on choosing a Learning Consultant

I'm in the process of choosing my SelfDesign Learning Consultant for the next school year. Or actually, I've chosen 4 Learning Consultants, and I am now in the process of waiting to see who chooses me.

The school recommends meeting your Learning Consultant as early in the school year as your schedules permit, stating this "provides an excellent context" for the learning plan. SelfDesign also states this creates an excellent context to "build a relationship." It's not stated with who the Learning Consultant will build a relationship, either with my kids, or with me. In my public school experience, the relationship is student to teacher and as the parent, I've felt left out, separate from that relationship. But in a digital reporting medium, is the relationship really going to be parent to teacher?

I wonder who will pick us?

I love my garden :)

So it seems I've given up on my gardening blog :S
We've recently had a "heat wave" which, in the Pacific Northwest, means about 2 days of temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius. Those days were Tuesday and Wednesday, and in those two days, our corn plants doubled  in size (Seriously. It could have been more than double!). Everything else is exploding, too. The squash, peppers and tomatoes love it in particular. It's so great, because just the week before it was still cold. Finally, my peas are producing! I started them in April!
Of course, now that the heat is finally here, the lettuce is starting to bolt. So we have blessed a lot of people with fresh garden lettuce. It feels nice to be able to be generous - a student's income doesn't allow for that a lot :)

campout in the yard!

We are moving soon, so I have been packing and sorting and tidying. Well, I've been doing a bit of sorting and tidying... and today my boys and I packed two whole boxes! Box number one was this past year's leftover school supplies, as well as notebooks and scrapbooks of work. Box number two was books the boys read only seldomly, chosen by them.

I also decided to tackle the downstairs closet, which holds our seasonal storage: Christmas decorations and wrappings, sports gear and camping supplies. We pulled out both of the tents and chose to set up the smaller, "2 man" tent. It fits two 7 year old boys and several mounds of blankets and pillows quite nicely, and it has a door on each side, nicely taking advantage of the breeze.

The weather has been hot and muggy lately, which is typical summer, I know, but quite rare for the Pacific Northwest. So the boys have decided to take advantage of the heat and sleep outside!

I, however, will sleep inside, on my nice, new King-sized pillow-top mattress. This bed is my therapy. I'm not kidding! We've had it for a year (already?!) and every night, I lay flat on my stomach and stretch my hips. It's delightful.

Besides, we're all going camping next weekend, me and the boys to my family's annual All-Girls' Camp-out, and hubby off with his high school buddies. I'll get lots of sleeping on the ground in that weekend, thank you very much!

My first unschooling moment has arrived

Just 10 minutes ago, after a marathon Nintendo session consisting of one Wii console, two DS Lites, and 5 1/2 days of non-stop playing, the boys dressed themselves (one in regular clothing, the other in last Halloween's Yoshi costume), picked up their plastic light sabers, and WENT OUTSIDE. I had nothing to do with it, swear to G-d. They are now back inside, playing Nintendo again, but it HAPPENED!

Action on Poverty in Canada: Write your Elected Official

So I'm starting another new blog :)
It is currently titled Write your Elected Official and it is my term project for my Advocacy Writing course.

The goal is to make it easy for people like me to take action on subjects near and dear to their social justice bleeding hearts. The way I see it, easing the pathway to political action will leave people feeling involved and good about themselves. I am quite aware that my recent swoop towards the depths of depression was partially brought about by overwhelm at situational problems, but more significantly, was triggered by over-exposure to social injustice on several fronts - local and global, affecting children, women, and traditionally marginalized groups such as people with disabilities and different sexualities and racialized others.

What has brought me from the brink, and is getting me through, is taking each day as it comes, focusing on maintaining hope and optimism, and focusing on campaigns which leave me feeling empowered. Thus, I plan to avoid issues such as violence against women and prostitution/sex workers legal/constitutional rights. These issues leave me feeling vulnerable and exposed, and unable to articulate or argue my point of view. I plan to stick with universal, individual rights we have as Canadian citizens. I intend to start with poverty reduction.

Writing letter templates on social justice issues will be a challenge for me as an academic writer. The object is to keep the message simple, clear, concise. No big words. Describe all terms that may be construed as jargon repeatedly. Make a request, suggest a pathway to action, to policy change. Couch it in terms of mutual benefits - how will those currently opposed see potential change as a benefit to themselves as well as to people living in poverty?

I'd like to write about 5 or 6 templates to start, over the next two weeks. The project is due at the end of the month, and it'd be nice to have 8 to 10 done by then. They'll only be a page long each :)