Not your school? Well good!

A prediction from the year 1900 about education in the year 2000 --


“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much”
-- Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

Official SAT question of the day

I receive an official SAT question of the day in my inbox.
Look what shows up on SAT prep questions. Eduardo Galeano. But they forgot about the meaning.

The answer: The reader must provide the connections that bind the independent parts together. I'll say! But after a lifetime of tests and de-emphasis of connection how can she? Aren't we always making connections? Textbooks insist on a particular path of connections.


From SAT question of the day, May 19:
Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.


Eduardo Galeano’s novel consists of discrete vignettes, so the reader must supply the invisible ------- binding such apparently ------- parts.


A. emotions . . impersonal
B. interpretations . . somber
C. descriptions . . related
D. connections . . independent
E. categories . . cohesive

Bees, Calf, Fish - What's not to learn?

Color Science

Turned out this Easter our amazing friend Peggy was experimenting with natural dyes for coloring eggs, just like Savilia. They'd both picked up a little recipe at the natural food store and had set to work.

More on color upcoming.

Can you see the names in this photos?
Yellow onion skin
Red cabbage
Turmeric
Instant coffee
Beets
Beets overnight
Beets 30 minutes
Beets over cabbage
Bilberry

Notice of Getting Started on Homeschool Information Night in Sonoma County

From Sonoma County Homeschool Association:

We will be holding a homeschool information night on Wednesday, May 26th, at the Rohnert Park Library, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This is a great chance to learn something new, and for people considering homeschooling to learn the ins and outs, from legal stuff to day-to-day learning/teaching styles. More info on their website: http://www.schaweb.org

Research Paper Assignment

Language Arts class - Research paper for ten year old who has never done one. Yes, we all have to learn to do research papers. So start now. S has a good teacher, a very good teacher.

Where does a research paper begin? I asked. Research what? Why research?

Because you want to know. The fundamental and often missing ingredient - curiosity. The desire to know; how deep that desire? and what kind of knowing?

"I'm thinking about researching chocolate." Yum!

What's your question?

"Okay, maybe something about cakes."

What makes a cake rise? Leads to physical, chemical, biological leaveners. Leads to homesteading. Leads to Leviticus. Leads to sourdough pancakes and meringues.

Everyday Life of a Potato

This is a chapter in Ray Raphael's Everyday History of Somewhere. The possibilities are endless. Write an everyday history of something in your days. Just a page or two.