Update: I laugh at myself. I truly can't count! St. Nick's day is the 6th not the 7th and I forgot to include the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Plus, I stuck no. 25 on here when of course there is no #25 drawer in our wooden Advent calendar.
I changed the template for this blog to reflect the new liturgical season of Advent. Nice and purple!
I was inspired by two lists I've seen recently. One is the advent calendar that 100 Days of Real Food posted for her little ones and the other was this recent post I saw on 50 Ways to Talk to God. I thought with our wooden Advent calendar (each drawer has a little piece of a nativity set) I'd stick in little slips of paper too and every day we can open up a drawer, take out a star or an angel or what have you, and also take out a little slip of paper that will help all of us (namely, me, Becky and Sean) live Advent more meaningfully. This is definitely not a particularly ambitious list, but hopefully we can be faithful to it, and that's what is important. Of course there are going to be all sorts of other things going on too, like AHG's Christmas parade and caroling at a Retirement Home. And also the AHG troop always makes Gingerbread Houses every December. And we have to go see Becky's cousin Andrea in her Nutcracker Suite ballet. And I am sure there will be other stuff as well!
1. Help to set up the Advent wreath and remember to light the candle and say prayers before dinner.
2. Listen to an Advent hymn and think about the words (suggestions - The King of Glory or People, Look East)
3. Pick out what you'll give to Food for the Poor this year.
4. Think about how you can get closer to Jesus - how would you like to improve your spiritual life?
5. Try to pray three different times today.
6. Go to Adoration with Mom. Then go shopping for Giving Tree items.
7. Read a prayer to St. Nicholas (because it is his feast day!) and go to confession because this is probably the best day to go this Advent.
8. Pay attention in Mass. Say all the prayers, sing all the hymns, listen to the homily. Open your heart.
9. Read the story of the Nativity in the Gospel of Matthew
10. Offer up everything you do today for the poor.
11. Read the story of the Nativity in the Gospel of Luke
12. Don't complain at all today.
13. Read the first few paragraphs in the Gospel of John
14. Do an examen of your conscience
15. Pay attention in Mass. Say all the prayers, sing all the hymns, listen to the homily. Open your heart.
16. Make a list of things you can give or do for others as Christmas presents.
17. Keep working on those Christmas presents! Do it with cheer in your heart.
18. Watch the Peanuts Christmas special!
19. Wind up final Christmas shopping.
20. Pray a rosary today
21. Decorate the house. Make it an offering of love to God.
22. Pay attention in Mass! You know the drill! Go to the Brophy family Christmas party. Say a little prayer for everyone you meet.
23. Do you feel closer to Jesus than you did when Advent first started? Spend time in prayer talking to Him today.
24. Wrap presents, go to Mass, pay attention and be joyful! Alleluia!
25. Open presents, eat breakfast, hang out all day and remember to give thanks to our beloved Savior.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Sharpe's Rifles - Book 52
Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell is my 52nd book! Whoo hoo! That means I've met my 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. And I've still got 5 or so weeks to go until the end of the year.
Anyway, I read this book because I was checking out the Sharpe's series to see if it would be something good to give Rick for Christmas. I still don't know! There are many titles in the series. I picked this one because it was labeled #1, so I thought it was the beginning of the series, but as I further investigated, it seems to be neither first chronologically in the story line nor first in that it was the original novel about Sharpe, so I am not sure how it warranted that #1 on the cover.
I found it to be well written and action-packed. The author was sly in the way he introduced Sharpe; we don't find out Sharpe's name until the end of the 1st chapter. For those who don't know about this popular series (which was also a popular British TV show starring Sean Bean as the main character), Sharpe is a newly made Lieutenant in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars. He is of low birth and has come up through the ranks, being awarded officer status because of some unnamed heroic thing he did back when he was sergeant. However, he is looked down upon because he doesn't come from distinguished blood, so he's been made quartermaster. This changes when the Rifles lose their captain from an ambush they barely escape. Sharpe has to take over. The story takes place in Spain during the Pennisular War. Sharpe's character is well drawn. He's brave, thinks well under fire, is good at second guessing the enemy and seems to be especially blessed in the amount of bullets that breeze past him but never seem to strike. Occasionally he hurts his ankle or gets a glancing cut from an enemy's sword, but those swords never seem to hit a vital organ. The author tries to be realistic about this sort of thing but it gets a bit cartoonish after a while. Sharpe is also jaded, insecure, jealous and prone to sullenness.
The author is pretty gory about all the killing and brutality. He paints a pretty vivid picture of the cold, mud, stench, blood etc. But while it was enough to make me cringe a bit it wasn't too heavy handed.
