At 11:00 a.m. EDT, today—September 08, 2009— President Barack Obama is to address our children in the Public Schools systems.  This action has created a major controversy in our midst.  Parents, School Districts and School Principals or administrators, as well as, teachers are in the middle of it all.  A lot parents, as well as, school principals or school administrators have reacted negatively to the idea of having the President of the United States addressing their kids in the classrooms today.  On the other hand, many others don’t see what the harm or the big deal is, given the fact that the message has been disclosed and there is nothing within the content of the message that would reflect a political agenda or anything inappropriate that our kids couldn’t handle or hear.

Such controversy forced The White House to provide a copy of the full text of The President’s message before its day of delivery—being that day today—to news authorities and schools districts in attempts to put parents and all others involved at ease, and to clear up any concerns they may have about the intentions or motives behind this—The President’s decision of addressing the school children of our nation.

Parents who have read— or heard in the news— what the message it’s all about, learned that they have been given the option to either opt-in or opt-out of having their child attend this event at their local public schools today. But it is not the content of the message…the message itself is good—an encouragement to our children to stay in school and do well— but it’s the decision itself made by President Barack Obama—of addressing our children— that still have some parents wondering, some puzzled, and some others angry.  For these parents, the issue in question is not whether the president’s message in and of itself may include content not suitable for the young children,  we should attribute him a little more common sense than that, but for them, what’s at stake here is the issue of authority over their children— whose authority is higher, whose authority takes precedence.  And so, from their perspective, there is a boundary that has been violated, where these parents feel that their authority over their children has been undermined and basically dismissed due to the fact that prior parental consent was not requested of them, thus, creating uneasiness among such parents about this event taking place.

For these—disapproving— parents, President Barack Obama considers himself which such authority over his people, or over his people’s children, that he doesn’t deem it necessary to ask parents permission before attempting such a thing—of addressing their children publicly and directly in their classroom at school.  These parents are viewing The President as someone who is utilizing or taking advantage of his power or position of authority to influence their children in their school environment.

Obviously, they have drawn this conclusion from the fact that President Barack Obama omitted to request parents’ permission or consent prior to attempting the delivery of his message to the children in the public schools today.  And so, the struggle taking place is about whose authority is greater over the children in the nation, the parents’ or that of the President of the United States? Sure, the message is positive and The President means well, but some argue: “Isn’t that the parents’ responsibility to ensure that their kids stay and do well in school?  Or is it that the President believes that parents aren’t doing their job?”

The second issue at stake is the establishment of a pattern, which could be seen as socialistic and dictatorial in nature.  Sure, The President’s address to the kids today is focused on something positive and harmless— on encouraging them to stay and do well in school— but what would future addresses be about? If parents so decide to relinquish such authority to the President over their kids?  Authority, which he assumes, he already possess.  And so, the question arises:  Does the President of the United States have the right to address—at any given time— the people’s children in their public school environment without prior parental consent?

On the other hand, those who are in favor of The President’s speech to our school children argue that there is nothing strange or suspicious about The Presidents decision to address the children in the public schools—that they don’t see it any different than when former presidents Bush and Regan did the same thing.

So, what is different this time around?  Why Obama’s address to our school children has not been seen in the same way as those made by former presidents?  Why has it not been as well received or accepted?

What is your opinion?

Attached bellow is the text of Obama’s speech to our schoolchildren, which by the way, I think one will find it to be very positive and encouraging…

Text of Obama’s speech to Schoolchildren
(http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090907_tnt_text-obama-kid-speech.158f4d00a.html)

01:23 PM CDT on Monday, September 7, 2009

WFAA.com Staff

The White House has provided this text of a speech that President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver at a back-to-school event in Arlington, Virginia on Tuesday. Schools around the nation have been invited to let students view a broadcast of the president’s address.

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.

Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.

Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090907_tnt_text-obama-kid-speech.158f4d00a.html

What is your opinion?

