Reading List on the Net {I read too much, do too little}

I posted the first Reading List on the Net for me last week, with just two links. Here is the list that I mentioned in that post about others that I've not gotten to read yet...but I mean to. This is how I put them in a post:

1. http://thecommonroomblog.com/2015/03/in-which-the-dhm-kicks-herself-for-not-practicing-what-shes-preached.htm/
2. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/08/how-to-write-in-700-easy-lessons/308043/
3. http://www.charlottemasoninstitute.org/draw-your-own-conclusions-by-dr-donna-johnson/
4. https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/two-views-math-three-kinds-math-students
5. http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2015/10/the-bbc-writing-christianity-out-of-history.html
6. http://www.liberty.edu/online/index.cfm?PID=29040&blogpid=28541&id=853375
7. http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2015/12/timeless-essays-t-s-eliots-christianity-and-culture.html
8. https://4beautyinthechaos.wordpress.com/2016/01/01/cm-open-house-form-1/
9. https://draxe.com/borage-oil/
10. http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/7-cultural-concepts-we-dont-have-in-the-us
11. https://www.circeinstitute.org/podcast/commons-3-angelina-stanford-legacy-celts
12. http://healthycures.org/neuroscientist-shows-what-fasting-does-to-your-brain
13. http://www.onepeterfive.com/a-screwtape-letter-for-the-unappreciated-mom/
14. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/12/13/the-truth-wears-off
15. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160211141337.htm
16. http://sageparnassus.blogspot.com/2016/02/parts-and-passions-what-to-look-for-in.html?m=1
17. https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/lord-flies-evil-recognized-redemption-begun

Looking at the long list, I realize I read too much and do too little. Pshaw, right? Can't read too much. Well, I suppose that would depend on what the purpose of reading is in the first place. 

My son woke up this morning- or rather got out of bed- rather late. I'm torn on the whole get-em-up-early or let-them-get-their-needed-teenage-sleep. That's perhaps a topic for another day. But he got up late because he had an idea that 'had to work itself out completely' before he could get up. He had to let it play out in his mind, come to fruition, for use in something he will do later today or this week. Some point.

When he told me why he got up late I questioned why he didn't just get up right then and do something with the idea. It had to work itself out completely. Ideas beget ideas...

I'm noticing -keep noticing?- that I intend to read a lot, and sometimes I actually get to read what I intend. But what do I do with what I've read? Fortunately I do not read cleaning magazines or how-to manuals. If I read those sorts of things I am sure there would be the realistic expectation of something to show for that reading. 

But that's my point- there should be something to show for all that reading. What of *my* reading? What should be the output from all of that? 

I don't have an answer at the moment.

Reading List on the Net {first of 2016!}

I do have another post, in draft, that has way too many links that I have kept but not completely read through. Today, though, I came across two bits on the internet that I didn't want to just leave waiting in that post. I will get back to the other links soon... I hope.

Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory

As I put this here, I've been following the links in the original linked article, and find that this was discovered in September 2015.

LIGO of Louisiana and Washington detected a sound, a chirp, that finally confirmed Einstein's prediction of gravitational waves. Two black holes many light years away converged into one, creating a massive amount of energy that created waves. These waves rippled through the space-time, and were detected, by sound, last year. Einstein's theory of relativity "describes space-time as a kind of sagging mattress where matter and energy, like a heavy sleeper, distort the geometry of the cosmos to produce the effect we call gravity, obliging light beams as well as marbles and falling apples to follow curved paths through space."

My son and I have been reading through various physics related books and much of what is being presented now are not theories that have been conclusively proven. They are all 'hopefuls', or well, theories. They are uncertainties. It makes me wonder how much more will scientists come to 'know' about our world and the universe. But unfortunately, the number who attribute this wonder to God, and instead credit an accident, are still so small.

Poetry Teatime – Creating A Language Rich Environment

Yesterday the kids and I had teatime with Shakespeare. Then they moved on to reading some Pygmalion, followed by a bit of Les Miserables. Well, my daughter got interested in the last bit; by then my son had lost his interest. (After all, the tea and shortbread were gone!)

For us, reading these bits out loud are a great help to our comprehension of what is written. How often can you read a poem (or any passage really) and just not get it. Read it out loud though...and wow! it is clear!

We weren't tea drinkers until there was a challenge on the AO Forum* for having a month of teatime. *You'll need to register to see the thread. It was February 2014.

Here's a delightful look at teatime shared by Larkrise on the forum: A Home Tea

But there, the original post,

To Create a language rich, literary environment in our homes, it often means pushing past the ‘formulaic study’ and making room for the flow and freedom of reading, doing life around piles of living books, celebrating the snuggling and gathering of children around a story and the delighting in the incredible gift of words.

And she quotes CM:

Let them get at the books themselves, and do not let them be flooded with diluted talk from the lips of their teacher. The less the parents ‘talk-in’ and expound their rations of knowledge and thought to the children they are educating, the better for the children…Children must be allowed to ruminate, must be left alone with their own thoughts – Charlotte Mason 

Reading List on the Net {final for 2015}

I promise this, this, is the last of the Reading List on the Net posts for this year. I had said the previous would probably be but this one really is. 

A Feast of a Picnic by Jason Fiedler (It's worth it...)

 It’s a wonderful and dangerous thing to bring the beautiful to center stage and trust that the child really will make it their own...I had to move forward on the trust that there was truth in this educational philosophy that crossed barriers, even cultural ones...In the big picture of things, this little educational project in the south Pacific could be labeled insignificant or a waste of resources.  But what I witnessed in that tiny room with those forty teachers – their smiles, the risks they were willing to take to share their thoughts, their questions, their quiet and contemplative looking at the works of an artist completely unknown to them until that moment, the gratitude they expressed when I told them the paintings were theirs to keep –  all of these things tell me it was worth it.

