Lee 1st Impressions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do your kids go to play outdoors. We're at IT and just wondering what the kids go to play pre-playground.

Playground will be installed Thursday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I had a hunch the quinoa salad would get outvoted by the kids' taste buds. This isn't supposed to be a crunchy hipsterville cafe on U street. It's a school. Don't feed the kids crap, but feed them foods they'll eat. I'd rather have my kid eating healthy sandwiches and pizza and baked chicken mid-day than not eating lunch at all.

+100000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(The quinoa stuffed peppers however were a no go. I hear the administration is asking Halsa to make some tweaks to the menu to make it more appealing to the kids while still healthy)

Lol. I commend them for their ambitions but it can be hard to find a balance between healthiness and still be in realistic about the average preschooler palate (notice I said average kid. Sure there are some parents of adventurous eating outlier preschoolers on this board)

well, I do understand the balance, but that is what the average preschooler eats because that is what the average preschooler is fed in the US. Yes some kids are picky, resisting a variety of tastes and textures, but that doesn't necessarily translate into "kid menu" food. In other cultures the picky toddler might eat rice and beans and 3 particular vegetables. DC is great for seeing this - toddlers of families I know from Bulgaria and Ethiopia eat all kinds of foods we would say the average preschooler wouldn't touch. And these aren't adventurous eaters - they refuse lots of what their parents eat. So the idea, I think, is to create a new cultural norm at school. I appreciate this and hope it works. Rather than dumbing down what is offered to a common denominator, I hope the balance tips in favor of good, basic, healthy foods (NOT pizza!)

My kid is a picky toddler who eats (brown) rice, beans, tofu, (brown) pasta and a few specific vegetables on their own and several more when mixed in with other things. (He also eats pizza made with wheat flour and mac and cheese made from scratch but that's it for the typical "kid foods"). Unfortunately so far he's barely eaten anything at Lee except fruit. He typically likes quinoa, but the fact that it's salad and cold was off putting. And he doesn't like meat. Without meat most days it seems he's left with bread, fruit and lettuce or other green salad. If you guys have 3 year olds who eat lettuce and green salad enthusiastically I'm exceptionally impressed! I've never seen a preschooler in any culture (I'm not from the US) eat a plate of lettuce. I absolutely agree that I don't want it "dumbed" down but brown rice or pasta would go down well with many kids, there's nothing wrong with a cheese sandwich instead of pulled pork and skip the green salad in favor of other vegetables that kids actually eat -- carrots, cucumber, broccoli, celery.

See this is where it gets tricky - my 4 year old loves salad. He will choose salad over carrots any day. People ask me all the time how I get him to eat salads and I really have no clue. He loves croutons and Caesar dressing and blue cheese and ranch dressing too. He also likes got sauce. On everything.

I agree about not dumbing down the food. The kids will get it eventually. It takes repeated exposure to accept a new food. (And I find it very weird that pp has never seen a kid eat lettuce. Not even iceberg or romaine? That's pretty universally palatable.) Sounds like they might need to start a garden. That can help a lot with opening minds to new tastes.

[Anonymous]

Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Did you read the rest of the thread? All those issues have been discussed. No conflict there. Everyone seems to agree that all is going well and the kids love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Did you read the rest of the thread? All those issues have been discussed. No conflict there. Everyone seems to agree that all is going well and the kids love it.

They haven't been discussed. They've men mentioned sparsely while the food has been discussed. A lot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Did you read the rest of the thread? All those issues have been discussed. No conflict there. Everyone seems to agree that all is going well and the kids love it.

They haven't been discussed. They've men mentioned sparsely while the food has been discussed. A lot!

Isn't it wonderful that things are going so well there is only the food that needs to be addressed? You must be one of those bitter SSMA parents. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(The quinoa stuffed peppers however were a no go. I hear the administration is asking Halsa to make some tweaks to the menu to make it more appealing to the kids while still healthy)

Lol. I commend them for their ambitions but it can be hard to find a balance between healthiness and still be in realistic about the average preschooler palate (notice I said average kid. Sure there are some parents of adventurous eating outlier preschoolers on this board)

well, I do understand the balance, but that is what the average preschooler eats because that is what the average preschooler is fed in the US. Yes some kids are picky, resisting a variety of tastes and textures, but that doesn't necessarily translate into "kid menu" food. In other cultures the picky toddler might eat rice and beans and 3 particular vegetables. DC is great for seeing this - toddlers of families I know from Bulgaria and Ethiopia eat all kinds of foods we would say the average preschooler wouldn't touch. And these aren't adventurous eaters - they refuse lots of what their parents eat. So the idea, I think, is to create a new cultural norm at school. I appreciate this and hope it works. Rather than dumbing down what is offered to a common denominator, I hope the balance tips in favor of good, basic, healthy foods (NOT pizza!)