Plus National Petition to stop FOCA attached

On a hot summer morning in 2003, I found myself in the hospital not knowing what was wrong with me.  At three-months-pregnant, the last thing on my mind was that I was loosing my baby.  As I waited for the doctor to come in the room, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear.  After his examination, the doctor concluded, “You are having a miscarriage”.  A miscarriage is the unintentional loss of a desired pregnancy– a pregnancy that ends spontaneously.  I could not believe what I was hearing—my world was falling apart.  I began to weep immediately.  My baby was leaving me, and I didn’t get the chance to see him or hold him in my arms and kiss him, and let him know that everything was going to be alright.  My heart was broken, my spirit crushed, my loss was immense and the emotional pain was severe.

This is the closest one will ever get to experiencing what it must be like to have an abortion without actually having one.  The same feeling of loss, anguish, despair and pain, but without the guilt that an actual abortion will inflict.  The feeling of loss is tremendous!

A year later, I had another miscarriage.  I’ve lost two babies, not doubt about that.  My body knew it.  My spirit knew it.  I knew it.  I mourned inconsolably the deaths of my babies each time.  The second time was not any better than the first.  As my hope for having a baby got dimmer, the pain became greater.  I had to fight through the depression, the pain, and a deep, deep feeling of loss to embrace myself to try again.  This is the kind of pain one will never know about until one actually goes through it.  The kind of pain one would not wish upon anybody, “not even your worst enemy.”  Now, add to this pain the guilt that comes along with knowing that you’ve made this choice to terminate the life of your baby, that you brought this upon yourself when you really didn’t have to.  This is what abortion does to a woman!  This is what President Obama is facilitating for women to experience through the Freedom of Choice Act.

The truth is that Obama’s Freedom of Choice Act doesn’t help women at all, it doesn’t help families, and it doesn’t help anyone, but the pockets of those performing the abortions.  Instead of helping, FOCA will act as a license for women to engage in irresponsible sexual behaviors with the false sense that it will be without any consequences.  That will only cause promiscuous behavior and sexually transmitted diseases to sky rocket.  But most importantly, the worst thing in all of these is the end result of abortion–ending the life of a child, and the guilt and emotional pain that it will inflict on those women that will have them.  Sure, there is healing and forgiveness for women after an abortion, but much better it is not to have to go through that at all.  Now that I have two children, I know more than ever that the two babies I miscarriage could have been just like them, would their development process had not been stopped.  I lost two babies no doubt about that, and even dough it has helped me appreciate my children even more, I would of much rather not to have that happened to me at all.  The memories will always be there.  The truth is that FOCA will only take women down a path of depression, tremendous sense of loss, emotional pain, guilt, despair and regrets.

We live in an America whose core people are conscious, caring and compassionate.  We have all of slogans to prove it, such as: “Save the Whales”, “Save the Manatees”, “Save the Wild Life”… Now then, on behalf of all the unborn children in America, I would like to say: Let’s SAVE THE BABIES!!!

To cast your vote against The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), click here: The National Petition to Stop FOCA

What is the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)?

Simply said, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is a bill which “declares that it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to terminate a pregnancy when necessary…”

The lawmakers proposing the legislation, and groups endorsing it, repeatedly emphasized that the bill would, among other things, completely nullify the national ban on partial-birth abortion that the Supreme Court upheld on April 18 in Gonzales v. Carhart.

In addition, PPFA explained, “Parental consent or notification statutes have been used as a tool to deny access to abortion services for minors. When such laws deny or interfere with the ability of minors to access abortion services, they would violate FOCA.” http://www.nrlc.org/FOCA/LawmakersProposeFOCA.html(NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE).

(About half of the states have parental notification or consent laws in effect, which the Supreme Court has said are permitted under Roe v. Wade as long as they meet certain requirements, including availability of judges to authorize abortions without parental notification or consent.)

In a press release issued when she introduced the FOCA in 2004, Senator Boxer gave a number of examples of current laws that would be invalidated by the bill, including the following:

– Laws restricting government funding of abortion.  (The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of most abortions, and many states have similar laws.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that these laws do not violate Roe v. Wade.)

– Laws prohibiting abortions in public hospitals.  (The Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that such policies do not violate Roe v. Wade.)

