I'd like to highlight a homeschool Latin program that I think has gotten overlooked, unfortunately.
Way back when, and frankly I don't remember the chronological order of all these programs we sampled, I was looking for a good Latin program for my kids that didn't require any knowledge on the part of the homeschooling mom and that had more meat and exercises than Latina Christiana*, was not completely dry and maybe even a little bit fun. I searched and searched and stumbled on Schola Latina. This is a pretty obscure program. This was back when the choices for elementary school kids were Latina Christiana, Latin's Not so Tough and the Latin Road to English Grammar; before the flashier Latin for Children or Visual Latin or even Memoria Press' First Form Latin were on the homeschooling market. I guess this must have been around 2002 or 2003, somewhere in there. Anyway, somehow I found out about it and decided to give it a whirl and. . . it worked. We really liked it. The primary guinea pig was Joshua my middle son who was about 10 at the time. He was my most workbooky child. Workbooks, as a rule, didn't really work well for my kids, with some exceptions. And Schola Latina was one of them. It is a bit similar to Latina Christiana but I thought better organized, had more depth, and had more opportunities to practice in fun ways.
I always wonder why it isn't better known. It really ought to be. The author is located in Oklahoma, so maybe it is a regional thing and maybe people out west are more familiar with it I was even wondering if it still existed since I wound up not using it for Sean (see tomorrow's post!). It is a spiral bound, home published sort of curriculum. Maybe, Ken Stephenson, the author wasn't selling anymore. But it looks like he is and he even has a facebook page.
Anyway, I give it two hearty thumbs up!
* This was before Latina Christiana was revised or before they added the Ludere book. I don't mean to keep bashing Latina Christiana. It's just that it was our first encounter with Latin and it flopped, for us. And it was the program everybody around us was using and raving about. Frustrating! I actually like many products by Memoria Press and I love their magalogue!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
7 Posts in 7 Days (the Latin Version) - Tres Magistrae Magnae
Over the years I have encountered three women Latin teachers whom I really admire. They all love the Latin language and have done what they could within their small sphere in life to advance its study here in the postmodern world.
The first is the one I know the best (and she doesn't know I am writing this!). She is the lovely lady mentioned in my first post on Latin in this series. She's taught three out of my five children Latin so far and she taught me, so that after years of frustrated effort I finally learned a little bit of Latin, enough to feel I had finally gotten some traction. Many local homeschooled children and some not-homeschooled children who needed tutoring after school hours have benefited from her gifts as a Latin teacher. She has a marvelous collection of Latin textbooks! She also wrote and self-published two lovely little helps for Catholics who want to learn Latin. Here's a link to her website, Understandinglatin. The store is temporarily closed but you could try emailing her, if you are interested.
The second lady I have only recently met via email. And I have hardly done that. But I listen to her a lot because I watch the videos she made for Aquinas Learning. She wrote her own curriculum based on Wheelock's Latin, which is a highly popular college text that is adapted frequently for high school. Her curriculum is pretty brilliant, I think. My daughter is in the intro level, Latina Ponti, and I am currently mentoring kids in the Studium Latinae, or Latin 1 level. She's got this website where she offers courses to homeschooling families.
The third lady was someone out of my past that I only recently re-encountered Way back in the 1970's when I was high school, there was a girl a couple years ahead of me named Maura O'Donnell. She had cystic fibrosis. All her siblings also went to my Catholic high school and, I think have all died of the same disease. This inspired my high school to start something called the Superdance. I danced in the Superdance to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. The Superdance is still going on, dedicated to Maura's and her siblings' memory. Maura died soon after she graduated. Years later, it was somehow brought my attention that Maura's mother, Maureen, had passed away (see obituary). It turns out that she was a very popular and beloved Latin teacher in the public school system here. I remember this fact was mentioned in her obituary. Well, fast forward many, many years later. I have finally gotten enough Latin under my belt that I was going to take something called the National Latin Exam. And lo and behold there is an award given out for the National Latin Exam named after Maureen O'Donnell. What a tragic life she had and yet she was a wonderfully dedicated teacher who transmitted to her students a great love for the Latin language. Apparently, she was instrumental in restarting up the National Latin Exam after it had fallen apart. If you are nerdy enough to be interested in such things, here's a link that tells the history of the National Latin Exam.
I would like to say gratias tibi to each of these wonderful ladies.
The first is the one I know the best (and she doesn't know I am writing this!). She is the lovely lady mentioned in my first post on Latin in this series. She's taught three out of my five children Latin so far and she taught me, so that after years of frustrated effort I finally learned a little bit of Latin, enough to feel I had finally gotten some traction. Many local homeschooled children and some not-homeschooled children who needed tutoring after school hours have benefited from her gifts as a Latin teacher. She has a marvelous collection of Latin textbooks! She also wrote and self-published two lovely little helps for Catholics who want to learn Latin. Here's a link to her website, Understandinglatin. The store is temporarily closed but you could try emailing her, if you are interested.
The second lady I have only recently met via email. And I have hardly done that. But I listen to her a lot because I watch the videos she made for Aquinas Learning. She wrote her own curriculum based on Wheelock's Latin, which is a highly popular college text that is adapted frequently for high school. Her curriculum is pretty brilliant, I think. My daughter is in the intro level, Latina Ponti, and I am currently mentoring kids in the Studium Latinae, or Latin 1 level. She's got this website where she offers courses to homeschooling families.
The third lady was someone out of my past that I only recently re-encountered Way back in the 1970's when I was high school, there was a girl a couple years ahead of me named Maura O'Donnell. She had cystic fibrosis. All her siblings also went to my Catholic high school and, I think have all died of the same disease. This inspired my high school to start something called the Superdance. I danced in the Superdance to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. The Superdance is still going on, dedicated to Maura's and her siblings' memory. Maura died soon after she graduated. Years later, it was somehow brought my attention that Maura's mother, Maureen, had passed away (see obituary). It turns out that she was a very popular and beloved Latin teacher in the public school system here. I remember this fact was mentioned in her obituary. Well, fast forward many, many years later. I have finally gotten enough Latin under my belt that I was going to take something called the National Latin Exam. And lo and behold there is an award given out for the National Latin Exam named after Maureen O'Donnell. What a tragic life she had and yet she was a wonderfully dedicated teacher who transmitted to her students a great love for the Latin language. Apparently, she was instrumental in restarting up the National Latin Exam after it had fallen apart. If you are nerdy enough to be interested in such things, here's a link that tells the history of the National Latin Exam.
I would like to say gratias tibi to each of these wonderful ladies.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
7 Posts in 7 Days (Latin Version) - Introducing Very Young Children to Latin
7 Posts in 7 Days is a series of blog posts inspired by Jen Fulwiler of Conversion Diary. I started a day late though!
I have a passing familiarity with some programs designed to introduce very young children to Latin, but I have a very favorite one that practically no one has heard of. I'll list all the ones I have encountered over the years. By 'very young age,' I mean preschool and up to 2nd grade or so.
Song School Latin - this one I am not so very familiar with. I am more familiar with Song School Greek (because I own SSG but never really used it! - did I tell you about my curriculum junkie habits???), however, I do have a little bit of knowledge about it mostly because it is used in Aquinas Learning and my daughter, who is teaching their preschool this year says it is a fun program that the kids love. I think for the preschool set, they only use some of the songs and learn some of the vocabulary words. My partially ignorant impression is that if you like a splashy program with a silly/funny monkey and canned music to help you learn some basic Latin - then this is for you! I have no problem with making learning fun, but my own tastes don't run this way. I can't stand canned music - and for some reason, even though this is for young children, I found the set up confusing. But take anything I say with a grain of salt! I have not actually used this program, so for all I know it might be just the ticket for you.
Getting Started With Latin - I have used this program and I love it. It requires no prior knowledge of Latin and no prior preparation to teach it. It is perfect for a parent and child to do together to learn very introductory Latin. So if you don't know a lick of Latin yourself, you can learn right alongside your first grader. You can pick it up and put it down when you like. You can go through several lessons in one sitting or linger over a lesson for a couple days, if you like. I did a review of it a couple years ago but I am too lazy at 6:12 a.m. to go looking for it on this blog. This program does not have any whistles and bells. Simple, straightforward and easy to use. My advice is to have a whiteboard nearby so that you can write some of the patterns there and maybe answer some of the questions up on the whiteboard. The parent could do the writing so that the child has some visual - or the child could, if they are old enough. This program reminds me a little bit of First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise. You sit next to your child and do one very short and simple lesson with him or her. I used this with Becky and sometimes her concentration span was such that we could do a couple of lessons at one time, and sometimes her concentration span was such that we repeated one lesson a couple days in a row, just to make sure she got it. Painless and solid.
Prima Latina - I bought this program and I don't know why. Latina Christiana went over like a lead balloon around here. We never really used it. Slow, lots of writing for young children (2nd graders - my boys were very slow to develop handwriting skills) and, to us, dull as dishwater. I bought it way back when before there was any audio-visual component.
Minimus - this is a clever program for very young elementary students. It is expensive, takes a lot of teacher prep and I think really assumes you know some Latin already. For a hands on teacher who knows what they are doing, this could be a good program.
I Speak Latin/Latine Loquor - this is an obscure program that was written by Andrew A. Campbell of Latin Centered Curriculum. It is brilliant! It is subtitled A Conversational Latin Course for Young Beginners. This is for very young children - it could be used for those who are prewriting and pre-reading if you are just going to focus on understanding the spoken language. It is completely scripted for the teacher along with very clear pronunciation guides for all new words. Campbell himself suggests it for grades 2 and up. Campbell builds slowly but it is amazing how much can be learned and just how much fun it is to learn spoken Latin in this way. Really well done program.