There is a beautiful, plucky damsel in distress (of course!), that Sharpe gets to rescue (more or less), and then fall in love with. I didn't care for her much though, so I am glad it didn't work out in the end. In the middle of all the brutality, agony and treachery, she'd go on and on about how she'd eventually have to go back to England and marry somebody boring. Poor thing. Every time she was talking I kept wanting to tell her to get over herself.
The funny thing about this book is that the Methodists come off as priggish puritans and the Catholics actually come off well! Don Blas Vivar, the devout Spanish Lord and commander is a wonderful character. The whole plot revolves around Santiago de Compostela and the legend of St. James. The plucky damsel winds up converting to Catholicism because it is more romantic than boring old Methodism (and to marry Vivar). It was kind of refreshing to see a popular novel actually admire Catholicism.
Anyway, I thought it was an entertaining read but I can't say I am panting to read the next one. And I honestly don't know if my husband will really like them.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Anyway, I read this book because I was checking out the Sharpe's series to see if it would be something good to give Rick for Christmas. I still don't know! There are many titles in the series. I picked this one because it was labeled #1, so I thought it was the beginning of the series, but as I further investigated, it seems to be neither first chronologically in the story line nor first in that it was the original novel about Sharpe, so I am not sure how it warranted that #1 on the cover.
I found it to be well written and action-packed. The author was sly in the way he introduced Sharpe; we don't find out Sharpe's name until the end of the 1st chapter. For those who don't know about this popular series (which was also a popular British TV show starring Sean Bean as the main character), Sharpe is a newly made Lieutenant in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars. He is of low birth and has come up through the ranks, being awarded officer status because of some unnamed heroic thing he did back when he was sergeant. However, he is looked down upon because he doesn't come from distinguished blood, so he's been made quartermaster. This changes when the Rifles lose their captain from an ambush they barely escape. Sharpe has to take over. The story takes place in Spain during the Pennisular War. Sharpe's character is well drawn. He's brave, thinks well under fire, is good at second guessing the enemy and seems to be especially blessed in the amount of bullets that breeze past him but never seem to strike. Occasionally he hurts his ankle or gets a glancing cut from an enemy's sword, but those swords never seem to hit a vital organ. The author tries to be realistic about this sort of thing but it gets a bit cartoonish after a while. Sharpe is also jaded, insecure, jealous and prone to sullenness.
The author is pretty gory about all the killing and brutality. He paints a pretty vivid picture of the cold, mud, stench, blood etc. But while it was enough to make me cringe a bit it wasn't too heavy handed.
There is a beautiful, plucky damsel in distress (of course!), that Sharpe gets to rescue (more or less), and then fall in love with. I didn't care for her much though, so I am glad it didn't work out in the end. In the middle of all the brutality, agony and treachery, she'd go on and on about how she'd eventually have to go back to England and marry somebody boring. Poor thing. Every time she was talking I kept wanting to tell her to get over herself.
The funny thing about this book is that the Methodists come off as priggish puritans and the Catholics actually come off well! Don Blas Vivar, the devout Spanish Lord and commander is a wonderful character. The whole plot revolves around Santiago de Compostela and the legend of St. James. The plucky damsel winds up converting to Catholicism because it is more romantic than boring old Methodism (and to marry Vivar). It was kind of refreshing to see a popular novel actually admire Catholicism.
Anyway, I thought it was an entertaining read but I can't say I am panting to read the next one. And I honestly don't know if my husband will really like them.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Deathbed Conversions - Book 51
This book, Deathbed Conversation; Finding Faith at the Finish Line is a new book by Karen Edmisten. I know Karen as an online friend. I've read her essays in other books and also her lovely, lovely book on the Rosary. Her books are slender but substantial. I always think of her as writing for busy moms who need encouragement in their faith but in small bites that are high in spiritual nutrition. She delivers that well!
Karen writes a lovely introduction that contained a quote that has been echoing in my head all week. It might be one of my favorite lines ever.
Karen approaches each story in a gentle, nonjudgmental and factual way. She just tells the story. She doesn't draw the conclusions for us, but may suggest how the dots connect. These lives are often very messy, full of infidelity, and worse. These were some messed up people! But they all had their brilliance too, even if it was used in an evil way (I'm thinking of the murdering gangster Dutch Schultz.). Most are more of a mixed bag than Dutch. Most are considered successes by worldly standards: John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Kenneth Clark. Speaking of Kenneth Clark, I had no idea about him. I remember my mother watching and just loving his TV program, Civilisation. She had the book too. It began her self-education in art history, a passion she carried with her for the rest of her life. Over the years, I sometimes think to myself, I'd like to read the book, Civilisation. Now, after reencountering Kenneth Clark again in this book, I really want to.
