Recipe Monday - Basil Scallop Pasta

This was so delicious. Totally worth your time. My kids ate it three times without complaint!

1 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta
24 scallops, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dried basil
9 tablespoons whipped butter


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, rinse, and transfer to a large serving bowl.

Meanwhile, place scallops in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper. Pour mixture over scallops. Arrange scallops in a single layer in a large baking dish or plate. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon dried basil over scallops so that only one side is sparsely coated with basil.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high, and melt one tablespoon of butter in the pan. Place 12 scallops basil-side down, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until dark golden brown. Turn scallops, and cook the other side. Cook the remaining 12 scallops the same way.

In a small saucepan, melt remaining butter with 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Toss pasta with butter and olive oil mixture. Divide pasta onto plates, and top with scallops.



















      

Moment of the Week - Princess Party

Yesterday was a full-on real person day for me. First we went to a princess party, then I went straight to a baby shower, then straight to a birthday dinner for my friend. Here's the girls at their princess party, though.

Nails painted (which they're not allowed at home, so they were THRILLED).

Curtsy.

All done and lovely!

After face painting.

Like looking in a mirror, sometimes.

Me and my princesses.

 

Home Schooling Co-op Confusion - Guest Post

Today, I'm especially lucky to have Tracey Birch from Inside the Mommyvan explaining what co-ops mean to home schoolers...and what they don't. Thank you, Tracey!

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If you spend much time around homeschoolers, you'll probably hear them talk about their "co-op" days. I was recently asked for an explanation of these mysterious organizations by someone who'd heard they they were "like school, but without qualified teachers."

I suppose that description may fit some co-ops, but I'm fortunate to live in an area where that couldn't be farther from the truth, at any of the half-dozen co-ops in my general vicinity (and those are just the ones I've heard of).

First off, what is a homeschool co-op? Details vary, but in general it's when a group of homeschoolers get together--usually once a week--for a day of more-or-less classes. These are often, but not always, taught by the co-op parents, and the subject matter can range from belly dancing to advanced biology. There is usually a fee for classes, which generally goes to the individual teachers to pay for their time and supplies. Some large co-ops have a paid administrative staff, but most are truly co-operative, relying on parent volunteers for everything from scheduling classes to cleaning up the lunch room. The best organizations double as a support and social group for both parents and students. Some have the interpersonal drama you might expect from any organized group of individuals, but no more than you'd find in a PTA or neighborhood organization.

As for the teachers' qualifications, there are a few things to keep in mind. One, many former professional teachers homeschool their own kids; two, co-ops often attract outside (non-homeschooling) teachers and experts; and three, truly unqualified teachers are easy to avoid. As word gets around, and it does, about their lack of teaching skills or subject-matter knowledge, they're not invited back to the co-op or people just don't enroll in their classes. How many traditional-school parents have (or wish they had) that option? The reality is that public school teachers are often placed in classrooms far outside their areas of expertise (take a look at your state's minimum requirements for a teaching certificate sometime), and much of their class time is spent on high-stakes standardized test preparation. Worst-case at co-op: we've spent an hour a week for one semester in a worthless class. At a traditional school, that class with the "bad" teacher may be the student's entire day, every day (for lower grades) or their only opportunity to take an advanced class in the upper grades.

Some co-ops add on many of the extra-curriculars found at traditional schools: field trips, yearbooks, science fairs, student council, art shows, even prom and graduation ceremonies. Others focus on rigorous academic subjects, with highly qualified teachers and loads of homework. Still others are relaxed, with an eclectic mix of classes where age or grade levels are mere suggestions and parents, often with babes-in-arms, can be found sitting in on class sessions.

Whichever type you choose, co-ops can be a valuable addition to a homeschooler's toolbox for academics, extra-curriculars, and social time. My kids are currently taking a science & nature class from a long-time professional educator (who brings in all sorts of critters for the kids to see and touch) and a class on playing games (fall semester focused on old-school games and good sportsmanship, this spring is games from around the world complete with geography and culture lessons). In the past they have taken arts & crafts classes (with themes from a storybook reading), Lego construction (including simple machines), ballet, tap, and hip-hop dance, exploring water (from physical/chemical properties, art, and nature perspectives), local plants & wildlife (great day-long field trip that semester), and Waldorf-inspired art.

We also spend hours on the playground and at the park each week, just hanging out and playing with friends. This may be the best part of our co-op experience, as kids of all ages play together and look out for each other; cliques and bullying are practically non-existent.

