Twelve

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHI!

YES or NO...it really is that simple...

Do you think that YOU should be presumed guilty when there is no evidence or suspicion that you are anything but innocent?
Do you think that the government should divert existing resources away from children who are KNOWN to be at risk, to areas where there are no causes for concern?
Do you think that the government is in a better position than YOU to assess YOUR childs needs?
Do you think YOU should be assumed to be failing your child unless you sign a contract with the government even though there is no evidence or suspicion of failure?
Do you think that YOU should have to sign a contract with the government and fill out a yearly plan of how you are going to serve your childs needs and face legal action if your plans change, even if those changes are positive ones?
Do you think that YOU should have a CRB check in order to be allowed to look after YOUR OWN children, or your families or friends children?
Do you think that a government representative should be allowed to interview YOUR child alone, without you or another trusted adult present, if there is no evidence or even suspicion, of abuse or mistreatment?
Do you think that a government representative should be allowed to enter your home without your consent without there being any evidence of a crime?

If you answered 'NO' to these questions and haven't signed this petition yet - Why not?
I WILL keep harping on about this until people start paying attention, or until it is sadly too late :{

Review: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

This is Chi's review of Oliver Twist...

Blurb: Oliver is an orphan in a workhouse. His ordeals begin when Oliver draws the short straw and is forced to ask for more,

"Please, sir, I want some more."

That sentence leads to Oliver being in a gang of thieves, looking for his family and facing jail!...

Comments: I gave Oliver twist ten out of ten, and it's now one of my favourite books, and I hope that other people reading this book will like it as much as I did. One of my favourite characters from the book is the Artful Dodger, and my least favourite is Bill Sikes.

My favourite film of Oliver Twist is the musical version, and my favourite character in that is Fagin.

...and my take on it...

I'm really glad Chi enjoyed it as much as he did, almost makes it worth spending months reading it! I did enjoy it too, but it is, as most Dickens' are, very long - if anyone ever perfected the art of using twenty words where two would do, it was him.

If you think you know the story of Oliver Twist from all the film versions of it you've seen, think again! I was really surprised at how different it was. There are (important) characters in this book that I had never even heard of, and some of the characters I thought I knew, are painted quite differently in the original.

The version of the book that we read was the Puffin Classics with an introduction by Garth Nix (which Chi liked), but it also has a really useful bit at the back with information about Dickens and Victorian London, and discussion prompts and ideas for further things to do.

We also watched some of the film versions of this, including the musical several times! Neither of us particularly rated the Disney version of it - with Richard Dreyfuss and Elijah Wood - so much had been cut out of it and unecessary changes made to the story that we really didn't enjoy it. I think the most accurate version is probably the Roman Polanski one, we saw that a couple of years ago and both really liked it, but realise now, that even that is a somewhat pale imitation of the original.

*We borrowed the DK Eyewitness Classics Oliver Twist from the library aswell. In the past, I have been quite impressed with these, they basically claim to give you 'The classic story, plus fascinating background facts and photographs'. I had assumed that that would be the classic story from the book, so was a bit confused to read part of the 'classic story' there, that isn't actually in the book! I'm thinking I may have to write and growl at them. Still some good information in it though.

e-petition - sign it if you like it..don't if you don't!

This is a link to an e-petition to Number 10. It is intended to run alongside the petition to parliament, not against it. If you agree with what it says, please sign it and spread the word about it :-)

Please sign our urgent petition

The government is trying to rush through a bill which will fundamentally change
the role of the state in family life. It is against Human rights laws and UK
laws, and will put a size 13 foot in the door to having compulsory CRB checks
and monitoring of parents. Please act now and tell others
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Home-ed-families/

Impact assessments, rocks and hard places and random apples...

I didn't know what an impact assessment was until yesterday. I naively thought it might have something to do with asssessing the impact a bill would have on the people it actually affected, but what I found when I located it, was yet another ill-conceived government document which basically says that it will be cost effective to harass and traumatise as many home-educated children and their families as possible. Full of you-couldn't-write-this-stuff-but-OMG-someone-did-and-thinks-they-did-a-good-job lines, such as...

"They (LAs) have no idea about the standard of education experienced by home educated children not known to them."

...followed a few paragraphs later by...

"LAs tell us that home educators who avoid interaction with the local authority tend to be providing inferior education."
 
...which might be laugh out loud funny, if the implecations weren't so damned serious. Well, that's what I made of it anyway. You can read it for yourself if you feel like adding a little extra stress into your lives (Home Education stuff starts on page 84)

As someone who grew up in Thatcher's Britain, I have spent all my voting years as a die-hard anti-tory, left of the centre, bordering on anarchy, kind of girl. I was in Scotland the day Labour won the general election, the day that the Conservatives won not a single seat there, and cheered along the rest of the country! And yet I am finding myself now applauding 'the enemy', thanking them for fighting our corner, and in a position where whichever way I choose to vote (or not vote) will be a way that sees them brought to power. And I find that I am not alone in this, look here and here and I'm sure I could find you more... this surely will be the true impact of this bill for government. And for anyone who knows me, who has been doubting the seriousness of this situation, standing on the sidelines, not getting involved - IT REALLY IS THAT BLOODY IMPORTANT! LOOK - I MAY EVEN CONSIDER VOTING CONSERVATIVE IF IT WILL PREVENT THIS BILL GETTING THROUGH!!! Are you getting it yet?

Enough stress, time for some apples...

..the one on the left is an average sized apple..

...the one on the right, obviously, is not!!

Cool huh :-) but you've got to wonder what they're putting in the water in Manchester!

Salutation to the dawn

Sometimes it's worth getting up early :)

Kalidasa (2500 BC Sanskrit)

Look to this day!

For it is life, the very life of life,

In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:

The bliss of growth,

The glory of action,

The splendour of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow only a vision,

But today well lived makes every yesterday

a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation to the dawn.

Business as Usual : It must be mid-November

It almost seems 'wrong' at the moment, to be blogging about anything other than the politics affecting Home Education in this country - internal and external - but perhaps showing what we are trying to protect, is just as important as the 'How's' and 'Why's' and 'Why nots'?....and I'm rubbish at that political stuff anyway!
So... It must be mid-November because we have gone well into 'making' mode...the window stars are breeding...

If we make enough of them, we might even be able to completely obscure that lovely view we have!!

...and today we made these... 

...and these! :)...