February & March 2017 Monthly Moments

Obviously I am stunningly biased against schooling (in the favour of home educating) for this very reason but this is always great to see it being said again in slightly different words by someone new. In the age of robots, schools are teaching our children to be redundant by George Monbiot.

And here's another one The Secret of Happy Children - Get rid of teachers and ban homework. Again interesting ideas about why schooling is making children tired and things could be improved for everyone pretty easily.

Similar things have been said by Ken Robinson (some of them over TEN years ago) in his fabulous TED talks - Do schools kill creativity?, Bring on the Learning Revolution and my personal favourite RSA Animate video Changing education paradigms which everyone should watch for the fantastic animation alone!!



Interesting article about raising "good" kids which once you get over the "good" in the title is really worth reading.

And now onto something completely different for those crafty people out there:

I am trying to knit my first pair of socks with proper sock yarn at present and this wonderful page has demystified all the weird 'turn heel', 'heel flap', etc. stuff which is great. Then I am using this pattern and there is a whole tutorial which goes with it which is also fantastic!! I love the internet!!

Also here is a great reminder about how social media is taking over with a great Lion King parody by Dustin and Genevieve.




Recently I have found myself getting fed up with Facebook as there seems to be a lot of advertising courses but also because I can not keep up with the number of people posting. There is also the studies now that are showing that social media is now increasing loneliness and envy and reading the article in The Telegraph resonated with me. One of my resolutions for this year was to try and see the people I love face to face and really connect. I know that isn't easy to do but so far it is going quite well and I am enjoying the more intimate connection I get from that.

Monthly Moments resurrected

I loved doing my monthly moments blog posts back in 2013 and so to try and get me at least writing 12 blog posts a year I am going to try and resurrect them this year.

Where are all the female superheroes? Great TED talk. Let's bring up females who are powerful, brave and own our power.




Geoff Lawton free permaculture resources

Really interesting article about a woman wearing men's clothes for a month

Crochet boots using flipflops

How to activate your diaphragm for correct breathing with a great video showing how to breathe correctly.

A great way of explaining the autism spectrum in comic format.

Fab advert by Denmark about not putting people in boxes. Well worth a watch

January Juicy Jewels

Let's start with a wonderful example of how we are so down on ourselves about our appearance and not being good enough - watch here.  Notice how the women describe themselves in negative terms but describe others in positive terms.

Fantastic beach art - view here.

Watch a free diver spend four minutes holding his breath and diving into an abyss.

Watch the Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy's film Enough is Enough here.  It is the based on the book 'Enough is Enough' by Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill.  It is a book about the need for a new kind of economy.  Due to the overuse of the earth's finite resources and excessive consumption failing to improve our lives Dietz and O'Neill give us a realistic alternative to the perpetual pursuit of economic growth. "They explore specific strategies to conserve natural resources, stabilize population, reduce inequality, fix the financial system, create jobs, and more – all with the aim of maximizing long-term well-being instead of short-term profits."

Silliness that resulted in 3 men being charged with removing food due for landfill from an Iceland skip.  Read here.  Luckily after much petition signing the case was dropped by the CPS.

Ashton Kutcher's Teen Choice Awards sppech - watch here or read the good bits here -
"I wanted to share [some] things [which] I think helped me be here today. So, it’s really 3 things. The first thing is about opportunity. The second thing is about being sexy. And the third thing is about living life.

So first opportunity. I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work. When I was 13 I had my first job with my Dad carrying shingles up to the roof, and then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant, and then I got a job in a grocery store deli, and then I got a job in a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground. And I’ve never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job, and every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.

Number two. Being sexy. The sexiest thing in the entire world, is being really smart. And being thoughtful. And being generous. Everything else is crap, I promise you. It’s just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less, so don’t buy it. Be smart, be thoughtful, and be generous.

The third thing is something that I just re-learned when I was making this movie about Steve Jobs. And Steve Jobs said when you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way that it is, and that your life is to live your life inside the world and try not to get in too much trouble, and maybe get an education and get a job and make some money and have a family.