– Laws requiring that girls and women seeking abortion receive certain information on matters such as fetal development and alternatives to abortion, and then wait a specified period before the abortion is actually performed, usually 24 or 48 hours.  In her press release, Boxer referred to these as “antichoice propaganda lectures.” (The Supreme Court said in its 1992 Casey ruling that such regulations are constitutional as long as they do not impose an “undue burden” on obtaining an abortion.)

– All laws allowing doctors, nurses, or other state-licensed professionals, and hospitals or other health-care providers, to decline to provide or pay for abortions. (Such “conscience rights” with respect to abortion are generally protected by certain federal laws, and by the laws in many states.  Supporters of the laws usually call them “conscience laws,” but pro-abortion groups refer to them as “refusal clauses.”)

– All laws prohibiting medical personnel other than licensed physicians from performing abortions would be invalid because they may “interfere with” access to abortion.  (All but a handful of states currently enforce such “doctor-only” laws, which are specifically authorized in Roe v. Wade itself.)

– The provision of the FOCA that prohibits any government agency or official from taking any action that would “discriminate against the exercise of” the FOCA-created legal rights, with respect to any “benefits, facilities, services, or information,” would leave government officials open to lawsuits for anything that anybody thought “discriminate(s)” against abortion.  Johnson observed, “This sweeping mandate could cover everything from rural health clinics, to health education programs in public schools – and even to pro-life speeches by public officials.” http://www.nrlc.org/FOCA/LawmakersProposeFOCA.html (NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE).

History of the FOCA

An earlier version of the FOCA was pushed by pro-abortion forces beginning in the late 1980s, when they feared that the Supreme Court was preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade.  When President Clinton, a FOCA supporter, took office in January 1993, Planned Parenthood predicted that the FOCA would be law within six months.  But the bill died after an education and lobbying campaign, led by NRLC, persuaded many pro-Roe lawmakers that the bill went beyond Roe and would strike down many state laws that had broad support.

Johnson noted that during the debates over the FOCA in the early 1990s, many proponents of the bill often tried to deny some of its more radical effects – effects that they have already admitted with respect to the new bill, such as the invalidation of all restrictions on government funding of abortion.

The original FOCA faded from view after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in the 1994 election. http://www.nrlc.org/FOCA/LawmakersProposeFOCA.html (NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE).

To cast your vote against The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), click here: The National Petition to Stop FOCA

Your child is going to school for the first time. What an emotional time this is! There is so much on your mind. How he or she will adapt? How he or she will be treated? Will he or she eat or drink enough? All these questions can be summed up in one: How do I find the right preschool or child care for my child?

What kind of child care is there available?

Home-based care:

Listed family homes: People who must list with the division are those who are compensated to provide regular child care (at least four hours per day, three or more days a week, for more than nine consecutive weeks) in their own homes for 1-3 unrelated children.

Registered Child Care Homes: Registered Child Care Homes provide care in the caregiver’s home for up to six children under age 14; they may also take in up to six more school-age children. The number of children allowed in a home is determined by the ages of the children. No more than 12 children can be in care at any time, including children of the caregiver.

Licensed Child Care Homes: Provide care for less than 24 hours per day for 7-12 children under 14 years old. All types of licensed facilities have published standards they are required to follow and are routinely monitored and inspected.

Center-based care:

Licensed Child Care Centers & preschools: are any operation that cares for 13 or more children under 14 years old for less than 24 hours.

Do not make the mistake to choose a facility based on proximity or cost alone. The closest school to your home might not necessarily be the right choice for your child. Also, keep in mind that the highest cost doesn’t always guarantee the best teacher and facility. Likewise, the least expensive rates do not necessarily mean poor teachers and facilities.

Since I’m a former preschool teacher, I thought I knew exactly what to look for when I had to make this decision, and even for me it was a little tricky. I visited a few preschools that were the closest to my home with the hopes of finding the right one for my son among those. I decided to try one that presented itself very attractive, even though I was a little uneasy about this one school: It was so close to home and it look so good as far as appearance goes, that I decided to give it a chance. To make a long story short, I was right about “my gut feeling” I had about this school. My son only lasted there two weeks, and he was miserably unhappy for the whole time.