Isaac Watts on Getting Wisdom, contThis is why I saved this link:

Remember this, that if upon some few superficial acquirements you value, exalt, and swell yourself as though you were a man of learning already, you are thereby building a most unpassable barrier against all improvement; you will lie down and indulge idleness, and rest yourself contented in the midst of deep and shameful ignorance.

The Headmistress pointedly states that every teenage boy needs to read this- and I do agree; so much so that I'm going to paste it somewhere that my own teenage boy can read it- but I was pricked hard when I read it.

Museum 'Bans' Cameras, Asks People to Sketch Artwork to Truly Appreciate It
I shared this on Facebook (as it was shared by one of my friends there as well) but tucked away the link for sharing here. One interesting comment on the link I posted on FB stated that their museum did not allow sketching the artwork. It is a brilliant idea to have patrons sketch the work they see. What a mind gallery one would have after doing this for awhile! At the end of the post is a video. It's just a little over a minute long, but look at the people who are participating in the activity. Don't they look like it is an enjoyable experience?

“In today’s world of mobile phones and media a visit to a museum is often a passive and superficial experience,” they write on their website. “Visitors are easily distracted and do not truly experience beauty, magic and wonder. This is why the Rijksmuseum wants to help visitors discover and appreciate the beauty of art and history through drawing.”

Charles Dickens Had It Right
It would seem to be 'common sense' (which we know isn't common) that holding onto material possessions or attempting to find happiness through the acquisition of material possessions will not equate to happiness and is rather counter productive. Dickens was a great writer whose "perception and investigation of the human psyche is deep, precise, and illuminating, and...he tells us things about ourselves by portraying personality traits and habits that might seem all too familiar" (source) 

Overall, the more materialistic people were, the less likely they were to be satisfied with their lives...There wasn’t a single case where materialism related positively to satisfaction...Then again, it could also be that people who are unhappy with their personal relationships and work lives focus on material possessions as a coping mechanism. After all, as the Ghost of Christmas Past reminded him, Scrooge only became a miserable miser after a lonely childhood and a really bad breakup.

Back Away From the iPhone, Mom and Dad

Christmas time is supposed to be a season for meditation on the Incarnation of Christ. It is also an opportunity for us to propagate that Incarnational reality with friends and family. Ironically—or perhaps deviously—many have the urge to use this season to get their hands on the newest “pocket idol...Of course the solution is not to become anti-technology and embrace a technophobic agenda. The wise approach is one which understands the balance required when engaging with technology. As Plato insisted, the man of moderation is “the man of manly character and wisdom.

Artists Share "Before and After" Evolution of Their Drawing Skills With Years of Practice
More of a visual and hopefully encouragement for those who draw but do not necessarily think they are any good. It takes time to hone the skill. I was impressed with these before and after images. {The comments at the end are telling of the individuals who wrote them.}

Composition a la Charlotte Mason: Writing a Precis
Did I share this already? It seems very familiar. It may be that I read, or started to read it, when it was first published. Also, around the same time it was put up, I was in a educational technology course that pushed the use of Twitter in writing exercises. I'm possibly too stubbornly against using technology such as social media in learning. It is possible, this I know. But...
Anyway, this whole series put out by the Headmistress on composition from a CM perspective is worth reading. {I see the need to take my own advice here.}

PRECIS-WRITING and the making of summaries is not
a mere subject for competitive examinations, but an
Exercise of the utmost possible mental and cultural
value. It provides training in clear thinking, intel-
lectual grasp and insight, orderly construction, and
succinct expression.

Reading List on the Net {11.20.15}

Yikes! Another long reading list! You might recall that it's actually a continuation from the previous. I'm not going to split this one up though. I don't think I will get another list up before the New Year {but I've been wrong before}. 

First and foremost because this is something very relevant for today: What ISIS Really Wants
This article is long. You will need time to sit, read, and then digest what you've read. It is important. There is so much I personally have been in the dark about what ISIS really is. There is a video to watch {just over 5 minutes} about the supposed reaction of ISIS to this article. 

We have misunderstood the nature of the Islamic State in at least two ways. First, we tend to see jihadism as monolithic, and to apply the logic of al‑Qaeda to an organization that has decisively eclipsed it. We are misled in a second way, by a well-intentioned but dishonest campaign to deny the Islamic State’s medieval religious nature.

Relationships are tricky but as you probably already know, kindness and generosity go a long way to help them stay intact. This article is in Business Finder, which at first I thought an odd location, but business is indeed based on relationships.

Kindness...glues couples together. 

There are two ways to think about kindness. You can think about it as a fixed trait: either you have it or you don’t. Or you could think of kindness as a muscle. In some people, that muscle is naturally stronger than in others, but it can grow stronger in everyone with exercise. Masters tend to think about kindness as a muscle. They know that they have to exercise it to keep it in shape. They know, in other words, that a good relationship requires sustained hard work. 

While not something to read, as in an article, it is a list of books to read. I found this list while researching educational philosophies. It is not precisely what I was looking for when I googled but it has given me some more books that I may like to look up at some point.

Do Hard Things. This post is a bit difficult to read, or apply. Both. Or maybe it's just me. When we started the path to homeschooling it was because the challenge was not there for the kids. And then it got tough. It still is tough. I'm reminded of Brandy's post awhile back on homeschooling. These are two posts that I really really need to read {and apply}. Over and over.

Who wants our days to be hard? If there is a secret that can make it easy, who wouldn’t want that?! But we are called to be wise and discerning. I know that just because something sounds good and appeals to me doesn't mean that it's true. One way I know to test an idea is to look at other parts of the world and ask myself whether this idea fits what I know to be true. Are there other situations where we get to experience wonder-filled days, joyful times where our kids and ourselves are reaching our goals and desires? Well, yes. And no.

