"Making Healthy Food Choices" a Chicago School Lunch Program

Well, I am glad that homeschoolers can make their own daily lunch choices, but who really thinks very much about the beauty of selecting your own lunch items?  Not me.  Sometimes I might even think of it as a chore.  I do have a different view after reading a recent article from the Chicago Tribune about a Chicago school that does not allow students to bring their own lunch to school, eve, unless they have a medical excuse.  (Read all three Pages.) They have to eat what the school provides, and pay for it too, because kids are not allowed to bring a lunch... they have to be protected from "unhealthful" food choices.

Now, as a mom, I understand the concept. I have told my kids," Eat your veggies" and "No dessert while your dinner is still on your plate!"  This situation is more than protecting children, it is about business and control.  You can bet that businesses bank on partnering with school lunch programs and that schools get federal funding for each free or reduced priced lunch it serves.  If kids do not eat in the cafeteria and do bring lunches from home, business' suffer and lunch revenue at the school is loss.

The official word though, from Principal Cameron, is: "Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school." and "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke."


Okay... got me there.  We might all be convinced now.  I mean, don't you know that it is healthier for kids to drink "milk" instead of a "Coke."

Some homeschooled kids should do a study on that.  It might not be so true if all our milk gets radiated from the recent nuclear disater in Japan.  But if you do think about it, you could almost justify it in some respect.  I mean you would alleviate those lunch trades, you kow, kids who trade sandwiches and are not getting the nutrition their parents sent th There would be not chocking hazards....like grapes or hot dogs or pretzels  and maybe less waste for the lunch staff in the kitchen, forseeable purchasing practices, fewer leftovers to deal with on those days when not enough students purchase lunch at school. 

 But, lets think again and think about the beauty of freedom to eat what you like and what you can afford.  How willing would you be to let someone dictate your choice of food and then force you to pay for it as well, whether you liked it or not?  How would you like to have your choices disrespected and be told you were incapable of making the politically correct food choice on your own.

Really.

It is shocking to think that most of the parents, teachers and school officials think nothing of it and are doing it.  Well, at least it is shocking to some people.  It is certainly shocking to the kids who often will throw away the food they are given and go hungry instead.

I say, Hooray for homeschool lunches!


Leave a comment... post your favorite homeschool lunch there!

                                                                                                             Lisa B.

Be Informed

Be informed about Parent Partnership Programs or PPP's,   Why?  Because some people think this is "homeschooling."   If that's you, hold on to your hat..... It's not.  Parent Partnerships are programs paid for by tax dollars, and clearly affiliated with the local public school;  homeschooling, is not.

Thanks to a lot of good publicity about homeschooling, what used to be considered extreme for a parent to do, has become quite vogue.  Unfortunately, many people, both those with school aged children and those who are not connected with the schools on a daily basis at all, hear about kids who "homeschool" and think it is done through the local school.  It's an easy misunderstanding to make, in some states, the only way a parent is able to teach their own children instead of sending them to regular public school classroom or a private school is through a program like the PPP.  But here in Washington state, we have what has become known as a Homeschool Law.

If you find yourself curious, ask questions in school and ask questions of people who run various homeschooiling support organizations, like the Washington Homeschool Organization or the Christian Homeschoolers of Washington.  These are people who  know what homeschool is and work voluntarily to keep the freedoms to homeschool here in our states.  Like a true learner, do not just settle for the first answer you hear, rather get the counsel of two or three people who know what they are talking about and evaluate what you hear and think about it for yourself.  If you decide a Parent Partnership Program is for you, then call it a parent partnership with the school and not homeschooling.  Please.  

And remembers, Parent Partnerships are a relatively new part of the public school system.  Many people, even those who currently run them and work for them, are not even sure what PPP's will look like years from now. These programs have already gone through many changes.  There are questions about funding, questions about what the actual the role of parent in relationship to state educators is.  One thing is certain,  and this is true whether your children are in public school or not, and that is ththat since the beginning of time, parents have been the primary educators of their children, and they do know best as to what is good for their own family and for their children.   This must always be the case no matter what kind of education you choose or value for your kids.  

One important thing for all taxpaying people to know is that Washington State law does not make any provision for the public funding of the private endeavor known as homeschooling.  Parents who "homeschool" do not receive funding from the state to do it, it is just like sending your kids to a private school.  Private schools get no state funding either.  Parent Partnerships in Washington public schools, do cost taxpayers money.... and make no mistake.... there is a lot of money being spent.

Parent Partnerships require buildings with furniture and electricity, janitors.  Teachers (and sometimes parent as classroom teachers)  must be hired too.  There must be funding available for textbook materials, computers, classes as well as books for the libraries these alternative schools now house. Make no mistake... you and I pay taxes that provide these programs. The PPP's are governed by the Washington Administrative Code and participants who register full time in these  public school programs are NOT homeschooling under the RCW.  (Although one can certainly be doing an ancillary (part time) class at the local public school and still be "homeschooling.")

As a taxpayer, as a teacher, as a  parent, as a student, be informed.