Read Paula’s thoughts and links post about the Buddhist talk she attended on the conducive conditions for developing concentration, considered crucial to the development of understanding and wisdom. Wonderful how home ed provides these conditions.
Then Cherryann sent me a quote from New Horizons for Learning: “The brain is truly a phenomenal structure, and keeping it healthy for our entire existence on this earth is a goal we can and should all aspire to. I am going to touch upon just five basic factors. And you are going to say there’s nothing new about them. Perhaps so, but we now have important scientific validation we did not always have.*Number one, and in my mind the most important, is DIET. What we feed this brain is a significant factor in its well-being.
*Two, is daily EXERCISE, and that applies to the brain as well as the body. Exercising the total body serves to maintain a healthy brain.
*Three, we must CHALLENGE the brain. It gets bored; we know that well.
*Four, we need NEWNESS, new pursuits, new ideas, new activities in our life.
*And five, last but definitely not least, we must nurture ourselves and each other: call it sharing basic HUMAN LOVE.”
We reached a decision about what to read together and Sunday evening saw us starting on Wuthering Heights. Started reading the introduction about Emily Bronte and the uniqueness of the book in English fiction but then it got all too plot revealing. Will go back to it after. The same goes for the rather wonderful pages on wikipedia and the like… also have high hopes for the Ralph Fiennes film being a good follow up. Were well ensconsed in the book now. Charlotte especially loves this reading together we do and is constantly asking to get back to it and read some more. I too love this way of learning. Well written novels throw up so many new words and phrases, symbolism, situations, relationships (what word describes Heathcliff’s family set up at the start – dysfunctional, completely and utterly!) etc. to discuss. I am impressed with the understanding the children have – it has really developed since leaving school. Do you understand this bit? type questions are answered in detail and the affirmative far more often now. For a bit of related fun weve looked at a couple of versions of the song on youtube – how dated does that look? (still love it though) Went and printed out the lyrics too as the sound quality is not just spot on.
Sky Learning - if you have Sky, this lists upcoming educational programmes by subject. The BBC does a similar thing here with their schools programmes (thank you again Cherryann!).
Right, it’s an early lunch today, then the piano tuner is coming – should be interesting - and then were headed for the library 
The Artists Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self - an intensely powerful and synchronistic way of clearing blocks, old psychological patterns and dysfunctions of the past. Get doing your morning pages, they're amazing!
fabulous guide to foraging in Britain.
amazing Russian books these: spirituality; growing; living naturally; raising children with love and respect; quite magical. Release any preconceived ideas of how life should be (or books) and create your space of love!
A very well researched novel which, alongside Picoult's usual 'heading to a trial' plot, explores many facets of and perspectives on Asperger's Syndrome. The potential and common effects of AS on siblings is especially well documented here. As gripping and informative a book as 
a great storehouse of food growing knowledge from Dirty Nails :)
"Girls just wanna have... wanna have fun...", and we still are :)
