Cursive Handwriting: Dinosaur or Art

Is cursive handwriting dying? http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/12124183/fox_news/20090219/av_fox_us/_goodmorningyahoo_fox105463_cursive_writing_loses_ground_in_schools

I hope not. as the reporter said in that story cursive is no longer required in schools in California, but most school do still teach it. In fact the school that I taught in I taught cursive to my preK class, yes... you read that right. From the first day of school I taught cursive to four year olds. They loved it... it's a much more natural movement of the hand than the tradition "ball and stick" letters, and there is no need to transition later to another form. Cursive actually aids kids in learning to read. They see common letter combinations in the beginning and ends of words and as they are forming the words their brains are being reinforced as to the way the letters are connected together. Cursive has very few 'reversible' letters,(ie; dbpq) that tend to confuse new readers. The common question I got from parents was, "will it be harder for them to learn how to print?" my answer, "No". Printing is just copying what you see in a book. If you know how to write cursive, printing is a snap. Here is an excellent piece going into more detail on a few of the points I have just brought up. http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Cursive%20First.pdf

My mother had the most amazingly beautiful handwriting. She said they were made to practice hours at school, and even though she did not like it, she was happy her handwriting was so nice. In this age of computers it is easy to say cursive is outdated and unnecessary, but is it really? All legal documents need a signature. Your signature is needed to purchase on credit at a store. It's a unique way of identifying you. AND... you must sign with a real signature, NOT print, when you vote! I know.... digital this and cyber that might replace the signature. Why loss cursive all together? Even if it does go the way of he old Underwood typewriter and the personal handwritten letter, it's still going to be something special people will wish they still had when it's gone.

Ahhhh! Coffee the Elixir of Life!!!

Elixir:

e-lix-ir ,[i-lik-ser]= a)an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of prolonging life. b) the quintessence or absolute embodiment of anything. (www.dictionary.com)


Coffee, sweet coffee, how do I love thee, let me count the ways!!! Thou art the waker of mine eyes and the clearer of my head on a foggy morning. Sometimes called "Baptist Holy Water" and being a Baptist myself I can attest to the fact that unless there is coffee it's not an official meeting.

Along comes 'Starbucks' .... be still my heart!!! A WHOLE store devoted to coffee and making it any way I want it.. tall, grande, venti, with or without foam, non fat, low fat, whole, or soy milk? two shots of syrup, a dash of vanilla, and even chocolate sprinkles. In the winter they have specials with eggnog and extra peppermint, or gingerbread flavoring. Once you are a 'regular' they start your cup when they see you come in the door , "Your usual?" I know it sounds kind of like a bar... but better, no hangover :) In the summer they just throw it in a blender for you with a bunch of ice and.... TaDa.. coffee that cools you too. Whether yours is the 1/2 caf. non-fat, caramel Machiato, extra hot OR the decaf, skinny cinnamon dulce latte, no whip, with sprinkles... it's always great! Oh yeah, they sell chocolate too... I don't need anything else... now I can die happy.

At home you can make great coffee, but you gotta have a Bunn. Shortly after I got married my dear Mother in Law bought me a 'real' coffee maker since, "we are real coffee drinkers in this family" (oh ok, step back!) Little did I know I was about to become addicted to another kitchen appliance (microwave being number one). You see the Bunn is no ordinary coffee maker, it's 'SUPER COFFEE MAKER" (can't you see the little red cape and SCM on it's front) Truthfully if you HAVE to have coffee fast in the morning you need this. It keeps water hot in it's reservoir just waiting for your request then, poof, in less than two minutes you have really hot coffee. I mean really hot, much hotter than those 'other' makers. And it stays hot too. I have been married over 25 years and only had 5 Bunn's .... a tribute to a great product.

Now for the grand finale, a wonderful song singing the praises of our dear friend - COFFEE-

I give you one of my favorite artist , Garrison Keillor

Easy Sponge Bob Cake

Several years ago my daughter wanted a 'Sponge Bob' themed party.... being the thrifty mom that I am I vowed to make the cake instead of spend outrageous amount of money on a bakery cake. Pictured above you can see the fantastic results. This was VERY easy, and I will tell you just how it's done.



Sponge Bob Cake... serves 8= large pieces, 16= smaller pieces


Ingredients:


Cake mix, your choice of flavor, enough to make one 9"x13" cake. (White or Yellow mix works best) whatever things you need to make that cake, eggs, oil etc.


White frosting, the 'fluffy' type looks the best. enough to frost a 9"x13" cake (check label)


Cake Decorating "icing colors" Yellow and Blue (NOT food coloring, they are not strong enough to make the darker color you need) Can be purchased at most party supply or craft stores that have cake decorating sections. (ie: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30C9BC-475A-BAC0-52C7C1607D9BCFC5&fid=77280EF0-475A-BAC0-514D0BED6554CFE4 )


Small tube Black gel frosting like this: http://www.signaturebrands.com/9C4CBB1816FC4298969A04C047BFC780.asp?ccb_key=EA717EEEA06F484BA92F835CC0CB59FA


Approx. 24 -White 'lifesaver' type candy (has to be all white)

16 Chocolate Chips, the same kind you use to make cookies with.

8 Yellow long jelly type candies... like these http://www.justborn.com/mike-and-ike

Baking parchment-available at most grocery stores, or place you got the icing colors



Assembly instructions:

Line baking pan with baking parchment. Let some hang over the edges, you can use this to lift the cake out of the pan later.

Bake the cake per the package directions, let cool. Place a fresh sheet of parchment on the final serving platter (a cookie pan is what is in the picture)while the cake cools prepare the frostings

Put frosting in a bowl and take out 2 Tablespoons and put in a small bowl.

Mix yellow icing color with the large amount of frosting until you get the desired color (does not take much so use a little at first )

Mix a tiny bit of blue with the 2 Tablespoons frosting to get the desired color

Lift cake carefully out of pan, while supporting it gently peel off baking parchment and place on final serving platter you have prepared.

Frost the top of the cake with the yellow and divide the cake into 8 sections by gently drawing a knife through the frosting as pictured above, to make 8 rectangles.

Place two lifesaver candies for the eyes.

Place a small amount of blue frosting in the hole of each lifesaver and then push a chocolate chip in the blue frosting upside down

Use the black gel to draw a smile

break up some of the remaining lifesaver to make 'teeth' shapes and place two under each smile.

Use yellow jelly type candies to make a nose for each 'face' (the nose is hard to see on the picture above, you may have to look closely or change you zoom level.)

Made with the above method the 8 pieces are a bit large for a child to eat, so you may want to cut each portion in half. OR you can make 16 faces by doubling the amount of lifesavers and chocolate chips and drawing 16 rectangles in the frosting. (the faces would be in the opposite direction as pictured above, so just rotate the plate)

Hope you and your child will enjoy this silly but fun cake!

Gerda's Goodies

Another blog by Gerda??? Yup, that's ME :)
I wanted to have a place to talk about the cool fun stuff I find on my journey here. Like this very very special African Daisy I saw while walking near my home. I think it should be entitled "Individuality" 
 I thought that picture would be a fitting first post for this my 'other blog' you can still see my devotional/art blog at  The CraftStar but come back here often too and see what interesting things I find online and in the real world. :)
Thanks