I wrote the above list in no particular order. As you can see, my two favorite resources are Getting Started with Latin and I Speak Latin/Latine Loquor. My own children were late bloomers. We didn't learn to read until 8 (girls) or 9 (boys) and they all needed vision therapy to help them along. We had trouble with handwriting. Yet I still wanted to introduce them to things that would typically be out of their reach at an early age, like Latin. I didn't quite achieve what I wanted at an early age but I was on the lookout for programs that could do this. I have a personal preference for programs that can be adapted as resources more than spelled out day by day lessons (though, both these programs are written out like that - but they are so simple and straight-forward they are very flexible). I like things that take little to no prep.
I have a passing familiarity with some programs designed to introduce very young children to Latin, but I have a very favorite one that practically no one has heard of. I'll list all the ones I have encountered over the years. By 'very young age,' I mean preschool and up to 2nd grade or so.
Song School Latin - this one I am not so very familiar with. I am more familiar with Song School Greek (because I own SSG but never really used it! - did I tell you about my curriculum junkie habits???), however, I do have a little bit of knowledge about it mostly because it is used in Aquinas Learning and my daughter, who is teaching their preschool this year says it is a fun program that the kids love. I think for the preschool set, they only use some of the songs and learn some of the vocabulary words. My partially ignorant impression is that if you like a splashy program with a silly/funny monkey and canned music to help you learn some basic Latin - then this is for you! I have no problem with making learning fun, but my own tastes don't run this way. I can't stand canned music - and for some reason, even though this is for young children, I found the set up confusing. But take anything I say with a grain of salt! I have not actually used this program, so for all I know it might be just the ticket for you.
Getting Started With Latin - I have used this program and I love it. It requires no prior knowledge of Latin and no prior preparation to teach it. It is perfect for a parent and child to do together to learn very introductory Latin. So if you don't know a lick of Latin yourself, you can learn right alongside your first grader. You can pick it up and put it down when you like. You can go through several lessons in one sitting or linger over a lesson for a couple days, if you like. I did a review of it a couple years ago but I am too lazy at 6:12 a.m. to go looking for it on this blog. This program does not have any whistles and bells. Simple, straightforward and easy to use. My advice is to have a whiteboard nearby so that you can write some of the patterns there and maybe answer some of the questions up on the whiteboard. The parent could do the writing so that the child has some visual - or the child could, if they are old enough. This program reminds me a little bit of First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise. You sit next to your child and do one very short and simple lesson with him or her. I used this with Becky and sometimes her concentration span was such that we could do a couple of lessons at one time, and sometimes her concentration span was such that we repeated one lesson a couple days in a row, just to make sure she got it. Painless and solid.
Prima Latina - I bought this program and I don't know why. Latina Christiana went over like a lead balloon around here. We never really used it. Slow, lots of writing for young children (2nd graders - my boys were very slow to develop handwriting skills) and, to us, dull as dishwater. I bought it way back when before there was any audio-visual component.
Minimus - this is a clever program for very young elementary students. It is expensive, takes a lot of teacher prep and I think really assumes you know some Latin already. For a hands on teacher who knows what they are doing, this could be a good program.
I Speak Latin/Latine Loquor - this is an obscure program that was written by Andrew A. Campbell of Latin Centered Curriculum. It is brilliant! It is subtitled A Conversational Latin Course for Young Beginners. This is for very young children - it could be used for those who are prewriting and pre-reading if you are just going to focus on understanding the spoken language. It is completely scripted for the teacher along with very clear pronunciation guides for all new words. Campbell himself suggests it for grades 2 and up. Campbell builds slowly but it is amazing how much can be learned and just how much fun it is to learn spoken Latin in this way. Really well done program.
I wrote the above list in no particular order. As you can see, my two favorite resources are Getting Started with Latin and I Speak Latin/Latine Loquor. My own children were late bloomers. We didn't learn to read until 8 (girls) or 9 (boys) and they all needed vision therapy to help them along. We had trouble with handwriting. Yet I still wanted to introduce them to things that would typically be out of their reach at an early age, like Latin. I didn't quite achieve what I wanted at an early age but I was on the lookout for programs that could do this. I have a personal preference for programs that can be adapted as resources more than spelled out day by day lessons (though, both these programs are written out like that - but they are so simple and straight-forward they are very flexible). I like things that take little to no prep.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
7 Posts in 7 Days (Latin version) The Phenomena of Language
I am late to the party (as usual!) but Willa tipped me off to this. Jen Fulwiler is doing a 7 Posts in 7 Days thing. I guess it is to get over a late winter blogging slump? Anyway, I got the silly idea that I would do that too, so that I could talk about my latest preoccupation. This is a nerdy preoccupation with Latin textbooks.
First, it is important to reiterate that I am not a Latin scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I came to learning Latin very late when I was homeschooling my kids and my older ones were about 9 or 10. So that would be about 13 or 14 years ago. I was amazed, awed and intimidated by these homeschooling moms who were going to teach their kids Latin. I wanted to be as cool as they were so I signed on to the project by buying Latina Christiana. We got about two pages into the book and I realized I could never do this. And that was the end of that effort. For the time being. Then luckily I discovered there was this lovely homeschooling mom of many who taught Latin out of her home. Many kids that my oldest daughter knew would be enrolled in a class she was giving for 6th graders. I signed my daughter up. She enjoyed it the first two years but the last year she was too busying being an 8th grader. She was a bossy, know it all kind of girl that year (ahem!) and she rebelled by not doing her Latin homework. So that was the end of Latin for her. However, during that three year period, I helped a lot with her homework and I started to get a glimmer of what Latin was about, though it was still a deep, dark mystery too.
My struggle continued and it involved buying many different curricula and eventually enrolling in the lovely lady's classes myself along with my teenaged sons (at the time). I continue to try to learn Latin though at this current point in time it is more reviewing a lot of Latin that I have forgotten already because I took a couple year break in my own Latin education.
Being a curriculum junkie I have collected a lot of different materials for learning Latin. I have given a few away but for the most part I have kept them. I was recently reorganizing all my Latin books into one spot and that got me poring over them all and thinking about their various characteristics, etc.
I am just picking one random text that I think is a wonderful resource: The Phenomena of Language. I shrink from going to the Pearson website since I have been reading all sorts of articles that think Pearson is the spawn of the devil because of the bundle they are making off the whole common core debacle. Anyway, I bought this used from amazon (only two left in stock!) because Sean at the time was trying to get into a local classical school (which rejected him, grrr.) and we were trying to prepare him thinking he would indeed be accepted. This school uses The Phenomena of Language in the first semester of 7th grade and then begins with Ecce Romani after that. My copy is half written in but that's okay.
The Phenomena of Language is a workbook that introduces a middle school student to Latin. It goes very slowly and in terms of actual Latin learned, you don't get all that much. The books focuses on the first and second conjugations, explaining what 'cases' are, what tenses are and gives the student some basic vocabulary to work with. What is so charming about this book is that it is using Latin to basically explain how languages work. It unfolds the mysteries of grammar in a clear and thoughtful way. It also presents information about Latin history and culture in an amusing, light way; a way in which I don't think the student realizes the depth of what he is learning. It also teaches many Latin derivatives and goes into how these derivatives arrived in English.
The workbook is not intimidating at all. It has delightful cartoon illustrations sprinkled throughout. The layout is engaging. My one quibble is that throughout the book there are gray blocks imbedded in the pages that are meant to highlight important information. The pages almost but not quite have a xeroxed look to them. The gray in the boxes is too dark and doesn't differentiate enough with the printed words in them. It makes it hard to read. At least for my old, tired eyes.
I find this book so charming, I'll actually leaf through it at odd moments just for fun. Now that I have been helping out with the Certamen team for Aquinas Learning, I see that it is excellent preparation for that type of competition. In fact lately I've been daydreaming of using this book to teach a class to 5th through 8th graders at a local homeschool support program. I feel I could really teach this. I am not a Latin scholar at all, but I am pretty much an expert on introducing Latin to kids, since I have been engaged in that level of Latin for many years now.
I wish I could take my own kids through the book, but both are now too advanced grammar-wise for it in terms of knowing more than just two conjugations and that sort of thing. However, the depth of understanding this book conveys about how grammar works would be beneficial. I don't think my kids really have a strong grasp on that.
This book just isn't really talked about in homeschool circles. Maybe because it is too expensive? Maybe because it is hard to get through Pearson? I am not sure. But I do think it would be an excellent and charming way to begin Latin studies.
First, it is important to reiterate that I am not a Latin scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I came to learning Latin very late when I was homeschooling my kids and my older ones were about 9 or 10. So that would be about 13 or 14 years ago. I was amazed, awed and intimidated by these homeschooling moms who were going to teach their kids Latin. I wanted to be as cool as they were so I signed on to the project by buying Latina Christiana. We got about two pages into the book and I realized I could never do this. And that was the end of that effort. For the time being. Then luckily I discovered there was this lovely homeschooling mom of many who taught Latin out of her home. Many kids that my oldest daughter knew would be enrolled in a class she was giving for 6th graders. I signed my daughter up. She enjoyed it the first two years but the last year she was too busying being an 8th grader. She was a bossy, know it all kind of girl that year (ahem!) and she rebelled by not doing her Latin homework. So that was the end of Latin for her. However, during that three year period, I helped a lot with her homework and I started to get a glimmer of what Latin was about, though it was still a deep, dark mystery too.