Each little chapter tells the person's story with a little bibliography at the end. Karen writes clearly and succinctly; a real pleasure to read. I found it thought provoking and comforting at the same time.
Two thumbs up!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Karen writes a lovely introduction that contained a quote that has been echoing in my head all week. It might be one of my favorite lines ever.
"Trying to neatly sum up what happens in the human heart is like trying to wrap your arms around a ray of light. You keep missing; you can't hold on; there's always dust."
Karen approaches each story in a gentle, nonjudgmental and factual way. She just tells the story. She doesn't draw the conclusions for us, but may suggest how the dots connect. These lives are often very messy, full of infidelity, and worse. These were some messed up people! But they all had their brilliance too, even if it was used in an evil way (I'm thinking of the murdering gangster Dutch Schultz.). Most are more of a mixed bag than Dutch. Most are considered successes by worldly standards: John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Kenneth Clark. Speaking of Kenneth Clark, I had no idea about him. I remember my mother watching and just loving his TV program, Civilisation. She had the book too. It began her self-education in art history, a passion she carried with her for the rest of her life. Over the years, I sometimes think to myself, I'd like to read the book, Civilisation. Now, after reencountering Kenneth Clark again in this book, I really want to.
Each little chapter tells the person's story with a little bibliography at the end. Karen writes clearly and succinctly; a real pleasure to read. I found it thought provoking and comforting at the same time.
Two thumbs up!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
My Own Little School
Lately, I've been daydreaming about starting up my own little cottage school. I think what I've come up with is brilliant but whenever I put the idea forth to my husband or children, the first response is dismissiveness. There is no entrepreneur spirit in my family! They immediately dish out the negative. How did I come to live among such people? Where did I go wrong? LOL.
Anyway, I've named my school the Avila Classical School for Poetic Learning. They think this is funny. But I've got a reason for each part of the name. Avila because I want it to have a Catholic character and put the school under the patronage of St. Teresa of Avila. Classical because that is the overarching philosophy guiding the school,and Poetic because I want it to have an alternative sound to it, plus this references the poetic experience of learning that my brand of classical education emphasizes.
In my head, I have broken down the school day, not into subject categories, but rather the method of learning that would go on during particular times. Here's my schedule:
8:45 - Opening assembly - for pledge, prayer, announcements
9:00 - 10:00 Exploration and discovery - this would be a room full of interesting things to explore, activities and experiments to do, games, demonstrations done by teachers, etc. I think probably this particular style of conveying information works best for subjects like math and science. It would be a bit Montessori-like. The students, parents and teacher(s) could all collaborate on determining the various and revolving activities and things to explore in the room.
10:00 - 11:00 Read alouds. Here I would get rather Charlotte Mason-ish and read some great living books on a variety of subjects out loud to the students. The subject matter could be literature, narrative writings on history, science, mathematics, religion, etc. Again the choice of reading would be a result of collaboration among teachers, parents and students.
11:00 - 12:00 Recreation - this would include things like playground games, learning dances, sports, brisk walking, etc. This would also include lunch period.
12:00 - 1:00 Table time - here the focus is on quiet studies that develop the mind and fine motor skills. We'd create commonplace books that practice penmanship. We'd work on learning to draw and map work as well.
1:00 - 2:00 Directed studies - as a classically oriented school, we'd encourage everyone to study Latin, but we'd also do units on things like spelling, grammar, composition, as the child and their parent felt they needed this kind of focused study. Maybe we could add in Greek as well.
2:00 - 3:00 Clubs/free time - I am calling this period 'clubs' because I think this is where the students would come up with their own thing to do. Maybe they like robotics or anime, or knitting or perhaps they just want leisure time to finish up a project or read a book.
I envision Fridays being different. I think Friday mornings would be reserved for field trips or speakers or meetings for the students to make decisions about their schooling. Friday afternoons can be a time of hands on projects, showcasing something they've accomplished, free writing exercises, etc.
What do you think? I think it could work!
Anyway, I've named my school the Avila Classical School for Poetic Learning. They think this is funny. But I've got a reason for each part of the name. Avila because I want it to have a Catholic character and put the school under the patronage of St. Teresa of Avila. Classical because that is the overarching philosophy guiding the school,and Poetic because I want it to have an alternative sound to it, plus this references the poetic experience of learning that my brand of classical education emphasizes.
