I had to remind my girls several times this morning to get their chores done. They do tend to get distracted most mornings, and when they’ve scattered to the four corners of the house leaving the table littered with their breakfast dishes Mama is generally less than pleased with her young’uns.

When I called out to see where they’d gotten to, I was thinking of all the things that need to get done today . With their first drama class bright & early tomorrow morning, and Ju-Jutsu tomorrow night we’ve got extra laundry to wash, snacks to prepare, clothes to lay out, bus schedules to verify….

Playing hide and seek with the kids was not what I wanted to be doing, knowing just how busy the rest of this week is going to be.

When I called out I expected the girls would be messing about in the kitchen or their brother’s room, or in their own rooms hauling out every garment they own before they decide what to wear.

What a surprise I got, when they all came away from the television with their heads hung low.

All together watching TV, I can picture. But this morning they hadn’t tuned in the cartoons. They weren’t watching a DVD on the sly instead of getting ready for our morning’s study. What was so interesting that they couldn’t tear themselves away to do the chores they knew very well they are expected to do each & every day?

The morning news!

I ask you, how can a mother get angry at that? My littlest, only four years old, came trotting over & pulled herself up into my lap as I sat at my desk trying to decide just what to say to them. “It’s going to be sunny weather all the rest of the week, Mama!” she cried excitedly.

My preschooler was taking pleasure in the weather forecast?

I guess we must be doing something right….

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The Montreal Homelearners web site, and the community that has grown up around it, are the focus of an article in Montreal Families Magazine this month. The article by Liz Warwick looks at how technology benefits homeschooling families. Here’s an excerpt:

[H]omeschooling families often face a series of challenges when it comes to finding resources, be it math textbooks or lab equipment, as well as linking up with other families who share their passion.

But thanks to a website created by Montreal mom Sonya Olthof, homeschoolers have a new way to connect with each other. The site is called Montreal Homelearners (www.montrealhomelearners.ca) and is designed to make homeschooling easier for families.

“I wanted to make the (homeschooling) community more accessible and the Internet was such a logical place to start,” Olthof says. With help from her techno-savvy husband, she set up the site in early 2008.

Read the whole article here.

Thanks so very much to Sonya for all the work she has poured into our community, and for the wonderful way she brings us all together - not just online, but face to face as well. You’re a blessing & a wonderful friend!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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Michael Moore’s Slacker Uprising has been released for free viewing. If you are in the US or Canada you can get a free copy here.

Here are the rules for usage:

“I’m giving you my blanket permission to not only download it, but also to email it, burn it, and share it with anyone and everyone (in the U.S. and Canada only). I want you to use ‘Slacker Uprising’ in any way you see fit to help with the election or to do the work that you do in your community. You can show my film in your local theater, your high school classroom, your college auditorium, your church, union hall or community center. You can have your friends and neighbors over to the house for a viewing. You can broadcast it on TV, on cable access, on regular channels or on the web. It’s completely free — I don’t want to see a dime from this. And if you want, you can charge admission or ask for a donation if it’s to raise money for a candidate, a voter drive, or for any non-profit or educational purpose. In other words — it’s yours!” (emphasis mine)

- Michael Moore

As you can see, Mr. Moore is looking to see more folks getting out to the polls this year. Let’s see if we can’t help him make that wish come true!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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Copyright is an issue of importance to any parent, but perhaps even more significant for those of us who homeschool. As the world changes and special interest groups like the recording industry push for more restrictive copyright laws, Canadians are looking at the very real possibility that hitherto normal activities such as making a back-up copy of a movie or software application will no longer be legal.

Many homeschoolers (as well as librarians & classroom teachers from pre-school through post-secondary) rely a fair bit on downloaded and shared materials. Bill C-61 could see our access to some of these materials restricted. If you would like to inform yourself about the proposed law and fair copyright in general, you may want to attend a lecture at Concordia next Monday evening. Lawyer Michael Geist is the speaker.

Here are some details from the organizers:

Michael Geist, University of Ottawa law professor, and Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law, will be in Montreal to discuss Canada’s proposed copyright legislation, Bill C-61.

Professor Geist is a leading voice in the debates around Canada’s place in the digital future.

He writes a weekly column for the Toronto Star, and blogs regularly at: http://michaelgeist.ca

The event will be held at the Concordia EV Bldg 1515 St. Catherine West, 11th Floor Rm. EV.11.705 (Mackay entrance).

SPACE IS LIMITED, SO PLEASE COME EARLY.

***

Michael Geist, professeur de droit à l’Université d’Ottawa et titulaire de la Chaire canadienne de recherche sur la législation d’Internet et du Commerce électronique, sera à Montréal pour discuter du Projet de Loi C-61.

Professeur Geist est très actif dans le débat concernant le positionnement du Canada dans l’ère numérique.

Il publie une chronique hebdomadaire dans le Toronto Star, et blogue fréquemment sur http://michaelgeist.ca.

L’evenment aura lieu au: Concordia EV, 1515 St. Catherine West, 11e étage, salle: EV.11.705.

L’ESPACE EST LIMITÉ, SVP ARRIVEZ TÔT.

The lecture will take place from 18:30 - 20:30 on Monday, 15 September 2008. The address again is 1515 Ste. Catherine West, 11th Floor, Room EV.11.705. You can find a Google map here.

For more information or to sign up for the event, check out the Facebook page here. The lecture is open to the public. Any interested party may attend.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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Both Canada and the United States will this fall be electing new heads of state. Some time back, I posted links for some tools to help you discuss politics with your children. I’ll try to dig those posts up a little later & re-post the links in one place together, so anyone who missed them can check them out.

If you want to discuss the current issues with your kids CTV has a questionnaire you can take as a family, to see which of the four major Canadian parties best represents your values and concerns. Issues discussed include climate change, the Arctic, abortion, carbon tax and privatized health care. Have each member go through the questions separately and vote, or debate the issues and come up with a family choice for each issue. The choices offered are direct quotes from the party leaders, but the exercise is blind: you won’t know which leader said what until you’ve completed the questionnaire. Then you can opt to see who you were agreeing with on each question. You may be surprised on some of these! Maybe you’ll even re-think who you want to vote for….

To access the quiz, go to CTV’s 2008 Election page then select “Pick Your Party“. The exercise opens as a pop-up, so if nothing happens you may need to go into your pop-up blocker & give permission. Also on the site are a number of other interesting features, including poll results and a tracker that will allow you to see where the candidates are travelling on the campaign trail.

For anyone interested in the American election, regardless of which side of the border you reside, watch for the free download release of Michael Moore’s latest film, Slacker Uprising. The film looks at the 2004 US presidential election, and its aim is to get the youth out in 2008 to vote. You can go to the web site to register for notification when the movie goes online later this month. The download will be available to US and Canadian residents free for three weeks, after which the DVD will be released.

According to Moore, no one connected with the film will be seeing any of the proceeds. He is taking this opportunity, 20 years after the release of his first film, to give something back to the public that has supported him.

The film features performers such as Roseanne Barr, Joan Baez and REM. Moore warns that if you don’t generally like his politics, you’ll probably find the movie offensive….

For all of you who are eligible to vote this fall, young or old, please get out & have your say!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!