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May 26, 2013

Planting Day, Too Much Tech For Kids


Butterfly Heaven

Planting Day-
With the 3 day weekend and finally some warm weather, we decided to plant the warm weather veggies. We actually had a frost warning 3 days ago! Really? It's almost June!!! Anyway, we went shopping yesterday. My kids gave me a Home Depot gift card for garden supplies and plants for Mom's Day. You can tell you're an urban homesteader by what your kids give you! I got some tomatoes and veggies there, and got the rest at a couple of other places. I bought 5 Red Russian kales for $2.50 at a little local garden center. He said he just wanted to get rid of them! Works for me!!! Nice color below-


We also bought a few shrubs to fill in some holes and for a spot in the front yard. We ripped out a really ugly, old viney shrub there and are planting a really pretty butterfly bush. They're great at attracting pollinators, good for when you're growing your own food! Since we already had 2 Black Knight varieties (dark blue/purple) we bought 1 Butterfly Heaven, smaller bluish flowers (on the top of this post). I bought a few other perennials to fill in where some died over our brutal cold spell this last winter. 0 degrees for 3 weeks wrecks havoc on fairly tough plants. I saw this cute flower box yesterday, made out of cedar boards, sheet rocks edges and rope-


These would be really EASY to build! And much cheaper :)



Tomatoes, peppers and more, oh my

Mugo Pine

Tick seed plant

Blue Flax, I love these! Hard to find sometimes

Purple Fountain grass

Cold frame ready for kale, the rest is rhubarb, collard greens, lettuce, radishes & Italian parsley

veggie area ready to plant! After photos soon....



Too Much Technology For Kids-
I read a post on Ohmrstucker.com on a new book called Goodnight iPad. It got me thinking. Here's my response:

As a school librarian I love the book It’s A Book by Lane Smith. The short version in on YouTube. I read the book to my 6th graders to remind them that there’s no electricity involved and that it actually has many more advantages. For kids there may be some future problems with using tech at a young age too- what will they do if they don’t have access to that later? Public schools can’t afford to buy kids iPads just because they want to use one in school. How many parents are going to trust a elementary kid to take theirs to school? Who will pay for it if it gets broken/stolen/damaged?

I can’t afford an iPad, and if I did, I wouldn’t buy one. I have 2 computers at home and 2 at work. It’s just too much.  I have lost count how many times I have almost been hit by cars whose drivers are texting. There’s also such a disparity between people who just assume all families can even AFFORD these. I work with 85 % high poverty kids. Only about 30% of them even have the internet at home. $500.00 for an iPad is groceries and rent for them. There’s a huge disconnect (excuse the pun) in tech where wealthier folks just assume everyone else has one. Or wants one, in my case. I love the convenience of tech, but it’s too much- $, maintenance, wear and tear, storage. I don’t have to worry about dropping a book, getting it a little wet (assuming I own it), highlighting it, tearing out a page, my software crashing (a friend lost his entire kindle off his iPad), re-charging, or worry about theft. I could go on. It just needs to be put into perspective sometimes. ***Remember- with no electricity, it’s just an expensive piece of plastic.


Ellie enjoying the sun

7 comments:

Carolyn said...

My SIL told me last year that her 8th grader's school supply list included an ipad. I almost fainted. Why is that a "need"?? Do they no longer know how to write or take notes on paper? And like you mentioned, those puppies are like $500. I suppose those who can't afford them may be given "free" ones (i.e. taxpayer funded), but it's still insane that they are a requirement in grade school. I understand that computers are here (and as you mentioned, not necessarily here to stay if the power goes out), but to make a grade schooler have one as a part of their school supplies? Nuts. Completely nuts.

Unknown said...

Yes, that is NUTS! I know most school district can't afford iPads for everyone. We have 1 at our school for special ed students only.

Leigh said...

"Remember- with no electricity, it’s just an expensive piece of plastic." I love it!!! Very well said, Nancy. It is unfortunate that the educational system has fallen into the trap of thinking that STUFF & GIZMOS = anything truly meaningful.

And by the time those kids grow up, the iPad will long since have become obsolete. Not a good investment of taxpayer dollars. Books are never obsolete.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Schools are now allowing wireless internet to students, so they can use their own electronics in class. It's terrible. Every assignment my kids have, involves a power point show, a computer for writing and printing assignments and even digital cameras. I, at one point, expressed to a teacher, that I will not allow my kids to use the camera at school. They did for a "group" project and the classmate dropped and broke the camera. Now, we don't have the cash to replace it, but yet they require this for assignments. Makes me pretty upset at how school isn't even school anymore.

Unknown said...

Thanks. I think it is good to prepare older kids to work in a digital environment, BUT there's a limit. Not everyone will work with tech in their jobs, and not everyone has $$$ to replace broken tech either. Being tech saavy I think is different from replacing books and some common sense in schools...

Candy C. said...

Love the tech discussion. It's crazy that the schools now expect/require students to have this stuff!
On a happier note, I love all the plants you got and what a great deal on the kale! Uh, $42.95 for that planter?!? Yikes!!

Unknown said...

Thanks Candy. Yes, there is the poverty group that's completely ignored. The planter could probably be built for a LOT les and cheaper to fill with your own seeds/palnts. That's why I posted it :) Another DIY-er maybe...

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