MAMARONECK, NEW YORK – “Grandpa! Grandpa!”
“Yes, kids?”
“Can we play trains yet?”
“Okay!”
So Far, So Good
Greetings from Mamaroneck, New York…
My family and I are a worldschool family. That means we glide around trying to educate our children ourselves, using a mix of online courses and real-world experiences.
We’re currently visiting Grandpa. Grandpa lives in a one-bed apartment. He’s given us the bedroom, and he is sleeping on a blow-up mattress in the living room. We all share the bathroom.
So far, so good. We’re all pretty low-maintenance people who don’t take up a lot of room. Grandpa says he loves having us here. And we love being with Grandpa.
(Although Grandpa’s back started hurting the day after we got here. We think he is spending too many hours on the floor playing trains.)
Learning the Basics
A train set is a great tool for learning the basics of electrical engineering and circuitry. The kids now know the difference between volts and amps, what a “short” is, and what an “earth” does.
This is today’s layout. We built it on the bedroom floor. Tomorrow, we’ll start all over again…
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Grandpa’s 68-year-old train set
(This train set is 68 years old. Even though it’s taken a beating over the years, it still works perfectly, probably because it’s not made of plastic.)
Resourceful Worldschoolers
Kids in regular school have access to many things we don’t. Like chemistry labs. And music schools. So to compete, we need to make the most of the resources around us.
One of the first places we always go when arriving in a new place is the public library. Driggs had a little one. Chiswick had a little one. Baltimore had a huge one. Mamaroneck has a really good one. Big but not too big.
Here we are at Mamaroneck Public Library yesterday. We checked out 27 books…
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Miles (11) makes his selection
And here is Grandpa reading us a bedtime story, Stig of the Dump…
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Story time with Grandpa
I’m traveling to Baltimore today… to meet up with colleagues Bill Bonner and Dan Denning. I’ll update you on our meetings in my next message…
– Tom Dyson
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FROM THE MAILBAG
The vaccine debate continues, after Tom shared his brother’s situation in Canada, regarding mandatory company vaccines…
Reader comment: If the vaccine protects you, then the unvaccinated can’t harm you, especially when they are likely to have natural immunity that is superior to the vax. And if the vaccine doesn’t protect you (implied by the concern), then why does forcing others to get jabbed make you safer?
Reader comment: Your brother is correct. I had the first Moderna contamination and had a sore shoulder for three weeks. The second contamination shot had me limping like I had been shot in the knee and hip by a 22-caliber rifle. No booster for this guy.
Reader comment: Regarding vaccination in Canada, this idea of “moral duty as a citizen to get vaccinated,” is pure BS! Since when do you have to inject an unknown number of substances in your body as a citizen duty? I am Canadian and my body is my own. It is also against the Nuremberg code. I am not vaccinated, neither are my family and most of my friends. Your brother is right.
Meanwhile, kind words for Tom’s son, Dusty, and his career aspirations…
Reader comment: Dusty’s embracing of a lifetime of learning is a parenting success. Congratulations! He will be rewarded many times.
Tom’s note: Thanks for writing in! As always, please keep your messages coming at [email protected], and I’ll address as many as I can in a future Friday mailbag edition.