Just a bit of humor for the homies.
Have a wonderful evening and I'll see you in 2009.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Bedside Table Reading
Many of my friends (both homeschoolers and not) talk about the pile of books teetering on their bedside tables. I'm no exception. My bedside table looks like a miniature, poorly organized, library. Today, I'm going to let you look and tell you what I'm currently reading.
On the top of the pile is Shakespeare: To Teach or not to Teach by Cass Foster and Lynn G. Johnson. I'm thinking about reading Henry V with my boys this year, culminating with seeing a live performance this spring. Cass Foster abridged A Midsummer Night's Dream, among other Shakespeare plays, and I thought he might have some insights on how to teach Shakespeare to my kids.
Next on the pile is Sense and Sensibility. This is the book I'm currently reading to wind down just before I go to sleep. This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've read it. Jane Austen just never gets old.
Third down is a brand new book I put on my Amazon wishlist and received as a gift. I'm very excited to read it, although I've barely opened it yet. It's The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph. The trivium is one of the bases for classical education, so I'm trying to get a better picture of what the teaching the trivium entails.
Next down is a book that is always on my bedside table: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto. I'm chipping away at this book, which is fascinating, yet frustrating (for its lack of citations). I think this is a must read for the "big picture" view of what we're doing by homeschooling.
The next three books are aspirational reads more than anything: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Virgil's Aeneid, and Plato's Republic. Ovid and Plato are for my own edification, so I rarely actually get to them. I just plain don't like the Aeneid. I only have one more section of it to read, though, so I might make it a goal to finish it before the new year.
I would love "Bedside Table Reading" to become a regular post on this blog. Please take a picture of your pile of books (whether it's on the bedside table or not), make a list of the books and, if you have time, make some comments, and then send it to me at homeschoolingrevolution [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
On the top of the pile is Shakespeare: To Teach or not to Teach by Cass Foster and Lynn G. Johnson. I'm thinking about reading Henry V with my boys this year, culminating with seeing a live performance this spring. Cass Foster abridged A Midsummer Night's Dream, among other Shakespeare plays, and I thought he might have some insights on how to teach Shakespeare to my kids.
Next on the pile is Sense and Sensibility. This is the book I'm currently reading to wind down just before I go to sleep. This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've read it. Jane Austen just never gets old.
Third down is a brand new book I put on my Amazon wishlist and received as a gift. I'm very excited to read it, although I've barely opened it yet. It's The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph. The trivium is one of the bases for classical education, so I'm trying to get a better picture of what the teaching the trivium entails.
Next down is a book that is always on my bedside table: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto. I'm chipping away at this book, which is fascinating, yet frustrating (for its lack of citations). I think this is a must read for the "big picture" view of what we're doing by homeschooling.
The next three books are aspirational reads more than anything: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Virgil's Aeneid, and Plato's Republic. Ovid and Plato are for my own edification, so I rarely actually get to them. I just plain don't like the Aeneid. I only have one more section of it to read, though, so I might make it a goal to finish it before the new year.
I would love "Bedside Table Reading" to become a regular post on this blog. Please take a picture of your pile of books (whether it's on the bedside table or not), make a list of the books and, if you have time, make some comments, and then send it to me at homeschoolingrevolution [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Video Wednesday
This video has nothing to do with homeschooling, although my daughter tells me stories like this all the time and she happens to be homeschooled. She doesn't speak French, though -- not yet at least.
Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.
Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Time for the Revolution
I’ve been thinking a lot about time.
We’re always so busy, running from park day to drama practice to art class to hockey games – and we’re one of the less busy families I know. Experts are always telling us how moms (and I’d apply this to homeschool dads, too) need to make time for themselves. You know, for exercise, a massage, “me time.” I think the experts are right that we who take care of the day to day needs of the family as a career tend to forget to our own physical and mental needs.
This is not the type of time I’ve been thinking about.
Most homeschooling parents I know try to take time to find the right grammar curriculum or the perfect science program. We spend hours considering what our kids’ strengths and challenges are and tailoring their education to fit each individual child. We often feel rushed and pushed into making some of these decisions, and I, at least, sometimes jump into “crisis mode” and choose things for my kids that will do for the interim while I look for something better. I often wish I had more time to analyze what I do each day with my children.