Why aren't students today proficient in writing? I want the writing book that this article bases it's findings. Fortunately it is on Archive.org! Here are the three reasons students aren't proficient, but go read the article. And don't skim. *wink* {isn't that painting beautiful??}

1. They don't read high quality literature.
2. They skim.
3. They don't memorize.

Another {wonderful} post by Sarah at CME Retreat blog. This time it is about fiction and its place in education and our lives. 

I propose that fiction has a beautiful role in education that cannot be filled with any other kind of writing. Without discounting the importance of math, science, history, language, etc., there are things that fiction writing does better, faster, and with more elegance and unity than any other kind of teaching can accomplish. 

Something a little light...


To our health: Death Begins in the Colon
Really, it is simply all about that. What is the purpose of the intestinal tract and colon? What kinds of issues start in those areas? What's to be done?

• What's pizza made of? White flour and cheese. White flour and water is used to make wallpaper paste. And cheese (casein), at one time, was the primary ingredient in Elmer's Glue (thus Elmer's picture on the front). Ergo, when you eat pizza, you're eating wallpaper paste and Elmer's Glue -- a real stick to your "ribs" kind of meal. Is it any wonder it doesn't pass through your colon cleanly and easily?

Your intestinal tract is the source of all nutrient access to your body. If it isn't working properly, you have two major problems. First, you have a hard time digesting food--breaking it down sufficiently so that your body can use it. And then, even if you can digest it properly, if the intestinal wall is covered with hardened mucous and/or colonies of hostile bacteria, you'll end up absorbing only a fraction of the nutritional value of the food you eat.

The important point to remember here is that you can't even begin to cleanse and repair the other systems in the body until you clean out the colon so that the toxic material will have a path out of the body. 

Others worth reading, too. I just didn't leave any personal comments.

Conference Lessons, Class II, by K.M. Claxton {Education related}
Volume 26, no. 8, August 1915, pgs. 569-573

For this group, I had 17 children, varying from the ages of 8 to 11. The lessons chosen by the Committee were: General History (30 minutes), Picture Talk (25 minutes), Natural History (25 minutes), and Map Questions (10 minutes).

How writing affects your brain.

As Annie Murphy Paul explained her fantastic March 2012 essay Your Brain on Fiction, “while metaphors like ‘The singer had a velvet voice’ and ‘He had leathery hands’ roused the sensory cortex, phrases matched for meaning, like ‘The singer had a pleasing voice’ and ‘He had strong hands’ did not.”

Why study cursive in the digital age?

Even now when I talk to undergraduate students, I ask them how do you prepare for a particular test or exam, and they say that they'll often write out their notes or rewrite their notes out, because there's some kind of connection with using your hands to form those letters. It cements it in your mind a lot better. 

At School with Charlotte: Examining Underlying Assumptions

Do you know why it is so frustrating to discuss education with those who are big fans of the industrial school system and rave about ideas like “socialization”? It’s because, when all of the dust settles, the conflicts run deeper than we ever imagine at the outset — all the way to our basic catechetical studies: who is man and what are his purposes?

Those Slouching Beasts: An Open Letter to Educators

Despite the safeguards already in place for helping students succeed at colleges and universities (mandatory attendance reporting! horrendous penalties for not turning in mid term grades in a 12 hour window! imminent arrest for not submitting notice in triplicate to advisors, parents, caretakers, employers, and financial aid for failing students – thrice weekly!),there seems to be a general trend that is in turn creating a new bureaucracy composed of what I call “Helicopter Administrators” – and they’re taking over campuses across the nation.

Internet of Things Devices to Grow 30% in 2016

Approximately 4 billion of those Internet-connected things will be used by consumers in 2016 and about 13.5 billion will be for consumer use in 2020, according to the company. That's up from just over 3 billion in 2015 and about 2.28 billion in 2014.

Reading List on the Net {11.10.15}

Another compilation of various bits on the net I've been reading, watching, or looking at. It feels like so much! The last posted reading list was the first of October but some of these I'm sure are spillover from that list. I might have to carry over some of these. {I did. Who knows when that will be posted...}

7 Must Read Books on Education
It is interesting how we come up with 'must read' books, in any subject or genre. I have been doing quite a bit of research lately on educational philosophies and this post came up in my search. There are quite a few tagged posts with 'education' at Brain Pickings. I would like to read quite a few of them. Anyway, the 'must reads' in this post are:

• The Roving Mind by Isaac Asimov
• The Element by Sir Ken Robinson
• A New Culture of Learning by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown
• The Uses of the University by Clark Kerr
• DIY U by Anya Kamenetz
• Waiting for Superman by Karl Weber
• Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner

I have compiled my own list of 'must reads' based on recommendations of individuals I highly respect. You can see those on the CMEONEO website. Admittedly it is an inadequate list; there is always so much to be read. Speaking of reading...

Living Library Books: Skipping Meals 
I skip meals sometimes but like Liz, I enjoy food too much to do it too often. But the point of this post isn't really about food for our bodies; rather it's the food for our minds.

Contrary to common opinion, reading is not a leisure activity for the few who prefer it to sports or other hobbies. Minds that regularly feed on literature are not only active and growing, but the bodies they inhabit also receive energy. The whole person whose mind is caught up in the words and thoughts of others through books is thriving emotionally and spiritually, because bodies are not just calorie burners, but contain persons, persons with souls, and souls need their own kind of food. Words have the power of life and death. The world was spoken into existence by a word, and its life-giver and sustainer is called The Word. Our designer intended us to be people who live by words.