My struggle continued and it involved buying many different curricula and eventually enrolling in the lovely lady's classes myself along with my teenaged sons (at the time). I continue to try to learn Latin though at this current point in time it is more reviewing a lot of Latin that I have forgotten already because I took a couple year break in my own Latin education.
Being a curriculum junkie I have collected a lot of different materials for learning Latin. I have given a few away but for the most part I have kept them. I was recently reorganizing all my Latin books into one spot and that got me poring over them all and thinking about their various characteristics, etc.
I am just picking one random text that I think is a wonderful resource: The Phenomena of Language. I shrink from going to the Pearson website since I have been reading all sorts of articles that think Pearson is the spawn of the devil because of the bundle they are making off the whole common core debacle. Anyway, I bought this used from amazon (only two left in stock!) because Sean at the time was trying to get into a local classical school (which rejected him, grrr.) and we were trying to prepare him thinking he would indeed be accepted. This school uses The Phenomena of Language in the first semester of 7th grade and then begins with Ecce Romani after that. My copy is half written in but that's okay.
The Phenomena of Language is a workbook that introduces a middle school student to Latin. It goes very slowly and in terms of actual Latin learned, you don't get all that much. The books focuses on the first and second conjugations, explaining what 'cases' are, what tenses are and gives the student some basic vocabulary to work with. What is so charming about this book is that it is using Latin to basically explain how languages work. It unfolds the mysteries of grammar in a clear and thoughtful way. It also presents information about Latin history and culture in an amusing, light way; a way in which I don't think the student realizes the depth of what he is learning. It also teaches many Latin derivatives and goes into how these derivatives arrived in English.
The workbook is not intimidating at all. It has delightful cartoon illustrations sprinkled throughout. The layout is engaging. My one quibble is that throughout the book there are gray blocks imbedded in the pages that are meant to highlight important information. The pages almost but not quite have a xeroxed look to them. The gray in the boxes is too dark and doesn't differentiate enough with the printed words in them. It makes it hard to read. At least for my old, tired eyes.
I find this book so charming, I'll actually leaf through it at odd moments just for fun. Now that I have been helping out with the Certamen team for Aquinas Learning, I see that it is excellent preparation for that type of competition. In fact lately I've been daydreaming of using this book to teach a class to 5th through 8th graders at a local homeschool support program. I feel I could really teach this. I am not a Latin scholar at all, but I am pretty much an expert on introducing Latin to kids, since I have been engaged in that level of Latin for many years now.
I wish I could take my own kids through the book, but both are now too advanced grammar-wise for it in terms of knowing more than just two conjugations and that sort of thing. However, the depth of understanding this book conveys about how grammar works would be beneficial. I don't think my kids really have a strong grasp on that.
This book just isn't really talked about in homeschool circles. Maybe because it is too expensive? Maybe because it is hard to get through Pearson? I am not sure. But I do think it would be an excellent and charming way to begin Latin studies.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
The Moonstone - Book 10
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a wonderful Victorian mystery novel. It has got all the prerequisite elements. It is long and full of detail. The characters in the story are well crafted. The dialogue is witty, and there is the sort of romanticized interplay between science and illness that is so often a part of these types of stories. What is especially clever about this book is that it is written in the form of several reports, journals, letters, etc all pieced together to tell the story from different perspectives.
The yellow diamond, known as the Moonstone, was stolen unscrupulously from a Hindu (or Hindoo as Collins spells it) temple. Since then there is a curse upon it and there are three Brahmin whose job it is to retrieve the diamond and return it to its rightful place.
The officer who stole the diamond is ostracized from his family, but when he dies he creates much mischief by leaving it to his niece, Rachel Verinder. This book has many characters. There is Lady Verinder, Rachel's mother, Rachel's two suitors, Franklin Blake and Godfrey Ablewhite, a longtime faithful servant, Gabriel Betteredge (who is a delightful character), and his daughter, another maid who was taken in from a reformatory, Mr. Murthwaite, an aquaintance of the family who is an expert on India, Miss Clack, a distant cousin, Mr. Bruff, the family attorney, Mr. Candy, the local doctor and his mysterious assistant, Ezra Jennings. There is a Sergeant Cuff, a highly successful detective, who would rather be tending roses all day.
The story twists and turns and finally reaches its just conclusion.
Collins was a close friend of Charles Dickens. Even though I love Dickens, I do think he can be a bit difficult to read. Collins is much easier, I found. I read up a bit about Collins. Apparently and unfortunately, he became addicted to opium because of the gout he suffered. The last years of his life were spent in the throes of this addiction. Opium figures heavily in this story. The other interesting thing I noted is Collins attitude towards marriage in the story. He expresses a conventional view of it in the book and deprecates the villain for keeping a lady he (the villain) is not married to. But apparently Collins never married but instead lived with one woman for years, who then left him to marry someone else, but then left her husband and moved back with Collins! And during the later portion of this relationship Collins openly took up with another quite younger woman whom he installed in a house down the street. There were a few children born of these various alliances as well. So much for stuffy Victorian society!
But none of this comes out in the book, which I found to be a nice satisfying read on these cold winter nights in February. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The yellow diamond, known as the Moonstone, was stolen unscrupulously from a Hindu (or Hindoo as Collins spells it) temple. Since then there is a curse upon it and there are three Brahmin whose job it is to retrieve the diamond and return it to its rightful place.
The officer who stole the diamond is ostracized from his family, but when he dies he creates much mischief by leaving it to his niece, Rachel Verinder. This book has many characters. There is Lady Verinder, Rachel's mother, Rachel's two suitors, Franklin Blake and Godfrey Ablewhite, a longtime faithful servant, Gabriel Betteredge (who is a delightful character), and his daughter, another maid who was taken in from a reformatory, Mr. Murthwaite, an aquaintance of the family who is an expert on India, Miss Clack, a distant cousin, Mr. Bruff, the family attorney, Mr. Candy, the local doctor and his mysterious assistant, Ezra Jennings. There is a Sergeant Cuff, a highly successful detective, who would rather be tending roses all day.
The story twists and turns and finally reaches its just conclusion.
Collins was a close friend of Charles Dickens. Even though I love Dickens, I do think he can be a bit difficult to read. Collins is much easier, I found. I read up a bit about Collins. Apparently and unfortunately, he became addicted to opium because of the gout he suffered. The last years of his life were spent in the throes of this addiction. Opium figures heavily in this story. The other interesting thing I noted is Collins attitude towards marriage in the story. He expresses a conventional view of it in the book and deprecates the villain for keeping a lady he (the villain) is not married to. But apparently Collins never married but instead lived with one woman for years, who then left him to marry someone else, but then left her husband and moved back with Collins! And during the later portion of this relationship Collins openly took up with another quite younger woman whom he installed in a house down the street. There were a few children born of these various alliances as well. So much for stuffy Victorian society!
But none of this comes out in the book, which I found to be a nice satisfying read on these cold winter nights in February. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Immediate Book Meme
I have so much to do, but I saw this meme on facebook via Simcha Fisher (I just very briefly went on facebook as a break, honest!) And I couldn't resist. I am giving myself ten minutes to answer it.
It originally started with Darwin Catholic (an excellent Catholic blog that I always forget about and then rediscover somehow and think, wow, why haven't been reading this blog all the time???)
It originally started with Darwin Catholic (an excellent Catholic blog that I always forget about and then rediscover somehow and think, wow, why haven't been reading this blog all the time???)
1. What book are you reading now?
Currently I am reading: Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed, Seventy Years of Life and Labor by Samuel Gompers, Henry V by Shakespeare and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
2. What book did you just finish?
Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane. Before that, Canoeing with the Cree. I want to read more books by Eric Savareid.
3. What do you plan to read next?
I don't know. Theology and Sanity is a slow group read so that will take a while. Seventy Years of Life and Labor is my own personal study and is an enormous book. I'll be reading that slowly too, for months. I don't know what I'll choose for my kindle read after The Moonstone. After Henry V, I plan to reread Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I had just started a book called Vocation to Love by Dorothy Dohen, seems to be a marvelous book but it got displaced by Theology and Sanity. I hope I'll go back and finishing read that.
4. What book do you keep meaning to finish?
Happy are the Poor by Father Thomas Dubay. A great book but I got distracted about 1/3 of the way through about a year ago and still haven't gotten back into it. Same thing happened with Song of Bernadette. Loved it, got distracted - this was two years ago - still wanna go back and finish it. Oh, plus Vocation to Love.
5. What book do you keep meaning to start?
Two books: The Book Thief and The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien. The first is about a child during the time of the holocaust and the second is about soldiers in Vietnam. They both sound intriguing and depressing at the same time.
6. What is your current reading trend?
Mysteries and classic British lit. I am thoroughly enjoying The Moonstone which I never read before. And I love Henry V. Every time I read it I get more out of it.
Currently I am reading: Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed, Seventy Years of Life and Labor by Samuel Gompers, Henry V by Shakespeare and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
2. What book did you just finish?
Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane. Before that, Canoeing with the Cree. I want to read more books by Eric Savareid.
3. What do you plan to read next?
I don't know. Theology and Sanity is a slow group read so that will take a while. Seventy Years of Life and Labor is my own personal study and is an enormous book. I'll be reading that slowly too, for months. I don't know what I'll choose for my kindle read after The Moonstone. After Henry V, I plan to reread Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I had just started a book called Vocation to Love by Dorothy Dohen, seems to be a marvelous book but it got displaced by Theology and Sanity. I hope I'll go back and finishing read that.
