TO KILL A READING BIRD “…a miracle breakthrough in overcoming reading problems…” trumpeted the T.V. current affairs host recently. Another reading breakthrough?! These have a predictable motion based on the phonics/flashcard (to simplify the ussie) pendulum swing. When the newest word deconstruction method pals, an ‘innovative’ whole-word-recognition breakthrough is discovered. After a couple of years […]
BOOK: Word Circus
Word Circus: Alan Whitehead Experience in Japan
OVER THE ANGLO-NIPPON BRIDGE Your author has always had a strong karmic connection to Japan – and later to its people. As a small child during World War 11, I lived in a cauldron of fear, kept simmering by wild speculation of an impending Japanese invasion. I however redeemed by Nipon-phobia by being the very […]
Word Circus: Anzacs in Australia
THE ANZAC ILIAD The place the Spirit of Australia chose for its self-realization is, oddly, Anzac Cove; a timeless sacred site. It is also the womb, as it were, of the mysteries of Muliebrity. Here Zeus hurled the statue of Pallas, the Black Virgin, to earth – hence Palestine; the first of a stream of […]
Word Circus: Dutch Words in Australia
IN THE WAKE OF THE BULDEN DRAAK The name of that dear little 17th Century Dutch discovery pinnace, Duyfken, “falls trippingly off the tongue”. Nor does it lose any of its charm in translation – “little dove”. Other evocative Dutch ship names woven like silver thread through the tapestry of Australian maritime history are: Guldens […]
Word Circus: Steiner High School
“…to their full potential” Matriculation in a Steiner High School Disclaimer: Opinions in this article on the state of Australian high schooling should be viewed in light of my own 1950s NSW secondary ‘education’; one in which I was singularly undistinguished, and from which, at a tender 16 years, I departed in disgrace. All high […]
Earthschooling – an Award Winning Curriculum