My kid is a picky toddler who eats (brown) rice, beans, tofu, (brown) pasta and a few specific vegetables on their own and several more when mixed in with other things. (He also eats pizza made with wheat flour and mac and cheese made from scratch but that's it for the typical "kid foods"). Unfortunately so far he's barely eaten anything at Lee except fruit. He typically likes quinoa, but the fact that it's salad and cold was off putting. And he doesn't like meat. Without meat most days it seems he's left with bread, fruit and lettuce or other green salad. If you guys have 3 year olds who eat lettuce and green salad enthusiastically I'm exceptionally impressed! I've never seen a preschooler in any culture (I'm not from the US) eat a plate of lettuce. I absolutely agree that I don't want it "dumbed" down but brown rice or pasta would go down well with many kids, there's nothing wrong with a cheese sandwich instead of pulled pork and skip the green salad in favor of other vegetables that kids actually eat -- carrots, cucumber, broccoli, celery.

See this is where it gets tricky - my 4 year old loves salad. He will choose salad over carrots any day. People ask me all the time how I get him to eat salads and I really have no clue. He loves croutons and Caesar dressing and blue cheese and ranch dressing too. He also likes got sauce. On everything.

Yep, and here is also where it gets tricky. My vegetarian kid won't eat cheese. So a cheese sandwich is a no go but quinoa is a definite go (it's one of his favorites). He hasn't eaten much at school either because he's too nervous and because I've sent some food with him just in case and he is pretty excited about eating out of his lunchbox with its built in spoon. He will eat the food eventually (maybe not the salad, but perhaps with the requisite 10 exposures he will?)But at 3.00 a day, I am more than willing to have the school provide him fruit and whole grain bread for a month while he settles in and more than willing to allow the possibility that he might learn new foods (salad etc.) through repeated exposure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

Wow.

If food is such a challenge for you who knows how you will ever deal with other parenting issues. There really is nothing wrong with either pizza or cheese and both can be healthy. Cheese is a great source of protein. Pizza is just bread and cheese with some vegetables. Made with whole grains it's even better. I'd much rather my child eat pizza and be happy than refuse lunch. And I'd pick pizza over fancy pulled pork sandwiches for her every time. (FYI, there's nothing healthy about meat).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Did you read the rest of the thread? All those issues have been discussed. No conflict there. Everyone seems to agree that all is going well and the kids love it.

They haven't been discussed. They've men mentioned sparsely while the food has been discussed. A lot!

Go take a second look. Food isn't even mentioned for the first 2.5 pages. "specials" and outside time are discussed a lot. The only topic that hasn't been mentioned is homework, but Montessori schools don't have homework so there's nothing to discuss there.

Is there something in particular that you'd like to know? Or would you just like a few pages of "my kid loves his teacher" and "my kid really enjoyed washing windows today" or "my kid played on the monkey bars at recess and made some friends" or "staff member A answered my question when I saw her outside the school at pick up" or "the principal was there to greet everyone again this morning".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

Wow.

If food is such a challenge for you who knows how you will ever deal with other parenting issues. There really is nothing wrong with either pizza or cheese and both can be healthy. Cheese is a great source of protein. Pizza is just bread and cheese with some vegetables. Made with whole grains it's even better. I'd much rather my child eat pizza and be happy than refuse lunch. And I'd pick pizza over fancy pulled pork sandwiches for her every time. (FYI, there's nothing healthy about meat).

Food is not at all a parenting challenge for me or my family at all. They eat empty calories at out and about at parties etc. once a week at most, but NOT daily. I never expected to be at a school here my kids could actually eat the school lunch, and I am beyond thrilled with the menu and hope it doesn't get watered down (which doesn't mean we can't move, as others have suggested, to more beans and brown rice and less cold green salad etc.).

Re pizza: Cheese is not the best way to get protein. It is fine tops once a day, but pizza has a least two servings. We eat a lot of milk products in the US because of government subsidies and an FDA that is in the pocket of big ag, not because it is that good for us. And "made with whole grains it is even better"?! There is no nutritional value to non whole grain flour except what vitamins have been added (and jury is out on whether we can absorb lab produced vitamins). Pizza crust, even when whole grain, is not very whole grain, so mostly just empty carbs. Please no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

Wow.

If food is such a challenge for you who knows how you will ever deal with other parenting issues. There really is nothing wrong with either pizza or cheese and both can be healthy. Cheese is a great source of protein. Pizza is just bread and cheese with some vegetables. Made with whole grains it's even better. I'd much rather my child eat pizza and be happy than refuse lunch. And I'd pick pizza over fancy pulled pork sandwiches for her every time. (FYI, there's nothing healthy about meat).

Food is not at all a parenting challenge for me or my family at all. They eat empty calories at out and about at parties etc. once a week at most, but NOT daily. I never expected to be at a school here my kids could actually eat the school lunch, and I am beyond thrilled with the menu and hope it doesn't get watered down (which doesn't mean we can't move, as others have suggested, to more beans and brown rice and less cold green salad etc.).

