Saturday Morning Breakfast, New Bern

"I love chocolate milk."   "Me too."  "I'm ready for some turkey sausage."

I see flashing blue lights on his sneakers.   Flashing pink lights on her boots.

"Do you want me to cut up your sausage?"

Four beautiful children just sat down at the table next to me.  Four!

The mother seems to hardly get her voice about a whisper as her children eat quietly.  The three boys, one girl, help each other.  The oldest boy places a napkin on his little brother's lap.  Little brother removes it.

Mom finally gets her own breakfast and sits down to eat.  I will remember this family for a long time.

My Chinese Name

I am feeling a bond with China because of my Chinese neighbors.  I wonder what my name would be in Chinese?

how about Da-Xia Shi?   

DUKE IN CHINA

   Today, there was a panel discussion from at the John Hope Franklin Center.  Duke Students in China presented about their Chinese language immersion program in Beijing.  The experience culminated in a talent show.  The Duke students were a diverse group, representing China, Korea, and Nigeria.

     Interesting to note that the students studied Mandarin Chinese and invested thousands of hours in learning the language.

Do Lexile Scores Pigeon Hole Children?

http://lexilebad.blogspot.com

here's and interesting article that state lexile scores may actually do more harm than good.   the research shows that free choice in reading is the way to go.



Hemingway too easy for 4th graders?  The lexile score for Mr. Popper's Penguins is higher than Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises?  Ridiculous?  You bet!  Do your child a favor and stay away from lexiles.

Be Sure to Verify!

I was thinking about starting a new blog through Blog Press and contacted the company.  Then I read a few poor reviews on the service.  

Lesson:  Be sure to verify and assess!  Check things out before changing what already works.

5 Good Things

I met John Hope Franklin's son today, John Whittington Franklin, and his wife Debbie.

I got a ride to next week's appointment.

I listened to Gwendolyn Brooks read "We Real Cool."

Had a healthy vegan dinner.

Arranged for a job interview.

Dear Man

You can ask for what you want

this can be helpful in building communication

challenging stuff -- like what you’ve have been through