I have decided to give you my 2 cents on half day kindergarten vs. full day kindergarten. It is great that we have a choice today. Sometimes I think we have too many choices which make things difficult though. We can choose what school our children can attend and can even change schools every year if we are not happy or just feel like it. As parents we think we know what is best for our children and sometimes we do. But we are also influenced by our society and peers with these decisions. Our educational system may seem a little scary right now. So much energy is spent on standardized test scores, money is being taken away from schools, and all the focus is on the negative.
With all that in mind, us kindergarten parents have the decision to make about putting our child in full day or half day kindergarten. Is there a right answer? Not necessarily. I have perspectives on this topic from a teacher's stand point and also from a  mom's stand point. Ella entered the magical world of kindergarten this year. She was originally signed up for full day kindergarten and more than ready for it. At the last minute, we put her in the half day program. It was  a hard decision to make because of all the expectations and pressures. We chose half day at the end because it was more convenient for us and made sense.  Full day is a great option. It is the cheapest day care in town for working parents. If students are older and are able to be in a structured setting for an entire day it works well. Full day kindergarten is not so time crammed and has more flexibility with projects and fun stuff. Although, some people cringe when you tell them your child is in half day, half day students are required to meet the same academic standards as full day. I have taught full day kindergarten and half day kindergarten. At the end of the year, full day kindergarten may know a little bit more but not a significant amount. All standards are met and students are ready for first grade no matter the program. I have also taught first grade. At the beginning of the year in first, you can tell the half day kids from the full day kids. The half day kids are not used to the long day. Academically there may be some differences but usually in a month they are all leveled out- always by January.
I am a strong believer in kids being kids. They have to spend so much time in school and we don't have the choice after kindergarten. It is great to give them the freedom to play and be kids outside of school after spending their mornings there.
So which is better. Neither. The answer really depends on your child and you. They are both great options and what is right for me may not work for you. My daughter was more than ready for a full day being older and having a passion for everything about school. However, she is extremely happy to come home for lunch and still have down time. I see many kids that thrive in the full day program and it is wonderful for working parents. When making the decision, I just ask that you think of your own personal needs and your child and pick what is best for you not what you are pressured into. Also, make sure you give it a fair chance. If full day was chosen and you are second guessing yourself because your child is so tired and cranky. Give it a fair amount of time for them to adjust and get used to it. They will adjust and thrive. The greatest thing about kindergartners is they are adaptable and sponges. THey will do well when given a fair opportunity and exposure!

Extreme Couponing for the healthy?

We get the Sunday newspaper every week. I always look through the coupons and will find a couple of things that are actually healthy that we can buy. The majority of the time, it seems like the same items week after week have coupons and not too many of them are healthy. Lots of canned and processed foods. I know there are ways to get coupons from companies and different websites but it seems like coupons are hard to come by for healthy and non-processed foods.
This afternoon, I watched a bit of Extreme Couponing for the first time. I was amazed! How can you buy $3000 worth of food for $100? What was even more amazing was what she was buying and the time it must take. I can see how watching this can motivate someone to use more coupons and play this game. But as a mother of 30 who takes all 3 children to the grocery store 90% of the time, it just seems like too much work. It also seems like you just start buying things because they are a good deal. Sure I like free things and items on sale but do I really need to turn my garage into a pantry with 5 years worth of laundry detergent?
I am impressed by the hard work and time that these people put into getting the best deals. We all know that the price of food has sky rocketed and takes up the majority of our budget. After watching this, I will strive to find a few more deals and maybe actively look for coupons from manufacturers for healthy foods. However, I will not buy 60 cans of spaghettios because they only cost one cent.
Might I add, while watching this show, Morgan went to the grocery store. I was feeling pretty good because I gave him a handful of coupons and one was even for a free cliff bar. When he got home I looked at the receipt and he spent $55 and save $8. I guess we still have a lot of work to do!

Fair Time

Earlier this week, we visited our local county fair. Fairs and summer go hand and hand and I have many fond memories of visiting fairs as a child. It is so much fun to see all the animals, look at the exhibits and then of course the ride and the food. I think it is important that children get agricultural exposure that fairs provide. It has always been a dream of mine to have a little farm. I know my daughters have the same hope and dream. We are very lucky to live in an area surrounded by farms and fields and know many people who live on these farms. Although we don't have a farm, we can at least visit them. We are very fortunate for that.
The favorite part of the fair for us is looking at all the different animals. We think they are adorable especially when they are freshly bathed and squeaky clean. Even the pigs.
When I was growing up, a fair trip was not complete without getting some fried dough. I remember when they came out with the fried Twinkie but I have not ever tried one. This year we had a discussion that we were not going to get anything to eat because we had just eaten. It was great taking in all the smells and to my surprise, we didn't even get asked for a treat or hear any I'm hungry's.
We did find a Stonyfield Farm stand. This was one of my favorite spots. There were giving away yogurt tubes, greek yogurt, baby yogurt, and yogurt shakes. The girls were happy to have some yogurt and Tate even drank a shake. This stand was fabulous, The girls got to plant seeds, make a flip book featuring themselves, and eat yogurt. They were also giving away many coupons and freebies.
I grabbed a magazine called Chop Chop which features "kid recipes." I have not heard of this magazine before but absolutely love some of the recipes and want to share.

Lemon Honey Sparkle
1 cup club soda or sparkling water
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pour ingredients into sparkling water- stir and drink

Twice Baked Potato
potatoes
ricotta cheese
milk
shredded cheddar cheese
Bake Potatoes
Cool and cut in half
Scoop out insides of potato
Mix potato insides with ricotta cheese milk and cheddar cheese
Scoop back into potatoes
Bake another 20 mins

Bolder Tuna
2 cans tuna
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup minced celery
1 apple cored and chopped
2 teaspoons chopped pickles
3 tbsp greek plain yogurt
1/2 tsp mustard.
Mix all together. can be served as sandwich, with crackers, or on lettuce.

Cream of the Crop

This is one of my favorite times of year. All the goodies in the garden are popping up like crazy. If you don't have a garden, the farmer's markets are a great back up plan. There is something about fresh vegetables. They just smell and taste so much better than the store bought ones. This year, when we were planting our garden, we gave the girls their own area where they could plant what they wanted and take care of it. Now that the veggies are growing, I often find the girls outside picking them and eating them straight from the garden. Maya absolutely loves the carrots straight from the ground. Ella doesn't care much for them. She thinks they taste different which I agree they do and have explained they taste fresh and crisp. Peas are like candy to the girls. We also have lots and lots of strawberries and raspberries that I dream about making things out of, however, they never enter the house. The girls have made it part of their daily morning routine to check for berries and eat them. We have so many squashes and zucchini. I find myself experimenting with different recipes for zucchini bread and try to find creative ways to use the squash. Spaghetti squash seems so be a symbol of summer. It always surprises me how filling and tasty it is. We use it just like we would use pasta and the girls gobble it up.
Fresh veggies are delicious. I think the process of growing them and picking them is just as great as eating them. My goal this summer is to try to find creative ways to use all the vegetables we get. We have a decent size garden but did not grow everything we wanted to . So we do visit the farmer's market to supplement.
I encourage everyone to buy local this time of year and enjoy all of the freshness! I would love to hear some creative ways to use the veggies as well!