Letter 1

Dear Hania,

(... ) I really loved Tony Robinson's contribution to remembering Hugh, brilliant writing, and Angnese Bartoli's article and photos. HLT definitely rocks - with its many ideas and in sights it's absolutely fab.

Hugs,

Mary

Letter 2

Hania

Great job on another issue. I know how hard is to put something together like this. Maybe there is a publisher out there who would be interested in your talents poured into this? Print is not completely out of fashion you know. (…)

Rick

Letter 3

I'd like to thank u, and please keep sending me the articles

XYZ

Letter 4

Dear Hania,

Congratulations to you and to PILGRIMS for having so brilliantly sustained the publication of HUMANISING LANGUAGE TEACHING. May your (could I say "our", too, given my occasional publications?) for a decade. May your pioneering publishing initiative go on for many more decades. Attached, the chapter Non-killing Linguistics I’m a(senior)co-author of. It was written for the forthcoming volume Towards a Non-killing Paradigm, edited by Glenn D. Paige and Joám Evans Pim. To be published this year by Center for Non-killing Paradigm.Honolulu, Hawaii,2009. Sunniest humanizing rays to you and all at HLT,

Francisco Gomes de Matos, language educator and applied peace linguist,
Recife, Brazil

Letter 5

Dear Hania,

Congrats on being the editor of HLT. You must be a very interesting person and a very affective educator.

Thank you for the invitation to share my work at HLT. I have published with HLT twice already. That has been a long time ago though. I'll be travelling to Europe and Japan in order to visit educators and schools. I want to write during this time.

I'll make the magazine known to them as well and get them to write for you. It would be fantastic to have articles written by the educators and the coordinators published.

I'll write you soon,

Hug from Brazil,

Juan

Letter 6

Dear All,

Forgive me for invading your email space. This is just to send you the first edition of our Open Eye newsletter, partly for information and partly in the hope that you might like to join our email list. The OE campaign is protesting against the premature forcing of cognitive skills (& ICT) on toddlers and children by the Early Years Foundation Scheme (EYFS). General agreement is that the age of developmental readiness is about 7 yrs (Einstein was a late reader, started at 8), and many countries make a point of avoiding cognitive work before this age, Finland, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy & Wales among them. If children begin too early, the 80% or so who find this hard, are .likely to form the impression that they are stupid, learning is difficult and it involves suppressing all that they themselves want to do. Whereas nature, ingeniously, gave them the quantum gift of play, which, if they do it their way (not the teacher's way!), will develop all those abilities that need to be in place first to provide a rich and stable foundation for intellect. Nature knows what it's doing. Some people (such as Steiner) would go further and say that early literary forcing constricts the soul. If children begin cognitive work at 7, the chances are they will find it easy, think learning is fun, and feel good about themselves.

We have no objection to EYFS in principle (Wales does it extremely well, a genuine play approach) and are not accusing the government of any ill intent. Politicians are often left brainers with strong information skills, admiring the Thatcher/Blair technocratic approach and unaware of the notion of organic learning (from inside out). Play for them means taking part in teachers' games, planned to inculcate targeted skills, and they see nothing wrong in tracking via box ticking to assess future skills and identify those who need remedial measures (at 5!). They genuinely believe they can teach educators how to teach more efficiently. Anyone who doesn't agree with that tends to find they don't get promoted, invited, appreciated, etc., and so the rot sets in. Thousands of carers have left the nursery profession because they don't want to give orders and tick boxes all day long; they want to have the space to feel what children need. They are therefore regarded as ignorant and under-qualified, and should have been replaced anyway. See the picture?

If you'd like to receive the Newsletter, just send me a Yes Please.

Warmest, Grethe
E-mail: mind.management@connect-2.co.uk
OpenEYE newsletter

Letter 7

Dear Hania

I got this in my mailbox. You were THE woman I wanted to forward it to. I think you might appreciate and maybe use.

A hug

Cécile from Belgium

MAYA ANGLOU'S' BEST POEM EVER

*A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...

*A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …

a youth she's content to leave behind....

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honoured...

* A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a feeling of control over her destiny....

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

* EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...