But life can be a lot broader than that when you realize one simple thing, and that is that everything around us that we call life was made up by people who are no smarter than you, and you can build your own things, you can build your own life that other people can live in. So build a life. Don’t live one, build one. Find your opportunities, and always be sexy."

Scary music video where a woman gets photo-shopped throughout the video.  Watch here.

An interesting article about why phonics don't work - read here.

Five foods that are costing the earth - read here but if you don't want to, they are bluefin tuna (bluefin populations don't stand up to heavy fishing pressure), conventional coffee (substantial use of herbicides, pesticides, etc.), factory-farmed beef (replacing tropical forest for corn and soy to feed the cows), genetically modified corn (violates many sustainable boundaries) and palm oil (rainforest destruction).

Great fake underground signs - see here.

Fantastic artist - she does charcoal with her whole body - see here - it's amazing.

Fab acrobatic gymnastic routine - see here.

Look at the state of the world through pictures of where different children around the world sleep.

Mapping emotions of the body - see here - happiness and love look pretty good.

"He doesn't wear shoes, doesn't wear shoes and brushes his teeth with a pine cone" - read about Mike Dodge who lives in a rainforest here.

November's Novel Nuances

Watch this optical illusionary video here

I was part of a The Future of Libraries day here in York - watch the video here and see if you can spot me in a few places!!!  Read more about the day here and it looks like York libraries have an exciting future ahead.

Absolutely brilliant video by a veteran about who the real enemy is and it isn't Iraqis.  Watch here

A beautiful video here of how we can affect people - watch Whoopi Goldberg get thanked for her role in Star Trek here

Brilliant satirical write up of the British weather over winter here

Speech by Matt Damon about the state of America.  Impressive stuff here

Brilliant wind-powered creations here

Hear what crickets sound like slowed down here

October's Oscillating Observations

Watch here for fantastic practical examples of how to stay young, fit and mentally agile.  Stephen Jepson is a great example of a guy who likes playing and is enjoying life and "never leaves the playground".

How about a piano playing elephant here

Great rap about money and politics but a fab young man here

Fantastic porject helping Africa get its green land back by simply digging ditches - watch here

Radical teaching discoveries - read about it here and then watch the "Hole in the Wall" guy talk about the future of teaching via this TED talk here

Absolutely brilliant comic about finding the life you want (Bill Watterson) - see here

How about the idea that there is a prejudice against stay-at-home-mums which should be taken seriously.  Read more here

Great poem about perceptions of women getting older versus men - listen here

Great story about how being nice and helpful actually makes a difference - watch here

Watch a fantastic video here showing an amazing ant colony

Powerful video about rape "7 cowardly words on a bus" - watch with caution here

Another example of how the images that we see daily of "beautiful" women are not real - watch here

Fantastic video about teaching children pointless things.  David Allen at his best - watch here

Let's be the best we can.  This guy (Shane Koyczan) is awesome and the violin (Hannah Epperson) just adds more - watch here

September's Sparkling Cintillations

A great diagrammatical depiction of time here

A brilliantly argued reason as to why no-one should have a mobile phone here

A great article about children needing to play to learn and that school is not the correct place to do that sort of learning - read here

Interesting article about research into children starting school too early - been totally ignored by the Government - no surprise.  Read more here

Now that schools are back and there is talk of the getting rid of long summer holidays here is an interesting take on why that would be a bad idea.  Read here

August's Awesome Augementations

A bit late but that is the way it rolls in Viv's blog land!!!

A great reminder on our mortality and how we can help others with theirs whilst acknowledging our own - read here

Finnish schools are where we should be looking for how to reform our school systems.  Reckon Mr Gove won't pay attention to this either though.  Read about it here.  More interesting stuff about Finland's education system here.

Great article here about finding peace by embracing flaws and releasing judgement

Fab list of edible plants here

Busyness is laziness article here

Breast feeding just is - it's nothing special, every woman can do it and should have the right to do it wherever they want - but for some reason this is still happening which is weird when you read this.