In my head, I have broken down the school day, not into subject categories, but rather the method of learning that would go on during particular times. Here's my schedule:
8:45 - Opening assembly - for pledge, prayer, announcements
9:00 - 10:00 Exploration and discovery - this would be a room full of interesting things to explore, activities and experiments to do, games, demonstrations done by teachers, etc. I think probably this particular style of conveying information works best for subjects like math and science. It would be a bit Montessori-like. The students, parents and teacher(s) could all collaborate on determining the various and revolving activities and things to explore in the room.
10:00 - 11:00 Read alouds. Here I would get rather Charlotte Mason-ish and read some great living books on a variety of subjects out loud to the students. The subject matter could be literature, narrative writings on history, science, mathematics, religion, etc. Again the choice of reading would be a result of collaboration among teachers, parents and students.
11:00 - 12:00 Recreation - this would include things like playground games, learning dances, sports, brisk walking, etc. This would also include lunch period.
12:00 - 1:00 Table time - here the focus is on quiet studies that develop the mind and fine motor skills. We'd create commonplace books that practice penmanship. We'd work on learning to draw and map work as well.
1:00 - 2:00 Directed studies - as a classically oriented school, we'd encourage everyone to study Latin, but we'd also do units on things like spelling, grammar, composition, as the child and their parent felt they needed this kind of focused study. Maybe we could add in Greek as well.
2:00 - 3:00 Clubs/free time - I am calling this period 'clubs' because I think this is where the students would come up with their own thing to do. Maybe they like robotics or anime, or knitting or perhaps they just want leisure time to finish up a project or read a book.
I envision Fridays being different. I think Friday mornings would be reserved for field trips or speakers or meetings for the students to make decisions about their schooling. Friday afternoons can be a time of hands on projects, showcasing something they've accomplished, free writing exercises, etc.
What do you think? I think it could work!
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Scoop - Book 50
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh has been in my imaginary to read pile for several years now. I kept reading lists that included it as one of the best comic novels ever written. The only other book I've read by Waugh is Brideshead Revisited which I think I've read at least twice. I kept thinking to myself: must read more Waugh! And then lately my oldest daughter had been talking about a friend of hers who is getting his Ph.D. in literature and is already a pretty well known authority on Waugh. He's apparently read everything Waugh has ever written and has some refreshing insights into Waugh's craft. So, due to the marvels of the kindle, I was trying to think of what to read next and all this coalesced in my mind and I downloaded Scoop and started reading.
The book is about a young man, William Boot, who accidentally gets sent to cover a possible war in a country in Africa. He is completely out of his element and all sorts of revolution, subterfuge, and political machinations are going on around him, that he is only dimly aware of. But his simplicity and stubbornness always seem to unwittingly protect him from disaster. It is full of absurdly comic situations.
So this book is funny and I am sure it is scathing and clever in its satire, if only I knew more about British foreign correspondents in Africa before World War II, I am sure I would have understood it a lot better. I felt at a definite disadvantage. I'd read something and think, gee, I bet if I knew what the author was referring to, I'd be hooting about his witty skewering of whatever it is. So I feel like a lot of this book just flew over my head.
Also, no one ever, ever, in all the reviews I read and all the accolades written about it, ever mentioned how racist it is. It is rather overtly racist. So while Waugh was parodying everybody, including the well-heeled English aristocrats and their colonialist mentality and their self-satisfied but myopic view of the world, he wasn't calling them names. He was just making fun of them. He does however use lots of bad names to refer to the Africans in the fictional country of Ismaelia (which apparently is based on Ethiopia). Now I can deal with some stuff like that in old literature. I don't get, for instance, getting upset about Huck Finn. Twain writes in the vernacular of the day, he's writing about racism and Jim is an extremely sympathetic character. The whole book is about freedom and one main theme is about how slavery is bad and African Americans deserve to be treated with dignity. And I just read some short stories by Chesterton and he includes the n word but again, it is vernacular and there is no debasing attitude attached to it. It is an unfortunate thing that reflects the time period in which he wrote. Another example is Penrod by Booth Tarkington. Again, the attitudes and language reveal how society viewed African Americans at that time, except in Penrod the two black boys are smart, sometimes smarter than Penrod, and completely endearing. They are great characters! So there is no demeaning element present in the book. However, in Scoop, I just didn't sense anything other than bigotry going on. What a shame.