4. What book do you keep meaning to finish?
Happy are the Poor by Father Thomas Dubay. A great book but I got distracted about 1/3 of the way through about a year ago and still haven't gotten back into it. Same thing happened with Song of Bernadette. Loved it, got distracted - this was two years ago - still wanna go back and finish it. Oh, plus Vocation to Love.
5. What book do you keep meaning to start?
Two books: The Book Thief and The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien. The first is about a child during the time of the holocaust and the second is about soldiers in Vietnam. They both sound intriguing and depressing at the same time.
6. What is your current reading trend?
Mysteries and classic British lit. I am thoroughly enjoying The Moonstone which I never read before. And I love Henry V. Every time I read it I get more out of it.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
A Reprieve in the Housekeeping Blues
I have terrible insomnia. Was it brought on by drinking too much caffeine? Probably. Woke up a little after 3. Laid in bed trying to go back to sleep until 4:15, then gave up and got up. So much to do today but I am trying to be cheerful about it. I did go to bed about 10 last night, so I got about 5 hours. I can cope with that. And I bet I'll have time for a short nap this afternoon. One reason I think I woke up is I was wondering if school was going to be delayed because of snow. It did snow a bit, enough to maybe justify a delay. Oh shoot. I just checked. There is a two hour delay. Hopefully either Rick or Hannah will be able to help me out. When there is a two hour delay on Tuesdays I have to be two places at once at the same time: dropping off Sean in Arlington and taking Becky to her voices lessons located in the opposite direction and a different county. Since I am not capable of bi-locating, this causes plans to be remade. This has been happenings pretty consistently on Tuesdays for the last several weeks.
Anyway, when I came downstairs this a.m. I was kind of pleased with myself. I had to walk through my upstairs hallway which used to be an obstacle course of the type featured on Hoarders. Since I cleaned it all up (after three days of dreary work), I get a little buzz of accomplishment whenever I see it. Decluttered, orderly places are calming, wouldn't ya know. Cluttery, junked up places cause anxiety. See? I am gaining wisdom in my old age.
Then I came downstairs and remembered that I spent all day yesterday (in between other tasks) slowly working my way through the debris and laundry that was about shin deep on the floor of our mud/laundry room. It was the worst it has ever been. Just gross. Now, while it is still pretty bad, you can see the floor! You can actually walk to the washing machine/drying without having to step on anything other than the floor! One thing I'd like to do this a.m. is collect a lot of the various items I salvaged and cleaned and take them to one of the donation boxes somewhere. I have old backpacks, jackets that are too small, etc that I need to get out of the house pronto. Otherwise they will just find themselves back in a big cruddy pile of clutter again.
And on top of these two little victories, I had to clean my basement for an American Heritage Girls event we were hosting on Saturday night. That means I spent a little bit of Friday and a lot of Saturday cleaning. I swept, dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed, tidied, etc. It still has significantly cluttered places, but it is a bit cleaner and it is not quite so cluttered. We did not quite clean up after the little get together, so I intend to spend ten minutes doing that today. That's all it will take. Should have done it sooner.
Today and tomorrow will be largely devoted to prepping for Aquinas. Becky has tons of school work to do and I have two essays still to edit, many progress reports to write, planning and studying to do for Literature, composition and Latin. But I am hoping that this weekend I can focus on cleaning clutter off my desk and the dining room table.
Hope springs eternal!
Anyway, when I came downstairs this a.m. I was kind of pleased with myself. I had to walk through my upstairs hallway which used to be an obstacle course of the type featured on Hoarders. Since I cleaned it all up (after three days of dreary work), I get a little buzz of accomplishment whenever I see it. Decluttered, orderly places are calming, wouldn't ya know. Cluttery, junked up places cause anxiety. See? I am gaining wisdom in my old age.
Then I came downstairs and remembered that I spent all day yesterday (in between other tasks) slowly working my way through the debris and laundry that was about shin deep on the floor of our mud/laundry room. It was the worst it has ever been. Just gross. Now, while it is still pretty bad, you can see the floor! You can actually walk to the washing machine/drying without having to step on anything other than the floor! One thing I'd like to do this a.m. is collect a lot of the various items I salvaged and cleaned and take them to one of the donation boxes somewhere. I have old backpacks, jackets that are too small, etc that I need to get out of the house pronto. Otherwise they will just find themselves back in a big cruddy pile of clutter again.
And on top of these two little victories, I had to clean my basement for an American Heritage Girls event we were hosting on Saturday night. That means I spent a little bit of Friday and a lot of Saturday cleaning. I swept, dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed, tidied, etc. It still has significantly cluttered places, but it is a bit cleaner and it is not quite so cluttered. We did not quite clean up after the little get together, so I intend to spend ten minutes doing that today. That's all it will take. Should have done it sooner.
Today and tomorrow will be largely devoted to prepping for Aquinas. Becky has tons of school work to do and I have two essays still to edit, many progress reports to write, planning and studying to do for Literature, composition and Latin. But I am hoping that this weekend I can focus on cleaning clutter off my desk and the dining room table.
Hope springs eternal!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Prepping for Lent
I've decided to give up junk and convenience foods for Lent. That is, as much as is humanly possible given my cooking skills, energy levels and bad habits. But we eat way too much junk and it definitely adversely affects both our physical and mental health. Lent is 2.5 weeks away and this is going to take a bit of planning. Some guiding principles I've been mulling about:
1) Focus on not wasting food. I waste an awful lot of food. This is bad in so many ways. Wasting food so carelessly is being ungrateful for God's bounty and blessings and it is disrespectful to all those who are hungry in the world. It wastes resources. By focusing on not wasting food I will be forced to become more intentional in my attitude towards food, shopping, cooking, health and this is a sacrifice for me. I am not naturally good at this sort of thing and it takes a lot of energy and effort on my part.
2) We'll save money by not wasting food and by cooking more things at home - and that money can go to the poor and the local food bank.
3) Serving my family by feeding them healthfully and frugally is a way of serving others; putting others before myself.
4) I want to be prayerful in my duties to my family. I am not currently. I am rushed and distracted most of the time. I will be forced to slow down and focus instead of jumping from pet project to pet project, like I normally do. As St. Theresa of Avila once said: God is in the pots and pans. I want to intentionally find Him there.
5) I know I react to certain foods, MSG and chocolate, for example. I have been reading up on the effects of processed food and it really worries me that perhaps Sean's issues are based in diet. We tried a gluten free/casein free diet last year. It didn't seem to do anything, but I have to admit we started eating more processed foods as a result. I don't really know how diet might effect Sean but he definitely has peculiar and very strong likes and dislikes. I wonder if all this processed food is responsible for chemical brain imbalance. I don't know, but videos like this one make me wonder and make me think I should at least take some steps towards cooking in a more healthy way. As is my usual habit, I have made efforts in fits and starts. But I do things so haphazardly and so carelessly at times. I want to make a solid effort this time.
One of the major issues for me is finding time to do so much cooking. That is intimidating me. So over the next couple of weeks, I am going to try to find time to:
- make bread at home. Something that will be good for sandwiches and that everyone, mostly Sean, will happily eat.
- make yogurt at home - Sean likes those drinkable yogurts in his lunch and I'd like to find a way to make them from scratch instead of buying those little bottles.
- continue to make chicken broth at home - I do this now but very inconsistently and a lot of times I forget to freeze it. It only lasts about a week in the fridge, so if I don't think of it and use it up it goes bad.
- continue to make the slow cooker oatmeal but do it 2x a week instead of just on Fridays.
- Sean needs lots of interesting snacks to nibble on. That's where we tend to really junk out. I need to focus on more nutritious snacks and have them readily available.
We are still going to eat breakfast out on Sunday mornings. I think I will still get bagels on Saturday mornings. And while we won't order pizza out, I can make it on a weekly basis.
1) Focus on not wasting food. I waste an awful lot of food. This is bad in so many ways. Wasting food so carelessly is being ungrateful for God's bounty and blessings and it is disrespectful to all those who are hungry in the world. It wastes resources. By focusing on not wasting food I will be forced to become more intentional in my attitude towards food, shopping, cooking, health and this is a sacrifice for me. I am not naturally good at this sort of thing and it takes a lot of energy and effort on my part.
2) We'll save money by not wasting food and by cooking more things at home - and that money can go to the poor and the local food bank.
3) Serving my family by feeding them healthfully and frugally is a way of serving others; putting others before myself.
4) I want to be prayerful in my duties to my family. I am not currently. I am rushed and distracted most of the time. I will be forced to slow down and focus instead of jumping from pet project to pet project, like I normally do. As St. Theresa of Avila once said: God is in the pots and pans. I want to intentionally find Him there.
5) I know I react to certain foods, MSG and chocolate, for example. I have been reading up on the effects of processed food and it really worries me that perhaps Sean's issues are based in diet. We tried a gluten free/casein free diet last year. It didn't seem to do anything, but I have to admit we started eating more processed foods as a result. I don't really know how diet might effect Sean but he definitely has peculiar and very strong likes and dislikes. I wonder if all this processed food is responsible for chemical brain imbalance. I don't know, but videos like this one make me wonder and make me think I should at least take some steps towards cooking in a more healthy way. As is my usual habit, I have made efforts in fits and starts. But I do things so haphazardly and so carelessly at times. I want to make a solid effort this time.
One of the major issues for me is finding time to do so much cooking. That is intimidating me. So over the next couple of weeks, I am going to try to find time to:
- make bread at home. Something that will be good for sandwiches and that everyone, mostly Sean, will happily eat.
