{"id":46,"date":"2007-02-25T01:29:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-25T01:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/2007\/02\/25\/long-time-no-blog\/"},"modified":"2007-02-25T01:29:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-25T01:29:00","slug":"long-time-no-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/2007\/02\/25\/long-time-no-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Long time, no blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone. Seems like we spend all our time posting pictures these days and not much writing. Well, since I will be starting my Master’s in Creative Writing this July, I have to decided to get the writing muscle in shape.
I’m very excited about this new turn in my life. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than this. So, I am pushing myself through my last session of teaching before I begin. I would like to start reading some things written by the teachers (mentors) in the program. Check out the profs – scroll down to optional-residency program.
http:\/\/www.creativewriting.ubc.ca\/faculty\/index.html<\/a>
I have to decide whether or not to focus on non-fiction or children’s writing during the July workshop, so if you have any suggestions, let me know! I hope to take courses in both during the fall.
I feel a tiny bit intimidated, like I’m moving up to the big leagues, and maybe everyone else will be really good.<\/p>\n

As for Morgane, we’ve chosen a school for her entry into kindergarten in September. It’s an alternative school – still a public school, that happens to be only a few blocks from our house. It’s a little nervewracking choosing a school, maybe even more so since I’m a teacher. I have certain expectations, fears and desires. In the end, we chose this school because we think it will be similar to homeschooling, but at school with other kids. They have very few hours of structured regular classes, and these are small classes. Mostly, they work on projects of their own choosing.<\/p>\n

Apparently there are no tests until the end of the 6th grade, and no marks either, but the children present their projects and receive feedback on them from teachers and other students. I think this is probably more valuable than tests anyway. I am hoping Morgane can integrate other languages into her projects, too (Spanish and English).<\/p>\n

The school has a strong community and it is assumed that the parents will be involved. Everyone is welcome in class, and parents must volunteer a certain number of hours per year. As well, they are putting on a circus next year (every two years) and also going to an outdoor camp (every three years), so we hit a good year! We like the idea that it’s close and that the kids are encouraged to take charge of their learning and to be strong individuals.<\/p>\n

As well, school finishes at 1:30 on Wednesdays, with the other days being a bit longer. I like this idea of a mid-week break.<\/p>\n

We were very lucky to get in; Morgane’s name was drawn third and there were maybe 12 spots available. We also had to fill out a questionnaire and have a family interview. We will be invited, later this year, to observe some classes.<\/p>\n

I still feel odd being in the school. Sometimes a place can feel so impersonal and all you see when you visit are the physical elements, but when you know a place, you see the people and the atmosphere. I felt the same way about Morgane’s daycare, and I ended up being really happy with it.<\/p>\n

Whenever we have doubts about our decision, we ask ourselves: Are we an alternative family? The answer is a resounding YES!<\/p>\n

I am still enjoying my trampoline lessons (twice a week now), and I have muscles in many novel places. Ghis gets out for tennis at 6am on Saturday mornings. I’m hoping I’ll do some outdoor stuff over Spring Break since it’s supposed to be a little more mild.<\/p>\n

This week, we went to a CBC taping of Routes Montreal. We saw David Usher and it was super. The sound was much better than at a concert and it was a really small studio. We remarked how good we are at finding free concert tickets. I always feel inspired when I see an artist perform. There’s something powerful about someone expressing their voice.<\/p>\n

Ghislain and Morgane went to Ottawa to skate on Rideau Canal. Maybe that’s why I’m finding the time to write. But I will try to be more faithful to our blog. It remains a record of our lives.<\/p>\n

And today, I’ve been thinking that you can move or stay put or be rich or poor or be busy or bored, but you can’t escape your life. Wherever or however you live it, it’s still you and your life.
Does that make any sense?<\/p>\n

Take care everyone.
Heather<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone. Seems like we spend all our time posting pictures these days and not much writing. Well, since I will be starting my Master’s in Creative Writing this July, I have to decided to get the writing muscle in shape.I’m very excited about this new turn in my life. I can’t think of anything … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Long time, no blog”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ghislaindemers.com\/carmanahwoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}