Science, hair dye and Chocolat

Had a great workshop on Wednesday with the home ed group - The_Renewable_Energy_Roadshow did two sessions with the kids. The first had them all in lab coats doing experiments with dry ice, then after lunch they looked at sources of renewable energy, and in small groups had to decide on what kinds of renewable energy they would use in a fictional town/village. Each group had a map and info about their designated town, and discussed what they would do, then presented their decisions to the other groups.
A really enjoyed the whole thing, I think it was great for her to work in a group on this sort of subject. I also got the chance to chat with some other home ed parents, and met one or two I hadn't seen before. Thats one of the good things about our network - its so huge you always seem to meet different people at different events.

A investigating solar power

The only slight concern I have at the moment is the lack of a regular social group/meet for A. I'm really happy with our home ed group, but the way it works is various people come up with different ideas and if there's enough interest someone organises it, and it all seems to come together (well, thats my experience so far). And it does work well for us, as we go to the things we're interested in, and there's no pressure to turn up to things we're not so into. The downside is that A isn't developing any close friendships within the group as the meetings are so sporadic. She gets on well with several of the girls, but we don't see them that often. This isn't a huge problem - she still has friends from her old school, and she doesn't seem lonely, but thinking about the future I wonder if it might be a good idea for her to find a way of building up some friendships locally. She is a very social person, and I hate the idea of her becoming isolated, especially as she gets older and becomes more independent (and basically wants to get away from her mother!!). So at the moment I am toying with the idea of persuading A to join the Girl_Guides. This is a very strange concept for me, as I have huge issues with the history of Scouts/Guides, the religious aspect, and the whole promising to serve Queen and country thing. Not my bag really. But I can also see how it might be a really positive opportunity for A socially. I've just got to persuade her of that now.

We had a lovely, meandering type of day today. Got up late after some dramatics last night (A's continuing problems with getting to sleep, and my annoyance at her many trips out of bed while I was trying to watch a film. It really doesn't help matters when I get annoyed, you'd think I would have learned that by now). We then put some blue/black dye in A's hair (see blurry pic below).

We spent a lot of time reading Chocolat by Joanne Harris, I've been reading this (on and off) to A for a couple of months now, and she is really enjoying it. Of course, we had to eat some chocolate too, its impossible to read the book without suffering terrible cravings for it!
A has also been preparing the flat for her mini party tomorrow. Should be fun!?