Stephen Fry's plea to not have the Winter Olympics in Russia here and another article here

George Saunder's Advice to Graduates - well worth a read

Some great cheap recipes here

Great read here about loving your body and particularly your butt

July's Gigantic Gems

Great quote to start this month.  The Dalai Lama says "Everyone wants a happy life without difficulties or suffering. We create many of the problems we face. No one intentionally creates problems, but we tend to be slaves to powerful emotions like anger, hatred and attachment that are based on misconceived projections about people and things. We need to find ways of reducing these emotions by eliminating the ignorance that underlies them and applying opposing forces."

Brilliant top with dance moves depicting maths graphs here

Blog post about the errosion of children's freedom here

Dustin Hoffman realises that he has been brainwashed about women and beauty here - talking about being a woman in the film Tootsie.

Fab article about accepting our bodies for being our fantastic, fab bodies here

Funny moment in Canadian Parliament where they talk about Zombie invasion here

More serious politics.  Just watch this amazing 12 year old talk politics here

Easy removal of splinters here using epsom salts

Brilliant logo fails here

Why banning pornography is the start of a slippery slope - read here

Sexism is still rife in the world.  Let's make sure we band together to help anyone who needs it.  Watch this TED talk to see how one women fared.

A great advert about connection and how we are losing out.  Watch here

June's Juicy Jems

A wonderful start to the month is this fantastic TEDx moment from Jo Berry called Disarming with Empathy about how she became friends with the IRA bomber who killed her dad in the 1984 Brighton bombing.  Watch it here.  After the horrific killing of Lee Rigby, Jo's talk and the words written by Russell Brand here are really worth remembering.  Compassion rather than violence.

A great poem here about immigration

Show everyone you know how they photo-shop celebs so they are thinner, bigger boobed and don't have wrinkles.  Before and after photos here

What about a video showing how people react to different people trying to nick a bike.  Think you will be shocked by the difference due to colour of skin?  Wait until you see how they react to a woman.  Watch here

Saving energy using behavioural science?  Watch this TED talk

I agree with this one.  Our educational milestones in this country are just as wonky too!!

I do not agree that watercress soup is horrible but this article about chocolate is so worth reading.  Just gloss over the slagging off of watercress soup and read here.

To go along with the blog I did on "being wrong" here - how about reading this one about blame here - blaming (even if we have the right to blame someone) keeps us stuck, gives power to someone else and makes us negative, a victim and small.

Dance walking video here.  If you get bored with the talking still make sure you watch to the near the end.

Great story about a young boy trying to help others with great music too here

Slightly scary piece about revealing too much info on the internet here

Brill quote/story of the month - "At the end of the talk someone from the audience asked the Dalai Lama, "Why didn't you fight back against the Chinese?" The Dalai Lama looked down, swung his feet

just a bit, then looked back up at us and said with a gentle smile, "Well, war is obsolete, you know " Then, after a few moments, his face grave, he said, "Of course the mind can rationalize fighting back...but the heart, the heart would never understand. Then you would be divided in yourself, the heart and the mind, and the war would be inside you." "

Cool bike riding film by Danny MacAskill here.  Watch the end as that is where the outtakes are!!

Read the lovely words on this blog here - just being in the moment is one of the reasons I home educate because then you can always be in the moment and so can your kids.

Contrast that with this article here how women are still being objectified.  So sad.

An article about teaching mathematics differently here.

Nine points of entrepreneurial success here

Sir Ken Robinson on discovering your passions here.

Interesting article about letting women stay at home with their kids here

Why depressed people lie in bed - an explanation here

Ever used emotional freedom technique (EFT) for anything?  Google it and you will find loads of info.  Here is the main website about it and if it floats your boat then look here for a script to create abundance.

Fab TED talk by a doctor who is wondering why people get diabetes.  A great guy who admits that maybe he got it wrong here

And last but not least another great quote of the month "Surely if West Side Story has taught us anything it's that the extremist Muslims and the English Defence League should settle their differences through interpretive dance and well orchestrated, strongly vocalised musical numbers?"  I know this was meant as a joke but wouldn't it be great if people could overcome their differences by using art, song, dance or some other way?

