Great Housekeeping Advice!

I could have written this post.  In fact, I wrote one very nearly like it on a homeschool message board recently.  This is almost exactly my experience with trying to keep house when one is lousy at it and homeschools.  I mean I came to the same conclusions about the little things that can keep things running a little more smoothly.

Check it out!

Old Books-The Long Winter

I have a thing for antique books.  My dear husband gave me this 1940 First Edition of The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

It is illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle.  It was a copy owned by Boyle and she gave it to her niece in 1987 along with a little bookmark she had made a little sketch on.  Apparently Boyle co-illustrated three of the Little House books as well as other books.  She's not as famous as Sewell.

My husband bought it from these dealers.  We got a catalog from them yesterday and I was in pure heaven browsing through it seeing all the interesting old books.  I could be a book dealer.  Anyway, I thought I'd share the link to Aleph-Bet Books, so you can enjoy looking at all these lovely old children's books too!

That Resource Site

Seriously cool, eclectic resource.  Lots of stuff for Catholics but stuff for other folks too.

H/T to Willa (I clicked on the button on her blog.)

Hypatia and St. Cyril or How to Read History

So I've been reading aloud from Mathematicians are People Too which is a very interesting book.  I read it long ago to my older kids.  However, I had completely forgotten about the Hypatia chapter.  I remember researching it a bit back then.  And I've only researched it a bit now, but I wanted to briefly talk about how important it is to never  swallow someone's recounting of history hook, line and sinker!  Especially if it has to do with Catholic history.  There is a whole lot of Catholic bashing going on.  It started with the Protestant Revolt or as history books like to call it, the Reformation.  The printing press came into existence about this time and those who were breaking away from the Catholic Church were very creative in recounting history from their own point of view.  The U.S. was founded by Protestants and our history is retold from a very Protestant perspective.  This is one reason why Catholic schools got established.  Protestants were using the public schools to evangelize Catholic immigrant children.

Lately Catholic bashing has got a resurgence among the New Atheists who like to reiterate the exaggerations that started with the Reformation and then add their own.

Now, I know very well that the Catholic Church has done bad, bad things.  It is a huge, very long-lived institution that is full of people.  And people are sinners, every single one of them.  I am living in the time of the s*x scandals.  It is awful!  The whole thing is disgusting and disheartening.  However, for example, many, many people jump to the conclusion that all priests are pedophiles.  You'll see this screed spewed all over the place.  That's the narrow-minded, mean-spirited, irrational exaggeration that I'm talking about.

Well, this kind of stuff can get put into kids books.  Nice, cleverly written, enjoyable children's books too.  Like Mathematicians are People, Too.
In the chapter on Hypatia, it is put forth that the Bishop of Alexandria had Hypatia murdered by a mob of monks in broad daylight on the steps of the Cathedral.  This just sounded so wackily far-fetched that I did a little research.

I found something here.  There's one contributor towards the end of this discussion who seems to want to blame the Jews.  Sigh.

 And here.

And here.

I don't know what the truth was.  Scholars are debating it.  It sounds like there was a real political struggle going on at that time.  But I am willing to bet any amount of dollars that the way this story is related in Mathematicians are People, Too book is just plain wrong.

So in approaching history with my kids I have adopted two principles:

1.  Question the author's interpretation.  Analyze the worldview being presented.  Read and learn critically.

2.  Learn history from different perspectives.  History is always told from a subjective point of view.  Learning it from various sources helps one realize this and hopefully counters the imbalance a bit.

I also want to say that there are plenty of Catholic history books that also present a one-sided retelling of history.  This is one reason why I don't care for the history books by Dr. Anne  W. Carroll that are so popular with Catholic homeschooling.  Same sin, different angle.

App School

I got an ipad for Christmas.  I guess my husband got tired of me always borrowing his!  Anyway, I think the ipad is wonderful tool for learning.  And apparently a lot of other people have thought this too.

My kids have been practicing their math facts and logical thinking skills doing Kakuros.  They've been practicing spelling playing Scrabble.  And there is a whole lot more out there they can play and learn with.

Here is a site that lists 40 different apps.

And here is something I found on facebook.

I plan to explore these things and see what appeals to my kids.

It's exciting!

Unschooling Moments of the Week - 1/7/11

Becky's gotten into making these intricate snowflakes.

This won't be a good review here.  There are several reasons:

1.  My aunt is recovering from her leg amputation.  I spent Monday and Tuesday from lunch until dinner time in Washington DC visiting her and dealing with hospitals.  I'm going again this afternoon.  So I've spent a lot of time away from the house and the kids.  You know what that means?  The kids are running wild and the house is a wreck.