So yes, it is sort of like school... but the difference isn't in the teachers, it's in the parents and students.


 

Purim: How Does It Work? - Contributor Post

Today, Kate Allen from Life, Love, Liturgy talks about the history of a really cool, and slightly unknown by some of the masses, holiday.

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If any religious people can put on a daringly joyous and raucous holiday, Jewish people can. Purim, celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Adar, will be celebrated this year starting at sunset on March 15 (and continuing till sunset on March 16).

Purim is a holiday based on the book of Esther, which is a ten-chapter tale about Esther and her cousin Mordecai, who are Jews, along with the Persian king and his advisor. The king's advisor, Haman, persuades the king, Ahasuerus, to eliminate all of the Jews, mainly out of anger and jealousy he bears toward Mordecai. Mordecai persuades Esther, who has become the most favored woman in Ahasuerus' harem and thus the Persian queen, to go to the king and ask him not to fulfill Haman's request. After fasting for three days, Esther goes to the king, thus risking her life, because no one is supposed to approach the king without a summons. The king continues to look on Esther favorably despite her unexpected appearance before him, and afterward Esther reveals her Jewish identity, asking him to spare her people. In the end, Haman is hanged on the gallows he had built for the leaders of the Jews, and Purim is declared a holiday by Esther herself.

To celebrate Purim, Jewish folks prepare for Purim by fasting. Then they get together to read the Megillah (i.e. the book of Esther). This is no drab reading of scripture, however. Folks show up for Purim in bright costumes, armed with groggers to boo and blot out the name of Haman. The celebration of Purim is a lively ritual enactment of the salvation of the Jewish people from those who would have them annihilated.

According to Esther 9:22, people offer food to their friends and money to the poor. Purim is also a time of obligatory drunkenness--observers of this holiday are supposed to get so drunk, according to Talmud, that they can't tell the difference between cursing the name of Haman and blessing the name of Mordecai!

If you don't make it to your local Purim celebration this weekend, you might try your hand at making triangular, jelly-filled Hamantaschen so you can join in the feasting!

picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Ask a Teacher - What the Hell Is That Scary Math Problem on the Internet? Why Does Common Core Hate Me?

So, earlier in the week, I saw a really weird thing that I didn't quite understand, and I shared it and was ready to clutch my pearls (FINALLY!), but alas, it was not to be. Turns out that silly math problem going around the internet is a bad example, but even if it wasn't, IT'S STILL NOT HARD, and IT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE. It's true. They even convinced me (since I taught myself to do it later in life but didn't even know it) and I LOVE me some one-carrying.

Emily Blanton of Teaching Ain't For Heroes takes us through the SUGGESTED common core practice that is the "new" way.

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I'm sure you've seen it by now. There's some picture floating around Facebook about "Common Core" math with the "Old Fashion Way" and the "New Way" to do math. In case you haven't seen it, here it is:






Yes, lots of people are losing their minds over this. And you know, it might look confusing at first, but it doesn't take much to figure out that this is a way to introduce metacognition to students to help them with their mental math. You do this in your head and you don't even realize that you do it. This blog post is the best explanation I've seen of how you do it all the time. When you go to the store and buy things, you don't bust out a calculator or get a pencil and paper to do it the "Old Fashion Way" carrying your ones and such. You make the numbers easier to manage in your brain.

Who taught you to do that? Did you learn to do it on your own? I mean, maybe you did. Maybe a parent told you. I know I learned it at school. If no one ever taught you to do that and you never figured it out on your own, people doing mental math must look like freaking wizards. Which is exactly what a lot of students who into high school math without learning mental math see their math teachers.

Math isn't the only place where students need mental exercises. We do it in English and Language Arts as well. How do you make inferences? When did you learn how to make them? Someone taught you or you picked it up naturally. Some students make it to high school completely at a loss of how to make inferences without being walked through it.

Yes, there are "easier" ways to do math using pencil and paper. However, the purpose of assignments in school is not to find the right answer. The point is to teach students how to find the right answer. If the purpose was finding the right answer and nothing else, you never would have had to show your work back in algebra. But you had to show your work so your teacher could see if you made a mistake along the way so they could help you fix it. Learning mental math is the same way. And practice makes perfect, so get used to seeing it for awhile.

I'd also like to point out that the example being passed around was likely made up by someone who doesn't actually teach this method. The first thing someone teaching this would say would be to cancel the twos in the ones position.