A winner!

E (age 12) won second place for her poem in Power of the Pen Creative Writing Awards- a competition for poetry and short fiction put our by the Hamilton Public library for youth ages 12 to 18yrs.

A Totally nameless Poem

Life is short and swift and brief

There and gone in the twinkling of an eye

It leaves us nothing but our grief

Twane as moonlight in a starfilled sky
Life is a maze, it twists and bends

A dream from which we must awake

Where death is but a quick dead end

An unknown road we all must take
Like the falling of a star

Like the setting of a shining sun

No matter who or what we are

Our death will take us when our day is done
Like the daylight of midwinter

Like a wave upon a sandy shore

Life is but the tiniest of shimmers

A flicker of a moment, nothing more

Elegant Science

The world is a weird and awesome place.

E and I went to the Perimeter Institute last week for a talk by world famous theoretical physicist and one of the best-known string theorists, Brian Greene. And some of the things he said about the way schools teach science resonated with me.

He told us that often when he is lecturing to 13 year olds they will come up after the talk and say, "Wow! Is this science?" Because the way science is usually taught is dry and boring. In fact, and I quote him here as he talks about what a student has learned by the time he or she finishes highschool physics for example,
"their studies will take them all the way up to the year................... 1688."

This means that all the new stuff that is being researched is not in the curriculum. He says the best way to deal with such an enormous failure to spark interest and curiosity in kids is to make sure that there be an ally track along with the regular physics (or math or chemistry) in school.

E was pleased with the talk which focused on his new book “Icarus at the Edge of Time”and even happier that he signed her copy of The Elegant Universe.

First Week in School- Ever

My two older girls (12 and 10) went to school this week for the first time ever.
Grade 8 and grade 6.

I still don't think of them as school kids though. To me they are unschooled kids going on an adventure into unknown territory. They are explorers, scientists, investigators and reporters-discovering what public school is all about first hand (the program they are in is supposed to be 'innovative':community and family centred, focused on scholastics, arts and global education.)

Already they are able to see how learning in school works- within a classroom context and the expectations therein- not necessarily the best or most interesting way to learn.
"My teacher is a bit boring." "Music lessons are completely pathetic. Really trivial." But also, they learn a bit of French and the math is interesting too. What is revealing to me is that although my kids have hardly ever done any structured 'sit down' math, they are following nicely
(although slower than the other kids). Again, the experiment is brand new.

They are learning a lot about school attitudes and behavior- for example, only one person can go to the washroom at a time since they don't want a mini party. And also since the school washroom was vandalized. Weird stuff.