Text 16977, 146 rader
Skriven 2008-11-27 23:08:16 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Ruth Haffly
Ärende: socks & books
=====================
-=> Quoting Ruth Haffly to Nancy Backus on 11-24-08 13:53 <=-

 NB>> parfaits, perhaps... (G)  Some years, there would be 2-3 of us doing

 RH> That's the most fun.  IN HI, the officer and first sergeant wives did
 RH> a single soldier stocking stuffer project each year.  We all assembled
 RH> in a conference room, had the stuff laid out on tables and then passed
 RH> the stockings around.

Doing things as a group always does make things more fun... and go
quicker... hence such community projects as barnraisings and quilting
bees...  :)

 NB>> the stuffing together.  Alternatively, sometimes I'd make a (bunch of)
 NB>> pile(s) of what was going into each stocking, and then stuff each
 NB>> one... That could make it easier for others to be doing the stuffing
 NB>> at the same time, if they didn't want to work assembly line fashion.

 RH> Yes but it requires a lot more work on your part.  At the Project

Not necessarily.  It got so that I had been already sorting distinctly
non-perishable items into lunch bags with people's names on them, well
ahead of time.  Apples, oranges and especially tangerines I'd wait to
buy until close to time, and then those would be pretty much the only
things not already sorted out...  When it came time to actually stuff
the stockings, those bags could be (individually, even) dumped out into
piles, the fruit added, and then the stuffed stocking could be put back
into the bag (with the person's name on it)...

 RH> Linus get together on Saturday, quilts were grouped according to the
 RH> needs. Some needed complete assembly staring with making a top (with
 RH> the top pieces pre placed together), some needed to be layered (a
 RH> sandwich of top, batting and backing) and others "just" needed a turn
 RH> over binding done.  I worked on that, grabbing bits and pieces of
 RH> cheese, meat, crackers and raw veggies in between quilts for supper.

I'm sure it was a lot of fun... and that there was conversational buzz
as well, filling the room.  This is an on-going project, I gather?

 NB>> Then they might teach about foods in a lesson plan segment... and/or
 NB>> do hands-on learning in class, if they don't go out into the
 NB>> community.  I know that (30 years ago) the academically oriented

 RH> Could be; that sounds the most logical for the school.  But you miss
 RH> all the fun of field trips.  

True.  As you say later, then it becomes something that the parents may
have to fill in... although part of the fun is the whole class going.  I
was one of the driver/chaperones fairly often on field trips that my
son's school went on, right through 8th grade.  There's a lot of
learning on MANY levels that goes on on field trips...

 RH> We were in CA when Rachel started (public)
 RH> kindergarten.  The class made a field trip to a pumpkin farm; they all
 RH> got to pick their own pumpkin.  About a week later, they made another
 RH> field trip.  Deborah (3 at the time) and I saw the school bus bringing
 RH> the kids back as we started the walk to pick up Rachel.  I told
 RH> Deborah that the bus had her sister's class on it, returning from a
 RH> field trip. Deborah wanted to know if Rachel was bringing home another
 RH> pumpkin.  No, the trip was to the Monterey Customs House.  But, getting

Can't blame the child for being confused...  ;)

 RH> back to the pumpkin farm trip:  we saw all these little kids getting
 RH> off the bus with pumpkins about as big as they were. Then Rachel got
 RH> off, carrying a little one, a bit bigger than a softball.  I think she
 RH> was the only one with a small pumpkin. We bought a bigger one (Jack O
 RH> Lantern size) at the school's Pumkpin Patch Carnival about a week later. 

Sounds like she was the only sensible one... :)  And she got two
pumpkins out of it, one to share, and one for her very own... (G)

 NB>> was in (full day kindergarten, and learning first grade stuff already)
 NB>> also did things during the school day besides just book study.  I came
 NB>> in one day, and spent the day having the kids help me bake bread.  We
 NB>> started with measuring the ingredients, and they each had a chance to
 NB>> punch down the dough at the appropriate time, and to help knead it.
 NB>> And of course, once it was baked, to help eat it.  :)

 RH> I did that with Rachel's half day kindergarten class but had to take
 RH> it home to bake it. Because of time constraints, I had to have some
 RH> things pre measured (yeast, salt, dry milk, etc.) tho.
 
Full day does make for having a little more latitude.  While the dough
was rising, the kids went back to their usually scheduled classwork, and
while the loaves were baking, I think they had their usually scheduled
rest period... :)  Did you bring back the bread the next day for them to
taste the products of their work?

 RH>> Rachel hasn't mentioned field trips so I sort of think that the school
 RH>> doesn't do them. It's too bad, in a way, if they don't as kids enjoy
 RH>> going to the bakery, fire department, sap house, etc.
 NB>> Hopefully she hasn't mentioned them because she just thinks they're a
 NB>> normal part of school life...  :)  I agree that it would be a shame if
 NB>> the kids didn't get out... there's lots to be learned by going on site
 NB>> to interesting places.  And it brings the book and classroom learning
 NB>> into a better focus, often as not... :)

 RH> I don't think they're a normal part of a Challenger curriculum, more's
 RH> the shame. Hopefully parents take the time to do enrichment things

People seem to so easily lose sight of the value of a well-rounded
education... they think that by "teaching to the test" they will produce
better educated kids... when the so-called frills (like the arts, music,
home ec, field trips, etc) are really quite important to making the
learning stick, and become more than just meaningless facts to forget as
soon as the test is done...

 RH> like that with the kids; I know David and Rachel took Robert and Sarah
 RH> to a pumpkin patch (not sure if it was a farm or not) this year.  Sarah
 RH> had on a pumpkin colored "onesie" with a hat that had a green "stem";
 RH> someone had given it as a baby gift.

A Pumpkin Baby... :)   A little girl at church had something like that,
back when she was a baby, a couple of years ago now...  Nice chubby
nursling, she was... :)

 RH>> I've seen these acrylic stands that you can put your cook book behind
 RH>> to keep it clean.  My problem with those is that it holds the cook book
 RH>> in a vertical position; I'd have to put it high up to read.  I usually
 RH>> put my cookbooks horizontal on the counter, flour cannister or
 RH>> where ever I can find a suitable spot.
 NB>> Finding the suitable spot... that's the usual dilemma... (G)
 NB>> Especially if or when space is at a premium....  :)  I suppose that if
 NB>> one got used to using it, those acrylic stands could be useful,
 NB>> though... as long as one didn't need to turn a page... :)

 RH> Yes, or if you wanted to "display" a recipe with the made up dish
 RH> beside it. 

Like for a pot-luck... :)

 RH> But can you imagine doing a messy, multi page recipe with
 RH> the cook book under one of those stands? Sure wouldn't fly in my
 RH> kitchen. (G) 

Exactly what I was imagining... (G)  Maybe it would fly if someone with
clean hands was around to turn the page at the appropriate time?  And
one never had to check the ingredients list at the beginning again... :)
Nope... don't think it would fly here, either...

ttyl      neb

... I'm a little tagline. When I grow up I wanna be a novel.

 * Origin:  (1:3634/12)