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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2017 FEATURES Spanish immersion question Dear Annie: Our 4-year-old seven years. What if he were not will be in prekindergarten in the to get along with them? — Una fall. His elementary school offers Pregunta Dear Pregunta: This is a a Spanish immersion program, opportunity and we can’t decide whether to once-in-a-lifetime enroll him in it. The program that will beget a lifetime of fur- was one of the things that influ- ther opportunities. Being bilin- gual is a bigger asset than enced our decision to buy DEAR ever in today’s globalized a house in this area. But society (and increasingly now that decision time is ANNIE competitive job market). here, we’re having second Learning a foreign lan- thoughts. guage has been shown to His school day would build multitasking skills, be 80 percent taught in improve memory, make Spanish. In the class, students more percep- there would be 10 kids tive, hone decision-mak- who speak Spanish at Lane ing skills and do so much home and 10 kids who, Annie Creators Syndicate Inc. more. I think you’d regret like my son, don’t speak not trying this program any Spanish. My wife and I value the abil- out much more than you’d ever ity to speak a second language, regret trying it. See whether you can talk to and starting this early, our son might be able to speak as well as some of the parents of the third-, a native speaker. But it would be fourth- and fifth-graders who are a huge commitment. The school in the program. Get a sense of expects people who commit in the workloads and how children prekindergarten to stay in the pro- like the tightknit learning envi- gram through fifth grade, and it’s ronment. Ask parents what they now or never; he couldn’t start in wish they had known when going the future. That is scary for us. into it. Whatever you decide, it’s We don’t really know our son’s clear that you and your wife care learning style or whether this deeply about your son’s educa- would be a good fit for him. And tion, so I have no doubt he’ll turn he’d be with the same 19 kids for out just fine. Dear Annie: A fellow church- goer doesn’t like to drive, so she always asks others to pick her up for church, take her to visit her father in the nursing home, shut- tle her to the grocery, etc., etc. She lives 30 minutes out of the way for most of us, and she has a car and a license. She never offers to pay for gas, leaving some of us feeling taken advantage of. Should we just put our frustra- tion aside and try to show some Christian love, or can we help her understand that others don’t want to be taken advantage of? — Feel- ing Used Dear Feeling Used: Just because she has a license doesn’t mean she should be driving, and if she feels uncomfortable or unsafe driving, then good for her for making the very smart decision to get help. However, that help needn’t be from friends or congre- gation members every single time. Many community-based transpor- tation services exist for seniors. An excellent database is available from AAA at http://seniordriving. aaa.com/local-transportation-pro- grams. The most generous thing would be to help her help herself by getting her plugged in to some resources. 5A TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc. ARIES (March 21-April 19). Nature is stronger than man. Then again, man is a part of nature. You’ll prove the mightiness of the human spirit in some way today as you go up against the big forces and win. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). After periods of high exertion you need time to relax and recover. If you don’t consciously and regularly schedule this, you’ll miss it and burn out later. Take care of your health and happiness now by making a plan. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). In order to better achieve the group goal, people must feel safe enough speak up about what’s working and what’s not. If everyone is too afraid to challenge or change the way things are going, the outcome will suffer. CANCER (June 22-July 22). There will be flashy, glamorous and dramatic situations to get involved in today, but should you? You won’t be sorry if you instead choose your company the same way you choose your shoes — for comfort and long wear. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There’s nothing wrong with wanting appreciation and love. It doesn’t make you automatically needy just because you have the very basic human drive to be valued. Be suspicious of anyone who tries to make you feel otherwise. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You may not agree right now with what you did back there, but you made the best decision you could make based on the information you had at the time. Knowing more, you’ll do it differently today. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’ve been wronged — probably just a misunder- standing — and you’ll work it out. Being too conciliatory would be a mistake. Don’t mute your own interests more than is good for the relationship going forward. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The day has exciting potential for you as you follow a fascinating lead. Where high standards meet with prepossessing features, a strong attraction will develop. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Maybe you shouldn’t tell everyone about the extensive effort you put into getting to a certain result. Your payoff will come when the others figure out that they can’t easily duplicate what you just pulled off. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Mistakes teach us how to be more flexible in the future. They also make us compassionate. Accept your- self and move on. You’re becoming stronger and more able every day. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You won’t get the sale, promotion or attention necessary to move forward unless people know what you’re doing and why. So don’t be shy today; publicize your work. TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (March 21). Get organized now, because you’ll soon take your talents to a wider audience. Travel will be involved. You might be surprised who finds you enchanting in April. Family connections will parlay into business wins in May. In June, while tending to responsibility, a dream will come true. Capricorn and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 12, 2, 40, 9 and 31. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Your social talents will be put to good use now. You’ll connect people who can do one another good. You’ll set a tone where people feel comfortable enough to contribute. FRANK AND ERNEST BLONDIE THATABABY SALLY FORTH PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN B.C. LOLA DILBERT SIX CHIX BIZARRO MUTTS NON SEQUITUR BABY BLUES WIZARD OF ID ZITS ROSE IS ROSE