And that is why I think “your gut feeling” is so important, and the first thing I would recommend when looking for the right school for your child is to pay attention to your instincts.

1. Pay attention to your instincts

You know your child best. Pay attention to any feelings of uneasiness you may have experienced during site visits or interviews. Could you picture your child in this setting? Were the toys and activities you observed the kinds your child would enjoy?

2. Look and listen

You can tell a great deal by observing and listening to what is going on in the classroom. Did the children seem happy and were they enjoying activities? Did the teachers seem to be loving, nurturing and responsive to all children in their care? Were problems handled promptly and appropriately? Did the teacher seem like the kind of people you can trust with the health, happiness and well being of your child? Is this a place where you would feel good about your child spending many hours each day?

3. Professional Qualifications

What is the lead teacher’s level of education? Research shows that children whose teachers have more education have better outcomes. Increased education and specialized training in early childhood education produces higher quality programs and positive child outcomes. Formal education plus annual in-service training equals higher quality levels.

Every state has mandatory hours of training required for childcare givers to attend, for teachers and helpers as well. For instance, in Florida, there is a 30-hour-childcare training that is mandatory for all childcare workers, teachers and helpers to attend, and then a 10-hour-Age appropriate-training thereafter. You may inquire whether your child’s teacher and/or helper have completed this mandatory training. The number of hours varies from state to state. To find out more about this you may visit your state’s DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY & PROCTETIVE SERVICES or CHILDREN’S SERVICES Website.

4. Curriculum & Daily Routines

Do they use a curriculum? What curriculum do they use?

A curriculum based on developmentally appropriate practices should be utilized and teaching staff should have been trained in implementing this curriculum. This is extremely important if you are interested in your child being educated and not just being watched. Implementation of a developmentally appropriate curriculum is a strong predictor of children’s success in school.

Not only that, you don’t want your child in an environment where there is nothing planned to do. He or she is going to be bored out of his or her mind after he or she is done playing with toys, and most likely will engage in misbehavior and disorderly conduct due to lack of organized and planned activities. This is when children begin to hit and push each other and become aggressive to one another due to lack of planned activities. The day has many hours. We can not expect children just to play for 8 hours. And I’m a teacher, I know all about children learning by playing, but even play needs to be planned and guided by the teacher.

The following is what Broward County in the State of Florida requires on this aspect:

DAILY ROUTINES and PROGRAMS

1) Infants:
Infants shall have planned activity periods of play suitable to stimulate their interest, opportunities for talking and cuddling with staff members and ample opportunities for exercise outside their cribs on mats or on a clean floor surface. All infants should have a daily outdoor period, weather permitting.

2) Other Age Groups:
The facility shall have a daily schedule of activities posted in a place accessible to the parents. The activities shall be appropriate to the developmental age of the child. The daily schedule shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
• Broad blocks of time for activities in art, language development, music, block building, creative and dramatic play, science, manipulative play, active play, indoor and outdoor play periods
• Time period for providing meals and snacks
• Quiet time or nap period
Activities for both indoors and outdoors shall be provided by a flexible daily schedule of regular routines in order to give the children the sense of security they need to help them become self directing and independent, and to develop a positive self image. There shall be a sufficient amount of play equipment and materials available for the licensed capacity of the facility.

3) Each child three years of age or under shall have a daily rest period of at least one hour on a cot, mat, crib, bed or playpen.

5. Ratio and Group Size – research strongly suggests that smaller group sizes and more staff with children lead to better outcomes for children. Lower ratios and smaller group sizes allow teachers to give children more individual attention, a key to success.

I think this is the same for all the states, but again, you should check your state’s Children Services Website to be sure. Bellow is Broward County’s, Florida, student/teacher ratio rules. And I using Florida as an example because I completed my Early Childhood Education/Child Development studies there and I’m must familiar with the rules and regulations of this particular state pertaining to this subject.