The book reminded me of P. G. Wodehouse in its style of humor. In fact, in one scene at a dinner party, mention is made of somebody named Bertie Wodehouse some-other-last-name (I can't remember the full name right now). When I read that I thought, ah! So Waugh was deliberately mimicking Wodehouse here. Scoop has a cleverly crafted plot and Waugh writes brilliantly and is really great at using dialogue to reveal character. I acknowledge he is a wonderful writer, but I just couldn't appreciate this book the way I thought I would, given all the wonderful things I'd heard about it. Maybe I came to it with too high expectations. But I know I missed a lot of the satire and I just couldn't get over my distaste of the racist language.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The book is about a young man, William Boot, who accidentally gets sent to cover a possible war in a country in Africa. He is completely out of his element and all sorts of revolution, subterfuge, and political machinations are going on around him, that he is only dimly aware of. But his simplicity and stubbornness always seem to unwittingly protect him from disaster. It is full of absurdly comic situations.
So this book is funny and I am sure it is scathing and clever in its satire, if only I knew more about British foreign correspondents in Africa before World War II, I am sure I would have understood it a lot better. I felt at a definite disadvantage. I'd read something and think, gee, I bet if I knew what the author was referring to, I'd be hooting about his witty skewering of whatever it is. So I feel like a lot of this book just flew over my head.
Also, no one ever, ever, in all the reviews I read and all the accolades written about it, ever mentioned how racist it is. It is rather overtly racist. So while Waugh was parodying everybody, including the well-heeled English aristocrats and their colonialist mentality and their self-satisfied but myopic view of the world, he wasn't calling them names. He was just making fun of them. He does however use lots of bad names to refer to the Africans in the fictional country of Ismaelia (which apparently is based on Ethiopia). Now I can deal with some stuff like that in old literature. I don't get, for instance, getting upset about Huck Finn. Twain writes in the vernacular of the day, he's writing about racism and Jim is an extremely sympathetic character. The whole book is about freedom and one main theme is about how slavery is bad and African Americans deserve to be treated with dignity. And I just read some short stories by Chesterton and he includes the n word but again, it is vernacular and there is no debasing attitude attached to it. It is an unfortunate thing that reflects the time period in which he wrote. Another example is Penrod by Booth Tarkington. Again, the attitudes and language reveal how society viewed African Americans at that time, except in Penrod the two black boys are smart, sometimes smarter than Penrod, and completely endearing. They are great characters! So there is no demeaning element present in the book. However, in Scoop, I just didn't sense anything other than bigotry going on. What a shame.
The book reminded me of P. G. Wodehouse in its style of humor. In fact, in one scene at a dinner party, mention is made of somebody named Bertie Wodehouse some-other-last-name (I can't remember the full name right now). When I read that I thought, ah! So Waugh was deliberately mimicking Wodehouse here. Scoop has a cleverly crafted plot and Waugh writes brilliantly and is really great at using dialogue to reveal character. I acknowledge he is a wonderful writer, but I just couldn't appreciate this book the way I thought I would, given all the wonderful things I'd heard about it. Maybe I came to it with too high expectations. But I know I missed a lot of the satire and I just couldn't get over my distaste of the racist language.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Unschooling 8th Grade
So we've been into this homeschool year for about three months now. There is lots to like about Aquinas Learning, though because it is a new program, in it's 'beta' phase, there are rough spots too. However, Becky and I have been dreaming about unschooling next year. I was surprised that she talked about this. She really likes the fact that she gets to go to school one day a week and have friends there. I fear she'll miss this aspect. She's not always in the mood to do the the homework aspect of it, but she seems to appreciate the learning that goes on, especially in history and Latin, her two favorite classes. She could do without the catechism which just isn't a good fit and she is lost and uninterested in the formal logic. I am not sure what she thinks of the literature and composition. That's the class I teach and I think it is a little too wrapped up in the fact that her mom is teaching it. Anyway, there is a lot to like about Aquinas but at the same time we are waxing nostalgic over our freer days, where we called the shots. And especially since it looks like Becky might want to go to high school, next year, 8th grade might be her last at home. So we were thinking we might make the most of it. Here's what we've been talking about:
Right now Becky is taking guitar and voice lessons with a music teacher who is also heavily involved in a local community theater. Becky is very interested in getting involved with that. They have a summer camp that she really wants to go to. She is not so gung ho about her guitar lessons, but she loves singing and she really wants to be in a musical. So if that works out for her, I think theater will be a big part of next year in some way, shape or form.
Becky would like to get more focused on her American Heritage Girls badges. Right now she's busy with other stuff and AHG tends to get put on a back burner, but it would be nice to be freed up to work more on those things.
