5 reasons why I home educate

Simple.
1.To create a loving, safe, creative, unhindered place to learn for my children. So they may not lose that wonderful spark of curiousity that inhabits them from birth. To allow them to be individuals, to allow them to think for themselves, to act on their desires instead of having them decided for them. To allow them to have a childhood.

2. To take advantage of various styles of education without having to spend a fortune on a single design private/alternative educating system. We adopt various things from Steiner/Wardof, Unschooling/natural learning with the basics, Child-Delight/Led learning.

3. To enjoy a wonderful, free unforced lifestyle.

4. Because we can provide better for our children as we know them far more than a teacher who only has them in the classroom with 29 other children who really require the same focused individual attention.

5. Because I'm excercising one of the few rights I have over my life, and using this as a role model for my own children to allow themselves to be as free to choose as they want, without the baggage accumulated from school.

Garden of Earthly Delights... er I wish... part 6

The terrarium part of our paludarium... below is our 'erbs in a pot...

Our obligatory Venus Fly Trap:
Our ferny bushy bits:
Some of our outdoor garden. Strawberries and herbs and rocket grows, but we await the rest here of our edible bits:

Our tarty kitten... his name is Wolfie. He is too naughty to live inside as he wees and everywhere. Starting with my pregnancy. He has his own little house and bed outside in a sheltered bit with blankets etc, but really he is best suited to outdoors. He's not really a kitten either, he is just the runt of the litter and he is going to be a little cat. He's such a pretty boy, its such a shame really.

Well its that day of the fortnight again... pay day. The children spent money on things to build this time - wood work this time around (steiner/wardorf). Also wooden board books in shapes as they were inspired what I've done with Monika's butterfly off the page scrap book which isn't quite finished and therefore not posted! Dante has a car, Labyrinth a tabbed book. I brought another butterfly wings and a train, amongst many other things! I couldn't help myself. Love Kaiser paint!!! I got some co-ordination paper (which is one coloured textured cardstock layered in two colours so if you sand or tear or age in some way it uncovers the colour lurking underneath, how lush is that???

Also brought another motherboard to complete our media centre (purely started as a save the DVDs from the terrible monsters who were trashing them to an exciting thing!) We have a new discus as well! It is a Dragon Flame, very red and has lines like a turq but is just lush. I was taken by the pure white ones today, but at $90 it was beyond us just yet, next pay.... come faaassst! $55 was enough on one fish today.

We did some grocery shopping in bulk today, rice, sundried tomaties, satay sauces etc. We will get bulk meat tommorrow. We have an affectionate name for the store: Second Hand Meat Shop. Ooops, did I say that online???

Checked out the so called awesome cambridge shopping outlets today (meant to be factory outlets my ***). Expensive, boring, boring boring!!! I miss factory outlets where bras are like $10, and things really are heavily discounted. There should be no fears from sellers in the city, this place is doomed. Golden Circle was one of our favourites except for the pineapple in everything (but I suppose thats what a Golden Circle is, after all.)

Brought more desperately needed pencils and other supplies for homeschooling today, they just go through them so fast, we have to lock em out! Therefore it's not there when needed and I have to go and hide from the world for a LONG time, so I don't get too angry and frustrated and say something I don't want to say because I am so ticked. So, it will be carefully monitered from now on, these supplies I have now (and then we will gradually reintroduce the idea that if they look after said supplies they will be on demand again.

Also got the "View From My House" Pic printed up at HN today. Wide print and all.

Well, that's all from me today. Nighty, Night, Q.

Garden of Earthly Delights...er, I wish, part 4

So, here we have our garden in foam boxes at the moment, there are spring onions, salad mustard, rocket and herbs:





Above is a little herb garden meant for the paludarium! Basil, thyme and coriander.