Thrifty Scissors

Monday, March 5, 2018

D.A.R.E. for Kids

D.A.R.E. Primary is a life skills and drug education program for 9-11-year-olds. The course, consisting of 10 one-hour sessions, aims to provide children with knowledge, skills, and an opportunity to explore attitudes, to help them to make informed decisions, and to develop safe and healthy lifestyles. Topics covered include, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, volatile substances, bullying, anti-social behavior, and different types of pressure. Children look at normative beliefs about alcohol and tobacco. The sessions are interactive and provide a range of learning opportunities through individual activities, teamwork, discussions, storyboards, and appropriate role play. DARE Primary can be delivered by:

DARE Officer (Serving or former Police Officer, Police Community Support Officer, or School Officer--- a school liaison officer)
Teacher and DARE Officer where the Officer attends every other week (called 50/50). It also becomes part of the Health Unit in most schools.
Teacher delivered (Teachers receive training from DARE)

Each pupil is provided with a DARE workbook for use during the course. DARE Officers and Teachers (where the Teacher delivered option is chosen) are provided with session guides. An important part of the program is the graduation ceremony which is an opportunity for families and schools to celebrate the children's achievements.

Rigmarole

Rigmarole.

There is a land where bunnies dance

While foxes play the flute,

Where puppy-dogs in polkas prance,

And bear-cubs swiftly shoot

In sledges o'er the slipp'ry ice,

Which isn't safe, though very nice.

There on their hind-legs kittens walk,

And elephants steal jam,

There lions sit at tea and talk,

As gentle as a lamb,

There rats at school long copies write,

While bears are put to bed at night.

And if you don't believe it, look

At all the pages in my book!

The Rain Regiment

The Rain Regiment

by Mathilda Schirmer

Across the city's many roofs

Comes a sound of heavy hoofs...

The Regiment of Rain

That beats the windowpane;

That floods each country lane;

That tramples the farmers' grain;

That tangles the horse's mane;

That teases the weather vane,

And angers the raging main!

There are none who can refrain

From admiring the Regiment of Rain.

Pillow-Time!

Pillow-Time!

Pillow-time!

Friendly, bright stars

Gleaming out

In the dark sky,

Above quiet trees

A jolly moon

For Company;

And to lure one

Far into sleepy-land,

Thee beguiling

Pillow-time tales

About other children's

Dream adventures.

Why, pillow-time

Is the happiest time

Of all the day!

Autumn

Autumn

by Albert Laighton.

The world puts on its robes of glory now;

The very flowers are tinged with deeper

dyes;

The waves are bluer, and the angels pitch

Their shining tents along the sunset

skies.

Friday, March 2, 2018

Fireman's or woman's badge for playtime.

Below are fireman's badges that teachers and parents may print, cut and laminate in order to give away to young children for play time after they have been visited by the local fire department. You can adhere special safety pins to the back side of the badges. I found a large pack at Amazon for little ones here. You could probably find them in your local craft store as well if you prefer.

Individual graphics are included for parents who only need one or two. Four graphics are included on one sheet of badges for easier printing in the classroom. Enjoy!
Fire Departments feel free to pass out these crafted fireman's badges too, if you would like. They are free from kathy grimm!

A fireman's badge including an "engine house" number.

A fireman's badge including an eagle.

A fireman's badge with a blank ribbon for teachers who wish to include a name.

A fireman's badge including the symbolic tools of the trade.

All four fireman's badges on one png. for those who need to print multiple quantities.

Animal Intelligence

It is generally known that many animals possess in a greater or less degree the same senses that we ourselves have: sight, hearing, smell, touch, temperature and so on and that many of them experience such emotions as: anger, grief and joy; but it is not by any means so certain that they have even the elements of reason as we understand that term.

The sense of touch in man is keenest in the finger tips, the lips and the tip of the tongue. In the lower animals the regions of greatest sensitiveness are often different, and in some animals special and very delicate touch organs have been developed; as, for example, the whiskers of the eat and the long hair on the rabbit's lip, by means of which these animals can readily find their way in the densest darkness. The wing of the bat is also very sensitive to touch.

In man the sense of taste is keen and resides in the taste bulbs which cover the tongue and palate. In birds and reptiles the sense of taste is not very well developed. Insects recognize the difference between sweet and bitter, but do not seem to be affected by other flavors. Many animals show an instinctive dislike for certain foods, but it may be more from the sense of smell than from taste, for the two are very closely allied.

In some animals the sense of smell is exceedingly acute. The dog can track his master through the crowded street; the deer recognizes the presence of an enemy very quickly. But birds have little sense of smell, and reptiles also are dull in this respect. Fish differ; it is said that the shark is almost entirely dependent on his sense of smell for his food. In insects this sense is most keenly developed.

Most of the mammals and the birds have a keen sense of hearing. The astonishing manner in which some birds will imitate the songs of other birds testifies to the accuracy of their hearing; but fishes hear little, though it has been proved that they can hear to some extent. Certain insects hear and can distinguish sounds that are pitched higher than the human ear is able to recognize.

The keenness of vision possessed by birds is most remarkable. The swift, flying high through the air, detects on the ground its minute food. The eagle sees his prey from long distances entirely beyond the range of the human eye. Some animals, such as frogs and toads, have keen vision only at short range, and fish seem to be entirely unable to distinguish prey at any great distance from themselves. It is known that certain insects distinguish between colors.

That the higher animals have memory is very certain; a puppy, having been stung by a bee, will ever after avoid the insect, and may even flee at the sound of its humming. Dogs are known to have recognized their masters after years of absence, and they have been known to show strong resentment after many years against an individual who mistreated them.

Animals certainly draw inferences from what they see, but apparently in purely instinctive manner. The best writers seem to doubt whether an animal can put together different facts and establish a conclusion. The extent to which the intelligence of animals goes in this direction, however, is a subject of dispute. Some writers maintain that animals really teach their young; others protest that nothing of the sort is ever done - that the actions of a bird in throwing her young from the nest are purely instinctive, and not with any thought of the young birds' welfare. Many modern writers have taken a different stand and have written exceedingly interesting accounts and imaginative histories of many animals.

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