WIGOP – Not Exactly the Cream of the Crop

Dear WI GOP,

Remember this?

I’ve since stopped trying to participate and instead have decided to ask you to stop calling me.  As in remove me from your contact list, I’m not even the slightest bit undecided.  There isn’t a point at which I’ve ever been undecided when it concerned Scott Walker.  Never.

WIGOP, I don’t know how much clearer I can make this.  I’ve asked you to stop calling numerous times.  Alas, much like the Friends of Joe, the WIGOP appears to be just as clueless (as if any of the emails I sent Governor Walker were unclear).  I’m still getting phone calls.

I’ve volunteered for a political campaign’s phone bank before, I know how this goes.  You call the numbers, you mark the sheet accordingly, and the campaign goes through the sheet each day and removes disconnected numbers and those who ask you not to call them.

Today, I saw the Caller ID (Republican Party, 608-257-8029) and I answered the phone just like I’ve answered the 10 other phone calls I’ve gotten from a multitude of organizations.  I explained to your volunteer that I would not be voting for Scott Walker and asked that they please have me removed from the list.  Remove…meaning that I’d like you to stop calling.  This isn’t rocket science.

Perhaps the volunteer was just nervous, but the conversation went a bit like this:

Me:  I’m voting for Barrett on Tuesday.  I’ve asked more than a few times before for the Republican Party to please remove me from the calling list.  Please remove me from your calling list.

Volunteer:  Heh, Barrett’s going to lose.

Me:  (asking as politely as I can) Please remove me from your calling list.

Volunteer:  Heh, Walker’s going to win.

Me:  Remove me from your calling list.

At which point I hung up.  How hard would it be for your volunteers to stay on script?  How hard is it to mark a “do not call” next to my name on your print out?  Wouldn’t your time be better served calling the people who will be likely to vote for your candidate?

At this point, though, I think one of the qualifications (either to volunteer for a candidate or to run for office under the WIGOP banner) is the inability to listen….because really, I think that’s the only way you can explain the willful ignorance that seems to surround your party.  You hear the words I’m saying, and choose to hear something else.

By the way, WIGOP, your volunteers really know how to construct a persuasive argument.  I guess all someone had to say to me was “Heh, Barrett’s going to lose” in order for me to change my vote.  Why didn’t I think of that?

Sincerely,

You’ve Still Got to be Kidding Me

Just Because It’s Saturday

We took the kids camping the other weekend for the very first time.  We’re State Park people so the campsite cost was minimal, but getting there was a little bit pricey.  If anyone ever wonders why young folks may not be camping, I know why.

It was worth it, though.  The kids had a blast (except for the first night when it stormed from about 11pm until 8am the next day).

So much fun.

Folk Music Fridays – “Bread and Roses”

Weather Unit

I learned something very important today – the online catalog for our library system only allows you to have 35 book requests at one time.  I’ve never gotten close to the limit before, but this can only mean one thing…time for a new unit!

Science (and art) last year took a backseat to history, math, language arts, and phonics.  We were just too busy getting all of that in to make it through more than our study on the universe, its origins, our solar system, and a brief foray into String Theory.  I had fantastic plans that included getting to the origins of life on our planet.

Yes, it is distinctly possible I planned far more than any reasonable person could have covered.  Yes, my son loved every minute of our journey through the universe and the solar system.  Still, I don’t feel like we covered “enough” which means that the summer of 2012 is…cue dramatic music…The Summer of Earth Science!  You also need to hear that read with a deep, booming, echoing voice for the most dramatic effect.

I’m just saying is all.

Like many homeschoolers I start with the spine and fill in around it with other resources.  I’ll include things like labs/demonstrations, notebook pages, looking up vocabulary, copywork, and maybe even a few art projects.  For our Summer of Earth Science I’ll also add in some cross-disciplinary topics as time allows.