A Woman Reading

I have my SafeSearch on, so hopefully you aren't greeted by some unappealing images. This search was started while looking at "The Letter" by Camille Corot. At some point I thought I recalled it was said to also be titled "A Woman Reading" but I didn't see it in the images when I searched. But I loved the images it brought up.

Book Review in the International Christian Community for Teacher Education Journal 
A book I have wanted to track down because 1) there are submissions by Jack Beckman, who also contributed to When Children Love to Learn, which I thought was a wonderful book for educators, and 2) because it is about education. This review was brought to my attention recently and now I want to look at the book even more. The book is titled Schools as Communities: Educational Leadership, Relationships, and the Eternal Value of Christian Schooling, Edited by James L. Drexler.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18a (KJV)
Anyone who has engaged in the calling of Christian education knows that it can be — and usually is — one of the most exciting, delightful, fulfilling, and joyous ministries that a believer can know...
And anyone who has engaged in the calling of Christian education also knows that it can be — and usually is — one of the most daunting, exhausting, demoralizing, and frustrating ministries that same believer can know...
And so the question is: How can Christian schools resolve the chasm between the experiences of the first and second paragraphs above, prevent the sort of divisions and offenses within the educational body that the scriptures warn about, embody healthy and continuous educational improvement, and become the dwelling places ofshalom and agapé that will transform the lives of all who are touched by that community?

Cherish the Ladies- The Lake Isle of Innisfree

A youtube audio. This is one of my favorite poems. I honestly do not even know why. It just is. (Thanks to Headmistress)

Attention, Please!
Cindy Rollins talks about why changing up curriculum bits and pieces aren't the magic we hope they will be in our homeschools (or in any school, really).

We starve our students by feeding them sawdust. At first they eat with joy because it is new sawdust but when they cannot digest it their attention diminishes. We panic and buy a new flavor of sawdust and once again our student settles into what he naturally craves - good food for the mind.  He is hungry and excited to eat once again. Only once again we have failed to provide real food for his mind and so his attention is shortened.

Reading List on the Net {10.01.15}

It's been awhile. It's not that there's nothing to read on the internet but rather there is just too much. Ever feel you need a break?

I took a break.

But recently {as in the last two days literally} I have come across bits and pieces that I wanted to share. And wouldn't you know, I had a saved "Reading List on the Net" just waiting. It had to be a sign. {Okay, I'll believe what I want to...}

Since I've been out of it for awhile, I'll start small.

For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov

after reading literary fiction, as opposed to popular fiction or serious nonfiction, people performed better on tests measuring empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence

Why do you suppose this is? I'd love to hear your thoughts but since I don't know when that will happen, I'll go ahead and relay the why. {You can always leave me a comment anyway.} When a literary fiction work is read, there is more required from the imagination than say a popular fiction or romance book. Therefore the reader has to make inferences; the author hasn't given them everything. Encountering this in a book is very helpful for real life when presented with a situation where you have to use your imagination about what is going on, what's happened, how someone is feeling, or even if something will make someone else feel a certain way. You have to infer from their appearance and actions, not just their words.

Experts said the results implied that people could be primed for social skills like empathy, just as watching a clip from a sad movie can make one feel more emotional.

That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket

Throughout the major U.S. tech hubs, whether Silicon Valley or Seattle, Boston or Austin, Tex., software companies are discovering that liberal arts thinking makes them stronger...Lee says she’s in awe of her technical colleagues who write Slack’s code. They, in turn, respect her because of her untechnical ability to “connect with end users and figure out what they want...” Thus the digital revolution spreads a tiny bit further, thanks to whiz-bang code underpinning...–and the interpersonal skills of an English major.

You'll need to read the whole five pages to find where those quotes go but I really thought it got the point across. I mean really, not everyone can be a computer science major. Come on.

Speaking of majors: This reminded me of a Studio C video that my son showed me recently.

Poverty and the Social Welfare State in the United States and Other Nations

The United States spends an outrageous amount on welfare programs, and yet there is about the same rate of poverty in the US as other Western countries (but it's less than the UK). One question I've often wondered is, what makes someone considered to be in 'poverty'? I grew up in poverty but I had everything I needed; but not all my wants. According to this article by Robert Rector, the 'poor' in the US really don't have it so bad. Have a read and let me know what you think.

Reading List on the Net {July 2015}

It apparently takes me entirely too long to get through things I set to the side to 'read at a later date'. That 'later date' seems to keep getting later and later. These I've put here are all within July  at least (never mind the original dates on the articles- good information is timeless).

I categorized them this time. How'd I do? Some probably fit into more than one category, or even need a new label.

Homeschool/Education:
Beginning Charlotte Mason's Methods with Older Children

The last two years: With two years of copious, and mostly informal writing under their belts, most children will be ready to begin formal instruction. Difficult as it is for us to realize today, Charlotte Mason didn't recommend formal writing instruction until the last few years of school, even for those who had been been following her methods from the beginning. Narration is a natural process of building composition skills. Trust that process. Now you can pick a writing program and begin shaping your narrations into standard forms. You'll still have two good years left to work on it--and it is enough.

Article Why College Kids Are Avoiding the Study of Literature

At a more granular level, this approach involves teaching a dense thicket of theory focused on “the text.” But literary works are not texts; that is, they are not just words on a page linked by abstruse techniques. Does anybody really believe that Dickens set out to create a sort of puzzle one needed an advanced humanities degree to make sense of? And that he wanted the experience of reading his works to resemble solving a crossword puzzle? Would he have attracted a mass audience if he had?
Literary works are not texts in that sense. The text is simply the way the author creates an experience for the reader. It is no more the work itself than a score is a concert or a blueprint a creation capable of keeping out the rain.
No, the real literary work is the reader’s experience. ...
Readers who mistake theater for reality are vanishingly rare, but almost every reader spends time wondering what she would do if she were to find herself in the same fix as the characters she is reading about. Would we wonder about being in the circumstances of words on a page?

