I didn't actually intend to do a part 3 on this one as I have given a load of information already. However, this morning I woke up and found a brilliant link in my inbox! I just had to share it!

   It is an ebook all about Charlotte Mason and it is mainly an interview with Karen Andreola who I mentioned in the last post. So here is the link to the Charlotte Mason We-ebook. And you might want to hurry because this is a 'Freebie of the week' so the link might not work next week. Enjoy everyone! - Deedee

   So, did you manage to digest all those principles? There is alot there isn't there? Charlotte Mason had some brilliant ideas about the 'gentle art of learning' as she put it.

   I thought I'd give you some resources for actually using CM's methods and to read more about them.

• The first is actually a complete CM curriculum that is totally FREE! It is a twelve year curriculum plan that is written by Mother's who use it. Most of the books are also available at the site as they are now copy right free so you can just print them off to use. Or else you can borrow alot from the library too. It is called Ambleside online and you will find tons of useful information there as well as a support network of other mothers who use the same curriculum.
• The next site is called Simply Charlotte Mason and has a wealth of resources for those interested in putting together a CM education for their children. There are copy work materials, book lists and organizers available here to get you started along with tons of articles by and about CM and her methods. This site is a treasure trove for those wanting to know more about CM methods.
• The next is the Charlotte Mason Research and Supply company. I know that is a mouthful, huh? The website is simply Charlottemason.com This site is run by Karen Andreola and her husband Dean. This wondeful couple actually found a copy of the original works of Charlotte Mason and are responsible for getting them republished! They found the books while living for a time here in the UK several years ago. Karen has also written a wonderful book called 'The Charlotte Mason Companion' that breaks down CM's teachings into bite size peices that you can handle and impliment easily. It is really the 'how to' manual for the CM approach. I had the joy of meeting Karen a few years ago. She lives near my parents and we met for coffee and cake and had a delightful morning chatting about our home education journey's and about CM's delightful teachings. There are many great resources available at this site. You can also buy the Charlotte Mason Companion from Conquest books here in the UK to save on shipping.
• Charlotte Mason uses alot of Nature study in her teaching as it is science that makes is hands on and makes sense to children. They can see nature, touch nature and examine nature for themselves. In discovering the world around them, they discover alot about themselves as well. There is a brilliant book called 'The handbook of nature study' and is almost 900 pages long. It is available from Conquest books to buy, but it is also available to read for free online at the link for the book. It is alot of fun doing a nature journal with the kids to record their discoveries!
• Living books curriculum is another great site for CM education ideas, resources and information. There are some great things on this website including a 20 page FREE sample of the curriculum to view and try out. It includes samples of lesson plans for the different ages. You can buy a complete curriculum pack from them with all the neccesary books for the year which can be easier than scouring the library for books.
• Cindy Rushton also has alot of articles at her website regarding CM methods. She is very American and there are some radio shows she has recorded playing on the website - all of her teaching and encouragement is great though with a very American accent.  She does have alot of great practical articles about CM though, so check it out.

I think that should give you a bit to sink your teeth into, huh?  And as you can see alot of it is quite inexpensive or even FREE! This method uses far less 'busy work' less worksheets and writing. It uses more gentle reading aloud and narration to 'check' that kids have learned something.

It emphasises the use of 'Living books' or real books rather than dumbed down books and textbooks which are compilations. It stretches children to a higher level in a gentle way. Charlotte Mason said that every day a every child should have -

1. Something or someone to love
2. Something to do (something worthwhile of course)
3. Something to think about (again, something worthwhile)

That sums up a CM education quite nicely actually! Enjoy finding out more. - Deedee

* I found this post back in the archives and decided to recycle it to the top as there are some great links in it! Have fun checking them out. - Deedee *

Hi everybody! Ok here goes. I'm going to attempt to bounce back and forth between here and my favourites list to compile a list of sites for you to check out for free lesson plans and worksheets. I'll try and comment on wether they are better for one age group of another.