RATIOS OF PERSONNEL TO CHILDREN

6. Family Engagement: The program recognizes that children’s chances for success increase when families get involved in their child’s early care and education program. The program promotes ongoing family participation in a variety of ways.

7. Program Administration: A strong set of management practices including record-keeping, financial management, staff hiring and retention practices, and emergency planning are key to a successful program.

Signs to look for:

What to look for:

Do the children look happy, involved in activities and well-cared for?

Do teachers get on the child’s level to listen, talk and play with children?

Do teachers give individual attention to each child?

Are teachers warm, kind, calm and patient?

What is your child’s reaction when he first sees his teacher in the morning?

Are there sufficient materials such as blocks, books, puzzles, art supplies and toys for all the children and are they available throughout the day?

Are well planned activities such as music, painting and dress-up play provided for children?

Does the facility seem cheerful, clean and safe with equipment in good repair?

Is hand washing and diaper changing done frequently?

Is there adequate indoor space for play, naps, meals, belongings?

Is the outdoor play are fenced, safe, well-equipped and supervised at all times?

Questions to ask

(You will probably receive an information packet that will answer some of these questions for you, but if you don’t, here are some important questions to ask)

Is the program licensed? Accredited?

Private accrediting agencies perform an important quality assurance function by accrediting or certifying early care and education programs that meet their standards. Accredited child care programs have a strong interest in quality and have met a set of standards higher than licensing standards set forth by the particular Early Childhood Agency or Association they have cared to join. Some of the well known National Early Childhood Associations are: NAEYC, ACEI and NAFCC, and there are many others.

Are references and background checks conducted on staff?

How many of the teaching staff has been employed in this facility or home for more than one year?

Does the person who will be teaching your child have training in early childhood education, First Aid and CPR?

How many children are there for each adult? (adult to child ratio)

How many children are in your child’s group? (smaller group size is a quality indicator)

Are there written policies/information regarding: philosophy of education for young children; discipline; on-going staff education/training; illness and injuries, napping; and toileting habits?

AND ALL OTHER QUESTIONS YOU FEEL THE NEED TO ASK. DON’T HESITATE…

Once you have made a choice. It doesn’t all end there. You will want to talk to your new teacher often and make occasional visits to ensure that your child is safe and happy– that your decision was the right one.

I sincerely hope this information was helpful to you and that you find the right Preschool or Child Care setting for your bundle of joy like I finally did for mine. When one’s child is excited and looking forward to going to school every time, one realizes that making the right choice makes a whole world of difference, and it will show…

If you would like to add your own thoughts or comments to this post, please feel free to do so bellow.

Obama Voted against banning partial birth abortion

In 1997, Obama voted against SB 230, which would have turned doctors into felons by banning so-called partial-birth abortion, & against a 2000 bill banning state funding. Although these bills included an exception to save the life of the mother, they didn’t include anything about abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother. The legislation defined a fetus as a person, & could have criminalized virtually all abortion. Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.147-148 Oct 30, 2007
www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm#1

Obama Trusts women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion

Q: What us your view on the decision on partial-birth abortion and your reaction to most of the public agreeing with the court’s holding?

A: I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families who make these decisions. They don’t make them casually. And I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy. And I think that’s where most Americans are. Now, when you describe a specific procedure that accounts for less than 1% of the abortions that take place, then naturally, people get concerned, and I think legitimately so. But the broader issue here is: Do women have the right to make these profoundly difficult decisions? And I trust them to do it. There is a broader issue: Can we move past some of the debates around which we disagree and can we start talking about the things we do agree on? Reducing teen pregnancy; making it less likely for women to find themselves in these circumstances.

Source: 2007 South Carolina Democratic primary debate, on MSNBC Apr 26, 2007
www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm#1

Obama Undecided on whether life begins at conception

Q: Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?
A: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it’s very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don’t presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we’re having these debates.

Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008
www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm#1

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that anything that has the ability to grow is living; it’s alive, not dead or non existent. With that in mine, wouldn’t it be accurate to say that the unborn baby no matter how many weeks old he might be in the mother’s womb, he or she is alive and growing, and if we don’t interrupt the process it will continue to grow until it riches necessary maturity, and then it will be born, and it will continue to grow, and become a toddler, a child, a teen, an adult, a mother , or a father, a doctor, or a lawyer, a dentist,………. a member of society.

