RattleBag and Rhubarb

Life on the Farm

Learning about Sprout Creek Farm is a big part of the kindergarten curriculum but what exactly are they learning?  Readers of this blog know I am a  supporter of all things kindergarten but some things just go too far. Take this morning for instance. In the active play area hay bales and straw were being hauled by the pulley into…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Truthy quotes: The best and the bogus

A good quotation is like the perfect tweet – short, pithy, memorable, wise and wonderful. The the tip of an iceberg of meaning it captures something much bigger than itself with a few well chosen words in the right order. No wonder then we have all become addicted to the quotation as token of our thinking. the shorthand signal for…

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Education, Poetry, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Stephen Colbert hears the Mermaids

What’s the difference between a metaphor and lying? With a president who reads Derek Walcott and quotes June Jordan it’s good to have comedians at home with T.S.Eliot. This week inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander explained metaphor to Stephen on The Colbert Report. Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows Meanwhile at PDS English teachers had a quick email conversation that…

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Education, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Donald “Trump” Duck, Goldilocks and the Three Bear Markets

More humor. This time from Fast Company magazine where Tom Stern wonders whether the over achievement of some adults has resulted in achievement obsession for their kids? From kindergarten to the boardroom considers whether we’re preparing our kids to take over the world far too early in their lives. It’s funny stuff but also provokes serious thinking. What do you…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Greetings, Parents

Did you see this Op-Art piece by Bruce Handy in yesterday’s NYTimes? Hilarious. It’s a spoof of back-to-school registration forms. This one to be sent in to Elm Street school together with your fully inoculated, adequately medicated, lice-free son/daughter. Of course, nothing like this could ever happen at PDS. And I took great personal offense to item 3.a. What’s wrong…

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