2.  I am fighting my annual, isn't-January-for- hibernating? feelings.  Which means I am running on empty mentally.  Which means my house is a wreck.

3.  My twice-a-month cleaners took a week off, which means, they don't come until the end of January.  Which means my house is a wreck.

4.  I keep forgetting to bring my camera to things, or when I remember to bring it I forget the little memory card that goes in it, or I have my camera with the card but I just plain forget to take pictures.  Or I go to take a picture but then realize my house is too much of a wreck.

The one on the bottom right is cut from paper towel!

However, some highlights:

Poetry memorization:
Mom - Soliloquy from Henry V "Into the Breach"
Josh - wanted to re-memorize/tighten up recitation of Jabberwocky and The Walrus and the Carpenter
Sean - started on The Duel by Eugene Field.
Becky - At the Seaside by R. L. Stevenson

Writing:
Sean started WWE 3
Both Becky and Sean got back to practicing cursive

Breakfast read alouds:
Per my tweaked new schedule - we read aloud Bible History Monday and Wednesday, Thursday we read about Hypatica from Mathematicians are People Too (forthcoming post on that one).

Silent reading:
Becky - still working on My Father's Dragon (she hadn't been reading it consistently)
Sean - finished St. Patrick's Summer Catechism and is now reading Gifted Hands, a Biography of Ben Carson.
Joshua - is reading Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard

We are going to get back into math and Latin for Becky and Sean next week, I've decided.

Josh and I went to Latin class.  Becky went to art.
Josh and I started up again with literature and history after an inadvertently long December break from it.
Josh also started up Algebra II again.  He's almost done with the book.  He's going to focus on it a lot this coming week and hopefully finish!
Josh doesn't start back up with his Biology class until next Friday.

We actually did our Outdoor Nature Challenge on Thursday afternoon.  We went for a walk in a nearby park that we hadn't visited in a long, long time.  The parks consists of different gardens and they've added all sorts of different little sections complete with charming ornaments.  They had a new children's section with all kinds of whimsical animals at the North Pole and another section with teepees and scarecrows.  Yeah, it would have been good to have a camera!  We saw lots of different birds nests.  And we got some good exercise, even though it was cold outside!  I felt very virtuous!

Evening read alouds:
David Copperfield - everyone is starting to enjoy this and they are actually asking me if I'm going to read it to them at night.  We don't get to it more than two or three times a week because everyone in the family has to be present (excepting Hannah).  Rick is still reading the Westmark series by Lloyd Alexander to Becky and Sean.  Not sure where they are in that.  Next week we'll start back up with The Story of the Romans.

Hannah is still home on break waiting to go to Rome with UD on 1/24.
While waiting she:
Got another piercing in her ear
Sewed curtains for her room
Went away skiing for a couple of days in the middle of the week with a bunch of kids from her old high school homeschooling group.

Will started looking for a job.   Well, first he had to go buy new clothes so that he could go job hunting without looking like a homeless person.  He put in an application with Gamestop.  Today, he plans to put in applications with Trader Joe's and Music and Arts.  Will also had his piano jury last night.  Being a bad Mom, I didn't want to face traffic and drive into DC yet again.  Being  18 years old, he didn't really seem to care whether I was there or not.  He said it went great.

I love the crosses cut into the center.  I think they are quite beautiful!

  

The Birds Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin

I don't know if this should also be included in my 52 Books in 52 Weeks list, but I'm going to talk about it anyway.  I read this aloud to my 9 year old for Christmastide (which for us Roman Catholics doesn't officially end until this coming Sunday, I believe, on the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord).
I was reminded of this book by this blog and these particular illustrations.  When I was little I clearly remember reading a very old edition of this book.  So when I was reminded of it, I reached for my handy dandy Kindle and got myself a Yesterday's Classics reprint of it.

This is a short, sweet novella about the Bird family who live next door to the Church of Our Savior.  Mrs. Bird gives birth to a baby girl while listening to the choir singing on
Christmas day.  She names the baby Carol.  Carol is a delightful child but she is not healthy.  Mr. and Mrs. Bird have to come to grips with the thought that their little
girl is not long for this world.  On her eleventh Christmas, Carol plans a grand Christmas dinner celebration for the poor neighbor children who live behind her great house.

The tale is very Victorian and sweet.  It has a bittersweet ending.  All in all, we enjoyed it very much!