This, also, is not the type of time I’ve been thinking about.
I’ve been thinking about taking time to plan the revolution.
I’m talking about “big picture” thinking. What is the purpose of what my family is doing? What are its implications? What type of world am I trying to create? Face it, what we’re doing is not the norm and does not create the same reality for our kids as for the kids who are institutionally educated. They aren’t going to have the same shared experiences. This makes a difference in how our children are going to treat, and be treated by, the rest of our culture.
The founders of our country didn’t just think about what the American Revolution meant right then, in 1776. They were thinking about the future and what they were creating for the long run. They met for 15 years hashing out the details, first, of parting ways with Britain, and then they continued to meet to hash out what the new country would look like. They took time to plan the revolution.
I don’t think there’s a right way to do the planning, though. For me, it means spending a lot of time reading about a whole slew of subjects, including philosophy, history, politics. I read a lot of blogs and books on homeschooling. I talk to my homeschooling friends and belong to homeschooling online lists. I also just spend time thinking (or “daydreaming” as my kids call it). But I don’t spend nearly enough time doing these things because there is laundry to be done and food to be cooked. I firmly believe that revolutionaries shouldn’t have to do house work. But somebody has to do it.
And somebody has to plan the revolution.
We’re always so busy, running from park day to drama practice to art class to hockey games – and we’re one of the less busy families I know. Experts are always telling us how moms (and I’d apply this to homeschool dads, too) need to make time for themselves. You know, for exercise, a massage, “me time.” I think the experts are right that we who take care of the day to day needs of the family as a career tend to forget to our own physical and mental needs.
This is not the type of time I’ve been thinking about.
Most homeschooling parents I know try to take time to find the right grammar curriculum or the perfect science program. We spend hours considering what our kids’ strengths and challenges are and tailoring their education to fit each individual child. We often feel rushed and pushed into making some of these decisions, and I, at least, sometimes jump into “crisis mode” and choose things for my kids that will do for the interim while I look for something better. I often wish I had more time to analyze what I do each day with my children.
This, also, is not the type of time I’ve been thinking about.
I’ve been thinking about taking time to plan the revolution.
I’m talking about “big picture” thinking. What is the purpose of what my family is doing? What are its implications? What type of world am I trying to create? Face it, what we’re doing is not the norm and does not create the same reality for our kids as for the kids who are institutionally educated. They aren’t going to have the same shared experiences. This makes a difference in how our children are going to treat, and be treated by, the rest of our culture.
The founders of our country didn’t just think about what the American Revolution meant right then, in 1776. They were thinking about the future and what they were creating for the long run. They met for 15 years hashing out the details, first, of parting ways with Britain, and then they continued to meet to hash out what the new country would look like. They took time to plan the revolution.
I don’t think there’s a right way to do the planning, though. For me, it means spending a lot of time reading about a whole slew of subjects, including philosophy, history, politics. I read a lot of blogs and books on homeschooling. I talk to my homeschooling friends and belong to homeschooling online lists. I also just spend time thinking (or “daydreaming” as my kids call it). But I don’t spend nearly enough time doing these things because there is laundry to be done and food to be cooked. I firmly believe that revolutionaries shouldn’t have to do house work. But somebody has to do it.
And somebody has to plan the revolution.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Video Wednesday
My posts have been rather sparse lately, and this Video Wednesday will show you why. My kids and some of their friends were in a production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and I've been busy taking them to rehearsals, running lines with them and, of course, making costumes. The cast is all homeschooled kids between the ages of 5 and 14. They met once a week for a couple of hours for 3 months to put this together. The production was directed by Andrea Parker who runs Arizona Homeschool Theatre Group.
The scene presented here is "The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby," the play within the play put on by a group of silly mechanicals for the wedding of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hyppolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. Enjoy!
The scene presented here is "The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby," the play within the play put on by a group of silly mechanicals for the wedding of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hyppolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Video Wednesday -- Thursday Edition
I hope everyone is not all hung up about having Video Wednesday on a Thursday.
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