• www.atozteacherstuff.com  - Great site for themes! Lesson plans and worksheets on a variety of subjects. Some downloads are chargeable but most are free!
• www.akidsheart.com - Terrific resources for preschoolers and for holiday activities.Cute site too!!
• http://coloringcottage.com - Great site for coloring pages on all sorts of subjects.
• http://coloringbookfun.com - Fantastic coloring page site!! Top marks! Lots of 'character' coloring sheets (great for birthday parties) and coloring sheets listed by subject. Great add-ons for unit studies etc.
• www.dltk-kids.com - This site is great! They have a section on Bible stories, lesson plans, printable activity sheets, and crafts. There is also a section where you can use their templates and create whatever sheets you need, star charts etc. They even have Veggie Tales!
• www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/aunty -This is the home of Aunty Math, a great math site for kids.
• www.teachcoal.org/lessonplans/elementary.html - OK! So I realize it is about American coal but coal is coal - right! Some of the activities and lesson plans are really creative! And it is really interesting,esp. if like me you live in a village and have coal heating!!
• www.explorerbiblestudy.org/index.htm - This is the site for this particular course of bible curriculum. But if you go on the site and follow though the process till you are asked for the quantity to buy you will see a button saying view sample. Click that button and you will get a weeks worth of that book in pdf form to print off. Great for a one off, or to 'try before you buy'. 
• www.thehomeschoolmom.com - What you can't find here might be shorter list! Check it out. Lots of link on to other sites, and encouragement for homeschool Moms (or Mums)!
• www.funbrain.com - This one has lots of online educational games for elementary school age children. I especially like the math baseball!
• www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk - This one is for those of you with teenagers. They do GCSE's and A level's.
• www.freedom-in-education.co.uk - A good site to find answers to questions about Home education in England.Especially good for those just starting out!
• www.home-education-resources.co.uk - Lots of link on here. Information about national curriculum, printable worksheets, and UK home education organizations.
• www.earlychildhoodlinks.com - A site to link off of to many others for preschool materials.
• www.schoolexpress.com - A great site with LOTS of printables.There is a sampler of 100 worksheets which you can print for free, several unit studies, and a free e-newsletter. Also for $25 a year (about £15) you can buy a membership and access 1000's of worksheets and ebooks!

OK, well there's a start! And I'm only halfway down my 'Favourites' School list! I'll try and post the rest next week, I think these might keep you busy till then!! And be sure to look at the sites that were posted by Dawesacadamy in the comment of my last posting. The ichtus one is FANTASTIC! A real find!

   Have a great week! - DeeDee

   If any of my very long standing readers are still about you may remember that I had this great idea once upon a time to do posts about the many methods of home education that there are.

   I did do a post about unit studies which you can find here. Now I thought I'd do a little about Charlotte Mason's gentle style of learning. CM was a British education reformer in the early 1900's. She was based at Ambleside in the lake district where she had a school and a teacher's training college.

   She didn't like the harsh educational methods of the day. She was against the constant drilling and the unnesessary work that was done just to keep the kids quiet and under control.

   She preferred 'twaddle free' and no 'busy work'. She advocated children giving report of something by narration and discussion rather than lengthy report writing. Science was mainly in depth nature study as you explore the world around you! And the believed passionately in 'Living books'. Real books rather than text books or watered down children's books.

   I will post below a list of the 20 principles of education.That should give you a bit to digest! LOL! I'll be back soon and list some brilliant books and resources to use with a CM approach.  - Deedee 

Charlotte Mason's 20 Principles form a synopsis of her Educational Method:

1. Children are born persons.

2. They are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for good and for evil.

3. The principles of authority on the one hand, and of obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but––

4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon whether by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural desire.

5. Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments––the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. Motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."

6. When we say that "education is an atmosphere," we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a 'child-environment' especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child's' level.

7. By "education is a discipline," we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures to habitual lines of thought, i.e., to our habits. 8. In saying that "education is a life," the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

9. We hold that the child's mind is no mere sac to hold ideas; but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs.

10. Such a doctrine as e.g. the Herbartian, that the mind is a receptacle, lays the stress of education (the preparation of knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher's axiom is,' what a child learns matters less than how he learns it."

11. But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle that,––

12. "Education is the Science of Relations"; that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of–– "Those first-born affinities That fit our new existence to existing things."

13. In devising a SYLLABUS for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered: (a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body. (b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity) (c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.

14. As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should 'tell back' after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read.

15. A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarising. and the like. Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind, we find that the educability of children is enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment. Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in Elementary Schools respond freely to this method, which is based on the behaviour of mind.

16. There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, which we may call 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'

17. The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will.' (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to ease us for a time from will effort, that we may 'will' again with added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character, It would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.)