- make yogurt at home - Sean likes those drinkable yogurts in his lunch and I'd like to find a way to make them from scratch instead of buying those little bottles.
- continue to make chicken broth at home - I do this now but very inconsistently and a lot of times I forget to freeze it. It only lasts about a week in the fridge, so if I don't think of it and use it up it goes bad.
- continue to make the slow cooker oatmeal but do it 2x a week instead of just on Fridays.
- Sean needs lots of interesting snacks to nibble on. That's where we tend to really junk out. I need to focus on more nutritious snacks and have them readily available.
We are still going to eat breakfast out on Sunday mornings. I think I will still get bagels on Saturday mornings. And while we won't order pizza out, I can make it on a weekly basis.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Seventy Years of Life and Labor - Part 1
I have been reading, off and on, in a very spotty fashion, the autobiography that my great, great grandfather, Samuel Gompers wrote, back in 1923. I have now settled somewhat into a routine. I try to read something of a religious nature in the a.m. and something on my kindle at night (that way I don't have to put on the bedside light and bother Rick) and this book I keep in the car to read while I am waiting outside Becky's voice lesson or waiting for Sean to come out of his high school at 3:00 p.m.
I decided to do a running commentary on it, since I am finding it really fascinating. I'll do chapter summaries. I haven't gotten very far into the book at all because for a couple weeks there it got put to the side.
Chapter 1 - East Side London to East Side New York - this chapter is so interesting. You get an intimate account of what it was like to grow up in industrial London in the 1850s. He was born to Dutch Jewish parents and grew up in an area of London called Spitalfields across from a silk factory. His was a warm, loving and large family. They were pretty poor but he loved the freedom of playing in the streets with all the other children. He didn't have much schooling but what he had he enjoyed thoroughly and it was enough to set him on a lifelong love of learning. He was apprenticed to a cigar maker before they moved to New York in 1863. New York was a real cultural melting pot. He describes the passage over in wonderful detail. Their first home, though larger than the one in London was across from a slaughter house and the stench made it uninhabitable. They moved after a few month.
Chapter 2 tells the story of Gompers youth, growing up in New York City. Gompers is not shy or very modest in talking about himself. He was obviously a very intelligent, quick minded and extroverted sort of person. He was a good cigar maker, loved to read and very much alive to the cultural whirl of New York. In this chapter he meets and marries his wife when he is only 17 and she 16. They couldn't even afford to live together at first. While Gompers occasionally mentions his wife in a passing remark or about one of his numerous children who came along, you get the distinct impression he did not spend much time at home. He was very involved in all sorts of fraternal organizations and meetings and rallies having to do with the working man's rights. I found myself feeling a little sorry for Sophia, his wife.
Chapter 3 - As an Onlooker is a really interesting chapter because it details all of Gompers impressions of the Communist/Socialists/Workers Rights movements going on in all sort of turmoil and vivacity in New York at this time. It was like a bubbling stew. All these former radicals from the European 1848 and later revolutions, found their way to New York. Gompers witnessed all this with avid interest. Let me just say, I wish I had inherited his memory for detail. He must have kept really detailed records of everything. He related first and last names of so many people, addresses, dates, with incredible detail. It is a bit overwhelming and maybe could have been edited a bit to save the book from being verbose. Gompers is a man of supreme confidence though, and he is not afraid to tell you either. It was during this time of exploring Marxist ideas and rubbing elbows with revolutionaries that leads to the title of the next chapter.
Chapter 4 - I Learn the Weakness of Radical Tactics - here Gompers both admires and recoils from the radicals that seem to want to hijack any true reforms for worker's rights. Gompers is a practical man and he really doesn't have time for intellectual posturing or ideologies and emotionally symbolic acts that have little practical results for bettering the poor man's lot in life. He witnesses the violence and extremism of both the radicals and the authorities and he doesn't like the way the former engenders an reaction on the part of the police and the owners instead of promoting genuine dialogue. One bizarre thing that happens in this chapter is that someone named John Brophy attacks Gompers when he is giving a speech. My jaw dropped when I read that! The dates were all wrong but there was my grandfather's name (also a labor leader but about 2 decades later than this). I had to ask my Aunt Jackie about this. It turns out it was a different John Brophy and no one knows anything about him except he showed up in this little recounting of an incident in Gompers' early years in the labor movement.
Chapter 5 - Building the American Trade Union - Gompers never had trouble getting work and he begins to focus his enormous energy on trying to form a stable union for local cigar makers. The unions were not very organized, there was a lot of political upheaval and. for example. strikes would be called on impulse. Someone would get mad at some appalling condition they had to work under, angrily they'd announce they'd had enough and go on strike. Gompers helped form No 144 and tried to steady the men by getting them to agree to proper methods of organizing and striking so that they'd stand a better chance of getting their demands met. It was hard going. The early union had trouble with so many things. The men were undisciplined. For instance, they were all so poor and not used to having cash around, but whoever was union secretary collected dues and had to do something with the money. No one was used to keeping money in a bank, so they'd keep it at home where their wives and children, who were constantly in need (these were all poor tenement workers) would be tempted by the money. It took a lot of hard battles to get the men to understand how things needed to work and to see the big picture. But slow and steady wins the race. After ten years the union was so organized and had grown in esteem in the eyes of other trade unions that Gompers was able to help start the first federation of trade unions.
To be continued. . . .
I decided to do a running commentary on it, since I am finding it really fascinating. I'll do chapter summaries. I haven't gotten very far into the book at all because for a couple weeks there it got put to the side.
Chapter 1 - East Side London to East Side New York - this chapter is so interesting. You get an intimate account of what it was like to grow up in industrial London in the 1850s. He was born to Dutch Jewish parents and grew up in an area of London called Spitalfields across from a silk factory. His was a warm, loving and large family. They were pretty poor but he loved the freedom of playing in the streets with all the other children. He didn't have much schooling but what he had he enjoyed thoroughly and it was enough to set him on a lifelong love of learning. He was apprenticed to a cigar maker before they moved to New York in 1863. New York was a real cultural melting pot. He describes the passage over in wonderful detail. Their first home, though larger than the one in London was across from a slaughter house and the stench made it uninhabitable. They moved after a few month.
Chapter 2 tells the story of Gompers youth, growing up in New York City. Gompers is not shy or very modest in talking about himself. He was obviously a very intelligent, quick minded and extroverted sort of person. He was a good cigar maker, loved to read and very much alive to the cultural whirl of New York. In this chapter he meets and marries his wife when he is only 17 and she 16. They couldn't even afford to live together at first. While Gompers occasionally mentions his wife in a passing remark or about one of his numerous children who came along, you get the distinct impression he did not spend much time at home. He was very involved in all sorts of fraternal organizations and meetings and rallies having to do with the working man's rights. I found myself feeling a little sorry for Sophia, his wife.
Chapter 3 - As an Onlooker is a really interesting chapter because it details all of Gompers impressions of the Communist/Socialists/Workers Rights movements going on in all sort of turmoil and vivacity in New York at this time. It was like a bubbling stew. All these former radicals from the European 1848 and later revolutions, found their way to New York. Gompers witnessed all this with avid interest. Let me just say, I wish I had inherited his memory for detail. He must have kept really detailed records of everything. He related first and last names of so many people, addresses, dates, with incredible detail. It is a bit overwhelming and maybe could have been edited a bit to save the book from being verbose. Gompers is a man of supreme confidence though, and he is not afraid to tell you either. It was during this time of exploring Marxist ideas and rubbing elbows with revolutionaries that leads to the title of the next chapter.
Chapter 4 - I Learn the Weakness of Radical Tactics - here Gompers both admires and recoils from the radicals that seem to want to hijack any true reforms for worker's rights. Gompers is a practical man and he really doesn't have time for intellectual posturing or ideologies and emotionally symbolic acts that have little practical results for bettering the poor man's lot in life. He witnesses the violence and extremism of both the radicals and the authorities and he doesn't like the way the former engenders an reaction on the part of the police and the owners instead of promoting genuine dialogue. One bizarre thing that happens in this chapter is that someone named John Brophy attacks Gompers when he is giving a speech. My jaw dropped when I read that! The dates were all wrong but there was my grandfather's name (also a labor leader but about 2 decades later than this). I had to ask my Aunt Jackie about this. It turns out it was a different John Brophy and no one knows anything about him except he showed up in this little recounting of an incident in Gompers' early years in the labor movement.
Chapter 5 - Building the American Trade Union - Gompers never had trouble getting work and he begins to focus his enormous energy on trying to form a stable union for local cigar makers. The unions were not very organized, there was a lot of political upheaval and. for example. strikes would be called on impulse. Someone would get mad at some appalling condition they had to work under, angrily they'd announce they'd had enough and go on strike. Gompers helped form No 144 and tried to steady the men by getting them to agree to proper methods of organizing and striking so that they'd stand a better chance of getting their demands met. It was hard going. The early union had trouble with so many things. The men were undisciplined. For instance, they were all so poor and not used to having cash around, but whoever was union secretary collected dues and had to do something with the money. No one was used to keeping money in a bank, so they'd keep it at home where their wives and children, who were constantly in need (these were all poor tenement workers) would be tempted by the money. It took a lot of hard battles to get the men to understand how things needed to work and to see the big picture. But slow and steady wins the race. After ten years the union was so organized and had grown in esteem in the eyes of other trade unions that Gompers was able to help start the first federation of trade unions.
To be continued. . . .
