JAK CHAT

Jack & Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of ...Red #40? by JAK’s guest mom blogger from Pleasant Prairie, Bonnie Hahn For the past two months or so, every time I scold my son, make an unwelcomed suggestion (clean your room?) or...speak pretty much anything out loud or breathe, he asks 'Who crapped in your cornflakes?'. Talk about beating a dead horse! AND...I don't even like cornflakes. I've been spending some time at my kid's school helping out in classes, shortly after school starts in the morning. I've noticed a lot of 'behavior' that is puzzling to me. Given that these are 6-10 year old children I'm dealing with, expecting perfection is certainly unreasonable. Though, I find myself expecting much more than I am seeing... Read More... I know there are a lot of legitimate cases of ADD/ADHD, but I also know that there are a lot more that could be helped by simple dietary changes and eliminating certain things from the home environment. As I wa...

Getting Educated on Education, part 3 "Being a native of Denmark, we wanted the freedom to travel back to my native land." "We homeschool because you just cannot beat the class sizes or the chance to teach kids the morals and values your family feels are important." Another parent chose to homeschool her child with autism.  She states " School staff is not properly trained to work with kids with Autism. They viewed his behaviors as 'bad'. They taught him like he was stupid or a baby, many MANY levels below what he is capably of, I know, because I use age appropriate work". Read More... Finally, another mother's take on why she choose to homeschool: "I firmly believe that the Lord is very serious when He says that parents are to 'train up a child...'  The secular world is very different from that which the Lord wants us to be a part of. Within the schools our children are attacked on all fronts- confronted with gangs, bullies, li...

Getting Educated on Education, part 2 Needing to take my own advice as I post this week's commentary, a follow up to last week's "Pro Choice: Getting Educated on Education".  Wheeow, so many options, so little time. My regrets to those with wee little ones who (dare I say, luckily) you don't have the task of scouting out high schools, something in my day, there wasn't much of a choice to make.  You just went to your local public high school, though we did have either the all-girl or all-boy Catholic high schools as options.  My have the times changed, eh?  Brace yourselves, young mamas! Read more... When I mentioned earlier/in the title, to do your homework, you'll see that JAK here, needed "to get an extension" or rather, should have/could have broached the subject several weeks back (live and learn).  With that said, if you are a parent looking for a high school for your student for the 2012-13 school year, you're not too late, though some...

Getting Educated on Education, part 1 'Tis the season for school open houses, tour schedules, testing and registration.  While a handful of schools began as early as October with their recruiting, typically the annual Catholic School's Week (which is this week) celebration marks the beginning of what can be a couple months, and for some, years, of parents shoppin' around for the best fit for their kid(s). As a parent, how easy is it to make sense of all of this?  How early do you start?  Where do you start? What deadlines, if any, are looming? Virtual school, home school,  or brick and mortar?  Did our parents have all of these choices when we were kids.  For sure...no. Read more The landscape of education options has changed dramatically, even within the last 48 hours.  Yesterday, Wednesday, Governor Scott Walker extended our Wisconsin school's open enrollment period.  Previously, open enrollment ran for three weeks.  With this extension, parents now will now have thr...