Loading up on education for the next school year

Testing the new blogger.com interface. I borrowed three education-related books: Math Coach, Winning the Math Wars and School Reform. Math adoption is important to me. Although my son has done fine in math, he is in a minority of third-graders who met the Measurement of Student Progress standards. I don't blame the teachers, nor the students: I blame the curriculum. It is Everyday Math and it did not serve my son's class. Out of 31 third-graders, fifteen passed (how many of these were in the Advanced Learning Opportunities group), sixteen did not meet standards, and of the failing sixteen, ten performed miserably. How many of those ten are English Language Learners, or economically disadvantaged? School Reform is an Opposing Viewpoints® Series book. It's meant for a young adult audience but it was the simplest and most straight-forward pros & cons offering about school reform. Winning the Math Wars I don't know much about yet, except the back jacket states "The authors focus on four principles for improving math teaching and learning: fidelity to reform efforts by all involved; an emphasis on instruction and instructional tools; the critical nature of mathematical knowledge; and the need for transformational change." So maybe it is pro-reform. I will read it anyway to learn. I don't yet know why "fuzzy math" is needed. I don't like the term "fuzzy" applied to academics, and particularly not to mathematics. It makes me think of derivatives, collateralized mortgage obligation securities, credit default swaps and other fuzzy financial math crapstunts that Enron and mortgage bankers liked to pull. In America, entrepreneurs push to have an education reform that results in bigger profits for them. Their ideas of reform are not about improving education to make American students globally competitive.

it never rains but it pours

T's new glasses, fresh problems with the car, $100 to tide us until Friday.
what happened in the interim: soccer for C, chess for C, radio station donations, donation to RWF's Attorney General run, Visa payment, HELOC, library restitution, silver purchase. It goes fast.

I have some meat in the freezer, so that's good. And lots of vegetables, with some lentils and buckwheat. I can get some eggs, sardine and flank steak and voila! Kasha!
I'll probably have a lot of vegetable soups between now and Friday. I'm not so freaked out.

Listening to Heaven 17 podcast. Two members, Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware, have excellent taste in 1980s and 2010s music. Just heard Lykke Li, and now Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" is playing.

Sunburned after a bus trip down to Terminal 25 in South-of-the-Dome-That-No-Longer-Exists, to see the naval ships as part of our town's annual Seafair. The Canadian Forces craft "Whitehorse" was not giving tours when we were available, but the US Marine Corps took us onto the USS Bonhomme Richard, where we saw some Zulu, Osprey and CH-53 aircraft. We explored them, walked onto the flight deck, got a great deal of sun. We walked for miles, literally, so our feet are beat. C was looking forward to asking the "Whitehorse" crew to take him up to CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island.

Gold is up at $1690 USD, not bad. I should just use my account for everyday expenses and stock up on precious metals.

When I post my moments of financial weakness, understand that I have an emergency fund, bonds, Certificates of Deposit, money market account, stocks and precious metals. But my short-term $$ is leaking out fast. When I borrow from my emergency fund for things like roofs, escrow accounts, car repairs, it takes me a long time to replenish it. I'll probably just live on my credit card.

I am still doing the Temporal Tap, and the Three Thumps. I need to select just one affirmation for the right side of the brain. The left one is easy: "I am no longer broke." Right one: a set salary? Infinite riches flow freely into my life? I joyfully receive abundance? I would like to earn more money than my spouse.

I feel a breakthrough

I read through most of don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements book this weekend. Almost immediately I felt a shift in consciousness, a marked improvement in attitude and dare I type it, a return to joy.
I hope I can keep it. Spiritual renewal is a gift of grace, and it's been a long time coming for me. I had been praying almost every night, but someone else prayed on Saturday, and the good orderly direction found me.

Tuesday I went to our neighbourhood Block Watch Night Out, made a fine chicken salad that was perhaps too much for people (there is always a lot of food at potlucks, yet the food banks have low number of rations). Several families in our community need food: my neighbour's on crutches and is living on TV dinners, so I'll make some food now that we have funds.

Yesterday was book club summer social, and I made some Capilano Chocolate Bars. I drove up on the scooter. Other women brought fruit and booze, and I had only the fruit and bars as I do not drink at all when I ride the scooter. I brought kombucha which only one person tried. I choose not to take this personally.

I had a terrific time at the coffee house, as I met a woman who was eager to discuss her breakthroughs and spiritual path/renewal from reading The Four Agreements. I also did some Energy Medicine: in addition to tracing meridians, I have been performing the Temporal Tap and Three Thumps throughout the day. How is it that I was unaware tapping the K-27 points would bring energy to the eyes?