May's Marvellous Quotes, Videos and Stuff

James Rhodes: "Find what you love and let it kill you!!" - interesting take on passion, creativity and what makes us feel alive -strangely enough.

Freedom is freedom to quit - and everyone should have a right to quit.

Guardian Article - Leave Them Kids Alone - our kids need autonomy and freedom.

Why I take my kids running

99 brill ideas to make life easier

A different view on conflict - "Conflict offers an opportunity to learn and grow...It also enables us to understand how our thinking shapes our reality and affects us physcially, emotionally and spirituality. "

A Dad's letter to little girl (about her future husband) - "Little One, your only task is to know deeply in your soul - in that unshakable place that isn't rattled by rejection and loss and ego - that you are worthy of interest.  (If you can remember that everyone else is worthy of interest also, the battle of your life will be mostly won.  But that is a letter for another day.)"

Fab granny square slippers. I am so going to make some of these!!!

Square and stripes slippers - crochet style

Fantastic "We're all going on a Gove hunt" in the style of "We're all going on a bear hunt" - read it here

How to wrap things and make bags the Furoshiki way shown here

I love Russell Brand.  Another great post about the killing in Woolwich.  Read here.  "We need now to move closer to one another, to understand one another.  If we can take anything heartening from this dreadful attack it is of course the actions of three women [who] looked beyond the fear and chaos and desperation and attuned to a higher code.  One of virtue, integrity and strength....To truly demonstrate defiance in the face of this sad violence, we must be loving and compassionate to one another."

Building resilience in young children - an interesting blog post about letting children have a go themselves.

If you want a laugh - click here - how to sound way more arty than you are (or is that just me?)

Lovely article about a Doctor who uses great techniques to help children deal with pain (or not even notice it) - well worth reading and watching here

April's awesome quotes and videos

“It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.” ― L.R. Knost, Two Thousand Kisses a Day: Gentle Parenting Through the Ages and Stages

"Childhood is not a race to see who can read, write and count.  Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at a pace that's right for each individual child"

I will not let exam results decide my fate - YouTube video - well worth a watch - Suli Break's views on school and exams - "why is a classroom of individuals tested by the same means?"

13 year old lad talking about "hackschooling" on TED - watch here

The art of asking - a brilliant TED talk by musician/artist Amanda Palmer about connecting with people

Let's just let our children live - fab post here 

Stop Stealing Dreams - Seth Godin talking about a new education system.

How Story telling can transform education - some interesting ideas and for a change not Ken Robinson

Ethiopian kids hack OLPCs in 5 months with zero instruction - hehe snigger!!

March's mad stuff

Couldn't miss up the chance to show everyone the marvellous Brene Brown talking about shame on Oprah.  Brene Brown states that those who hand over the education of their children to others need to remember that "you are not the only ones raising your kids" and she points out that there are serious concerns with the way that children are dealt with especially in the USA.  Hopefully in this country things are not as bad as Brene sates in this video but it is definitely worth heeding what she says about shame and how it affects our children and indeed affected us when we were children.  Here are some of the other excellent things Brene talks about shame or vulnerability.

I love this story as well - the idea that all the things we see are indeed affected by the preconceptions and opinions with which we view what we are seeing.

And lets finish with the wonderful Five lessons in life from Dr Seuss
1. Today you are You, that is truer then true. There is no one alive who is Youer then You.
2. Why fit in when you were born to stand out
3. You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
4. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
5. Today I shall behave as if this is the day I will be remembered.

Let's finish with a great example from Einstein here.  I love this picture but I also really like some of the comments that people have added underneath such as:
"If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."  Albert Einstein
"If you judge a monkey by its ability to beat a seal, it will live its entire life believing seals are the enemy"
"In our system the bird would be penalised because he an get to the top without climbing and it would make the monkey feel bad"