We’ve done a lot of copywork in our homeschool. My kids all taught themselves how to print before I taught them to write, so we used Cursive First for our writing program. It corrected a lot of their printing issues, which was great. They copied some random things until M-girl was third grade or so….
I like my cover better than the one GoodReads assigned Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot My rating: 5 of 5 stars Own. I’ve never read any Eliot before and reading this does not dissuade me from reading more. I loved this. I didn’t get most or all of it, I’m sure, but the…
Jacob’s Room is Full of Books: A Year of Reading by Susan Hill My rating: 4 of 5 stars Own. I’ve enjoyed Hill’s memoirs, although my favorite is, I think, The Magic Apple Tree. These bookish ones are both very readable and she mixes in so many ideas from the world at large. This one,…
For Today… Looking out my window … it’s been rainy and now will just be hot and humid. I am thinking … about some upcoming blog posts – adding to my scaffolding series and one on the “riches.” I am thankful … for the Set Your Feet Retreat and how well it went last week…
[This post is a devotional I wrote for a baby shower. I hope it’s an encouragement to you.] One of the biggest struggles I faced as a new mom was wanting to do everything exactly right and being certain I’d do everything exactly wrong. This self-doubt led only to comparison, worry, and fear. I compared…
For Today… Looking out my window … it’s getting dark. I heard a rumble of thunder a bit ago – hope it cools things off overnight. I am thinking … about Mason’s three tools actually, I’m stewing about my son’s baseball game tonight and how adults ruin things for kids. I am thankful … that he’s…
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill My rating: 3 of 5 stars Own. I’m going to actually give it 3.5 because the first half of the book was so good. I started this on the beach and read for about 4 hours straight (ish) what with watching kids and people and dogs thrown…
Beowulf by Unknown My rating: 5 of 5 stars A friend of mine loaned me her copy of Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf. I’d been listening to Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf with my kids and was surprised by the Christian themes I heard. My friend thought the introductory essay in this edition was worth reading and…
For Today… Looking out my window … the sun has gone to bed and so must I. Soon. I am thinking … scaffolding, personhood, paideia, Irish civilization, the Ideal Type. Something’s bound to bump into something else up there. I am thankful … for a wonderful vacation with my wonderful inlaws. One of my favorite…
Sit by Deborah Ellis My rating: 4 of 5 stars I sat to read Sit by Deborah Ellis while watching the kids – my kids and my nephews – playing blissfully in the pool while on vacation. While I would never say that sadness, hardship, or even violence have never touched their teen and pre-teen…