back to school!

we took advantage of these last few days of fabulous sunshine to explore one of our favorite classrooms before winter strikes and we can only trek there occasionally… and wearing snug boots! we stopped at hannaford to pack a lunch first. casi thought the blue mussel shells that lay empty across the sand after being pillaged by seagulls were “sad” so he took to burying them in graves and erecting headstones. at one point he transformed into a sea rhino. “sculpture class” yielded a delightful pirate ship. we were surrounded by seagulls the whole time, including quite a few females. (her call was so mournful but strong.) the next day’s sculpture looked a lot like a yule tree to me but he just fell asleep on my couch so i’ll have to confirm that later [he confirmed "it's just a little building"]. on the way out the path exploded with color, signaling the end of a busy educational session. can’t wait for more… it’s going to be a long year of learning!

shroomy evening

after picking up our veggies on tuesday, i wanted to spend some more time outside (before winter hits… in october). casi suggested a hike but i don’t know of any non-atv trails near alfred. we ended up driving to newfield and chilled out at the public beach on silver lake (aka poverty pond). i hadn’t been out there since my mother sold her house and cas didn’t really remember it at all. still, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of pb&js and soymilk, then took a little stroll on the woodsy paths. i have no idea what species either of these are but we both agreed they were highly attractive.

in other scholastic-type news, i listened intently today as yet another friend complained about the lack of alternative educational choices for young children. i’m thinking more and more about making good on my promise (to a different friend) to open a little sudbury-type spot in the greater portland area where our kids, of all ages, can play (aka learn) to their hearts’ content. i know heather’s out there for when i get to the grantwriting stage but, for now, i’d just like everyone else to send some good vibes my way.

outside the box

i guess one could say we’ve been doing a social studies “unit” on government repression and the peace movement. it started with casi running around yelling “help! help! i’m being repressed”, then asking what it actually meant. since he loves the beatles, i used john as an example and explained to him the little i know about his situation. from there it made sense to download the documentary “the us versus john lennon” and find out more. he admirably made it through the first hour, then let me know it was “too boring” to finish. (i think he was also a bit put off by the fact that i’d start crying about every 10 minutes or so, once they started showing war footage. poor little guy.) we talked extensively, even pausing the movie a few times to dig deeper, but i didn’t realize how much it had touched him until i woke up this morning and he told me i should grow my hair until peace comes. now he’s been singing “revolution” all day long and talking about *peace* nonstop. when we were in the bedroom i asked if he’d like to make peace signs to hang over the bed like john and yoko did on their honeymoon. and so we did. it was his idea to hang some in the windows for neighbors to see and one in the car for fellow travelers. so we covered some major art, music, religion, and world history/sociology in one fell swoop… but the school year hasn’t even started yet!

my first post

nothin fancy. i just needed to change it from the “hello world!” dummy post established by wordpress. if you’ve bothered to read this, thanks. here’s your prize.