rlynne's Blog

As more and more of us are deciding to become homeschooled families we are all looking for awesome programs to enhance our lesson plans.  If you are lucky enough to be in the Lakeland or Winter Haven area you should check out the Wacky World of Science program put on by Camp Fire USA whose office is in Lakeland. 

My kids have been attending this program for the last 4 years and it has truly been a wonderful experience which gives them time to socialize with new friends in a group setting while they are learning new things.  This is the only program I have found which begins for kids as young as 3 years old.  This year the subject is the Human Body and registration is now open. Hope to see you there! 

Finally a change in the FCAT policy!  Although, as usual - students will not benefit from the change!  

It seems our wonderful administrators have taken a look at the amount of stress which the FCAT places on students, and amazingly this stress may actually cause our kids to be so worked up that it is causing them to have lower scores.  You think? 

So as a band-aid to the problem they are removing some of the guidelines restricting money flow based on student scores. Wake up Florida, do they want us to think that by no longer using FCAT scores to grade school performance that it will lower the stress rate among the kids, giving them a better chance at succeeding on the test?  No, it goes back to money again, they have realized that regardless of how much money they spend trying to "teach the FCAT", overall scores are not improving in ration to dollars spent. But, this is their way of trying to "fix" the situation to make themselves look consumer friendly.

So great, score one for the teachers who now can breathe a sigh of relief temporarily.  But, what about the kids.  Do you think they care one bit that FCAT scores equalled dollars for their school?  No, they only understand that for six months out of the year FCAT is all they hear and no one is changing any policies for them.  Their personal stress level will never decrease until the FCAT goes away!

Why can't we just go back to teaching all subjects for 180 days per year, and let the teachers evaluate whether or not our kids deserve to move on to the next grade?

Now that the new Florida budget is out every county across Florida has been told they will have to cut their county budgets drastically, forcing lay-offs and cutting additional programs.   Florida schools are already suffering and now teachers will be forced to do even more with even less.  Once we had dreams to cut the number of students per classroom, now we will be lucky if some class sizes are not doubled as budget cuts reduce the number of teachers hired and new schools built.

So I ask, "Why are we still spending thousands of dollars per day to continue to implement, teach, score and evaluate the FCAT?"  If teachers were allowed to go back to teaching the subjects instead of teaching "how to pass the FCAT" our students could go back to learning the basics like it should be.  Talk about a program where students are "set up to fail" this is one of them.  And by the way, no I am not a teacher, but I am a parent whose children are petrified they may never graduate, just because of FCAT!

I think it is time we KILL the FCAT! 

I have watched Fox 13 for years, and every morning is a joy to watch Russell and Anne together.  But, has anyone besides me ever wondered if they are a couple?  If they aren't they are wasting a great relationship :) 

Anyone know the truth?

Last week Charlie said we were lucky not to have a Sanjaya on our hands.  Sorry Charlie I am afraid we do......... Danny Noriega!  This kid actually makes me ill just to watch him.  It is a shame he cannot just sing instead of act, I think he would be better off if he did.

Please world, He has got to go!  Unfortunately, just like Sanjaya, the "tweens" will cast their votes for him and we will have to continue to endure the punishment he dishes out.

There are many who don't deserve to leave, but it definitely isn't Noriega!

If you listen to the news lately you obviously have picked up on a current theme of bashing detention deputies.  I agree that if a mistake is made it should be admitted and dealt with swiftly.  If there truly has been a mistake made.  But, it seems that as usual people choose to form an opinion based solely on what they see or hear on the television.   Why not?  The media always tell both sides of a story.....right? 

Unfortunately, sometimes we are given only snipets of the actual footage that really is available.  We don't get to see the video before or after the horrible event. And once one widely publicized incident occurs, you amazingly have an epidemic of similar cases which rise to the surface, regardless of how long ago it occured or if it really has no relevance to the current story.  There is a reason for this, one incidence has us thinking to ourselves "Oh that can't really be true" but as soon as another clip is shown now we belive it all to be true. 

So in the case of the Hillsboro jail incidents, are we shown enough to form an opinion of what truly happened?  Obviously in the case of the man in the wheelchair things got out of hand, but who are we to judge?  Were you there?  Have we seen the full video coverage?  And now we have an old video which has been dug up to prove that the deputies of the Hillsboro County Jail are unjustly abusing inmates.  Hello!!!  These people put themselves in the positions they are in.  Detention Deputies do not go out and find the criminals, they are brought to them to get them off of our streets and out of our neighborhoods.  Truly most of the deputies time is spent protecting the inmate from other inmates and providing for their care while they are at the jail, but as we know the people who commit crimes do not have the best manners nor do they feel they are obliged to follow instructions.  So in the case of the lady who was shown to be dragged to the ground and beaten, I am sorry it is clear she was not complying with the instructions she was given and the deputy was justified to use any means in order to maintain control.

Imagine a jail where inmates are allowed to not "comply."  It would be chaos beyond belief.  A place both deadly for the inmate and the officers who have chosen to protect and serve your community.  So before you make an opinion based on 10 seconds of video footage, demand to see the entire clip and form an educated opinion.  After all the criminals have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, should we not be extending the same to our officers?