finally and probably the end…

report 2024 by the artist This was the murder mystery party that Helena wrote to be her party fun. People were given sheets on their character, family tree, some history… then when they arrived they went to their “rooms” and there was a suitcase each with clues. It went so well. Computer ran out of…

curriculum

what even is it? this master that rules us all…. I think of these lovely well-meaning, probably nice people, all sitting around genuinely believing they are doing good for children writing away, contemplating every word. I do think it smacks of what a lawyer (friend’s father) once said about the law – that a belief…

Assesment

I am going to assess my child. Like total assessmenty data data data… I will find some format to asses her against, I’ll write a rubric. This will make her a better person… force her to be better at stuff… stuff that I, as an adult, know better will be good for her to know……

It is getting harder to write these posts

Mainly as my child is getting older. Her learning isn’t as photogenic.. not as subtle, perhaps. Today, we went to the NMIT (Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology). I saw squillions of things I wanted to “do”.. to play with. Big machines you could cut wood or metal with. I saw a room full of silk…

it looks like school to me

except she chose the activities that she has decided that are crucial… This is handwriting, mirror handwriting, upside down writing, left-hand writing, and handwriting in her own personal code. The words are from her Shakespeare insults calendar. “Now I am doing my ds the right way all the time..” Joined up writing to follow! Handwriting…

What! We don’t have to do anything?

rather “Please don’t”… Children do not like being incompetent any more than they like being ignorant. They want to learn how to do, and do well, the things they see being done by bigger people around them. This is why they soon find school such a disappointment; they so seldom get a chance to learn…

Scary  blank page

Today, I woke up after being sick for a while, and my brain was a buzz. When I was last sick, I wrote to a friend of my mother’s, and before I posted the letter she died. My mother and her were really good friends, one who believed in God and one who didn’t. They…

Current passion…

H’s current passion is photography. She has been interested in an abstract way for a while, but since my cousin gave her a point and shoot camera of her own, her interest has skyrocketed. She has filled up a 16GB SD card. She, Ms shy, has even had a conversation with a photographer: getting advice…

what I have noticed at pretend school

1- most often we have not finished at the time the bell goes and can be mid train of thought, or just at the nitty gritty good bit. It is totally unsatisfying. 2- the before lunch, Nayland college has a very late lunch (1:30 to 2:15) if you ask me, period is a total waste…

Cool stuff H has learnt

I am classifying something as learnt if it is something, in this case a definable task, she could not do before and can now successfully repeat the task without support. ta da… one bowl of two minutes noodles successfully made, for breakfast, on a small gas cannister stove, (lit using a lighter) outside while I…