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Young Pioneers - Book 9
Canoeing with the Cree made me want to read another American adventure book. At the same time, I was looking through the book list for Mother of Divine Grace's American literature for 9th grade, thinking that Becky might really like it (even though she'll only be 8th grade next year, it really looks like a curriculum that would suit Becky's style). Well, one of the books listed is Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane.
I am a big aficionado of the Little House books. I reread them every year starting from about 4th grade through high school. I have read them out loud to my kids at least twice. I also have a couple of books about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Recently, (meaning 6 or 8 years ago) I read Laura's diary she kept while traveling to Missouri with Almanzo to start their farm in the Ozarks.
I had heard that it was thought Laura's daughter Rose was the real author of the Little House books and for some reason that really upset me, so I never wanted to read anything by Rose. I just didn't want to believe that things weren't exactly as they seemed. I was a little bit irrationally sentimental about them. I think I had a sneaking suspicion that the rumor might be true and this was due to my dislike of the last book in the series, The First Four Years. This book is not written in the same style at all as the other books. It is a rather depressing bare bones telling of the first four years of marriage. Now I knew that Laura had been a newspaper columnist for the local paper there in the Ozarks and I had read her journal so I knew she could write, but what she wrote was very factual and not in the lovely narrative fashion that the Little House books were written. The First Four Years was found after Laura died, I think. So it looks like she wrote the skeleton of the book and then Rose took that story line and made it into a real compelling narrative.
Well, my disillusionment is complete. Young Pioneers is obviously written by whoever wrote the Little House books. It was originally entitled Let the Hurricane Roar, and it is basically a retelling, with slightly different characters and perspective of On the Banks of Plum Creek. Instead of the Ingalls family with Ma and Pa and the little girls, it is about a very young married couple who settle into the very same sod house with the same plum trees and the same roaring creek. The couple was originally named Charles and Caroline, but the names got changed to David and Molly to prevent confusion, apparently. But David acts just like Pa and Molly acts just like Ma. And in my kindle edition they occasionally would use the name Charles instead of David. Oops. Someone needs a better proofreader.
However, the story is so charming and well told that it is quite enjoyable. I really loved it and I think Becky would too.
The funny thing about the edition I read was that there was practically more Forward, Introduction and commentary than story itself. Apparently Rose Wilder Lane is a heroine to Libertarians. So the padding in front of the book and back are all about how this novel reflects libertarian values. I did half-heartedly read the stuff at the beginning before the novel and skipped the stuff after. I could have done without the preaching (even if I can sometimes sympathize with the libertarian perspective.)
It was a very interesting read, a sweet story, but don't read it if you want to go on believing Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House books!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I am a big aficionado of the Little House books. I reread them every year starting from about 4th grade through high school. I have read them out loud to my kids at least twice. I also have a couple of books about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Recently, (meaning 6 or 8 years ago) I read Laura's diary she kept while traveling to Missouri with Almanzo to start their farm in the Ozarks.
I had heard that it was thought Laura's daughter Rose was the real author of the Little House books and for some reason that really upset me, so I never wanted to read anything by Rose. I just didn't want to believe that things weren't exactly as they seemed. I was a little bit irrationally sentimental about them. I think I had a sneaking suspicion that the rumor might be true and this was due to my dislike of the last book in the series, The First Four Years. This book is not written in the same style at all as the other books. It is a rather depressing bare bones telling of the first four years of marriage. Now I knew that Laura had been a newspaper columnist for the local paper there in the Ozarks and I had read her journal so I knew she could write, but what she wrote was very factual and not in the lovely narrative fashion that the Little House books were written. The First Four Years was found after Laura died, I think. So it looks like she wrote the skeleton of the book and then Rose took that story line and made it into a real compelling narrative.
Well, my disillusionment is complete. Young Pioneers is obviously written by whoever wrote the Little House books. It was originally entitled Let the Hurricane Roar, and it is basically a retelling, with slightly different characters and perspective of On the Banks of Plum Creek. Instead of the Ingalls family with Ma and Pa and the little girls, it is about a very young married couple who settle into the very same sod house with the same plum trees and the same roaring creek. The couple was originally named Charles and Caroline, but the names got changed to David and Molly to prevent confusion, apparently. But David acts just like Pa and Molly acts just like Ma. And in my kindle edition they occasionally would use the name Charles instead of David. Oops. Someone needs a better proofreader.
However, the story is so charming and well told that it is quite enjoyable. I really loved it and I think Becky would too.
The funny thing about the edition I read was that there was practically more Forward, Introduction and commentary than story itself. Apparently Rose Wilder Lane is a heroine to Libertarians. So the padding in front of the book and back are all about how this novel reflects libertarian values. I did half-heartedly read the stuff at the beginning before the novel and skipped the stuff after. I could have done without the preaching (even if I can sometimes sympathize with the libertarian perspective.)
It was a very interesting read, a sweet story, but don't read it if you want to go on believing Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House books!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Canoeing with the Cree - Book 8
Eric Sevareid was a famous newscaster who worked alongside Walter Cronkite. He made his name as a foreign correspondent during World War II. When he was just about to graduate from high school in 1930, he and his friend Walter Port decided to go on an adventure. They wanted to do something crazy and canoe from their town of Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay which was 2, 250 miles away. They figured out how to pay for the trip by talking a newspaper into accepting the stories of their journey as they traveled. They were so anxious to get started they skipped a couple of final exams. Would a high school let kids graduate nowadays if they missed their finals?
The boys got a little discouraged because everyone said they couldn't do it, but then everyone said, well they are young, let them try. Again, nowadays, it is always safety first! Sevareid was only 17 at the time.
They had only so much time in which to travel so many miles to their destination. Winter comes very early. At times the journey was thrilling, the countryside and rivers or lakes beautiful; but much of journey was incredibly grueling. Mosquitoes and black flies, aching muscles, injuries, sunburn, rapids, portages where they had to hack their way through the bush, all unrelenting arduous labor with little real rest, and this went on for months.
The boys hunted along the way to supplement the flour, bacon, etc they had brought with them. They hunted turtles, rabbits and birds. They ate a lot of fish, of course. They met with many river people, other boaters, rangers, and as they got out of the settled areas and into the wilder ones, they met many Cree Indians.
This book, Canoeing with the Cree, is based on the reports the boys sent back to the newspaper whenever they reached a civilized outpost along their way. It is also based on the journals they kept as they traveled. They met many colorful people along the way who helped very generously, from a doctor who knew Sevareid's father growing up and who saved Walt's life threatened by a dangerously infected thumb, to a Cree woman who spoke little English but told them, using a watch, what direction to go in order to find the right outlet to the river they wanted.
Towards the end of the journey, the situation gets quite desperate. They don't see any other people for weeks. The weather has grown quite cold. It rains constantly. They are growing dangerously low on food and they are exhausted. To portage their canoe they have to make two trips, one to carry their gear and another to carry their canoe. They have to climb over sleet covered rocks. Their gloves and shoes are disintegrating. And they are never quite sure where they are or if they are on the right track.
When they finally reach Hudson Bay, the sea!, they are incredibly relieved and triumphant. They were the first modern folks to canoe such a long path, probably very much as the Vikings must have back before Columbus discovered America.
This book is a classic adventure tale. I highly recommend it. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The boys got a little discouraged because everyone said they couldn't do it, but then everyone said, well they are young, let them try. Again, nowadays, it is always safety first! Sevareid was only 17 at the time.
They had only so much time in which to travel so many miles to their destination. Winter comes very early. At times the journey was thrilling, the countryside and rivers or lakes beautiful; but much of journey was incredibly grueling. Mosquitoes and black flies, aching muscles, injuries, sunburn, rapids, portages where they had to hack their way through the bush, all unrelenting arduous labor with little real rest, and this went on for months.
The boys hunted along the way to supplement the flour, bacon, etc they had brought with them. They hunted turtles, rabbits and birds. They ate a lot of fish, of course. They met with many river people, other boaters, rangers, and as they got out of the settled areas and into the wilder ones, they met many Cree Indians.
This book, Canoeing with the Cree, is based on the reports the boys sent back to the newspaper whenever they reached a civilized outpost along their way. It is also based on the journals they kept as they traveled. They met many colorful people along the way who helped very generously, from a doctor who knew Sevareid's father growing up and who saved Walt's life threatened by a dangerously infected thumb, to a Cree woman who spoke little English but told them, using a watch, what direction to go in order to find the right outlet to the river they wanted.
Towards the end of the journey, the situation gets quite desperate. They don't see any other people for weeks. The weather has grown quite cold. It rains constantly. They are growing dangerously low on food and they are exhausted. To portage their canoe they have to make two trips, one to carry their gear and another to carry their canoe. They have to climb over sleet covered rocks. Their gloves and shoes are disintegrating. And they are never quite sure where they are or if they are on the right track.
When they finally reach Hudson Bay, the sea!, they are incredibly relieved and triumphant. They were the first modern folks to canoe such a long path, probably very much as the Vikings must have back before Columbus discovered America.
This book is a classic adventure tale. I highly recommend it. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Saturday Update - Happy News!
The big news around here is that my lovely oldest daughter is now officially engaged. Our son in law to be is a nice young man, also 23 - same age as Hannah, whom she met at college.
They don't know when they can get married but tentatively they'd like to marry in the fall before Hannah has to do her student teaching. I think she is more intimidated by that than getting married. She'd like to have a couple of months of married bliss under her belt before she begins 14 weeks of student teaching.