18. The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs.

19. Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need.

20. We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life.

Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education Charlotte Mason 1922

As expected I ruffled a few feathers with my last post! LOL!  I will answer some of my commenters as well, since they all posted anonymously and without leaving links so I can't reply to them individually!

I DID post that last post up before reading the document since it wasn't actually out yet! I did it on the basis of the articles that I listed in that post. I will say though, that I HAVE since read the report (yes! The entire 80 pages!) and I still stand by my post! 

My thanks to Conrad for being polite in his comments even if he didn't agree with me. And I would ask that others would refrain from calling names and nasty comments in future! This is a blog that I write on and I'm entitled to my opinion just as you are entitled to yours! I haven't gone to anyone elses blogs or websites and called them names for thier views and I would ask the same courtesy here. Thank you. 

I wanted to post some further information that might be of interest to some of you.   

Here is the link to the PDF of the entire document, and the letter reply from Ed Ball. Make a cuppa first. It is 80 pages long! Or you can just skip to the recommendations at the end as they are summarised.

Graham Badman's report  http://tinyurl.com/mxcdul

and Ed Ball's letter to Graham Badman http://tinyurl.com/l7yx4y

Here is a copy of the entire statement that the CofE actually made to the review. They were quoted just on some of the points they said rather than the whole picture - however, I still think what they said about education and children in this country is shocking!

   Now this is what I call a result!! The news is in that the Badman report is recommending mandatory registration but no restrictions on the way we home educate. Whoo Hoo!!!!

   Here is the report on the BBC website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8093796.stm

Another article on the BBC yesterday with long quotes from Ann Newstead from EO.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8017036.stm

Here is one from the Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5496798/Home-education-crackdown-over-abuse-fear.html

Here is an article in the Guardian this morning regarding the report.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/11/home-education-parents-register

The following quotes are from the Guardian's article.

'The schools secretary, Ed Balls, is expected to accept in full recommendations made in a review of home education for mandatory registration to ensure that families are not using home tuition as a cover for abuse.'

and

'Balls told a private meeting of chiefs of local safeguarding children boards yesterday: "His [Badman's] review is based on the need to strike the right balance between two important principles: giving parents the right to decide how and where their children should be educated – because I am clear that parents bring up their children, not government – and ensuring that every child gets the education they need to help them fulfil their potential.'

I find it encouraging that the schools secretary is being clear that we as parents raise our children NOT the government!  I think this is a real result for home education in this country. For starters it validates home education as a viable option for all parents! Yeah!!!

I believe the important thing now is that we don't fight this ruling. First of all fighting so little 'interference' only makes us look like we have something to hide - which we don't! Also, if we are reasonable about registering we will have more leverage to fight them if they try to add unreasonable regulations in future. 'We worked with you this far but now you are pushing it!'

The fact that there are no recommendations to restrict the content of our home education settings is the biggest victory here! We can still do things the way we want. We only have to let someone know we are doing it. Makes sense to me!

-Deedee

***EDIT*** For those of you being directed over here from other blogs please read the following post as well before you comment and please keep it polite. We are all entitled to our own views. Thank you. - Deedee

Get tough on home tuition to weed out abuse, says review

(Home) school's out forever?

Home education case study – the Crawsham family

The Home Education Review - Possible Outcomes

Home education review sparks battle over lack of regulation

   I have made no secret of my views on this issue over the past years. I would love to see mandatory registration so that they know where the children are and so we are all held accountable to do the job set before us.

   I have personally met too many 'home educators' who hide behind the 'autonomous' or 'unschooling' titles to do absolutely nothing all day! I am all for younger children especially having plenty of time to learn through play and exploration, however there needs to be some sort of structure to the activities. There needs to be some sort of guidance and input from parents.

   I feel that being registered would also give a validation! We would be considered a viable option for parents to consider when looking at where to send their child to school. Hooray!

   However, I strongly oppose any move to impose the national curriculum on us, or force the use of any particular curriculum of the government's choosing. As long as we have children who can read, write, calculate and who know about history and the world around them - we should be allowed to choose just what books and materials we use to accomplish that.

   To be perfectly honest, the material used in the schools is simply a joke anyway! We can do far better at home ourselves. We have a foster daughter who has improved her handwriting more in just 8 weeks of working through one of my home education handwriting books than she did all year in her classroom! Her teacher was scratching her head till I revealed what I had been doing with her at home. She couldn't figure out what had caused the improvement!