I told that if she did unschool there has to be some general plan for reading and writing in some consistent pattern. She announced that she would write a book next year: a chapter a month. I still have Learn to Write the Novel Way that Will used for high school, so that might help her if she needs it. She could start out with the Nanowrimo next year if she wants. Or I love the look of Peace Hill Press' The Creative Writer. That might be something too. Or maybe she'll just fly on her own! Who knows?
I think I would want to read aloud to her over breakfast each morning - I'd like the reading to alternate among subjects such as history, science and religion. I'd provide Becky with suggested books to read independently and she could come up with some of her own too.
Since it is her Confirmation year, she'll have to be involved in spirit team service projects and confirmation prep.
One schooly thing we would continue would be to have our wonderful math tutor come twice a week to teach her that. If Becky wants to get into high school, she's going to need to take an entrance exam and she'll need to know her math.
Another possibly more schoolish thing is that Becky is interested in learning French. Right now she's learning Latin, but she keeps going to websites that teach French and she's even made her own flashcards with French words. So next year, if she isn't interested in Latin, maybe she'd like to learn French?
One thing she's always wanted to do is volunteer as a living history re-enactor. We have a couple of parks around here where she could volunteer.
And of course she keeps herself busy. She likes vlogging and she also likes making up dance routines and perfecting her gymnastics, even though right now she is not taking dance or doing gymnastics. She watches youtube videos and then borrows or imitates what they do. She just showed me a dance she made up and it was good! She loves to bake and cook too. Unlike Sean who seems to need and crave external structure to keep him balanced, Becky has a lot of internal drive. She is very much a project-oriented, self-starter and I do think those kinds of kids make good unschoolers!
Right now Becky is taking guitar and voice lessons with a music teacher who is also heavily involved in a local community theater. Becky is very interested in getting involved with that. They have a summer camp that she really wants to go to. She is not so gung ho about her guitar lessons, but she loves singing and she really wants to be in a musical. So if that works out for her, I think theater will be a big part of next year in some way, shape or form.
Becky would like to get more focused on her American Heritage Girls badges. Right now she's busy with other stuff and AHG tends to get put on a back burner, but it would be nice to be freed up to work more on those things.
I told that if she did unschool there has to be some general plan for reading and writing in some consistent pattern. She announced that she would write a book next year: a chapter a month. I still have Learn to Write the Novel Way that Will used for high school, so that might help her if she needs it. She could start out with the Nanowrimo next year if she wants. Or I love the look of Peace Hill Press' The Creative Writer. That might be something too. Or maybe she'll just fly on her own! Who knows?
I think I would want to read aloud to her over breakfast each morning - I'd like the reading to alternate among subjects such as history, science and religion. I'd provide Becky with suggested books to read independently and she could come up with some of her own too.
Since it is her Confirmation year, she'll have to be involved in spirit team service projects and confirmation prep.
One schooly thing we would continue would be to have our wonderful math tutor come twice a week to teach her that. If Becky wants to get into high school, she's going to need to take an entrance exam and she'll need to know her math.
Another possibly more schoolish thing is that Becky is interested in learning French. Right now she's learning Latin, but she keeps going to websites that teach French and she's even made her own flashcards with French words. So next year, if she isn't interested in Latin, maybe she'd like to learn French?
One thing she's always wanted to do is volunteer as a living history re-enactor. We have a couple of parks around here where she could volunteer.
And of course she keeps herself busy. She likes vlogging and she also likes making up dance routines and perfecting her gymnastics, even though right now she is not taking dance or doing gymnastics. She watches youtube videos and then borrows or imitates what they do. She just showed me a dance she made up and it was good! She loves to bake and cook too. Unlike Sean who seems to need and crave external structure to keep him balanced, Becky has a lot of internal drive. She is very much a project-oriented, self-starter and I do think those kinds of kids make good unschoolers!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The Ear of the Heart - Book - Book 49
The full title of this book is The Ear of the Heart; An Actress' Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows by Mother Dolores Hart and Richard DeNeut. I got inspired to get this book on my kindle after I caught an interview of Mother Dolores somewhere, either EWTN or a link on the internet. Anyway, her story is really interesting. The book reads like a gossipy Hollywood memoir that veers suddenly off into a wonderfully thought provoking story of the blossoming and development of the Abbey of Regina Laudis - home to a group of contemplative Benedictine nuns.