A Rational Lesson, from AO Parents' Review Article Archive

The stages by which the former kind of idea is reached are very easy to follow. First comes the direction of attention to the matter in hand; then that careful note of successive sense impressions which is called Observation; then the separation by the mind of what is distinct in these different percepts from what is common to them all; and lastly, the expression of this in correct language. These four stages have been called Attention, Observation, Generalization, and Formulation.

The Blessing of Catechizing Our Children

The Bible is our curriculum, or the content of our prophetic teaching. We cannot give our children a better or more useful gift than knowledge of the Holy Scriptures from their earliest days (2 Tim. 3:15). We should read and explain Scripture to them at the level of their own understanding. As they acquire the ability, they should read and memorize it for themselves. We need to introduce older children to study Bibles, concordances, commentaries, dictionaries, and other helps, and they should share in explaining God’s Word to their younger siblings.

Isaac Asimov Calls for More Engineers Through Science Fiction

[Isaac Asimov] was also an advocate for getting more students interested in science, math, and engineering. He believed that good science-fiction wasn’t a distraction or “merely” entertainment, but an essential recruitment tool that did get people interested in science (see the end of his essay for his personal testimony).

Personal Enrichment:
Can you prescribe nature?

Brain scans showed reduced activity in an area of the brain linked to risk of mental illness in participants who took a 90-minute walk among oaks, birds and squirrels.

Politics/Civil Issues
The Scapegoat for Strife in the Black Community

The great Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that a good catch phrase could stop thinking for 50 years. Catch phrases about slavery have stopped people from thinking for even longer than that.

Shakespeare and the decline of America

"Of course he was a black woman. I understand that. Nobody else understands it, but I know that William Shakespeare was a black woman." [Maya Angelou]. In much the same way, Goethe felt sure that Shakespeare was a spiritual German, who had accidentally been born in the wrong place. G.K. Chesterton had no doubt that he was a devout Catholic. And, in a sense, they're all right. Or rather, as T.S. Eliot put it, "the most anyone can hope for is to be wrong about Shakespeare in a new way." 

And here are others that I may or may not have actually gotten to read yet:
https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/moms-are-born-persons-too

http://sheismore.com/30-characteristics-of-a-modern-lady/

http://goodguyswag.com/30-characteristics-of-a-good-guy/

http://studentstories.hillsdale.edu/2014/09/29/hillsdales-list-top-ten-books-youve-got-to-read/

http://blog.theliteracysite.com/fiction-readers

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/10/grim-tales (I came across this post while reading Tending the Heart of Virtue; spurred me on to finish the book.)

Reading List on the Net {06.27.15}

Supreme Court is a Political Branch- Has the SCOTUS become a political rather than judicial branch, or has it been that way for a long time? Or is that just that some people didn't get their way with recent judgments and are labeling it as such? Perhaps when I get a little more time, I'd like to look into the SCOTUS's history more closely. This argument has probably been made before, albeit with different terms. (And for the record, the recent ruling doesn't change my views on marriage or people in general.)

Pair foods for nutrition- When I was growing up my mom read a lot of nutrition research. One specifically I recall was Adelle Davis. Although I never read any of her works myself (although I recently found a free copy of Let's Have Healthy Children and picked it up for sentimental reasons) I vaguely recall 'pairing' to be of importance. Our bodies are fascinating and wonderfully made. They are intricate and oh so complex. There are quite a few people I have talked to that say it doesn't matter if a person eats food/nutrient A with food/nutrient B because our bodies automatically 'know' that those go together and will search them out, if you will. With my own reading of the book Trim Healthy Mama I can see the sense in findings of research conducted and reported on, such as what's linked here. If pairing makes it easier for the body to get the nutrients it needs, why not.

Charlotte Mason College alumni returned to the campus- This was last year, I believe. Ladies who had graduated from the college returned for a two-day visit. The initial article doesn't really tell much about what went on, why they were they, who they were, but the link near the bottom sends us to some 'memories'. It was nice to read some of their memories.

Charlotte Mason College influenced my life as it is here where I grew up, I became independent. Having no men at college was relaxing, no need to dress up or show off! Just drink in that heavenly place, no matter how many times I re-visit I can’t get the nostalgia, tugging of the heart strings out of my system. ~Edna Ball, class of '65

Testing! Testing!- Actually assessments is a better term. I think the two terms, assessment and evaluation or testing, have become viewed as interchangeable although they are different. At the recent CMI conference, Lisa Cadora chatted with a group about assessments. One thing she said, among many, that stuck with me is that you cannot constantly be pulling a plant up by its roots to evaluate its progress. It won't grow that way. Rather we assess as we go by what we observe, hear, and read the student produce. This way we can better tailor the books and activities that we present to the student so that they may lead a fuller life, not just get the right answer on the test.

"The terminal examinations are of great importance. They are not merely and chiefly tests of knowledge but records which are likely to be permanent. There are things which every child must know, every child, for the days have gone by when 'the education befitting a gentleman' was our aim." v6, p291

How Teens Can Become Millionaires- By the time they retire, that is. I came across this awhile ago but it popped back up recently, being shared by someone else. We've tried to get our kids into a saving for the future mentality while not making them feel like they can't have any of the money they earned. This post is very brief but the visual is what caught my attention. My daughter went through the WealthQuest for Teens program (and loved it) but she's not done any investing. I'm curious what type of investing options are available for both of them.

Do you believe in ghosts?- I have no idea how this came up on my radar. I thought it an interesting read.

No evidence has produced a single fact that should sway a Christian into believing that the spirits of deceased people can loiter on earth. In light of the Bible, the only conclusion is that ghost sightings are either the figments of overactive imaginations, or else they are demons.