They don't have any money and at first that really bothered me and I kept talking about waiting a couple of years, however, I am growing soft for the following reasons:
1. They are young and in love and eager to start life together. There is a lot to be said for the energy and momentum that gives.
2. They both have common sense and are well educated. They can deal with obstacles. And the obstacles will be learning experiences that hopefully will bring them closer. Things might be a little rough now but I think things will smooth out as they grow.
3. We are in a position to help them out some, so we can jumpstart them a little financially. I am glad we are in that position.
When Rick and I got married we were older, closer to 30 than to 20. We'd both worked a while and were used to being independent. I didn't ask my dad to pay for our wedding since I was marrying a Jewish guy in a Unitarian Church. I thought that I didn't have the right to ask my dad to pay for everything. I didn't realize that hurt his feelings until later. I thought I was being noble! But we did everything on a tight budget. I wore my older sister's wedding dress. Rick asked a friend of his to doing the wedding photographs, we had another friend do the flowers (which were cheap, we only had potted chrysanthemums, the only flowers in season in November and then two bouquets, one for the bride and one for the bridesmaid. We only had one bridesmaid).
The way we chose our wedding date was pretty practical. We originally thought we'd get married in the spring but then we decided, why wait, so I started looking around for a place to have the reception. I discovered the cheapest places were rooms run by the parks. So I would call them up and ask if they had anything available. I called one place and they said no but then I called back a couple of weeks later and they had a cancellation for November 5th. I then hurriedly called the UU church and asked if we could get married on that day and they said, yes they had an opening. Voila!
We had our wedding in the afternoon and the reception was a 'tea.' We just served hors d'oeurves and cake with coffee or tea or sodas. We had champagne for the toast. The worst thing was the DJ we hired. I really wanted a live band but there was no way we could afford that. The DJ was terrible, he looked hung over and he was playing all the very music I didn't like. I went over in the middle of the reception and was like, why the heck are you playing this music??? The guy had forgotten my playlist that I had spent hours filling out! Grrr. I specifically wanted Motown, 1950s and big band stuff. He was playing 1980s top 40 drivel.
We had a very nice honeymoon staying at a couple of bed and breakfasts. We couldn't decide if we wanted to go to the beach or to the country, so we spent a couple days in Middleburg and then a couple days at Cape May.
Well I could babble on a good deal more. I never was a wedding kind of person. I liked the way I got married - kind of minimalist while still being fairly traditional about it. But I find I am excited about this and looking forward to all the planning. I didn't know I'd react this way!
Anyway, I am going to an all day writing seminar today, so I must be off to that.
They don't know when they can get married but tentatively they'd like to marry in the fall before Hannah has to do her student teaching. I think she is more intimidated by that than getting married. She'd like to have a couple of months of married bliss under her belt before she begins 14 weeks of student teaching.
They don't have any money and at first that really bothered me and I kept talking about waiting a couple of years, however, I am growing soft for the following reasons:
1. They are young and in love and eager to start life together. There is a lot to be said for the energy and momentum that gives.
2. They both have common sense and are well educated. They can deal with obstacles. And the obstacles will be learning experiences that hopefully will bring them closer. Things might be a little rough now but I think things will smooth out as they grow.
3. We are in a position to help them out some, so we can jumpstart them a little financially. I am glad we are in that position.
When Rick and I got married we were older, closer to 30 than to 20. We'd both worked a while and were used to being independent. I didn't ask my dad to pay for our wedding since I was marrying a Jewish guy in a Unitarian Church. I thought that I didn't have the right to ask my dad to pay for everything. I didn't realize that hurt his feelings until later. I thought I was being noble! But we did everything on a tight budget. I wore my older sister's wedding dress. Rick asked a friend of his to doing the wedding photographs, we had another friend do the flowers (which were cheap, we only had potted chrysanthemums, the only flowers in season in November and then two bouquets, one for the bride and one for the bridesmaid. We only had one bridesmaid).
The way we chose our wedding date was pretty practical. We originally thought we'd get married in the spring but then we decided, why wait, so I started looking around for a place to have the reception. I discovered the cheapest places were rooms run by the parks. So I would call them up and ask if they had anything available. I called one place and they said no but then I called back a couple of weeks later and they had a cancellation for November 5th. I then hurriedly called the UU church and asked if we could get married on that day and they said, yes they had an opening. Voila!
We had our wedding in the afternoon and the reception was a 'tea.' We just served hors d'oeurves and cake with coffee or tea or sodas. We had champagne for the toast. The worst thing was the DJ we hired. I really wanted a live band but there was no way we could afford that. The DJ was terrible, he looked hung over and he was playing all the very music I didn't like. I went over in the middle of the reception and was like, why the heck are you playing this music??? The guy had forgotten my playlist that I had spent hours filling out! Grrr. I specifically wanted Motown, 1950s and big band stuff. He was playing 1980s top 40 drivel.
We had a very nice honeymoon staying at a couple of bed and breakfasts. We couldn't decide if we wanted to go to the beach or to the country, so we spent a couple days in Middleburg and then a couple days at Cape May.
Well I could babble on a good deal more. I never was a wedding kind of person. I liked the way I got married - kind of minimalist while still being fairly traditional about it. But I find I am excited about this and looking forward to all the planning. I didn't know I'd react this way!
Anyway, I am going to an all day writing seminar today, so I must be off to that.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Housekeeping Chronicles - 2/4/14
Oh boy. I didn't get anything done housekeeping wise except emptying the dishwasher, scrubbing some pots and moving a load of laundry.
But Tuesdays are driving days.
First got up early with Sean and helped him finish his vocabulary and grammar homework. For some reason he was given a slew of pages to do in these two subjects. I got him up at 5:45 and he worked from about 5:55 to 6:50 on them.
Drove him to school.
Let Becky sleep in a bit (so I could get a shower in before beginning with her.)
We did some Latin review after breakfast
Drove her to voice lessons. Drove her home from lessons.
Then I did something very bad - we stopped at Chick fill a for lunch.
Came home and worked on logic homework and then catechism.
Took her to art
Picked Sean up from school
Did something bad again and got a caramel sundae from McDonald's. Sean always wants to eat something before he visits his Psychologist.
Totally forgot to pick up Becky from art while Sean was at his appt. I got a call from a mom about AHG stuff and I just sat there in the parking lot talking for a long time with her.
So after getting call from Becky wondering where I was, I got Sean out his appt early and went and picked her up.
Now I am home. Frozen lasagna is in the oven.
So basically junk food and driving with a little learning thrown in there. That's Tuesday!
But Tuesdays are driving days.
First got up early with Sean and helped him finish his vocabulary and grammar homework. For some reason he was given a slew of pages to do in these two subjects. I got him up at 5:45 and he worked from about 5:55 to 6:50 on them.
Drove him to school.
Let Becky sleep in a bit (so I could get a shower in before beginning with her.)
We did some Latin review after breakfast
Drove her to voice lessons. Drove her home from lessons.
Then I did something very bad - we stopped at Chick fill a for lunch.
Came home and worked on logic homework and then catechism.
Took her to art
Picked Sean up from school
Did something bad again and got a caramel sundae from McDonald's. Sean always wants to eat something before he visits his Psychologist.
Totally forgot to pick up Becky from art while Sean was at his appt. I got a call from a mom about AHG stuff and I just sat there in the parking lot talking for a long time with her.
So after getting call from Becky wondering where I was, I got Sean out his appt early and went and picked her up.
Now I am home. Frozen lasagna is in the oven.
So basically junk food and driving with a little learning thrown in there. That's Tuesday!
Monday, February 3, 2014
Housekeeping Chronicles
I meant to keep up the food diary, but life got busy and it fell to the wayside. I thought for sure I would just eat badly without it and I did eat worse than I had when I was maintaining the diary, but somehow, miraculously, I am still 4 pounds lighter a week later! I do think even though I didn't write things down, there was a spillover effect that made me more conscientious about what I was eating.
So eheu! (I'm getting really into Latin since I help teach it and we've been participating in National Junior Classical League's Certamen - 5th place on Saturday out of 18 teams).
I thought I'd chronicle my paltry, listless attempts at housekeeping this week. I am pathetic at this, but if I force myself to write it down in a semi-public place, maybe it will have the same effect as the food diary and I'll be that much (which means just a little bit!) better.
So, it was a hectic week last week what with taking almost a whole day with Jackie, then being at the co-op all day Thursday and then gone all day Saturday for the certamen, I had some catching up to do, household wise. And Friday was a very low energy day that I basically wasted.
Sunday - got up early and went grocery shopping. Then Mass, then out to breakfast. Came home and piddled around, then had to take Becky to an AHG thing. But for housekeeping I attempted stairs/hallway.
Swept stairs to basement. (Actually I might have done this on Friday. . . . wow, bad memory!)
Dusted woodwork in hall and on stairs
Cleaned up piles of junk that have been in the upstairs hallway for about a year now. The hallway is just wide enough that stuff stacks up on the sides along the wall and people can still pass back and forth (actually we are good at just stepping over things anyway).
Reorganized the giveaway corner
Moved old linens, etc that were supposed to be given away a long time ago and somehow got passed over.
Threw away junk
Straightened the little bookcase in the hallway.
Vacuumed the hallway
Still to do: put aways sleeping bags and a couple of big comforters that are still on one end of hallway.
Vacuum steps.
I think it is kind of ridiculous that it took me that long to just tidy the upstairs hallway and then dust a bit. That's crazy! However, it is nice that the hallway is (mostly) clear now.
Today I'd like to:
(Updated 5:48 p.m.)
