Happy New Year! Resolution 1: Start blogging again

Hiya!  So, I decided I start blogging again as part of the suite of New Years Resolutions for 2014.  This portion's supposed to be good for me in showing me the growth I've experienced over the year where blurbs on Facebook status just doesn't cut it.  15 minutes a day, no more, no less.  So the egg timer's going and I'm doing some free form thought stuff.

Oh yah, no photos for these either.  Just words.  That idea's inspired by an old friend who did the same with his journal.

At any rate... A's seated across from me watching Timmy Time on my old mobile.  C and V are crashed out in the living room.  At about 4 this morning, V was inconsolable, so C has been bringing her down to settle and sleep in the living room so that I can get some uninterrupted sleep (so very thoughtful!).

I'm trying out a new task management system where I've listed most of my house chores and tried to spread out the work.  We'll see how it goes.  It'll probably still require some tweaking.

I'm having a cup of coffee.

I'm feeling a bit on the spot.  Live free form thought journalling, folks  =)

I'm looking forward to taking on mountain biking.  I've been day dreaming about canal rides and rides through Haigh Hall and exploring some of the back paths for months now.

I'm looking forward to doing stuff with the kids at the Wigan Youth Zone.  I want to grow my relationships there with the other volunteers and staff and show the kids that there are adults who care and don't think they're totally slackers so long as they find it in them to be respectful and open minded.  And that those adults would go out of their way to help them.  I want those kids to overcome the obstacles and challenges that are keeping them from experiencing a full, happier life.  I want to introduce new experiences to them, lend them courage and confidence, help guide them to doing what's right for themselves and our community.

I'm looking forward to making everything line up to going back to school.  I came across some road blocks there, but not anything a little time won't help.  In the meantime, I do need to make myself buckle down and start getting into the habit of studying.

I'm looking forward to having A. home more often and starting to accelerate his learning through play.  I'm so impressed with what he does with math.  I want to encourage him to pursue language a bit more.  And I want to have the opportunity to play games with him and continue to bond with him since we're still doing a little bit of catch up in that arena, but doing very well.

I'm looking forward to watching V. grow into her own person.  She's sort of at an annoying phase, truth be told, where she's so excited about life and the things around her and she wants me to be her constant companion for all of it.  Perhaps I should re-examine it all through new eyes or something, once I get past this feeling of being smothered by her at times.  She doesn't mean it like that.

I'm looking forward to getting into the new house, being able to add my personal touches to it and really leaving my mark and making it our own.  I'm looking forward to having some fantastic gatherings there as well and being a great hostess and sharing love and laughter with friends.  I'm looking forward to sharing all of that with my husband as well.

I want to cook up some great food this year-- I want to be adventurous and try cuisines I'm not familiar with using ingredients that are new-ish to me.  I want to pre-plan for holidays and start teaching these customs to my kids and have the ultimate holiday home, full of decorations and activities (and again that love, sharing, laughter bit).  I want to connect with new friends I'm making here and grow those relationships.

I want to feel accomplished with what I do.  I want to cut down on my stress and frustration and strive to live a fuller and quality life.  Getting slimmer would be really nice too, but I gotta get more realistic about that part before it happens.

Time's up!

Stupid easy Slow Cooker Terriyaki Chicken

This was copied from another site which apparently was spam-tastic, so Pinterest wouldn't let me move my pin.  No copyright infringement intended, its your own darn fault Pinterest pulled you!  ;-)

Crock Pot Chicken Terriyaki: 1lb chicken (sliced, cubed or however), 1c chicken broth, 1/2c terriyaki or soy sauce, 1/3c brown sugar, 3minced garlic cloves.  Cook on low heat 6 hours.  For thicker sauce: remove from crockpot and place in sauce pan.  Add 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water and bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Leek and Potato Bake

Leek and Potato Bake

1/2 pound potatoes
2 medium leeks
1 cup single cream
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and slice the potatoes. Clean the leeks by slicing them lengthways and fan them out under running water. Slice these also. Layer the potatoes and the leeks in a greased baking dish, sprinkling a little salt and pepper over each layer. Mix the cream and eggs together in a separate bowl. Pour over the ingredients in the baking dish. Sprinkle some bread crumbs on top. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and the top is browned.

Lentil and Leek Salad

Lentil and Leek Salad

2 cups dried lentils
2 to 3 leeks, chopped, white parts only
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1 large stalk celery, thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 pound spinach, sliced in 1 inch strips
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste Simmer the lentils in well salted water until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes, then drain. Saute the chopped leeks in half of the olive oil until they are soft and just barely beginning to color. Meanwhile, place the raisins in about a cup of scalding hot water for at least ten minutes, then drain well. Combine the lentils, the leeks and raisins. Add the parsley, coriander, celery, rice vinegar and half a teaspoon salt and toss gently but thoroughly. Add the remaining oil to the pan in which you sauteed the leeks and stir the crushed garlic in it for about a minute. Add the spinach and toss over high heat just until the spinach is wilted and the excess water cooks away. Squirt the fresh lemon juice on the spinach, toss again and add it to the salad. Toss the salad again and taste it. Season with salt, fresh ground black pepper and more rice vinegar or lemon juice, to your taste. Then let the salad marinate for an hour and taste it again. Nice drizzled with just a little more olive oil.