Dolores Hart is the daughter of a small time Hollywood actor who never quite made it big in the industry and his first wife; both were very young, still in their teens when they married. Dolores lived with her parents, who had a very rocky and violent marriage until she was about 9 when she went to live her maternal grandparents in Chicago. While living with them she attended a Catholic school, simply because it was the closest school to their house. While there she converted to Catholicism. She got the acting bug young and while in her first year of college got a call to audition for a movie. The audition conflicted with an exam but the teacher would not let her out of it. The audition won out and she got the role opposite Elvis Presley in his first movie. She made several movies after that and was on stage in a broadway play for a long run. This part of the book introduces you to many people, like Elvis, Maria Cooper (Gary Cooper's daughter who became her best friend), Stephen Boyd (whom she dated for a bit), Karl Malden, Patricia Neal and many other lesser known stars. She loved acting and she loved Hollywood but she felt empty too. Someone mentioned this beautiful monastary in Connecticut two hours outside New York City. When she was feeling very stressed during the long run of her broadway play she decided to go visit it. She fell in love. She kept finding excuses to go back to visit and did so over the next couple of years. Then finally she decided she had a vocation. She secretly wrapped up her career in Hollywood (she wasn't allowed to tell anyone!) and went into the convent.
Convent life was hard! Much harder than she thought. She cried herself to sleep for the next three years! It was an amazing stripping away of self. Somehow though she knew she belonged there even though she thought all the time about leaving. Life at the monastery (it later officially became an Abbey - I am not sure what the difference is but there is one.) One thing that made it even rougher was that first her father and then her mother died soon after she entered. They both had a couple of failed marriages and were raging alcoholics and it looks like it was very probably both deaths were suicides. But she really connected with the Lady Abbess of Regina Laudis and a number of other nuns. The life was rich with prayer, learning to sing the Latin office, silence, very hard manual labor, and then all sorts of things happened as the leaders of the abbey sought to make their 1500 year old lifestyle relevant to modern America. All kinds of lay communities developed in conjuction with Regina Laudis, a theater ministry began, conservation and better farming techniques were pioneered, and much more. The nuns were allowed to pursue higher education. One famous nun, called the Cheese Nun, had a documentary made about her research into cheese microbiology. I saw that documentary on PBS several years ago and didn't even realize it was the same abbey. They also wound up making two very popular cds called Women in Chant.
Lots and lots of other stuff happened too. Too much to recount in this review. It is a very interesting story. I would love to go visit Regina Laudis one day.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Dolores Hart is the daughter of a small time Hollywood actor who never quite made it big in the industry and his first wife; both were very young, still in their teens when they married. Dolores lived with her parents, who had a very rocky and violent marriage until she was about 9 when she went to live her maternal grandparents in Chicago. While living with them she attended a Catholic school, simply because it was the closest school to their house. While there she converted to Catholicism. She got the acting bug young and while in her first year of college got a call to audition for a movie. The audition conflicted with an exam but the teacher would not let her out of it. The audition won out and she got the role opposite Elvis Presley in his first movie. She made several movies after that and was on stage in a broadway play for a long run. This part of the book introduces you to many people, like Elvis, Maria Cooper (Gary Cooper's daughter who became her best friend), Stephen Boyd (whom she dated for a bit), Karl Malden, Patricia Neal and many other lesser known stars. She loved acting and she loved Hollywood but she felt empty too. Someone mentioned this beautiful monastary in Connecticut two hours outside New York City. When she was feeling very stressed during the long run of her broadway play she decided to go visit it. She fell in love. She kept finding excuses to go back to visit and did so over the next couple of years. Then finally she decided she had a vocation. She secretly wrapped up her career in Hollywood (she wasn't allowed to tell anyone!) and went into the convent.
Convent life was hard! Much harder than she thought. She cried herself to sleep for the next three years! It was an amazing stripping away of self. Somehow though she knew she belonged there even though she thought all the time about leaving. Life at the monastery (it later officially became an Abbey - I am not sure what the difference is but there is one.) One thing that made it even rougher was that first her father and then her mother died soon after she entered. They both had a couple of failed marriages and were raging alcoholics and it looks like it was very probably both deaths were suicides. But she really connected with the Lady Abbess of Regina Laudis and a number of other nuns. The life was rich with prayer, learning to sing the Latin office, silence, very hard manual labor, and then all sorts of things happened as the leaders of the abbey sought to make their 1500 year old lifestyle relevant to modern America. All kinds of lay communities developed in conjuction with Regina Laudis, a theater ministry began, conservation and better farming techniques were pioneered, and much more. The nuns were allowed to pursue higher education. One famous nun, called the Cheese Nun, had a documentary made about her research into cheese microbiology. I saw that documentary on PBS several years ago and didn't even realize it was the same abbey. They also wound up making two very popular cds called Women in Chant.
