In the early days of my homeschooling, I discovered a little gem that I have read and re-read throughout the last decade. A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot is an interesting book which has proved to be a valuable resource in my homeschool and spiritual life. Understanding that the home is not a…
Tag: Resource Reviews
Know and Tell: The Art of Narration
My homeschooling style can best be described as “relaxed classical” or “love of learning through living books.” In ordinary words, I am homeschooling for heaven not Harvard. That said, if God’s plan for my children includes Harvard, I want them to be adequately prepared to meet the challenge. In our homeschool, we are focused on…
The Song of Hiawatha
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series My grandpa was born in 1906. He went to school in the ancient days of America when memorization was considered a good way to, well, remember things. When I was a child, he could still recite large chunks of Longfellow’s Evangeline. I believe I first heard from…
Great Courses: Watercolor
Work In Progress This post is a work in progress. I am posting now, rather than waiting until I have more things to report, because I have gotten three questions about this course in the last week. I thought that it might make sense to put something quick and dirty up now and then plan…
An Everlasting Meal
I picked up Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal because the person who recommended it likened it to The Supper of the Lamb, which I loved. Adler also appreciates Capon’s Supper and refers to it more than once. She quotes several other cookbooks, and her epigraphs are from widely varying sources, from M.F.K. Fisher to Anton…
Cicero’s On Duties
“Cicero, like thoughtful men of every age, knew that the reason vicious leaders like Caesar could rise to power was because the Roman population itself had been corrupted and no longer pursued the old virtues; a leader is, after all, a mirror of the people who choose him or at least allow him to retain…
Tending the Heart of Virtue
“Becoming a responsible human being is a path filled with potholes and visited constantly by temptations. Children need guidance and moral road maps and they benefit immensely with the example of adults who speak truthfully and act from moral strength.” – Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian In Diane’s review of The Pleasures…
The Monks of New Skete
The Monks of New Skete “…the best image to capture what a monk is can be found in the words of the Russian author Dostoevsky, who remarks in The Brothers Karamazov that a true monk is nothing more than what everyone ought to be… he was pointing to an attitude of heart that he believed…
Love Never Ends
A year ago this month we had the privilege of reviewing The Corner Room’s beautiful album, “Psalm Songs.” In that review, I commented that I think The Corner Room musicians are like modern day Davids – musicians who play to please the Lord. “Psalm Songs” is rich, textured, and melodic. When listening to that album,…
Creed in Slow Motion
“Authors Note: The sermons of which this book is composed were delivered to the girls at the Assumption Convent (now at Exton, Rutland) when they were being evacuated to Aldenham Park, Bridgnorth, during the late war.” In 1855, the bishops of England had suggested to John Henry Newman that he should translate the Vulgate Bible…
Apple Recipes
In this article, I wrote about why we can apples. I have had some friends ask me which recipes we use and how we do it. I am a self-taught canner. I am not an expert. I am just a modern mom who is trying to connect with old-fashioned good sense. That said, I will…
The World of Ben-Hur
“To the people of his hometown, Jesus was always a carpenter, the son of a carpenter, a man who worked with saws and planes. We have some of the same problems, except in reverse. We’ve always known Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. We can’t see him as an ordinary craftsman who made…
The First Olympics
In June of 1894, Pierre de Coubertin and his newly organized International Olympic Committee unanimously voted to schedule the first Olympics of the modern era to open in April of 1896 in Athens, Greece. Over the next two years, 13 countries would assemble teams of athletes to represent their nation in this peaceful international assembly…
Listening to Readers
I am not an expert. I am not even trained for early childhood education. I make no claims of expertise. I am just a mom who is a voracious reader and who will do anything reasonable under the sun to make sure that her kids have the right relationship with reading. A reading relationship built…
Bilbo’s Journey
I had never heard of Middle Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Lord of the Rings until I entered my freshman year at Hillsdale College in 1995. The only real fantasy I had read up to that point was the Chronicles of Narnia. I quickly discovered that practically everyone on campus loved The Lord of the…