   She is at the bottom of her class and the help available to her is non-exsistant! We are getting more accomplished at home with her after school and on weekends.

   So in my opinion, forcing the national curriculum on us would be a case of lowering the standards of those home educators who take their children's education seriously! We are simply doing a better job at home.

   Then again........maybe that is the problem here! Maybe they are simply afraid that we will put the schools to shame like the home schoolers in America do! They regularly win national educational competitions like spelling bees and outscore their counterparts in all standardized tests every single year. Maybe the problem here is that we are doing too good a job! We might make the schools look bad - and they can't have that can they?

   I'll post up again when we find out what the final report says later this week. Thanks for putting up with an editorial this time if you have read this far! LOL! My fear is simply that if we fight everything we are in danger of loosing everything! If we are reasonable and agree to at least be registered (which is the minimum requirement in all 50 states of America) then we might win the right to do the job the way we feel is best!

   I know there are those who claim that if we give them an inch they will take a mile. But there is also a case for meeting them somewhere in the middle. People like to think their children are invisible to the government if they aren't in a school or if they keep them from the medical professionals, however if your child has a birth certificate then they are known to exsist! So I dont' think we loose much by saying 'We are home educating this child'. They can tick their box that 'this' child is getting some sort of education and worry about the children who are really missing in our country!

   I laugh to think what would happen if we all registered 'en masse' on particular Monday morning! LOL! Most LA's would take a year to just process the information - let alone have any time to hassle home educators! And there would be no budget for hiring the thousands of 'inspectors' that would be needed to do just one annual visit to each family!

   At the same time we would show them just how strong of a community we can be. Hhhhmmmmm......maybe something to think about. Then we would be the ones pulling the strings if we registered when we wanted to - all in one day! (I just want to be a fly on the wall in the local LA office that day! LOL!) - Deedee

   Jump quick on this one! It is only for the first 9,500 people who apply and it has been running for three days already!

   Go here http://www.woodlandtrustshop.com/be-natural/free-club-membership to apply for a FREE Woodland Trust Nature Detective Club membership worth £12. You will get a welcome pack, an Autumn 2009 pack and a Spring 2010 pack as well as  a weekly email with activities to print off.

   This is a great one for all you Charlotte Mason enthusiasts and Nature study families! - Deedee

   There is a sale on from now till the 30th of June at Easy Learn. They have great British Phonics workbooks, numeracy books, books on money and time. All are photocopyable and British made. They are used in schools and for those children who need extra support in school. Go to this link to find the massive 30% off sale for the whole of this month! - Deedee

http://www.easylearn.co.uk/frameset01.htm?engsh01.htm

   I'm going to type this post in Brown because to my knowledge there is no political party in the UK with brown as their party colour and I'm trying to be non-partison here! LOL!

   I don't often post political statements and I'm not trying to tell anyone who they should vote for. The truth is that I've never heard of any party publishing an 'official statement' regarding home education before!

   Here is the link to a statement by the 'UK Independant party' regarding where they stand on Home Education. I hope you find it informative! - Deedee

   I actually found this video slightly frightening! But the lesson in statistics in undeniable.

   I never knew that it took a fertility rate of 1.8 for a culture to simply survive! I guess it makes sense that you have to produce more than yourselves to have a culture grow, but I had never really thought about it.

   Well there are some on this planet who not only thought about it but have practiced it with surprising results! Check this out.

*This is in no way meant to be an inflamatory post. It is not 'anti - muslim' in anyway! It is simply the facts of what is changing in our world today. And an interesting lesson in statistics and family sizes.*

   There is a cool new company that has opened here in the UK called 'Truth Fabrics'. I had the priviledge of meeting the precious family who started this company up a few months ago.

   They wanted to provide an alternative for kids bedding and clothing that included Bible 'Heroes' for their kids to have in their rooms and thier lives!

   We are about to purchase the 'The Lord is my Shield' bedding for our boys room since they wanted a knights and castle theme. We actually couldn't find a 'castle' theme duvet set anywhere and then I remembered something I had seen in the Truth Fabric brochure.

   I pulled up the (old) website and the boys looked over my shoulder. They spotted this gorgeous duvet set before I could say a word and asked (begged, pleaded, jumped up and down shouting) if they could have those!

