friends, angels, spooky, roses…

Been a busy week. Charlotte’s friend Anna came to stay which was nice. Interesting how looking at things with someone else revives them or makes you realise things. Old games such as the Harry Potter trivia game (harder than you’d think, being based on the 1st book, not the film) have been rediscovered and new ones invented involving Artemis Fowl. After showing Anna round everywhere Charlotte said it had just hit her what a big garden we have. Nice appreciative times.

Been reading the new Diana Cooper, Angel Answers and really enjoying it. One of the questions in it is ‘What is the spiritual understanding of current education?’ and I’m quoting the answer here as it’s a different perspective on the issue and I found it most interesting:

*** Children learn best in quiet, relaxed, harmonious places with teachers who encourage, inspire and offer sensible discipline. Currently education is out of balance. Schools are too stressed, for they honour left-brain knowledge and learning while devaluing the right brain.

Left-brain learning is logical, linear, rational, scientific, mathematical, computer-oriented. It forces youngsters to take in other people’s ideas and regurgitate them, producing clones. Because of the emphasis on rules and orders, sensitive children feel stifled and often become depressed, rebellious or cruel.

The right brain is responsible for originality, creativity, imagination, rhythm, song, artistic ability, spiritual connection and an open heart. In societies with a focus on the development of the right brain, caring, empathy, trust, nurturing and inclusivity is encouraged and valued. This leads to relaxation, peace and contentment but sometimes lack of decision-making powers or financial acumen.

From a spiritual perspective, education systems need to adjust to include right-brain development. The rewards will be immense – interested, balanced youngsters with a sense of safety and belonging who express their creativity and originality and at the same time feel good about caring for others, especially the disadvantaged. ***

 (me again) Waldorf are certainly approaching this though they haven’t got the balance right yet I feel. Interesting to note the part about decision making and finances – certainly these are major issues for most Steiner schools. I don’t think the ‘college of teachers’ works terribly well – lots of problems with it anyway. Maybe balance in education can’t be acheived until bigger societal changes come about too. Kids home lives are even more important in the long run I believe.

So what else have we been doing? Had a day out in Aberdeen. Visited the Tolbooth museum, possibly the creepiest place I’ve ever been. As we entered, a small child was crying about ’seeing dead people’ which set the scene nicely for us. I hope the dead people were just the pretend prisoners but it felt so bad in there who knows? They’ve played on the dreadful atmosphere by keeping it all dark and scary. It was really interesting though – learned a lot of horrible things about crime and punishment from the past. No flash photography was allowed so photos are dark and scary too!

Went for lunch in a nice light restaurant:

From there we went on the light and airy art gallery and did a quiz thing they’ve got going just now. Was quite good – made us look in more detail at certain paintings. Good Japanese exhibition on there which inspired us to watch Howl’s Moving Castle again. There was some manga and anime in the exhibit. Then we visited Hazlehead park – Piper Alpha memorial below…

and some roses. It was in this rose garden that the decision to home ed was reached finally a couple of years ago… happy, happy (though actually at the time it felt scary, scary – how wrong we can be!)

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