Mushroom and Leek Side Salad

Mushroom and Leek Side Salad

2 to 3 large leeks, washed and sliced
10 ounces mushrooms
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons butter mixed together
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter in a fry pan until soft. Add the mushrooms and thoroughly coat them in the butter. Add the stock and ginger. Cover and leave for a few minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Add the butter and flour mixture a little at a time to allow the juices to thicken, but keep the liquid under boiling point. Stir continually. Season with salt and pepper.

Is Technology Integral to Toddlers Learning?

This past week’s Dispatches: How Safe Is Your Child’s Nursery that ran on Channel 4 prompted me to go check out Ofsted’s website for rating nurseries.  Obviously, I went to check out the nursery my son goes to.  The Ofsted website is in fact as terrible as the Dispatches report relayed.  Using the reports search page with the criteria of nurseries within five miles of my post code yielded nurseries in London on the first page (I live near Manchester).  But a general site search helped me find the nursery.  However, the usability of the Ofsted website isn't the point of this post.  Or perhaps in a way, it should be.

I went and read the report posted by Ofsted back in 2011… really, had it been two years since the nursery was last reviewed?  It gave the marks that I pretty well had anticipated for the nursery that I selected for my son.  When I went looking for a nursery, I wanted one that was very close to home.  I wanted a Montessori style atmosphere where children are encouraged to learn by play and learning is done at the child’s pace with the child’s lead.  I wanted my son to be exposed to a great variety of toys and play styles; to have social interaction with children of all ages; to have an experience with some structure not too far unlike what he will later experience in preschool.  I wanted a nursery that worked in frequent partnership with parents in identifying and encouraging their individual child’s development at home.  And I specifically wanted to see no televisions and a caring staff that actively and continuously engaged the children under their care.  The nursery my son goes to gets high marks for all of these.

So in reading the Ofsted report, I saw a lot of praise for those virtues I found in his nursery.  But then I found criticism in the areas that I didn't care for at all in my son’s early education—accessibility to technology.  The report cited that there was a computer that children had access to and that many children demonstrated that they knew how to use a mouse.  But then it criticized the nursery for not having cameras and mobile phones available for the children to play with.

Recently in the Wigan area, a nursery near Swinley was burgled.  Some £800 cash was stolen.  And the article bemoaned how the evil burglars also made off with the nursery’s Playstations, Xboxes, and Wii’s and how a fundraiser was being put together to replace this equipment.  I don’t think I should have to apologize for ‘not being with it’… but really… what are Playstations, Xboxes, and Wii's doing at a preschool nursery?  Had I seen those technologies at the nursery my son is enrolled in, I would have considered switching schools.  We have an Xbox at home.  Maybe I shouldn't send him to nursery at all.

I do realize my perspective comes from a place where I am afraid for children whose caretakers depend on gaming consoles to ‘babysit’ their kids.  I can see maybe with using motion sensor technology in concert with games that encourage movement as a part of learning and problem solving… perhaps.  I can even see technology being used to help preschool children who have learning difficulties or other conditions where a touchscreen is a very useful device for learning.  But for your average, normal bish-bash-bang toddler, is this technology really essential to their early learning?  Especially since many of these gadgets are so readily accessible at home?  Even in this on-going double dip (or more) recession, families are still managing to pony up for the latest iPad.

I’m not certain that for the average toddler, exposure to the latest technology at nursery is a good thing.  As demonstrated by my own toddler, he is a push button maniac.  Who could blame him when the hottest kids’ toys are electronic?  V-Tech, Leap Frog, Bruin, even Fisher Price offer their greatest variety of baby and toddler toys as electronic devices that instantly reward cause-and-effect oriented learning with flashing color lights and whimsical songs at the press of a button.  These devices have specific and limited functions however, that doesn't leave much room for imaginative use.  That is part of what concerns me.



My infant daughter has a Fisher Price bouncer with a toy bar with dangles just outside of her normal reach.  The center dangle is the highest one and is attached to a music box.  When my baby pulls on that dangle, she’s rewarded with a jaunty tune (Polly Wolly Doodle).  My son has been looking for the button on that device for three months now and still hasn't found it.  Both my husband and I have spent a great deal of time showing him how to pull the dangle to get the song that he wants to dance to.

Our son insists that there must be a button he has to push.  For now to him, the world doesn't work any other way.  I’d rather him have better knowledge of mechanical toys.  I’d rather him understand that things work in ways other than by the press of a button.  And I’d rather him have the opportunity to use his imagination more—he seems to be doing pretty well at this with stuffed animals and toy figures.

But back to the subject at hand—is having the latest technology really that useful to nursery school learning?  Maybe I have it all wrong?  Maybe there are activities and games I don’t have knowledge of that warrant the use of a digital camera by a two year old?  Maybe Ofsted has to use the same criteria to rate its nursery schools as it does its secondary schools?  Am I missing something here?

Have your say!