by ·Comments Off on Heated Blankets For Cold Weather

Living in Florida is wonderful. But for 49 years I was North. Like north of Chicago north. I remember shoveling snow, getting up and running the car in the middle of the night, scraping ice not only off the windshield but also the door handle and lock. I know -60 where the coke you bought with lunch froze before the 3 minute walk from car to office. I’d rather cozy up in the best heated blanket then be outside.

The difference is not only our bodies change to cope with the weather our building codes are different. North R35 insulation in roof, R15 in putter walls, triple pane windows, air forced heater and fireplaces. Here we have R15 in roof and walls.

Double pane windows with tinted windows. Heat pumps. We have winter clothes but not to the density or warmth that we use up north. I guess it’s just the reason why we moved to Florida. No shoveling snow or driving on icy slushy roads. We have +10 with windchill today. I thank God I didn’t give my down parka to Goodwill or gave it away. My parka and gloves will save me today as I run my errands.

I’m up here working with the elderly telling me they’re going to Florida for the winter. I’m mumbling under my breath, “Damn Snowbird congesting the roadways.”

If I, a Florida native of 25 years can stay up here in this frozen wasteland, so should you. Stay in your state! Don’t go to Florida as your refuge from the winter and then come back up north complaining about the crazy people and the alligators. I used to play with the alligators!! If you can’t handle all of Florida, stay home!

by ·Comments Off on Pick Up Your Cookware – Move Away From Restaurants

Best way to eat meat, go get your own. Plenty of game animals to eat. Venison is better for you then beef. Fish, lots of lakes, streams and ponds during the warm months. Raising chickens or other animals. To me there is nothing better than getting your own food yourself.

Food Industry Is Evil

The food industry is killing millions of people. Chronic diseases are the result of GMO, glucose, saturated fats, processed food… We’re not eating real food, but editable products that will eventually bring us so many diseases. Vote with your dollar, resist fast food and processed food and instead choose organic food, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds.You never actually know what’s in your food. Pick up the best cookware set you can and start learning to make your own meal!

Food trends like organic, grass-fed, antibiotic-free, etc. use these labels to drive up the prices of our food choices. I think it is important to note that fast food is cheap, but isn’t the healthiest option. If you’re interested in purchasing healthy, affordable food, visit the grocery store and look for products that do not have the marketing labels mentioned above. Organic foods are not healthier or safer, grass-fed beef was not treated better than animals fed grain, and all meat and dairy products are antibiotic-free due to withdrawal periods that farmers are required to abide by. There are many options in the grocery store that are affordable, nutritious, and safe.

Safer Way To Cook Food?

The thing is, not everyone is doing it. Here in the northeast, the state is giving out as many doe tags because there are too many deer and people are hitting them with cars and the deer tick population is through the roof. There are nearly a million deer here in this state, and I think maybe 200,000 are taken if that, and the deer herd increases in numbers every year. Small game hunting, I can count on one hand the number of people I know who hunt small game, very few know how or bother to hunt squirrels, rabbits, grouse etc.

New GMOs have yet to be researched. Some genetic modifications are light, light breeding for a stronger plant/animal. They create super weeds and super bugs, which can’t be thwarted by regular means so they keep using more pesticides, more antibiotics, more hormones. Some genetic modifications mix animal and plant DNA. Gross.

All factory farms, GMO crops and a lot of ‘free range’ cattle are not sustainable and extremely bad for the environment. We are in the midst of a health crisis in this country. We are beginning an environmental crisis. Things have to change.

by ·Comments Off on Finland Education System Best In The World

Finland performs much better than England and the USA in the PISA test. In this international test the students have to apply their knowledge in novel situations. It seems that their average pupils achieve

comparatively higher scores than those in other countries.

Does this reflect Government directives, the headmasters, the teachers, teaching methods, continual assessment, revision methods or parental involvement? It would seem that there is no one silver bullet for success and that this is only achieved by a complex well organized system which operates at several different levels. International visitors to Finland are usually perplexed by Finnish success probably because they only see one lesson.

Finnish pupils are made regularly accountable for their own learning and it is this which most probably explains their success. Our system that has ‘listen and learn’ lessons and prolonged cramming for SATs does not encourage pupils to develop their long term memory, which is the basis of successful learning.

Also the childcare is guaranteed during your work hours, and it’s cheap.

Now that I’m living away from Finland, there are so many things I just took granted in Finland. My sister pays less for childcare for 3 kids in Finland than I pay now for just 1 (pretty much half the amount I pay for one kid). Oh, and when we say free school, 1st years in Finland it really means free (up to the age of 16 on average).

