Sparkling Adventures Blog

[blatantlyeggplant]

Thank you. I was under the impression that jellyfish could sting so I winced when the little on picked one up. :)

A friend from your neck of the woods asked the same question a couple of days ago, so I had time to research. :) Just watched the video, and those look like tiny versions of the harmless ones we had in Perth, and nothing at all like bluebottles or box jellyfish, which are the ones to worry about.

Edited for clarity.

[lilith]

A friend from your neck of the woods asked the same question a couple of days ago, so I had time to research. :) Just watched the video, and those look like tiny versions of the harmless ones we had in Perth, and nothing at all like bluebottles or box jellyfish, which are the ones to worry about.

Edited for clarity.

When in grew up in northern NSW we were taught not to touch jelly fish just in case they were a venomous species. I hope she explains to the kids as they head back up north that the "no touch" rule has to come back.

[BoomerLynn]

Did anyone see the othe video she posted? She's walking around taking video of the campsite and is by the bus when she starts walking towards the water which is a good distance away. Then you see her 3-year-old running alone out of the water with one of the middle girls running around as well. The video clearly shows that they had been playing in the ocean unsupervised. :doh: If I had lost a child to drowning there is no way I would let my other children near water alone. She really just doesn't care.

[happy atheist]

Did anyone see the othe video she posted? She's walking around taking video of the campsite and is by the bus when she starts walking towards the water which is a good distance away. Then you see her 3-year-old running alone out of the water with one of the middle girls running around as well. The video clearly shows that they had been playing in the ocean unsupervised. :doh: If I had lost a child to drowning there is no way I would let my other children near water alone. She really just doesn't care.

One of the girls isn't in that video at all. It's either Aisha or Calista. One of them is in the van, and the other 2 are in the sea (unsupervised). I wonder where the the fourth girl is, and whether Lauren cares.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I wonder how many times she has packed up the bus and left, but then an hour later had to turn around and go back because she forgot a kid.

[tropaka]

Did the reporter from SMH not even google Lauren's name?

Unschooling is not for kids who aren't actively wanting to learn. The idea that her daughter will learn her letters when she "needs" to is stupid. She's setting her kids up to be functionally illiterate.

[Blahblah]

Her latest post has me speechless. She is rabbiting on about how difficult it is to accept offers of assistance or invitations to stay over. But right on the front page she has an entire section titled " Help me out here" and number one on the list is " invite us over".

So, it's apparently find to advertise that you want invitations but then you pretend that you don't know how to accept them?

[ILoveJellybeans]

Lauren probably wasnt the best example for that article. Im sure there are plenty of other unschoolers who actually care about their childrens education.

Lauren is the worst example of everything she speaks about-like free range parenting and unschooling because she hangs onto whatever techniques require the least effort on her part. For her, unschooling is just something she holds onto because it gives her an excuse to not sit around for a few hours teaching her kids to read, write and count. She holds onto the free range parenting style because it means she doesnt have to supervise them or discipline them.

[happy atheist]

Our girls have so quickly adjusted to our lifestyle that they don’t realise what a precious gift we are given by the people who invite us home. The girls aren’t afraid to say yes when offered yummy things to eat or drink, they’ll eagerly accept offerings of entertainment, and they’ll be forthright in asking for a bath in a new friend’s home. I’m the mature, boring adult lurking outside the house, not wanting to put anyone out, refusing cappuccinos and snacks, unable to really believe that what is offered is mine if I just accept it!

Why doesn't Lauren see that this means she's not giving her children what they need? If they were getting the food, stimulation, and sanitation they needed from their mother, they wouldn't be so excited to get it from strangers.

The thought of my children asking to take a bath at a stranger's house would upset me so much. That's just not normal behavior.

And the way the girls swarm all over toys when they're offered, tells me that they are starved for intellectual stimulation. Sure the beach is fun, but there's only so much you can do before it starts to get repetitive.

She's not teaching them anything except how to mooch.

Has she said how old the bus is? It's broken down twice now, in the span of about a week. That doesn't speak well of its longterm usability. Does she just not know how to drive it?

[pastaswife]

It wouldn't suprise me at all if the bus keeps breaking down, it wouldn't surprise me if she made the bus break down, for the attention, especially because the random mechanic gave her his card. It's like an open invitation to get attention.

[wild little fox]

Those poor babies have no idea what boundaries are at all!

[Chicken bones]

The picture of the girls watching the puppet show was beautiful, such happiness on their faces. Her whole blog both depresses me and breaks my heart for those girls.

Does Lauren not realize that her taking pictures, recording the girls takes her away from the immediacy and well, "sparkle" of whatever they are doing? The camera acts as a barrier, removing her from the girls. I mean, jeez, like everyone else here I wish wholeheartedly she'd settle somewhere with the girls, get them in therapy, and act like a responsible parent, but barring that miracle, at least put the damn camera down and join in more.

[August]

Lauren probably wasnt the best example for that article. Im sure there are plenty of other unschoolers who actually care about their childrens education.

Lauren is the worst example of everything she speaks about-like free range parenting and unschooling because she hangs onto whatever techniques require the least effort on her part. For her, unschooling is just something she holds onto because it gives her an excuse to not sit around for a few hours teaching her kids to read, write and count. She holds onto the free range parenting style because it means she doesnt have to supervise them or discipline them.

I call it unparenting.