I was given that opportunity. You were given that opportunity. Had my mother decided to terminate her pregnancy when she was carrying me, I wouldn’t be here today, in which case I would have been murdered; because I was a person inside of my mother’s womb, in the most fragile and vulnerable stage of my life, but none the less, I was a person. The stage of life we are in does not change the fact that we are alive and have the right to continue to live.

When a pregnant woman decides to terminate her pregnancy, at whatever stage, that woman is terminating a life. I don’t care if it is only one week pregnant, two weeks, three, or four… Or whether one wants to call it a fetus to emotionally detach herself from it or be politically correct ……. The truth is that a living thing, a baby, another human being is growing inside that womb and it’s alive. And if it was alive and then is dead, and it didn’t happen due to natural causes, then it would be safe to say that someone killed it.

An unborn baby is a person in its most fragile and vulnerable stage, defenseless and at the mercy of those who conceived them. Anyone who performs, approves or supports the termination of the unborn child is nothing but a coward. Why don’t they try to mess with someone their own size? The atrocities being committed against the unborn babies, such as, the partial birth Abortion, all in the name of giving women choices, is inexcusable.

Women have plenty of choices. Let me tell you all the choices women have out there to prevent an unwanted pregnancy: there are condoms, plenty of contraceptive pills to choose from and contraceptive devices, and how about abstinence. It is not a secret that when one has sexual intercourse there is like a 99.9 percent chance of getting pregnant. So if a woman doesn’t want to get pregnant, why doesn’t she try one of the above mentioned choices? Is it such a big of an inconvenience to go to a store or pharmacy to purchase contraceptives? Women and teenage girls spend tons of money buying cosmetics, clothes, shoes, music cd’s, etc. If they know that they are going be having reckless sexual intercourse but don’t want to get pregnant, why don’t they behave more responsibly and invest in one of the preventive methods mentioned above, instead of foolishly getting pregnant and then wanting to terminate the pregnancy?

Some people may say what about the women who get pregnant due to rape? And what about the women who did used contraceptives but they failed and they don’t want a baby? Well, for that, there is a beautiful choice call adoption. And besides, let’s look at the statistics and see who are the people performing abortions. Of all the abortions being performed only 2% were due to rape, incest, physical life of mother, health of mother or fetal health. The other 98% of abortions were performed due to”personal choice”:
–too young/immature/not ready for responsibility
–economic
–to avoid adjusting life
–mother single or in poor relationship
–enough children already

REASONS FOR ABORTIONS IN THE US: COMPILED ESTIMATES Click bellow to see complete story http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html

As you can see on the table above, 98% of abortions could have been prevented by responsibly using a contraceptive method. Instead these individuals recklessly enjoyed the pleasures of having sex and then don’t want to pay for the consequences of their irresponsible actions. That’s why abortions needs to banned altogether and Specially the Partial Birth Abortion.

Partial Birth Abortion

http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/diagram.html

To see detailed images of partial-birth abortion, and documentation from medical experts on the accuracy of these images, click here.

Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby’s leg with forceps.

The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal.

The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head.

The abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.

The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

To see detailed images of partial-birth abortion, and documentation from medical experts on the accuracy of these images, click here.

This friends is nothing but a slaughter and it should be stopped immediately and punished to the maximum extend of the law. And anyone who performs, approves or supports these massacres is nothing but a cold-blooded murderer.  And this is why I’m not looking forward to Obama’s presidential inaguration.

I came across the following article on a new technology being developed aimed to aid parents remember a child left in a car, although written in 2004, I find this report very interesting and relevant today since the hyperthermia-deaths-of-children-in-hot-vehicles continue to happen.

However, we are already nearing the end of 2008, four years after this report was written, and I have not heard of anything of this nature already in place. Does anyone know anything about this new technology out there? If you do, would you be so kind to share with us by placing a comment on this post?