   I have seen these duvets and T-shirts first hand and they are the finest cotton I have ever seen on a duvet. It feels like silk!! So although the price may be a 'little' higher than some kids duvets on the high street, I found the quality to be far superior.

   They have just launched a new website this week and you can find it here at www.truthfabrics.com They have also produced a short vido/commercial about their products and their vision. So, I'll end by posting their video clip so you can see them for yourself and hear from the creator Paul Vivian in his own words!

Truthfabric promo for UCB TV from TruthFabric on Vimeo.

   Quick, Quick! Grab this one fast! Now I know how much you all love to run around the country on wonderful outings, especially when the weather improves like it usually does in May and June!

   Family Railcards are doing a deal for a free card that is good till July and if you do it you will be able to get a half price year's card when it is done! But this deal runs out on Wednesday!! So BE QUICK!!!!!

   Here is the link to the Daily Mail article and from there you can find the link to the page to sign up for the free trial Railcard. The annual card (which you can buy when the trial one runs out) will only be £13 for the whole year instead of £26! Bargain!! Don't miss out! - Deedee

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1176136/A-Free-month-Family--Friends-Railcard-you.html

   OK. So I know that Mother's Day was two months ago now! But in America it is Mother's Day this coming Sunday. While I know most of you won't celebrate it for a second time this year (although I get to - Hehehehe!) that is no excuse for missing out on *FREE* stuff!!!! And you all know how much I just LOVE *FREE* stuff!  So check out this link to *FREE* stuff over the next 7 days at Currclick! And please be sure to click over using the link box at the top of this page or in the right hand column - thank you. That is our affiliate link and we get a little extra if you go over and get stuff using our link - Thank you! -Deedee

Click on the link below for a free booklet of Spring activities to do with children.

http://www.naturedetectives. org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/09D9B882- 2C1F-4BB2- 98E5-46D35D018CE 7/0/spring_ booklet.pdf

Enjoy!

Sarah

Free Children's RHS gardening kit worth £12.50

The only cost to you is the postage which is £1.80

Be quick as the offer only lasts a few days.

-

Sarah

Books for Keeps advertises itself as 'THE children's book magazine'.  Whether or not this is true, I don't know,(!) but here you can read it's latest reviews and keep tabs on new literature being published. 

One thing of interest on the site is a list of the 50 books that Booktrust found in a recent survey to be the best children's books of all time.  Interestingly 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis came out as the Best Children’s Book of all Time.  It beat modern day classics such as Harry Potter and The Gruffalo to the top spot.

You can also request a free copy of the magazine.  They say, 'Try a copy of the magazine and read for yourself why Books for Keeps is the best independent resource about children's literature.'

I requested a copy and received two!  They do cover quite a range of articles and issues.  It costs £26.50pa.  It is very interesting, but I think I'm going to make enquiries at my local library to see if I can access copies there. 

Why don't you check it out yourself?

Sarah

   Yes, you read that right! The county of Essex is paying some parents to home educate thier children!!  And no, these are not trouble makers who have been excluded either.

   These parents can't find a decent secondary in their catchment area and the county agrees - so they are footing the bill!!

   While I welcome this 'backing' of home education as a viable option, I would however personally decline any money's that the government offered me to do the job. We have seen this happen in Canada where they paid home educating parents the money that would have  been spent on that child in school. However, a few years down the line and they started imposing what you MUST teach and what you MUST NOT teach in your own home!!! (ie-NO religious education or religiously produced textbooks)

    Still, this is a huge boost for home ed in the UK. Head over here to the Telegraph's website to read the article for yourselves. It is positive and encouraging! - Deedee

Some time ago I came across a great site which allowed you to go through a simulation of a heart operation.  I was surprised how much I learnt from it and thought others might like to let their budding surgeons have a look.  It is here, a British Heart Foundation site. 

There is plenty of other information available there about the heart including this for 'teachers' (us, then!) 

They say: "Education is at the root of combating heart disease. Encouraging young people to live a heart healthy lifestyle, minimises their risk of developing heart disease in the future. This is the place for teachers, parents and pupils to find out more about the science behind the heart and how to avoid heart problems."

Then a friend told me about another site where you could 'perfom' hip surgery.  You can find that here.  There are also real photos of an operation there. Again, it is very intersting and informative.

-

Sarah