (um, hello, telling people "these kids failed" sorta violates that?) and never display a student's weakness so that others can see it (yeah).

I hope some heads roll with this one.  I'm disgusted not only by the behaviour of the adults in this school, but by the treatment of this topic in the news.

The Kansas City Zoo!

The littles went with D, Patrick and me to the zoo today!  We bought a family pass, so look forward to seeing more pics in future posts!

D took all the pictures in this post.  This is a jellyfish.  There are several in the new penguin exhibit.  The zoo is really changing and it's so much more interesting than it was even a few years ago. 

The penguin exhibit is very neat.  You can see penguins from all sorts of angles.

Of course D had to take... this picture...

The polar bears are Woodjie's favourite!   They're right near the entrance and so they're the last thing we do before piling into the van :)

Are You Old, Too?

Post by Metroplex Baby & Kids.

Language Arts Curriculum!

Spent $10 on a used workbook older than my 20-year-old child.  Yes, I did.  It's something I never would have chosen online but after having looked at it, I thought it was perfect for our younger children.

Simple, simple "daily exercises" actually take longer than you think.  But I think Woodjie and Rose are learning quite a bit.

Rose and Woodjie were asked to write a couple of sentences.  Rose's work took about five minutes.

Woodjie took over half an hour on this and by the time he was done, he needed a lot of praise and hugs.  It is just very hard work for him.  We still remember that he didn't speak for quite some time, so every word and bit of progress is really a little miracle.  We'll be doing just a bit of writing a few times a week now.

Spelling workbook.  I just xerox and go.  I could have made my own list of 60 words, but I didn't bother.  This workbook is little, but it has plenty of activities and the printing is big and kid-friendly.

Woodjie's master list.  He gets to star the list after he passes the test.  I told him when he is finished with the whole sheet, he will get a BIG PRIZE!  Even I don't know what it is yet.  :)

All About Rose.

"Did I choose this family when I was a baby?" she wanted to know recently.  "I'm not sure I picked the best one.  Will I get another chance?"  Sorry, kid.

Here's her new hairdo from the side.  I bought her some frumperware at the homeschool convention!  This is a Flexi-8.  Apparently lots of people who homeschool sell them and collect them.  Which.  Is odd.  But cute.  So why not... goes with her prairie skirt and all that.

This is the "mini" size.  Rose's hair is very fine and slips through my fingers.  Maybe it will take a while to figure out how to do more neatly.  She loves her little clip.  D keeps pretending that it is HIS Flexi-8 and asking for his hairclip back.  Rose is pretty outraged by this, as dad has pretty much no hair.  I mean, unless he grows his beard out or something.

Please Visit Rose!

Rose at an indoor park.

Rose would love some visitors to her blog.  Would you follow her as well?  She'll probably write something once or twice a month, so she won't be too hard to keep up with.  Here's her web address:  Rose's Blog.

WARNING: LEGOs Destroy Souls!

“These toys can have a negative effect on children. They can destroy their souls and lead them to the dark side” Polish priest Slawomir Kostrzewa told the UK Telegraph recently.   They're the work of the devil!  Much as My Little Pony toys are really the "carrier of death."

I know you're looking at the date of my post and thinking I'm making it all up, but no such luck.  Apparently this is not a hilarious April Fool's joke like the "I'm hiding in the bathroom during a massive college campus shooting" prank this chick tried to pull off.  (Hint:  it doesn't end well.)

I do think some of the LEGO products are a little overly-dark for small children, however.  And I would allow my older children to collect and construct BIONICLE items, but not to watch the movies and read the books while they were smaller.  There's a whole fake theology and storyline connected with them that I don't appreciate.

I don't really want to devise motives for Satan, but I'm just guessing LEGO is not number one on his list.