To that end, here’s what we’re using for our Summer of Earth Science:

Spines

• Pandia Press’ REAL Science Odyssey Earth & Space Level One - Basically, this provides the lions share of the lab/demonstration portion.  We’re starting with weather and will be finishing out with rocks, minerals, and how the earth was formed with the goal of starting our unit on Evolution with the fall trimester.
• “The Usborne Science Encyclopedia“

Additional Labs/Demonstrations

• “The Usborne Big Book of Experiments“
• “Wild Science:  Projects About Earth’s Weather” by Robert Gardner
• “The Kids’ Book of Weather Forecasting” by Mark Breen and Kathleen Friestad

Non-Fiction Books

• “Everything Weather” by Kathy Furgang
• “Meteorology: The Study of Weather” by Christine Taylor-Butler
• “Weather” by Sally Morgan
• “Weather Maps” by Ian Mahaney
• “DK Eyewitness Books:  Weather” by Brian Cosgrove
• “Watching the Weather” by Edana Eckart
• “Forecasting the Weather” by Alan Rodgers
• “Thunderstorms” by Chana Stiefel
• “Storms” by Miriam Goin
• “Weather” by Seymour Simon
• “On the Same Day in March:  A Tour of the World’s Weather” by Marilyn Singer
• “Feel the Wind” by Arthur Dorros
• “Clouds:  From Mare’s Tails to Thunderheads” by Suzanne Harper
• “Cloud Dance” by Thomas Locker
• “Fluffy, Flat, and Wet:  A Book About Clouds” by Dana Meachen Rau
• “Clouds” by Anne Rockwell
• “Twister!” by Kris Hirschmann
• “We Are the Weather Makers:  The History of Climate Change” by Tim Flannery

Fiction

• “Stormy Weather” by Debi Gliori
• “Thunder-Boomer!” by Shutta Crum
• “The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm” by Paul Bright
• “Rain Play” by Cynthia Cotten
• “Franklin and the Thunderstorm” by Paulette Bourgeois
• “Wild Weather Soup” by Caroline Formby
• “Come on, Rain!” by Karen Hesse
• “Twister” by Darleen Bailey Beard
• “Clouds for Dinner” by Lynne Rae Perkins
• “Sector 7” by David Wiesner
• “The Magic School Bus:  Twister Trouble” by Anne Schreiber
• “The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane” by Joanna Cole and  Bruce Degen

Cross-Disciplinary

• “Weather Math” by Kieran Walsh
• “A January Fog Will Freeze a Hog and Other Weather Folklore” compiled and edited by Hubert Davis
• “Earthmaker’s Tales:  North American Indian Stories about Earth Happenings” by  Gretchn Will Mayo
• “Mediopollito/Half-Chicken” by Alma Flor Ada
• “The Man Who Named the Clouds” by Julie Hannah and Joan Holub
• “Farenheit, Celsius, and Their Temperature Scales” by Yoming S. Lin

Videos (free online)

Scholastic Lesson Plan for “The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm”
Scholastic Online Game - Adventures of Weather Lizard
Climate and Weather (from National Geographic)
How Stuff Works Earth Science Videos
Interview with a Meteorologist (Virtual Field Trip)

More Videos (check your local library)

• Sid the Science Kid:  Weather Kid Sid (including their Teacher Pages Resource which includes online resources)
• Bill Nye the Science Guy – Storms & Atmosphere
• “Fetch With Ruff Ruffman:  It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” – iTunes - Amazon Instant Video

Field Trips
The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois – Science Storms

Other Resources that You May Find Helpful

• Cyberchase – Math & Weather
• Super Teacher – Weather Worksheets (some free, some require membership)
• MES-English – Weather Worksheets (free)
• Have Fun Teaching – Weather Worksheets (free)
• Evan-Moor – “Weather” (Enhanced eBook) from CurrClick.com, grades 1-3
  “Science Works for Kids:  Weather” from CurrClick.com, grades 4-6

Why I don’t buy Usborne books new anymore and what Scott Walker has to do with it.

I have relied heavily on Usborne books in our homeschooling these last couple of years.  My kids absolutely love the layout and I’ve found that they’re really well written and easy to implement.  However, earlier this year Usborne (EDC) elected to pull all of their books from Amazon.  At the time I didn’t think too much of it.  There were still plenty of copies to go around.  By now, though, more and more titles have been listed as “unavailable.”  Clearly if I can’t buy them used, I will be looking for alternatives in the future.

Why?

EDC’s goal was to shift sales to museum stores, brick and mortar bookstores, and their network of independent sales consultants.

How does Scott Walker have anything to do with that?

As much as I’d love to buy local, that 8% cut in pay my husband took has to come from somewhere.  Buying local (and paying more) was one of the first things to go.

