Random Stuff

The government's homeschool office newsletter stated that out of the 300 or so home educators invited to express interest in participating on a statewide advisory committee, only eight replied in the affirmative. My odds are pretty good, I'd say, and I'm boning up on my Holt just in case.

Before we left on our mini-vacation last week, we had the opportunity to drop in and have coffee and cocoa with the master of the teachable moment over at Home Schooling Aspergers. The girls and I had an enjoyable visit and are looking forward to getting together with Megan and her son real soon. While Sarabelle isn't keen on missing school, I may be able to convince her to wag a day or two so we can maybe meet them for a picnic here.

I spoke to my mother briefly yesterday. During the conversation she asked whether Elle was doing her school work yet. No, she was busy coloring and making Play-Doh sculptures. What about math? Nah. What about science? Not today. Well, coloring and Play-Doh just weren't enough for retired early childhood specialist Nana, even though I insisted that she might well be doing as much in school. After she quickly ended the conversation, I sent her a list of recommended reading material including selections from Holt, Gatto, and Oliver Van de Mille. She will not read any of them.

Today Jorge, Elle, and I ran into Cairns to get new tires for my car and planned to pop into the circus, but alas, today's performance was scheduled for 7:00 PM. When asked what she wanted to do for a few hours, Elle requested we go to the library. After a quick walk down the Esplanade we spent an hour at the gorgeous Cairns City Library then stopped in for lunch at a sushi place where the food passes by on a conveyor belt and picked up dessert for our friends' dinner party tonight from their favorite bakery, Beethoven's. Meanwhile Grice rode up to Cooktown with her best friend, the friend's stepdad, and her teacher (who has Fridays off when the principal manages the class) to attend a talk given by several Australians of the Year, including Tim Flannery, author of climate change book, The Weather Makers. Skipping school is not such a bad thing. If we could only convince Sarabelle...