flyingrose/parenting

Thirty-eight scientists have signed a consensus statement on the dangers of BPA. Another scientist has linked BPA to genetic changes, cancer, and obesity.

Another group of famous scientists affiliated with corporations then came out attempting to refute the findings of the first group. This makes it clear that we cannot rely on someone being a scientist or their level of fame; we must learn to identify who has the strongest logic and cognitive skills.

To err on the side of caution, parents would be well-advised to avoid plastic in items used for babies. I switched to Corningware and glass for cooking, drinking, and storing food and real silver implements for eating and serving long ago.

If you know someone with a new baby or expecting one, consider giving them non-plastic gifts such as silver-plated implements and children's items.

From the page: "in a consensus statement also to appear in Reproductive Toxicology, 38 leading BPA research scientists from around the world agree that the range of exposures that most Americans experience are higher than those that cause a wide range of adverse health effects in animals.

The journal will publish simultaneously a new study which reveals that BPA is functionally similar to diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen banned long ago for use by pregnant women for causing reproductive tract problems. This experimental animal study, led by Retha Newbold, is the first to link developmental exposure to bisphenol A to diseases such as uterine fibroids and precancerous changes in the reproductive tract as well as cystic ovaries, problems commonly diagnosed in middle-aged women. Some of these changes in experimental animals have been previously found in the daughters of mothers who took DES during their pregnancies."

The main reason public schools insist on attendance is that they get paid by the student by the day so if your child is "absent" it costs them money.

From the page: "According to the school district that my children attend, parents are acting irresponsibly if they schedule a vacation during a time that school is in session.

This was brought to light recently as a friend of mine is planning a family vacation that will result in their kids being out of school. When they notified the school that their children would be absent due to the vacation, they received a letter from the school principal as well as their children's teachers stressing the importance of regular attendance.

The letter indicated that parents need to demonstrate responsibility for their children attending school and that the school discouraged parents from taking students out of school for a vacation."

Do you realize what a ridiculous society we live in where we are all - even nine-year-olds - breaking all kinds of laws every day without even knowing it? Do you realize that parents who teach their children a work ethic are technically violating child-labor laws while stores are filled with products produced by forced child-labor in other countries?

We are the most lawyer-heavy, lawsuit-happy country in the world and it has done serious damage to our quality of life. Fear of being sued prevents neighbors from having company over and children from playing in open areas. I hope more people are realizing that suing or imprisoning someone after a loss of property or life does nothing to restore the loss and only multiplies a bad situation.

I remember something that happened when I was in high school. A car owner was putting a fuel additive in his car's gas tank and was called to the phone. A neighbor boy around 13 years old happened along, and being a curious but not overly bright child used either matches or a lighter (I don't recall which) to peer into the gas tank. The vehicle exploded killing the boy.

The boy's parents sued the vehicle owner and won based on the cap being off the tank. (Note that this was BEFORE most vehicles had locking gas caps or doors so that was not a huge impediment.) The outcome was an enormous settlement that bankrupted the owner. Not only did he feel awful about the boy - something that will haunt him forever - he also lost his vehicle and was further punished. What sense does that make? How does that help the child or the child's parents?

Two "wrongs" don't make a right. Revenge doesn't bring the dead back or make the injured whole. Punishment does not prevent wrongs. Those who err are frequently the least lovable and the most desperately lacking in someone to love them. Sometimes they are just human mistakes or accidents. As hard as it is, loving anyone through tragedy, loss, or bad behavior IS the solution.

From the page: "According to a new study, male drivers are behind the wheel twice as often as female drivers in incidents where a child pedestrian is killed, with 18-year-olds most frequently doing the driving, a new study released by Safe Kids USA shows.

The rates are down forty percent for child pedestrian fatalities, but motor vehicle/pedestrian crashes are still the second leading injury-related killer of children ages 5-14.

The study showed that boys (60 percent) are more likely than girls (35 percent) to be killed in motor vehicle/ pedestrian crashes. Although there has been significant reduction in the death rate in each age category, children ages 0-4 are at the highest risk. Children aged 5-9 had the most significant decline (34 percent) in death rates from 1999-2004."

