Articles written by Alida Chacon

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About me - Alida Chacon

I've been writing since I can remember. My favorite topics are politics, child rearing and relationships. All affect me at a personal level. I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and two of our four beautiful children.

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Education > Early Childhood Ed Will "universal preschool" for 3- and 4-year-olds improve academic achievement over the long term?: 4 of 25

Universal preschool will not improve academic achievement over the long term. We have been sold this mumble jumble because as more and more working men and women decide to have children the question of who will raise them becomes obsolete if we have universal preschool in place. The fact of the matter is the preschools do no...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Birth stories: 41 of 209

"Honey, you need to come home, I'm having the baby." That's what I said. Notice there is no exclamation point behind my request. I wasn't actually in labor per se. At least not the way they described it in our Lamaze class, you know, contractions five minutes apart so intense you can't speak, no not like that. It was more of...
Home & Garden > Gardening (Other) True gardening stories: Memories of a loved one and gardening: 9 of 23

I never heard my grandmother refer to herself as a gardener. I've never heard my mother refer to herself as a gardener. My sister is not a gardener. I am not a gardener. We are however, the third generation of plant and flower lovers and of the herb lovers. We care within us an obsessive curiosity about what we can grow. As ...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens Thoughts on methods for reducing teen pregnancy: 8 of 20

Reducing teen pregnancy can be accomplished in three easy steps. Step 1: Education We must educate our children while very young in how their bodies function. As early as three years of age, children are curious about their bodies. If we use appropriate terms for all body parts and explain in simple terms how their bodies wo...
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Shopping: 3 of 7

Finally, a moment alone. Time to ponder. When was the last time she had been in the dressing room alone? Six years ago. Yeah that's about right. Five and a half years ago she experienced what would become the rest of her life. The rest of her life until this moment. She bought her wedding dress at a discount store. There the...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Tweens & Pre-Teens How to understand your teen: 4 of 9

Does anyone really understand another person? I don't want to get too philosophical, but when I think back at all the advice I received when I was pregnant, I'd have to say no one really understood what that was like. Sure, some advice helped, but most of it was not applicable. In fact what worked with morning sickness durin...
Education > Early Childhood Ed How to assess the quality of a day care center: 4 of 7

Assessing the quality of a daycare can seem like a daunting task. The key is to understand first and foremost that your child is not going to recieve the same care that he would at home. Not the same does not necessarily mean lower quality care. Nothing provides a perfect environment. My children stay home with me, some days...
Health & Fitness > Kids Nutrition Healthy breakfast for your child: 7 of 9

Many times the word healthy becomes synonymous with time-consuming or involved. A healthy breakfast for your child does not mean two hours slaving over a hot stove first thing in the morning. The are a lot of healthy options that can be made and served up in a matter of minutes. In my home, breakfast is the only time of the ...
Education > Alternative Education (Other) Alternative education: Alternative to what?: 15 of 19

An alternative to the current public education system must be found. It's not hard to believe the statistics that lower income children do not recieve the best quality education available. What some might find hard to believe is that the public education system in general, is failing all our students whether they pass or not...
Politics, News & Issues > Party Politics & Ideology The Republicans' guide: Ten simple steps to retaking the White House: 22 of 26

The Republicans have a lot of work to do if they plan to regain the White House in 2012. What seems like an impossible task is actually quite feasible if they pull together and get to work right away. The road back to the White House is paved with 10 simple steps.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:...