Get a couple loads of laundry done and put away (only 1 load washed/dried and not put away)
Finish up hallway/vacuum stairs (done) (I also vacuumed my room and bathroom and Becky's room)
Clean out fridge and get trash to the curb (done)
Give a quick clean up to the powder room (done)
Have the kitchen cleaned before I have to head out to teach RE this evening. (cooking dinner now and cleaning as I go!)
More update - I feel like journaling the homeschool part too.
While Becky had math tutor from 9 to 10, I planned my RE class for tonight.
Around 10:30 we read the first Act of Henry V out loud. She played Ely in the first scene and King Henry in scene 2. I had did Canterbury and all the other characters. She's surprisingly good!
We did about 10 minutes of Latin vocabulary review right after lunch.
Then Becky had to play catch up. She was supposed to write out her outline for her essay on Robin Hood last week but never did it, so she did it today. She worked hard for a good hour on it.
So eheu! (I'm getting really into Latin since I help teach it and we've been participating in National Junior Classical League's Certamen - 5th place on Saturday out of 18 teams).
I thought I'd chronicle my paltry, listless attempts at housekeeping this week. I am pathetic at this, but if I force myself to write it down in a semi-public place, maybe it will have the same effect as the food diary and I'll be that much (which means just a little bit!) better.
So, it was a hectic week last week what with taking almost a whole day with Jackie, then being at the co-op all day Thursday and then gone all day Saturday for the certamen, I had some catching up to do, household wise. And Friday was a very low energy day that I basically wasted.
Sunday - got up early and went grocery shopping. Then Mass, then out to breakfast. Came home and piddled around, then had to take Becky to an AHG thing. But for housekeeping I attempted stairs/hallway.
Swept stairs to basement. (Actually I might have done this on Friday. . . . wow, bad memory!)
Dusted woodwork in hall and on stairs
Cleaned up piles of junk that have been in the upstairs hallway for about a year now. The hallway is just wide enough that stuff stacks up on the sides along the wall and people can still pass back and forth (actually we are good at just stepping over things anyway).
Reorganized the giveaway corner
Moved old linens, etc that were supposed to be given away a long time ago and somehow got passed over.
Threw away junk
Straightened the little bookcase in the hallway.
Vacuumed the hallway
Still to do: put aways sleeping bags and a couple of big comforters that are still on one end of hallway.
Vacuum steps.
I think it is kind of ridiculous that it took me that long to just tidy the upstairs hallway and then dust a bit. That's crazy! However, it is nice that the hallway is (mostly) clear now.
Today I'd like to:
(Updated 5:48 p.m.)
Get a couple loads of laundry done and put away (only 1 load washed/dried and not put away)
Finish up hallway/vacuum stairs (done) (I also vacuumed my room and bathroom and Becky's room)
Clean out fridge and get trash to the curb (done)
Give a quick clean up to the powder room (done)
Have the kitchen cleaned before I have to head out to teach RE this evening. (cooking dinner now and cleaning as I go!)
More update - I feel like journaling the homeschool part too.
While Becky had math tutor from 9 to 10, I planned my RE class for tonight.
Around 10:30 we read the first Act of Henry V out loud. She played Ely in the first scene and King Henry in scene 2. I had did Canterbury and all the other characters. She's surprisingly good!
We did about 10 minutes of Latin vocabulary review right after lunch.
Then Becky had to play catch up. She was supposed to write out her outline for her essay on Robin Hood last week but never did it, so she did it today. She worked hard for a good hour on it.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Simply Classical - Book 7
Simply Classical; A Beautiful Education for Any Child by Cheryl Swope is an argument for and a handbook on how to give children who struggle because of disabilities a truly classical education. It is very clearly written and tackles the many issues in a forthright and thorough manner.
Swope begins by telling her story. She and her husband adopted twins, Michael and Michelle, at 13 months old. These children were born with all sorts of issues and as they grew more became apparent. Not only were they delayed physically, but it became apparent they were delayed in other ways as well. Over the years, between the two, they were diagnosed with schizophrenia, autism and all sorts of other disorders like Attention Deficit, mild cerebral palsy, mild mental retardation, etc.
Because of the physical delays, Swope got right into a vigorous schedule of therapies. This led into therapies dealing with speech as well. Almost right away Swope was confronted with the choice to 'wait and see' as one doctor put it to her, or to be aggressive. She sensed the need to be aggressive and she was right. Raising these children was a long term and love-filled project. Right from the get-go Swope chose to really work on all these deficits so that the children could reach as much potential as possible.
Swope was a long time teacher (with a degree in special education) and had already become convinced of the worth of classical education. But now she had to defy the conventional operating mode of special ed goals. She didn't want her children's education to be just about training, she wanted it to be about their souls. So she went about adapting classical methods of education to fit her children. And it turned out to be the best thing for them.
Classical education is about learning the good, the true and the beautiful. It's goal is to form a virtuous adult, one with a depth of knowledge and insight, discernment and nobility. It's methods are often seen as very rigorous, so how would this apply to such 'limited' minds as Michelle and Michael?
Swope lays it all out here. This book is very practical. Here are some of the topics Swope addresses:
What Classical Education is,
How to informally assess your child's needs (complete with developmental charts),
What it takes to get a child formally assessed,
Strategies for behavioral and social development,
How to accommodate learning to your child's mental age,
Daily plans on how to structure days at various ages and stages of education,
Testimonials from other homeschooling parents of LD children,
Lots and lots of resources, tips and encouragement
***********************************************
I went through a period where I was really angry at the classical education folks. My own kids had LDs and I resented the accelerated academics that I saw being pushed everywhere in the homeschool and schooling worlds of classical ed. It took all my kids so long to read and I remember how painful that was and then to read, for example, in the book The Well Trained Mind that teaching reading was 'easy' or looking through the Veritas Press catalog and seeing kids being expected to read books like Ivanhoe in 4th grade was so discouraging. My kids weren't good enough for classical education. The same thing happened with schools. At a couple of points during the course of the years we considered attending schools and twice the kids were rejected by seemingly 'Christian' classical schools. I grew resentful because it seemed to me that the schools were more concerned with their reputation than they were with providing each and every unique child with a godly education. Through Circe I came to learn about Paula Flint and Debbie Harris who work with struggling kids, deeply believing that every child deserves this kind of education.
Now I have a daydream of my own - that I could start a school. This school would accept any child and their education would be a loving, classically oriented one that saw him or her as a soul made in the image of God. Classical education, by emphasizing the good, the true and the beautiful, brings out the good, true and beautiful in the student, in whatever capacity that student may have. I have no idea if I have the wherewithal to launch such a project, but it is an abiding dream I have.
This book is a keeper. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Swope begins by telling her story. She and her husband adopted twins, Michael and Michelle, at 13 months old. These children were born with all sorts of issues and as they grew more became apparent. Not only were they delayed physically, but it became apparent they were delayed in other ways as well. Over the years, between the two, they were diagnosed with schizophrenia, autism and all sorts of other disorders like Attention Deficit, mild cerebral palsy, mild mental retardation, etc.
Because of the physical delays, Swope got right into a vigorous schedule of therapies. This led into therapies dealing with speech as well. Almost right away Swope was confronted with the choice to 'wait and see' as one doctor put it to her, or to be aggressive. She sensed the need to be aggressive and she was right. Raising these children was a long term and love-filled project. Right from the get-go Swope chose to really work on all these deficits so that the children could reach as much potential as possible.
Swope was a long time teacher (with a degree in special education) and had already become convinced of the worth of classical education. But now she had to defy the conventional operating mode of special ed goals. She didn't want her children's education to be just about training, she wanted it to be about their souls. So she went about adapting classical methods of education to fit her children. And it turned out to be the best thing for them.
Classical education is about learning the good, the true and the beautiful. It's goal is to form a virtuous adult, one with a depth of knowledge and insight, discernment and nobility. It's methods are often seen as very rigorous, so how would this apply to such 'limited' minds as Michelle and Michael?
Swope lays it all out here. This book is very practical. Here are some of the topics Swope addresses:
What Classical Education is,
How to informally assess your child's needs (complete with developmental charts),
What it takes to get a child formally assessed,
Strategies for behavioral and social development,
How to accommodate learning to your child's mental age,
Daily plans on how to structure days at various ages and stages of education,
Testimonials from other homeschooling parents of LD children,
Lots and lots of resources, tips and encouragement
***********************************************
I went through a period where I was really angry at the classical education folks. My own kids had LDs and I resented the accelerated academics that I saw being pushed everywhere in the homeschool and schooling worlds of classical ed. It took all my kids so long to read and I remember how painful that was and then to read, for example, in the book The Well Trained Mind that teaching reading was 'easy' or looking through the Veritas Press catalog and seeing kids being expected to read books like Ivanhoe in 4th grade was so discouraging. My kids weren't good enough for classical education. The same thing happened with schools. At a couple of points during the course of the years we considered attending schools and twice the kids were rejected by seemingly 'Christian' classical schools. I grew resentful because it seemed to me that the schools were more concerned with their reputation than they were with providing each and every unique child with a godly education. Through Circe I came to learn about Paula Flint and Debbie Harris who work with struggling kids, deeply believing that every child deserves this kind of education.
Now I have a daydream of my own - that I could start a school. This school would accept any child and their education would be a loving, classically oriented one that saw him or her as a soul made in the image of God. Classical education, by emphasizing the good, the true and the beautiful, brings out the good, true and beautiful in the student, in whatever capacity that student may have. I have no idea if I have the wherewithal to launch such a project, but it is an abiding dream I have.
This book is a keeper. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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