It's pretty much a given that any child visiting any other child's house will either cling to their parent or be aaallll over the other kid's toys. Other people's stuff is WAY cooler than your own. And it's also guaranteed to get the owner child interested in and possessive of toys their parent was about to throw away for lack of interest. Not that I speak from experience or anything.

Makes metal note to hide the broken barbie doll collection before our next playdate.

Has anyone else noticed that for all her talking about what travellers they are, they don't travel much? They've been travelling full time for two years, right? And in that time until this month they'd managed to see a lot of Eastern New South Wales, South Eastern Queensland, and the area of New Zealand north of Auckland.

[Artemis]

The girls aren’t afraid to say yes when offered yummy things to eat or drink, they’ll eagerly accept offerings of entertainment, and they’ll be forthright in asking for a bath in a new friend’s home.

Thus making them extremely vulnerable to any stranger of ill intent who offers them something enticing with a view to abusing them later.

[tropaka]

Does "Traveller" typically mean someone who's basically begging/getting free stuff? Is she paying for the gas in the bus with donations? People I've known who have a transient lifestyle usually have seasonal or jobs in the entertainment industry where they can work for a bit, then travel.

I am amazed the children's services hasn't pulled those kids

[AuntCloud]

Those poor babies have no idea what boundaries are at all!

Agreed. Also, chiming in as the boring un-sparkly bourgeois who shudders to see a kid, on a quad, driven by a person who seems to be in his teens, with no helmet in sight. (Quad and snowmobile accidents are the bread-and-butter of local news in my neck of the woods).

As far as boundaries are concerned, what looks adorable when a cute girl under 7 is doing will not be as adorable when done by a teenager.

Also: Lauren sure seems to be very much into houses. I love houses, too. I love reading house-plans and gawking at beautiful structures. Unlike Lauren, I don't choose to live on a bus.

[happy atheist]

Agreed. Also, chiming in as the boring un-sparkly bourgeois who shudders to see a kid, on a quad, driven by a person who seems to be in his teens, with no helmet in sight. (Quad and snowmobile accidents are the bread-and-butter of local news in my neck of the woods).

There's video around somewhere, shot by David, of some of the girls riding them solo. Without helmets, of course.

[SinkDweller]

Not that I ever saw. He posted a lot of videos on youtube, though. His username is SaviorOfTheWorld, or something pompous like that.

Yes, he did post to the blog. I went back to the very first entries (pre-kids) and they were being written by him. And obviously he was taking some of the pictures (who is taking the pictures of her now? one of the kids?) and the video so I'd say the blog was a joint venture.

Here's one of his early posts (because he's talking about someone else named David I thought it was her writing about meeting him but then further down he mentions his wife so it was David writing): sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=355

[happy atheist]

Yes, he did post to the blog. I went back to the very first entries (pre-kids) and they were being written by him. And obviously he was taking some of the pictures (who is taking the pictures of her now? one of the kids?) and the video so I'd say the blog was a joint venture.

Here's one of his early posts (because he's talking about someone else named David I thought it was her writing about meeting him but then further down he mentions his wife so it was David writing): sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=355

At least Lauren's writing is readable. David sounds crazy even all the way back then.

[lilith]

The blog was originally, in true fundie style, called The David Fisher Family.

[kittengrrl]

Does this mean SODRT curricula beats Lauren's iPad Institute of Independent Instruction? I feel badly for the kids-as a little girl I loved to read everything I could get my hands on and write all kinds of stories.

[happy atheist]

I had never looked at the really old posts before. The first few aren't overly nutty. I'm waiting to see when he turned the corner.

In the post about Ghana there was this, which I don't understand:

One family we stayed with in Cape Coast Ghana had a six year old girl called Adjua she really loved Lauren and I, when we were leaving the family gave her to us.

Is he saying the family gave them their daughter? Is he serious, or is there a joke I'm not getting?

[kittengrrl]

You'll find the crazy start to ramp up at about Feb 2010 :)

[CheeseDeprived]

Aisha is seven and doesn't know her letters? Unless she has a learning disability, that's criminal! If she has a learning disability, then Lauren sure as hell needs to address it.

I agree, and I have no idea how that could ever be approved because it clearly doesn't meet the most basic requirements.

I homeschool and I've dealt with the BoS mentioned in the article (I happen to live in NSW) so I have been there, done that regarding coming up with a curriculum that fits in with their syllabus. They are not super strict, but they do check.

But then it doesn't say that Lauren is registered anywhere. I vaguely remember her mentioning on the blog that Aisha was registered in QLD, which has similar requirements, but that may have been a condition she had to meet after Elijah's death to be allowed to go travelling again.

(Also, not knowing how to read doesn't make sense even from an unschooling perspective - it will prevent A from reading up on any subject she may be interested in. So the learning she does has got to be rather superficial. The unschooled kids I know tend to really immerse themselves in their chosen subjects and as a result they have amazing amounts of knowledge about them. But they can READ!)

I hate this kind of article and I hate what Lauren is doing. It gives homeschoolers a bad name. Most people not familiar with the topic tend to put every type of homeschooler and unschooler in the same category.

[August]

There's video around somewhere, shot by David, of some of the girls riding them solo. Without helmets, of course.

or shoes, natch

Does "Traveller" typically mean someone who's basically begging/getting free stuff? Is she paying for the gas in the bus with donations? People I've known who have a transient lifestyle usually have seasonal or jobs in the entertainment industry where they can work for a bit, then travel.

I am amazed the children's services hasn't pulled those kids

No, she's living on welfare.

http://singlemum.com.au/links/single_mo ... pport.html