The weather has been amazing this week, so naturally we've been outside working on our fort in the backyard. We came up with a general plan and added ladders, a dumb-waiter / climbing rope, and platforms to our structure. Its really coming along and we're planning a camp out to celebrate when we finish.
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| Planning the trapped door and platforms. |
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| Sy measuring the cedar poles |
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| Renee lashing the new ladder/slide. "You can use it however you like!" |
The schoolhouse is a democratic learning community; individual freedoms exist within the web of community responsibility. We vote on issues during our Friday Rule Check-ins and ad-hoc Council Meetings. Council Meetings can be called by anyone, student or mentor, and everyone must stop what they're doing to help solve a conflict or come up with new policies. Each person has an equal vote, adults and youth alike.
We held a Council Meeting last week to discuss Lego time. At what point does a favorite pastime cross over into obsession? When do we seek balance and when do we go 100% in the pursuit of mastery? (A Lego master?! Ask this guy...) After much discussion, the council voted to have Lego Day every other Wednesday, with a 20 minute Trading Club every Wednesday and Friday. Our first Lego Day under this new rule was this Wednesday. We had a great morning building spectacular settings, various modes of transportation, and decking out our beloved Lego men and women with the latest in explorer gear.
Check out the rest of the pictures! There are some from our monthly Family Park Day last Saturday at Brentwood Park, and a few from our picnic at the 8th St. tinypark on Tuesday.
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| Forts and Legos cont. |