It’s math not magic and the principle seems fairly intuitive to me.  Even though we now have a smaller amount of money coming in, we have all of the same responsibilities we did before.  Something had to change.  All of my warm, fuzzy feelings about my local businesses won’t feed, clothe, or educate my children.  I could maintain my altruism or I could put the needs of my children and my family first.

Less money in…less spending.  Less local economic activity…less need to hire new employees.  Need fewer employees?  Higher unemployment.  Oh, wait, that’s Wisconsin.

But I thought he said things were working?

Scott Walker’s “pre-election miracle” notwithstanding, we still led the nation in job losses.  Where other states, even Illinois which Walker just loves to bad mouth, have seen improvement, we’ve languished.

Like I said, it’s math, not magic and reason number one why the Emperor Without Clothes absolutely needs to go.

Let’s put people first and get the state back on track.  On June 5th, Recall Walker.

The Bottom Line on the Recall? It’s all about GOTV!

The lesson to be learned on all of the polls (poll after poll after poll after poll…) is that none of it really makes a difference in the end.  It doesn’t matter how many times you poll people or whose number is called.  What really is who actually gets out there and votes.

We were sold this recall as the be all, end all solution (though I think momentum was squandered) so let’s make sure we really accomplish what we started.

My husband, my kids, and I will all be canvassing door-to-door, but there are lots of ways you can help.  Stop by the We Are Wisconsin website to find your local office.

Did you know that you can even volunteer without ever leaving your house?  Check out the AFL-CIO’s FAN tool.

There is still plenty of time and lots to do.  Please do what you can to help!

Sunday Quotables – Sound familiar?

Does this sound familiar to you?

[John] Locke himself regretted that the labor of poor children “is generally lost to the public till they are twelve or fourteen years old” and suggested that all children over three, of families on relief, should attend “working schools” so they would be “from infancy…inured to work.” (bolded emphasis mine)

-Howard Zinn, “A People’s History of the United States” pages 73-74

File this one under “what goes around comes around” or “some things never change.”

You might also be interested in Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Preying on the Poor.”

The People’s Bratfest

It’s that time of year again!

Time for The People’s Bratfest!

From their website:

The People’s Bratfest is a family-friendly event that supports local businesses and family farms and is the only Bratfest in town with 100% of the proceeds going to local charities.

They even have Vegan options.  So, stop on by the Library Mall in Madison for the Second Annual People’s Bratfest! They’ll be there from 10am until 7pm on Saturday, May 26th. You can learn more and RSVP on their Facebook page.

Folk Music Fridays – “You Gotta Go Down”

In a Stitch Quilting

Would you mind if I took a moment to shamelessly plug my mom?

I figured not.

I remember the first quilting class my mom took way back when.  She’d pack up her machine, fabrics, notions, and things and head downtown to the local MATC office where she learned the ins and outs of quilting.  It was like she caught a bug.  She had passion, and it showed.

It’s always been a hobby of hers, one that sometimes took a back seat to feeding her children and keeping us all on track.  She was a bookkeeper first and a quilter second.

Quilting, though, has always been the perfect fit as it utilizes her almost superhuman attention to detail (this quality was one that drove me nuts when I was growing up).  Growing up with my mom, everything was just so.  She’s got the eye for it.  Need to pick out colors for a project?  Hang a picture (and want it to be level)?  Decorate your kitchen with a collection of vintage things?  Just need someone to tell you if these things “go?”  She’s the person you want to call.  She can sense these things.  She knows it without a moment’s hesitation.  It’s innate – as if it wells up from some creative spring inside her.

We’re all grown up now, my siblings and I.  We’re married, some of us have children, and she has the chance to strike out and do something new.  She’s a quilter and an artist first.  It’s kind of like coming home to oneself – finally able to do the thing that you’re really passionate about without first having to defer to more baser needs (like food, shelter, and sanity).  Take a risk.  Be daring.

She has a new business called In a Stitch Quilting. She has a blog where she shares some of the things she’s quilting and the things she loves.  She also has a longarm quilting machine.  She’d love to be your quilter – help you finish the project you’ve started so that the care and effort you’ve put into it shines right straight through to it’s completion.  Know someone who needs some quilting done (or need to have your quilting project finished)?  Stop by her website and drop her a note.  She’d love to hear from you.