Reading List on the Net {06.12.15}

A Depression-Era Medicinal Plant Map of the United States- This just looks really neat. I've attempted {not succeeded well} to become more knowledgeable about common plants that can be used for medicinal purposes.

Morality, Myth, and the Imagination- This post was from 2009 but it is something that will be covered in the upcoming 2015 Charlotte Mason Institute Education conference {next week!}. The entire theme of the conference is nurturing moral excellences. I don't recall how I came across the post but am glad that I did. Brandy links to a book that will be discussed at the conference- Tending the Heart of Virtue. The very last paragraph in the post is spot on, I think.

In what way can we best prepare the imagination to attempt greatness?

5 No-Cost Tricks to Sell Your Home Faster- No, we aren't moving {yet} but we never really know when we will. We've generally done well when it comes to showing our homes to sell but Dave Ramsey has some pointers that I'd not thought of, such as setting the table for two. My biggest focus is always that it is clean, which is #1 on this list. *smile*

A study by the Real Estate Staging Association found that homes staged before listing received an offer in just 23 days on average. That’s 87% faster than those who waited months after listing to bother staging.

This is Adolescence: 18- You'll have to read this and apply it to the 18-year-olds that you know personally but I can understand many of the conundrums that 18 presents. It is amazing how that number can signify so much change, when it is really just a number. When my daughter turned 18, I honestly think she thought great amazing things were going to happen right then. I am not disregarding her feelings because I guess I felt the same. {I grew up vastly different than she did and my "18" came much earlier.} This helps me to see how others must feel- and I am sure I will when my boy turns 18, because I think it will be closer to what is presented than what I've experienced with my daughter- when they come to the age of 18 with their children.

Eighteen leaves little gashes on my heart, like stinging paper cuts, as time winds down and we no longer have months or years but rather weeks and days. I miss him before he is even gone and I grieve once he has left. Eighteen drifts slowly away the summer after graduation and then one morning I load up the car and he is really gone, and I can do nothing more than help him on his way.

Why So Poky?- This article talks about poorly written children's stories, featuring prominently The Poky Little Puppy. He simply does. not. like. this book. But his daughter loves it. It has been entirely too long since I've read this book but I did indeed read it to my kids. I can't say they "loved" it as his daughter seems to, but his point is that best selling children's books aren't necessarily good books. The point below that children have no standards is somewhat try; let to themselves they will consume junk rather than nutritious food. It can be applied the same to the great ideas gathered from good books as opposed to twaddle and junk books.

Their sales are sustained in perpetuity by nostalgia alone...Millions of people enjoyed The Poky Little Puppy as children, because it was cheap and because, being children, they had no standards. They grew up to be parents, remembered the book fondly from childhood, and purchased it for their own children. It’s an intergenerational cycle of crap, and it’s the reason The Poky Little Puppy and The Little Engine That Could and God knows how many more terrible books have been in print for three-quarters of a century. 

Taking the Plunge into Living Science- Going on 6 years of homeschooling and I still have not quite got the hang of 'living' science. I think this year hopefully will be a step closer in that direction. The part seems the most difficult to implement for us is the notebooking {Joy calls them journals}: Getting them to put their knowledge and understanding down on the paper. There is a concern on their part, I think, that their drawings are right or perfect, when what I am looking for is more the concept is firmly in place. It seems so strange to me that now that Fox is going into 11th grade we will focus more on living science, but I don't think it is too late. Joy's post is very encouraging. No quotes from it because I want to quote too much! 

Reading List on the Net {06.05.15}

For some reason it really makes me smile when the links put here are from different sources. I read a lot about Charlotte Mason and education, and sometimes I link to the same website. In those cases, it's almost like I should just say, "Go read the whole site!"

Reading to young children messes with their head, er, I mean shows positive activity in their brain. This is just one of those things that make one shake their head. We know that reading to children is a good activity. I've seen links to the opposing posts, but honestly haven't actually read any, that suggest parents not read to their kids so that it will level the playing field. Hogwash. Read to your children. Don't shortchange them.

“We are excited to show, for the first time, that reading exposure during the critical stage of development prior to kindergarten seems to have a meaningful, measurable impact on how a child’s brain processes stories and may help predict reading success,” said study author John Hutton, M.D., National Research Service Award Fellow, Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “Of particular importance are brain areas supporting mental imagery, helping the child ‘see the story’ beyond the pictures, affirming the invaluable role of imagination.”

This isn't education- it's testing, testing, testing. Really the title says it all but the post has quite a few snarky lines, and other good points beside, to drive home this point. Yes, this is a post in a UK but it is fairly relevant here in the US where testing is becoming The Way to Get Ahead for students {and if students do well, then it's the way for teachers, too}.

A secondary pupil in year 9 can expect to be doing a sit-down test at the rate of one a week for a whole year.

The SAT is no longer what it once was. Speaking of tests...As I've never taken the SAT I don't know how the new versus the old. But according to Wilt in the article, it is now being used as an achievement test, when it was created as an aptitude test. I've always found it to be a little silly.

Right now, students spend more than $860 million on SAT test preparation. 

There is a partnership now in place with the College Board and Khan Academy to give free test prep.

Secret school created by Tesla Motors CEO. Elon Musk, who I did not know was affiliated with Tesla -which has a showroom just down the road from my home-, PayPal, and other ventures, started his own school because he didn't like his kids' school. Apparently he didn't like his own early school either, where he was bullied; not lightly, but beaten to the point of needing hospital care.
But apparently what makes his created school newsworthy is that it is somewhat secret, as in it doesn't advertise and is right now primarily for kids of SpaceX employees, and there are no grade levels.

Musk is "making all the children go through the same grade at the same time, like an assembly line,"

"It's important to teach problem solving, or teach to the problem and not the tools," Musk says.