Jaime Escalante's Calculus program: The Rest of the Story

From the page: "Thanks to the popular 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, many Americans know of the success that Jaime Escalante and his students enjoyed at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. During the 1980s, that exceptional teacher at a poor public school built a calculus program rivaled by only a handful of exclusive academies.

It is less well-known that Escalante left Garfield after problems with colleagues and administrators, and that his calculus program withered in his absence. That untold story highlights much that is wrong with public schooling in the United States and offers some valuable insights into the workings -- and failings -- of our education system.

Escalante's students surprised the nation in 1982, when 18 of them passed the Advanced Placement calculus exam. The Educational Testing Service found the scores suspect and asked 14 of the passing students to take the test again. Twelve agreed to do so (the other two decided they didn't need the credit for college), and all 12 did well enough to have their scores reinstated.

In the ensuing years, Escalante's calculus program grew phenomenally. In 1983 both enrollment in his class and the number of students passing the A.P. calculus test more than doubled, with 33 taking the exam and 30 passing it. In 1987, 73 passed the test, and another 12 passed a more advanced version ("BC") usually given after the second year of calculus."

People live up - or down - to expectations. A major example and proof of that was Jaime Escalante's inner-city calculus program depicted in the movie Stand and Deliver. I highly recommend it as a wake-up call regarding what the students believed was possible for them, how he changed that view, and how their achievements were questioned as "impossible".

Then imagine the additional roadblocks society puts in the way of anyone who chooses to ignore "their place". I applaud all those who would soar instead.

This synopsis is an excerpt of a review done by a new teacher.

From the page: "Stand and Deliver is based on the life story of Jaime Escalante, a new high school teacher in East L.A. in 1982, who decides to change the lives of his students by preparing them for an advanced placement test in calculus.

When the movie opens, the socio-economic and cultural demographic of the area is laid out. Hispanic workers line the roads and although the area seems quite culturally alive "a mural exclaims "We are NOT a minority!"-- it is obviously economically disadvantaged..

...His philosophy is simple: "students will rise to the level of expectations" (Menendez 1988). All he requests from them is desire.

Escalante is successful in showing the students that they can get beyond the "barrio" which before they could not see past. He decides that they CAN learn calculus and volunteers to teach the class; he takes them on a field trip so they can see where math can take them; he leads them successfully through a college credit calculus exam that only a fraction of students nationwide can pass.

But in his enthusiasm, Escalante exhibits a degree of devotion to his students that is threatening to the other teachers - they easily dismiss it as new teacher idealism and when he shows endurance, they tell him his expectations for the students are too high.

And there are places where his fellow teachers, if so inclined, might take serious issue with his means of reaching the students. Where his methodology is questionable is in the way he tries to get down to the level of the students. The movie depicts the interests of the students as lying somewhere between sex and violence. At one point, a student asks if they can talk about sex. Escalante responds, "If we talk about sex, I'll have to assign sex for homework" (Menendez 1988). From the back of the classroom you hear a voice saying that she could get him fired for that. But this is really the only time his appropriation of youth-talk is addressed.

Today, I think that he might not have gotten too far past that first week with that kind of candour. He also threatens some of the more violent students, at one point getting right into a student's face, challenging his "machismo." Nothing really ever comes of it and that may be sending a dangerous message to anyone thinking of taking notes from Escalante.

Yes, he was beating them at their own game, but at what risk to his own professional livelihood and personal safety? Escalante comes from the same cultural background as his students and as such could approach them from a place of common understanding - but how far can that go?..."

"...not only does he convince the students of their worth, he challenges a whole system of expectations biased against socio-economic status and race. We see this bias in action when the ripples of their success spread through the academic community and the students are accused of cheating due to their high test scores. In the end, the students redeem themselves through a retest that they never should have had to take. And Escalante pays a personal price for his devotion - his neglected family pleads with him to slow down and finally, a heart attack leaves him with no other choice.

...he succeeds in the face of incredible forces working against him - perhaps he is lucky in some instances, but perhaps something about his humanity works- flawed as he may be, he reaches those students."

Pre-school education blog. This is an awesome resource for teachers and parents of preschoolers. If that is you this could be one you'll really want to put in your RSS reader.

From the page: "Teaching Ethics is a website dedicated to promoting a free exchange of ideas among secondary school educators. It was set up and is maintained by Anthony Tiatorio."