Re pizza: Cheese is not the best way to get protein. It is fine tops once a day, but pizza has a least two servings. We eat a lot of milk products in the US because of government subsidies and an FDA that is in the pocket of big ag, not because it is that good for us. And "made with whole grains it is even better"?! There is no nutritional value to non whole grain flour except what vitamins have been added (and jury is out on whether we can absorb lab produced vitamins). Pizza crust, even when whole grain, is not very whole grain, so mostly just empty carbs. Please no.

Paleo Mom represent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

Wow.

If food is such a challenge for you who knows how you will ever deal with other parenting issues. There really is nothing wrong with either pizza or cheese and both can be healthy. Cheese is a great source of protein. Pizza is just bread and cheese with some vegetables. Made with whole grains it's even better. I'd much rather my child eat pizza and be happy than refuse lunch. And I'd pick pizza over fancy pulled pork sandwiches for her every time. (FYI, there's nothing healthy about meat).

Food is not at all a parenting challenge for me or my family at all. They eat empty calories at out and about at parties etc. once a week at most, but NOT daily. I never expected to be at a school here my kids could actually eat the school lunch, and I am beyond thrilled with the menu and hope it doesn't get watered down (which doesn't mean we can't move, as others have suggested, to more beans and brown rice and less cold green salad etc.).

Re pizza: Cheese is not the best way to get protein. It is fine tops once a day, but pizza has a least two servings. We eat a lot of milk products in the US because of government subsidies and an FDA that is in the pocket of big ag, not because it is that good for us. And "made with whole grains it is even better"?! There is no nutritional value to non whole grain flour except what vitamins have been added (and jury is out on whether we can absorb lab produced vitamins). Pizza crust, even when whole grain, is not very whole grain, so mostly just empty carbs. Please no.

Paleo Mom represent!

ha ha. No, I haven't followed this latest fad (isn't it like nurturing traditions, so not vegetarian friendly?). We're more just run-of-the-mill Michael Pollan eaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem with our city's messed up school system in a single thread: the most talked about new charter is being reviewed after two weeks of school, and all people give a flying f**k about is the food.

The food doesn't matter folks. How's the education? How are the teachers? What are the kids doing? What do they say about the days and their teachers and their friends? How is the school at communication? How are specials going, and what is outside time like? Is there homework?

Enough about the GD quinoa peppers already.

Sorry, but food is a big deal for my family. Much of my job as a parent is helping my kids get a great foundation in healthy food rather than in pizza and cheese based meals.

Academics or "education" for a 3 or 4 year old, I don't really care about. Remember when kids didn't even go to school till age 5 and then only 1/2 a day. Kids in the 70s did just fine academically.

I also care how kind and respectful the teachers and kids are, and so far my son has no complaints, though I've seen more raised voices (not yelling exactly) than I expected when I've been around I have a report that when kids don't listen they are sent to the principals office, but not sure if that is true

Wow.

If food is such a challenge for you who knows how you will ever deal with other parenting issues. There really is nothing wrong with either pizza or cheese and both can be healthy. Cheese is a great source of protein. Pizza is just bread and cheese with some vegetables. Made with whole grains it's even better. I'd much rather my child eat pizza and be happy than refuse lunch. And I'd pick pizza over fancy pulled pork sandwiches for her every time. (FYI, there's nothing healthy about meat).

Food is not at all a parenting challenge for me or my family at all. They eat empty calories at out and about at parties etc. once a week at most, but NOT daily. I never expected to be at a school here my kids could actually eat the school lunch, and I am beyond thrilled with the menu and hope it doesn't get watered down (which doesn't mean we can't move, as others have suggested, to more beans and brown rice and less cold green salad etc.).

Re pizza: Cheese is not the best way to get protein. It is fine tops once a day, but pizza has a least two servings. We eat a lot of milk products in the US because of government subsidies and an FDA that is in the pocket of big ag, not because it is that good for us. And "made with whole grains it is even better"?! There is no nutritional value to non whole grain flour except what vitamins have been added (and jury is out on whether we can absorb lab produced vitamins). Pizza crust, even when whole grain, is not very whole grain, so mostly just empty carbs. Please no.

When you said that food was "much of your job" as a parent you implied that it was a challenge. If that's not the case your obsession seems misplaced.

You're not going to convince this vegetarian whole food eating mom that the occasional slice of pizza, or for that matter, bread and cheese is going to harm anyone. And if you can't convince me, I seriously doubt that you'll find others who agree with you. Try going to Europe, for example, if you want to see how people consume cheese healthily (by cheese I don't mean Velveeta). There are bigger battles to be fought for your kids than spending most of your job parenting obsessing over what they eat.