Several weeks ago, someone on Twitter asked people to name a book they know they should have read but are ashamed to admit they haven’t. Answers ranged from To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, and A Tale of Two Cities (I salute this last person) to whole genres in general. Russian literature got a huge […]
What Shall We Then Read? Read More »
“Ivan Ilych saw that he was dying, and he was in continual despair.” – Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilych”
Dear parents who suddenly have their schooled children at home, A Quiet Place has become one of my family’s favorite movies over the past few years. Anytime we have a house guest, my children’s first question to them is, “Have you seen A Quiet Place?” If the answer is no, that guest had better be
Seven Ways to Weather Societal Shutdown with your Children Read More »
A couple of months ago, one of my logic students told me that she didn’t need to take my class to be successful. It’s a tough class with a highly specific vocabulary and skill set, and they have it at the end of the school day, which hurts their brains. She said that her father
No one questions the whole idea of homeschooling more than a homeschool mom in February. February is a notoriously hard month for homeschool moms. It’s the month most of us want to throw in the towel, quit, hide under a pile of fun books, and send our children to boarding school. In Switzerland. We are
A Host of Golden Daffodils Read More »
My daughter, Mary Judah, has very strong opinions about paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe. MJ cannot stand O’Keeffe’s work. We did the audio tour for the O’Keeffe special exhibit at San Francisco’s De Young Museum years ago. One of the stations on the tour included a recording of O’Keeffe herself talking about art and what makes
“The campus of Justin may be a haven from the war, a haven from reality, but when reality is so grim, to be a haven may be a virtuous thing. Soon, only too soon, reality will burst the walls and swell the gutters of the school to boiling livid streams, but the interim is ours
Last year, I spent the Sunday night after Thanksgiving in the ER. My husband, Joshua, had been battling persistent pneumonia for months and had finally been cleared right before the holiday weekend. That Sunday, a mere ten minutes before friends arrived for a Thanksgiving leftovers dinner, Joshua started not feeling well. He became nauseated, had
The Grace of Suffering Read More »
Proverbs 26:4 says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” The very next verse says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” The whiplash while reading wisdom literature like this often leaves one wondering what she ought to do.
Now that we’ve been back at school for several weeks, there is a certain type of Facebook post that has become commonplace amongst my friends whose children go to school: the drop-off and pick-up line angst post. This should really be a Facebook post genre in its own right, up there with posts about politics,
Work Hard. Have Fun. Be Kind. Love You. Read More »
There is no anxiety quite like homeschool mom anxiety. Can I get an amen? If you are like me, you are probably busy in the midst of school-year homeschool planning. Those shiny, new plans are so much fun and not yet ruined by reality. As I’m planning, I am confident that this year—this year!—I will
Classical Education Will Not Save Your Children Read More »
It is pivotal that we read the right stories to our children when they are young so they will learn three things. The first is to never get involved in a land war in Asia. The second is to never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. And the third is
Edmund’s Epithumos Read More »