Possibility, Not Heredity- Children are born with potential to be either good or bad {sometimes both!}. It isn't an issue of genes necessarily. In Charlotte Mason's day, and even today, the thought was that it was part of your heredity. If you had a wayward relative, you could be destined to be the same. And who could blame you; it's your genes. We can change who we are. We can be guided and influenced.

In her [Charlotte Mason] culture, if someone had fainted, told a lie, or gotten drunk, there was probably a grandparent somewhere to blame.

What Does Good Think of You?- Today Silvia sent this link to me as I am thinking about and preparing for a {in-real-life} book discussion group. This by far the most important link in this post. It is at least the one that made me think the most.

...the student is usually being robbed of the ability to think through the text deeply, carefully. The student is hustled along to the conclusion of the matter without being shown what they need to look at, what they need to think about.

The teacher who understands the insignificance of his own thoughts is best suited to lead his students into genuine wonder; if the lit-teaching Mr. Smith doesn’t recognize his own opinion is less important than the opinion of Mr. Rousseau or Mr. Burke, he is probably not an interesting enough person to listen to anyway.  

The world may be digital, but paper notebooks are still relevant- How long will the 'debate' go on over which is better; or even if paper will someday be obsolete? Paper is awesomely wonderful. Digital is great and practical, and very useful. Paper is awesomely wonderful.

"The stuff that really matters goes onto the paper..."

 ...for so-called digital natives, iPhones and other high-tech gadgets are commonplace. Paper is the curiosity.

Reading List on the Net {06.02.15}

Wow so this post was started a couple months ago apparently. Was going to start a new post when I saw this one in drafts.

Defining Charlotte Mason- exactly what the title says. By the AO Advisory at their blog.

A Respecter of Persons by Evelyn Hoey- At the Charlotte Mason Institute's blog.

Why Children Need Chores- It's for their own good.

How to Start Running More- Uh, where's the how to start running, period?

Fantasy Films and the Obliteration of Imagination- from the Imaginative Conservative.

Radical Daughter- it's about not being neutral.

Summer Craft Ideas- since I may (hopefully) be leading arts/handicrafts at a co-op in the fall, thought I better get some ideas. Another is Bobby Jo's site with hand crafting posts.

Taboo Behaviors Now More Acceptable in the US- somewhat surprising what is becoming less taboo but others that are remaining so.

Reading Readiness- We are all different. There isn't a standard reading age.

Chocolate Chip Cookies- made with coconut flour. Oh yes, and sugar free.

Day 24: Reading List on the Net {National Poetry Month & 30 Day Blog Challenge}

For today's poem I'd like to share another of Lee's poems. She wrote this just the other day and I quite like it:

The View (by Autumn Lee)

Great wide world--

I see you!

You spread away, away--

I can cover you with one hand.

At some point there's an edge--

I see you for miles.

Great wide world--

You look so small!

There's so much in every place--

I see it in one glance.

Much more beyond just here--

I am above it all.

Great wide world--

I'm standing in the sky!

From here I see how big you are--

Still only takes one hand.

You're so much vaster than I know--

But for now I see it all.

*This post contains one single solitary Amazon affiliate link. See Disclosure/Policies.*

Otherwise I'm keeping a reading list on my phone when I come across links that interest me. Here is a little video to watch: Keepers of the Flame.

Most of the links I have are for education; public school that is. I will only share some of those. But one I have bookmarked is not. It is from Christian Science Monitor (I am not in agreement with their theology/doctrine but appreciate their reporting):
Is this the most effective new antipoverty program in America? What it entails is taking an active interest, and follow-through, in those who are in poverty. It doesn't mean just giving them money or resources to buy what they need. It means helping them see how to get what they need, and in some cases even understanding what it is that they need. Watching the video documentary from 2010, Waiting for Superman*, one tactic for an alternative school to reach more students effectively is by taking an active interest in the students' family. It involves helping the parents get what they need so that they can in turn better help their kids.
*Amazon affiliate link

Less is More. That isn't the title of the post but it really sums it up. A US educator goes to Finland to get more ideas on how to do new things with her class here in the US. What she finds is that the Finnish students are succeeding when the US students are not; that might be because less is more.
Here in the US,

"we can't even stick to ONE philosophy of education long enough to see if it actually works. We are constantly trying new methods, ideas and initiatives. We keep adding more and more to our plates without removing any of the past ideas. Currently we believe "more" is the answer to all of our education problems- everything can be solved with MORE classes, longer days,...MORE assignments, MORE pressure, ...and of course MORE testing! All this is doing is creating MORE burnt out teachers, MORE stressed out students and MORE frustration."

She gives 11 areas that Finland has the Less is More mentality when it comes to education. And they all make perfect sense. I'd say these are evidence-based results that should be given much thought here in the US. There is always the drive to find 'evidence-based' strategies and practices for the best teaching and learning here in the US. But I think that for the most part, those advocating for so-called evidence-based practices are primarily concerned with successful schools in the US. That presents a problem when supposedly the most successful here is still falling behind the most successful internationally. If we are going to compare, it makes sense to see what others are doing "right" so that perhaps those strategies can be applied.

Lastly, the reliance on smartphones by teens is rising. Apparently in 2012 only 1/3 of teens (surveyed) had smartphones; now 73% of teens (surveyed) have one. 92% of teens go online everyday.
Of course they have to throw in demographics as well: 85% of African-Americans have a hand-held device, while 71% of white and Hispanic do. Interestingly,"91% of white and upper-income teens" also have a desktop or laptop at home, compared to only 80% of "African-American, Hispanic, and middle- and lower-income teens." Facebook apparently is still the king of social media for teens, but Instagram, SnapChat and Twitter are used more often by middle- and upper-income teens. Girls gravitate toward the more visual apps.
Other than the social media stats, as far as was stated, the rest of the results mimic adult ownership and usage of smartphones or hand-held devices. Is this surprising? 

