“Mom, I can’t do it, it’s too much!” my son whimpered at the dining room table.
I hadn’t even counted how many pages were stacked in the folder to be done at home. It overwhelmed me!
All the busy work. That’s all it is. Busy work. He long ago comprehended the work itself. Lines of perfect cursives “f”. Each one much better than I ever created. Science homework that is simply a reading about someone else doing a science experiment, and not even an exciting, interesting experiment, just something about an oven being on or off. For a kid who listens to Mom’s pod casts of college genetics, and for the most part follows the experiments discussed by the college professors, it was super boring.
For Pete’s sake, I realize that drills are essential. I know for myself they are. Repetition causes things to stick in my brain. I get it. But can’t we find a way of making them interesting.
He’s falling behind. And now the teacher’s have asked me to come in. I know what they want to do. They want him to go on meds for ADD. And I know they are justified in asking it. He meets the criteria.
So I’ll have both of my kids on medicine for their behavior. I know it’s made a huge difference with my daughter.
But I think this epidemic of childhood psychiatric medicine has more to do with the school system then with my children. I have noticed a marked increase in homework since No Child Left Behind. My Step-daughter attended the same school for forth grade, and now my son is getting more worked piled on him than she ever had.
I don’t know what the solution is. I have no choice but to have the kids in public school. Since I work full time I can’t home school them.
I know nutrition plays a part. They would both benefit from a diet high in essential fatty acids. High levels of Magnesium have been shown to have as much impact as Ritalin in clinic studies. My insurance doesn’t cover magnesium supplements, but it does cover Ritalin.
It is so upsetting that on rain days, the school chooses to show videos in the classroom. When I was young we would play in the gym. When my son falls behind on his class work they keep him inside. He doesn’t get to play outside. I know that both of my kids are much more efficient with their school work when they get to run and play.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Bio-Fuels
The debate surrounding bio-fuels has fascinated me for a while.
Bio-fuels are diesel, and other liquid carbon based fuels made from plant products. They are toted as being the replacement for gasoline. Supposedly they will use the leftover parts of plants and make our fuels from them. We will then be using a renewable resource, instead of gasoline, which will eventually run out.
There is a problem though. Currently, the only part of a plant we can make into a fuel is the part that is of food value to humans, or farm animals. So we are stealing from our own mouths to feed our car.
Forests are a renewable source of energy, among other things. We see what has happened to them. Instead of farming them so they could sustain us for generations we have mined them like we mine our gasoline deposits.
Farming practices are not renowned for their sustainable methods. Salinization, and loss of topsoil leach the value of over farmed soil. Is it truly sustainable to mine our soil thru bio-fuels? Is that really the best way to fill our energy hungry world? The point of bio-fuel is to step towards sustainability, not play the punch a mole game. You know the game where you whack the mole who sticks his head up, and then he pops up in another place.
On the other side is the undeniable fact that the United Arab Emirates, with the highest deposits of oil in the world, will run out in 80 years. Even the UAE has seen reason to start building solar buildings. Their whole economy is centered on gasoline prices, and they know that they have to find another source of power. Whole districts of Abu’ Dhabi are off the grid, and instead on solar, and other sustainable power sources.
Bio-fuels have many problems. But as they are developed they are starting to show promise. Recent discoveries on possible soy-diesel show a way to use soy that won’t steal from our food chain to feed our cars.
Due to government initiatives on Ethanol the industry has grown enormously. They still do steal for the human food chain to power our car, but they have significantly reduced the ratio. And now they are finding a way of producing a by-product that is actually refined corn. Part of the corn goes to the car, and part goes to our food chain.
At the end of the day, I support the bio-fuels industry. Not because of all the good it has done already. And most definitely not for the farming practices that it encourages. But because with time and money it shows the most promise. Personally I like the level of sophistication we’ve developed, and I’d like my children to be able to live in a world of cheap energy. There are going to be times when development is rocky. But the bottom line is that I believe in alternative energy, no matter the rocky times.
Bio-fuels are diesel, and other liquid carbon based fuels made from plant products. They are toted as being the replacement for gasoline. Supposedly they will use the leftover parts of plants and make our fuels from them. We will then be using a renewable resource, instead of gasoline, which will eventually run out.
There is a problem though. Currently, the only part of a plant we can make into a fuel is the part that is of food value to humans, or farm animals. So we are stealing from our own mouths to feed our car.
Forests are a renewable source of energy, among other things. We see what has happened to them. Instead of farming them so they could sustain us for generations we have mined them like we mine our gasoline deposits.
Farming practices are not renowned for their sustainable methods. Salinization, and loss of topsoil leach the value of over farmed soil. Is it truly sustainable to mine our soil thru bio-fuels? Is that really the best way to fill our energy hungry world? The point of bio-fuel is to step towards sustainability, not play the punch a mole game. You know the game where you whack the mole who sticks his head up, and then he pops up in another place.
On the other side is the undeniable fact that the United Arab Emirates, with the highest deposits of oil in the world, will run out in 80 years. Even the UAE has seen reason to start building solar buildings. Their whole economy is centered on gasoline prices, and they know that they have to find another source of power. Whole districts of Abu’ Dhabi are off the grid, and instead on solar, and other sustainable power sources.
Bio-fuels have many problems. But as they are developed they are starting to show promise. Recent discoveries on possible soy-diesel show a way to use soy that won’t steal from our food chain to feed our cars.
Due to government initiatives on Ethanol the industry has grown enormously. They still do steal for the human food chain to power our car, but they have significantly reduced the ratio. And now they are finding a way of producing a by-product that is actually refined corn. Part of the corn goes to the car, and part goes to our food chain.
At the end of the day, I support the bio-fuels industry. Not because of all the good it has done already. And most definitely not for the farming practices that it encourages. But because with time and money it shows the most promise. Personally I like the level of sophistication we’ve developed, and I’d like my children to be able to live in a world of cheap energy. There are going to be times when development is rocky. But the bottom line is that I believe in alternative energy, no matter the rocky times.
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