Archive for the 'Education' Category

Grumpy & Condescending at the Legion of Honor

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

This April has not been a good month for me, but I’m trying to make it work. In particular, field trips and parties make for nice diversions, and this month alone (among other fun adventures) we had a wonderful visit to the Exploratorium; found a lone banana slug in the remote Portola Redwoods; and had [...]

Get Off the Couch Day!

Monday, April 20th, 2009

At the Indian Health Center, I learned that on April 18th, a local Barnes & Noble was going to be hosting a four hour activity/storytime/music extravaganza. So, naturally, Kelly and I were going to be there!
I made sure to get there early, because I expected it would only get more crowded over time. Outside the [...]

The Santa Clara Valley Rock, Gem, and Mineral Show

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

The Santa Clara Valley Gem and Mineral Society (essentially a geologist and rock hunter club) had a brilliant idea to improve attendance and interest in its annual show: they recruited the youth leaders amongst themselves so that Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Cub Scouts could earn badges learning more about geology while at the show.
Neil’s [...]

In Search of the Elusive Banana Slug

Monday, April 6th, 2009

A few weeks ago, we went for a homeschoolers’ hike at Villa Montalvo, and to our surprise, we found a banana slug on the way, which delighted the children, particularly the younger ones. So this weekend, I thought I’d take Neil and Kelly out to someplace with loads of banana slugs to look at and [...]

Farce Completed

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Today I was in a black mood again, because it was time to get Kelly’s TB test read, and then return to grovel at the school district enrollment office. I figured if I did everything the very first thing in the morning, I might have a chance for making up for it with a better [...]

In Line for More Humiliation

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

It is 5:30 a.m. and Peter is standing in line at the San Jose Unified enrollment center (which won’t open until 8 am) hoping that this year Kelly can go to a school without morons, sociopaths, and parents who show up with their children, like, whenever.
Although Peter is doing the work on this, I have [...]

California School Science: Death to All Guppies

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

My children and I blazed through earth science, and we’re on to biology. It’s one subject, at least in its “lab” component that works well for both Neil and Kelly. Kelly marvels and observes while Neil extracts scientific principles from the experiment. A few weeks ago, I got some worms for a few experiments. Our [...]

Anxiety Week

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

I’ve been doing very light blogging, because I’ve been putting all my writing efforts into this current gig I have that pays me for doing writing, which I love. But I still love blogging, so you can still expect to see the rare, in-between entry.
This last week has been one of great anxiety.
Charybdis and Scylla [...]

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

I have to say this year has been exciting, and at times spectacular for me. In February, I got to revisit Germany for the first time in many, many years. I had a great time, but I missed my family much more than I expected to. And one lasting part of the experience is that [...]

Our 2008 Christmas Treasure Hunt

Monday, December 29th, 2008

It’s become our family tradition to hide each others’ gifts and set up clues in order to find them. This year it was my turn to hide Peter’s presents. I tried hard to keep it easy, but not too easy. When the clues are too hard to figure out, it frankly gets frustrating for everyone. [...]

by Carolyn Bickford