You get everything from school, books, pens (including everything you need for art projects, and did we mentioned handcrafts we have in school, materials for those, and tools in schools to make anything), paper, notebooks, everything you need….

Even a musical instrument as learning to play it is part of the curriculum in Finland. And free health care includes dental care for kids, and those who keep up with check ups regulary after turning 18y. This is a big oversight that is missed in most countries where otherwise healthcare is cheap.

An adult now living in Europe and paying 25% in taxes on my meager salary, I am HAPPY to be giving that much to a system that guarantees me and my family quality non-elective health care, affordable education, and generous parental leave. Believe it or not, these “give away” actually incentivize hard work and stabilize society.

There are alternatives to the US approach. Each system has its own flaws and victories and maybe they can’t be mixed and matched. But don’t discount the Finnish model just because of high taxes.

by ·Comments Off on Parents Need To Be Involved in Kids Education

If those great scientists didn’t give us the common people their inventinon or their discoveries we would be running with sticks in our hands hunting animals .

Its a sad thing that people curse while learning what they invented or discovered. The biggest insult to them is we learn for jobs for money but not out of curiosity or for the sole purpose of learning .

I home school our oldest. He’s ahead in all his subjects right now because of the one-on-one interaction. He now cares enough to tell us if he doesn’t understanding a concept or lesson, which shows us he actually cares to retain the knowledge.

When it comes to traditional schooling, we understand that it’s not the teacher’s or principal’s fault. The way the public education system is set up is a one-size fits all deal, though not all kids learn the same way, which is what was discussed in this video.

While people feel private schools offer better education, the lack of socio-economic diversity can affect the way a child behaves/interprets other groups of people.

 

He has a hard time doing homework and sitting still listening, and the horrible memorizing. BUT he can do anything technological on her own, he can write simple code, he watches tutorials and cooks, he makes anything and decorates all her clothes and room.

he LOVES to work with her hands, period. Doing projects on her own is her thing. We try to let her know that school gives you insights on what moves you, that it opens doors to choices, but that it doesn’t “test” what he is learning. It’s hard.

by ·Comments Off on First Time Parents By Adopting

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/ohio-couple-becomes-first-time-parents-adopting-5-165605288–abc-news-parenting.html

“On the morning of July 27, the adoption was made official in Judge Ralph Winkler’s courtroom at Hamilton County Probate Court. Family, friends and the kids’ teachers were present for the occasion.”

This is a beautiful story! Adoption is one of the greatest gifts we have.


But. Guys, can I step in and say something? As the sister to 5 adopted siblings, I see the comments asking how the family “ended up with them” or where their “real parents” are.
The first question is answered sufficiently in the article, to the extent that it should be. Any other details are quite simply not the business of strangers on the internet.


As far as the second question, I have three points to bring up-First, the Rom’s are their real parents. That’s that.


Secondly, I know the commenter meant “biological parents.” We should get away from using the term “real” when discussing biological families vs adoptive families. It’s damaging to the child, and outdated.


Thirdly, it’s another question that is none of our business as strangers on the internet.

Just be happy that these beautiful babies are adopted into a loving and caring family!

If you struggled to get a child even after monitoring basal body thermometer. There is about 350,000 kids in foster care across the nation waiting for their ‘forever’ family! People go outside and spend over 50,000 to adopt… I know those babies too need family’s. I wish our kids came first! Keeping the siblings is magnificent! They are now with their ‘real’ parents!

by ·Comments Off on Kids Can Love To Read

That’s what started me 50 years ago in 2nd grade – the school librarian gave me Betsy’s Busy Summer by Carolyn Haywood – haven’t stopped reading since! Now my 8 year old granddaughter is a bookworm – we go book shopping together! A reader is never lonely! Bless school librarians

That is so true. A children’s librarian I know that sometimes it take hits and misses when recommending books. But the magic begins when it works: the right book at the right time for the right child!!! Such joy when the child comes back and asks for more!!! That’s why we do what we do!! For the children.

A son has ASD and hated reading until our local librarian showed him How to Train Your Dragon. That was the start, Harry Potter soon followed and now it’s Lemony Snicket. He’s now 10 and loves visiting our library to see what they’ve got.

It is a skill. I too have worked in a public library. Get to really know your customer and their interests. From there, I could usually find anyone, any age a book and hit the right spot. If they don’t know what books they like, expand the chat to films/tv, not necessarily presenting a book based on it, but you can form a good idea of what type of books they’d like from there. It honestly works a treat.