When you first hear the term “robotics,” thoughts of fun, high-spirited competitions and unique social and cultural interaction likely don’t come to mind.

That's about to change. Around St. Louis you’ll soon be hearing a lot about robotics.
 

Note: This is the third in a three-part series. Read part 1 |  Read part 2

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not regulate or monitor homeschooling in the state of Missouri, according to the department’s web site.

Additionally, neither the State Board of Education nor the department has authority to issue regulations or guidelines concerning homeschooling.

According to Michelle Clark, communications director for DESE, this lack of oversight would extend to unschooling, even though she had not heard of that education method.

With the snow starting to melt away and that big orange thing in the sky finally revealing itself, I’ve been scouring fashion magazines and websites with abandon, trying to get a taste of the trends for spring to plan my wardrobe for the upcoming season.

To get help in finding looks that are both fashion-forward and easy for a busy mom to pull off, celebrated St. Louis fashion stylist and personal shopper, Jan Leach of Jan Leach Style, shared with me five hot trends for spring 2011. And along with Natalie Woods, owner of Daisy Clover Boutique in Webster Groves, explained via email how anyone can pull them off so us moms can look and feel our best.

At the grocery store on Friday, my son was tooling around recklessly with his little mini-cart like he usually does … until he came to the floral Valentine’s Day display. He screeched to a halt directly in front of the roses and stared at them like they were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen in all his four and a half years.

We wound up leaving the store with a flowering plant (not roses, luckily!) that he carried out like it was a precious jewel. We propped it securely in the car for the drive home and he insisted we turn off the music so his plant could have peace and quiet. And he unloaded it from the car directly into a sunny window, with no prompting from me. He’s also been watering it and wondering when the large bud will join the two flowers that are already blooming.

Clearly this is a boy who’s suffering from a nature deficit!