Day 7: Reading List on the Net {National Poetry Month & 30 Day Blog Challenge}

I've been saving up apparently. I put the links here and come back to tell about them. Sometimes that's when I actually read whatever it is all the way through. Admittedly, I also didn't have a post in mind for the 30 day challenge, or a poem for that matter. I haven't even looked at the CCPL's prompt. This could get tough.

Medieval method destroys modern day 'superbug' MSRA. Interesting! Thinking out of the box doesn't mean coming up with something completely new but trying something different, even if that means going back hundreds of years!

William Blake, poetry. Why not, it's National Poetry Month after all. And it fulfills the poem-a-day challenge I set for myself, even if it's not right here on my blog. Nancy's blog is lovely; you won't mind the visit.

The mind needs nourishment as does the body. This is about children but really, is it so different with adults?

"[Children] experience all the things they hear and read of; these enter into them and are their life; and thus it is that ideas feed the mind in the most literal sense of the word 'feed.'" ~quoted from vol. 6, p. 40

More about nourishing the mind. Brandy always writes so well.

Just as mommy prepares the child a generous diet regardless of her ability to prepare it herself, so the generous teacher reads aloud from wonderful, beautiful books. We do not assume that just because the child can only make pancakes, therefore she can only appreciate pancakes. Rather, we assume that she can read the pancake books on her own, but that we honor her soul by feeding her generously, even if in the early years it is a feast of the ears rather than the eyes and it is consumed with Mom rather than in solitude.

Good reading skills promotes math success. This seems obvious to me.

Brandy gives a good 'list' of commonplace necessities. I'd added a few to my Amazon wishlist.

Imaginative Conservative on the false promises of progress in the US.

In their bewilderment, Americans have now all but lost the ability to formulate what they most need: an imaginative reconstruction of their history and a sober assessment of their prospects. The idea of freedom and the ideal of progress have combined to reassure Americans that, unlike other peoples, they are, and forever will be, the masters of their fate. Such a pleasing illusion has exhausted its usefulness and become an impediment to thought and action.

Manifesto for Liberal Education. I'm not going to quote a lot of this but he's got some really good points. Here are the points on which I agree right off.

Thesis One: Lectures are not a legitimate part of liberal education, at least not as a primary part.
Thesis Four: Students should not specialize (or at least not soon), and professors should teach not what they know but what they don’t know.
Thesis Seven: Liberal education is irremediably bound to reading.
Thesis Eight: The reading that defines liberal education is that of great books.
Thesis Nine: My final thesis says: Education should never ever be academic. (As in there has to be a human connection.) 

Fair Tales Need a Shakeup
This one I got a chuckle from. We've been sporadically watching "Once Upon A Time" and boy have those fairy tales been shaken up! But the originals are for the imagination, for thinking. Fairy tales don't need a twist of any sort. They work just fine. I mean, after all see how much thinking it got Pinborough doing?

They need a shake up for sure, and not just a feminist one. What are those stories really telling us, other than women cause each other problems that men need to sort out?

Good question- it's telling us that that is exactly what we don't want to happen. They should help us to see what is good and what is not. And then you can write your own 'happily ever after' fairy tale. Don't mess with the old ones. Really.

Reading List on the Net {03.30.15}

An Invitation to Purposeful Change, post by Cindy Swicegood at CMI's blog.

Change one thing. Start now. For nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)\

And something different: Two videos. These are required watching for one of my college classes. They feature Jason Lewis and Tami Foster of Logos Academy in York, PA. These are on iTunes and are free.
Leadership in Diverse Schools
Christian Urban Schools

Notes I took while watching Leadership in Diverse Schools-

Five points to consider when thinking about leadership:

1. Whom has God called you to serve?
2. What type of leader are you, and those who lead with you? (Educator, Entrepreneur, Executive)
3. What is the unique role the school plays in the community?
4. Pedagogy is based on anthropology and culture- it must be adaptable.
5. Leaders need to be humble; be teachable, able to say sorry, be willing to listen. The leader is responsible for holding to the vision/mission.

Reading List on the Net {and not}

A Post on "Award Winning" Books. Just because it is awarded a medal doesn't make it a good book. But we knew that right? This was brought to my attention by Shannon after I'd asked on the AO forum about Caldecott and Newberry Award books. Some of them are on the AO booklists.

"The literary innocence crafted by Laura Ingalls Wilder and fanciful imagery painted by C. S. Lewis are long forgotten in award circles. Shock value and bibliotherapy are more in vogue."

Two books that I picked up and started reading (not on the internet).
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert*

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.
Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.
With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story" (mostlyfiction.com).

Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

This is a children's book originally published in 1880. It takes place in a small New England town after the Civil War. The story of two good friends named Jack and Janey, Jack and Jill tells of the aftermath of a serious sledding accident. (wikipedia)

I am really enjoying both of these books. I've had Jack and Jill for years but have never opened it to read. I honestly don't know that I've read any of Alcott's books, but I have seen a few renditions of Little Women. Not the same, I am sure. This book I didn't even know what was about.

*Moloka'i was mentioned on the AO forum by mommychickadee. I just happened to see if it was available for loan from the library, and it came in today. So far I really like the book. It has much feeling in it. I read a review that said it was unrealistic. I doesn't seem so to me. But I am only a few chapters in so far. Edited to add: This book will be going back to the library because there is much in it that I am just not willing to read. I'll link to mommychickadee's review because it'll give a better reason why I'm returning the book. If those portions were removed the story, as I see it, would be just as touching and just as real. Someday I may pick it up again but not right now.