Food for Thought ~ As Summer Begins

Art is how we decorate space; music is how we decorate time. [HT: Squilt Music]

Stories

:: On Reading Fairy Tales @ Theopolis Institute [Go read it.]

C.S. Lewis “raises . . . the problem of imaginative impoverishment. The educational system has misread the need of the moment: fearing that young people will be swept away by emotional propaganda, educators have decided the best thing they can do for children is to fortify their minds against imagination and emotion by teaching them to dissect all things by rigorous intellectual analysis.”

:: Why Broken Stories Matter @ CiRCE

"The broken stories of human existence matter because they can lead us to the whole story of the Gospel, and as a teacher I am called to help my students understand the road from broken story to whole story. What a privilege it is."

:: How Fiction Makes Our Brains Better

 

Education

:: Teach Like a Five Star Chef @ CiRCE

On the one hand we have the perhaps pretentious but certainly conscientious approach of an artist who cares deeply about the nature of his ingredients, their relationships, and what they taste like in and of themselves. On the other hand we have the consumerist approach, driven more by the eater than the nature of the food.

:: Out of the Classroom and into the Woods @ npr

Every Monday morning, the kids suit up for a day outdoors. Rain or shine — even in the bitter cold — they go out. They head to the woods next to their school where they've built a home site with forts and a fire pit.

First thing, the kids go to their "sit spots." These are designated places — under a tree, on a log — where each kid sits quietly, alone, for 10 minutes. Their task is to notice what's changed in nature since last week.

Parenting

:: An open letter to the village @ Sharp Paynes

[I]f ever there was a village that could help raise a child, this would be the one I’d choose.