Lots and lots of other stuff happened too. Too much to recount in this review. It is a very interesting story. I would love to go visit Regina Laudis one day.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
The Language of God - Book 48
Last Sunday I had to drive my son back to college. The whole round trip was going to be about 3 hours and I was soooo sleeeeeppppyyyy. I hadn't slept well and I was afraid I'd start nodding off as I drove, so literally, as I was going out to the car to start I grabbed this audio book out of the cabinet. I thought listening to something might help keep me awake. Many years ago I had begun listening to this book, but I had never finished. Well, it kept me awake! And this whole week I've been listening to it and admiring Dr. Francis Collins. He is honest, intelligent, knowledgeable and fair.
Dr. Collins was the head of the Human Genome Project at NIH when it figured out how to read our DNA coding. It is an amazing feat of science. Dr. Collins thinks this is indeed the language of God. Dr. Collins traces his unusual childhood (his parents were hippies before it was cool) who was homeschooled until age ten. He then attended public school in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He went on to study chemistry and then medicine at various places like Duke UVA and Yale. He was not raised in any religion and decided he was an atheist in college. But while working with southern country folks, often poor, who were dealing with terrible illnesses, he saw how strong their faith made them. He admired this. So he started reading. C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity proved to be the tipping point. He decided he did believe in God and was a Christian.
Collins does not see a tension between belief and science. He thinks believing in God is a perfectly rational thing. He is dismayed that the unnecessary hostility between some Christians, especially creationists, and scientists. He is very generous and honorable so he never gets snarky in the least, but he clearly sets out the reasons both sides are to blame for this 'war.'
He makes a great argument for theistic evolution. I found this part especially edifying. Also, at the end of the audio book there is an appendix where he lays out all the issues that bioethics is currently dealing with. He's a tiny bit dated - this book came out in 2006 - about embryonic stem cell research, but on the whole the issues are all still very hot ones that need addressing.
This book is also his memoir about the various illnesses he's worked on such as cystic fibrosis and breast cancer. My high school (and the one Sean is currently attending) has a huge 'superdance' every year to raise money for finding a cure for that disease. There was a family that attended the school when I was there, one of the daughters was a year ahead of me and she died before she graduated. She was a real hero. And in fact her mother was a well known Latin teacher who helped start the National Latin Exam. And one of the exams prizes is named for Maura O'Donnell. So anyway, I was cheered to hear about Dr. Collins' success at uncovering the defective gene that causing cystic fibrosis. Also, compelling was the story of the family that had a very deadly breast cancer running through all the generations. They turned out to be a very dramatic case of genetically inherited cancer. Dr. Collins sings on this audio book! He likes to play the guitar and write songs. He sings rather well!
I highly recommend this book. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Dr. Collins was the head of the Human Genome Project at NIH when it figured out how to read our DNA coding. It is an amazing feat of science. Dr. Collins thinks this is indeed the language of God. Dr. Collins traces his unusual childhood (his parents were hippies before it was cool) who was homeschooled until age ten. He then attended public school in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He went on to study chemistry and then medicine at various places like Duke UVA and Yale. He was not raised in any religion and decided he was an atheist in college. But while working with southern country folks, often poor, who were dealing with terrible illnesses, he saw how strong their faith made them. He admired this. So he started reading. C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity proved to be the tipping point. He decided he did believe in God and was a Christian.
Collins does not see a tension between belief and science. He thinks believing in God is a perfectly rational thing. He is dismayed that the unnecessary hostility between some Christians, especially creationists, and scientists. He is very generous and honorable so he never gets snarky in the least, but he clearly sets out the reasons both sides are to blame for this 'war.'
He makes a great argument for theistic evolution. I found this part especially edifying. Also, at the end of the audio book there is an appendix where he lays out all the issues that bioethics is currently dealing with. He's a tiny bit dated - this book came out in 2006 - about embryonic stem cell research, but on the whole the issues are all still very hot ones that need addressing.
This book is also his memoir about the various illnesses he's worked on such as cystic fibrosis and breast cancer. My high school (and the one Sean is currently attending) has a huge 'superdance' every year to raise money for finding a cure for that disease. There was a family that attended the school when I was there, one of the daughters was a year ahead of me and she died before she graduated. She was a real hero. And in fact her mother was a well known Latin teacher who helped start the National Latin Exam. And one of the exams prizes is named for Maura O'Donnell. So anyway, I was cheered to hear about Dr. Collins' success at uncovering the defective gene that causing cystic fibrosis. Also, compelling was the story of the family that had a very deadly breast cancer running through all the generations. They turned out to be a very dramatic case of genetically inherited cancer. Dr. Collins sings on this audio book! He likes to play the guitar and write songs. He sings rather well!
I highly recommend this book. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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