I mentioned that I barely read anything over my family vacation last week. It’s too easy to fall away from a good habit – reading before bed, reading in spare time, etc – and the reading rut followed me home. I can only justify reading so many detective novels, as good as they are at…
Most students aren’t stupid, but I think many haven’t been effectively challenged or trained. It’s also harder for the instructor to teach close reading than it is to have meandering discussions about how a given work, which has probably been at best skimmed, makes students feel. Insightful article from author/teacher Jake Seliger. This, again, articulates…
Food for thought in this article by Eric Hoel in March. While school choice makes little difference to a child’s outcomes, individual tutoring does. The traditional line for why essentially all intellectuals used to be aristocrats is that they were the only people with the leisure time to pursue the life of the mind. But…
Last week my husband and I took a six day/five night trip to Kentucky – without the kids. One could be forgiven for thinking we took it easy, rested, and relaxed. Instead, we hiked about 23 miles over three days, in hot and humid weather. We drank lots of water. Despite all the sweat and…
Yesterday I mentioned that if an activity would interrupt our schedule of rest, we would probably pass on that opportunity. While that schedule is a bit fluid, I’ve noticed a few patterns since we start more formal homeschool lessons that have informed this schedule. Fridays off. At least until later in the afternoon. Four days…
Our current culture is obsessed with doing ‘things’, especially for kids. Even my podcast co-host mentioned that, in her part of her home state, you have to book your children in for summer camp by January – otherwise they are full. We want our kids to have time to play and ‘just be kids’ –…
A few more thoughts on yesterday’s post: It was pointed out to me that the idea of ‘fossil sunshine’ is quite broad and well-known, and Goudge could have found the idea many places. To add some context to the quote, Hugh Anthony, the reader, is an eight year old reading a geography book under the…
These ancient forests grew by means of the light and heat of the sun, so that a piece of coal is really so much fossil sunshine! And when you warm yourselves by the fire, you are really enjoying the heat of the sun, which was poured down on some forest of those old, old days,…
Now I love Bible study and talking about the Bible. But I am firmly in the camp of ‘we aren’t going to think our way to holiness’. We are loving, desiring creatures, and our loves and desires are shaped by many things. Hence my latest article on Momma Theologians. I think this can be a…
This article from Michael Morpurgo on The Guardian has been making the rounds online. From my perspective as a home educator, I want my kids to understand grammar and have a decent grasp of spelling. However, analyzing language should only ever come after a child has a deep affection for language, years of falling in…