He tended to win a lot of Karate competitions :-)

It may very well have been another martial art that he practiced - or he may just have enjoyed waving swords around.

Was he also a Topiary fan?

Did he idolise Edward Scissorhands?



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Those who forget the pasta are doomed to reheat it.

Hmmmm I thought that his haircut reminded me of someone...

Alison -

Thanks. I shall look into. I think the Yorkshire one is actually in Sheffield. My daughter is an intelligent child who has gone further and further back, which could be for a variety of reasons, but I am not satisfied. Perhaps at nine she would not be catered for?

Have you ever heard of the 'ACE' system of home education? Some friends looked into it and asked for my recommend on the Science stuff. I couldn't put it down.

Their eldest was going to a school where they decided to have a year off from Maths and just sit around instead (or was it English?). So they first tried the independant non-fee (but many jumble sales) school that my nephew had sought out. After a year of that, which was good for the character but deficient in the teaching stakes, they went on to ACE. The result was three children becoming brothers and sisters again, real progress on Maths and English that had not been taking place at school, and the usual business of being two years ahead of the state system (which seems universal for home schooling). The youngest didn't do as well, but no one has ever been able to motivate him. He needs a world to conquer - his uncle was exactly the same. I think Montessori would have been ideal for him from what you had to say.

ACE has one major flaw. It may sound odd for a believer, but they teach Christianity. Do it at home and all should be well as they restrict themselves to the Bible, but even my zealously evangelical friends had problems with the unusual form of Stalinism being practised at headquarters (funnily enough in Swindon) which bothered me immensely.

Alison, thanks again. Book found at Amazon and ordered. Lol.

Does sound. Can be the trouble with unusual philosophies/theories of education - they can attract people who just go over the top. Stalinistic Christians? Weird mix.

Think your daughter would be catered for there actually - they go to 11 at the school I'm thinking of, and it may actually be up to 18. I'll see if I can find the name. I've got a video of Elementary Montessori (it's about an American school but it shows you roughly what they do & why & how they work) you're welcome to it if it'll help - e-mail me your address and I'll send it.

It's fee paying though - Montessori was only government-funded during the war, oddly enough, then they decided the schools were a luxury! Why? No idea.

Montessori Science is pretty good too actually. I'm not a scientist so I'm not really qualified to judge, but the materials I've seen are logical, clear, very simple, and would have taught me in 90 seconds flat. Maths materials too - they're a dream for the numerically-challenged like me. Grammar materials I want to play with, so no wonder the kids enjoy it! It's pretty sophisticated stuff. Sounds as if I'm advertising them - I'm not proselytising (can't spell it!) but I do think it's worth a look.

My first-hand knowledge only goes up to 11 though, but I'd be surprised if the later stuff wasn't as good. If you're interested though I'd go and see the school by yourself first, and then, if you like it, take Jessica and see what she thinks. You can usually tell if it'll suit you, judging by the children who used to come to our school and go, "Yes, I want to come here," or "Muuuum!" and leg it... the ones who wanted to come were the most successful. Logical, I guess.



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If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

I'm not proselytising (can't spell it!)

Oh yes you can, Alison.



Jesus saves; Buddha does incremental backup.

Thanks Guy, things are looking up!



_ _ _ _ _

If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

E-mails and departs for bed. Thanks. Yep, you spelt it right.

BigJohn _
Back to the subject of teachers at Lancing: Have you tried getting your father to read Fforde's books yet?

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Warning! Product may contain Newts!

Simon - ooh, er, um. Hasn't really occurred to me - he tends to stick to non-fiction and "old style" science fiction. He might enjoy them, though, if I play up the 'Hitchhiker's Guide'-esque elements. Then again, there's a chance he'll have caught Philip Dale reading them in the common room. (There's a chance he'll have to borrow them from Philip Dale, too, 'cos my copies are staying in Exeter this weekend, and I doubt I'd be able to pass them on to him for a while after that.) We shall see.



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"Whisky-wa-wa," I breathed - she was dressed as Biffo the Bear.

Philip Dale borrowed my copies, I don't know whether he's bought ones for himself yet... and anyway as it's now the middle of the Summer holidays they presumably won't be in the common room again until the last week of August.

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Warning! Product may contain Newts!



Post Edited (07-25-03 19:12)