Quotable

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

~T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Owning Books

A book reads better which is our own, and has been so long known to us that we know the topography of its blots and dog's ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins. ~Charles Lamb

Do you have a favorite book that has been with you for years and shows signs of loving? My favorite is Maggie Rose. Have I mentioned that before? Actually, the copy I have is not the same as the one I grew up with, but it looks just the same. The old, pale pink cover, slightly worn on the edges. The sketchy, quirky illustrations. This current copy looks forward to years of loving by my family.

Honor and Appreciation

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." ~Theodore Roosevelt, The Man in the Arena

"Never give in —never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." ~Winston Churchill

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." ~G.K. Chesterton

Fall, Leaves, Fall

Fall, Leaves, Fall

By Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away.

Lengthen night and shorten day.

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow.
I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

A Tale of Two Cities

The Taking of the Bastille

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

" . . . tell Wind and Fire where to stop," returned madame; "but don't tell me."

Charles Darnay seemed to stand in a company of the dead. Ghosts all! The ghost of beauty, the ghost of stateliness, the ghost of elegance, the ghost of pride, the ghost of frivolity, the ghost of wit, the ghost of youth, the ghost of age, all waiting their dismissal from the desolate shore, all turning on him eyes that were changed by the death they had died in coming there.

If you could say, with truth, to your own solitary heart, to-night, 'I have secured to myself the love and attachment, the gratitude or respect, of no human creature; I have won myself a tender place in no regard; I have done nothing good or serviceable to be remembered by!' your seventy-eight years would be seventy-eight heavy curses; would they not?"

Although I struggled to follow the story at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, I was immediately drawn in by the writing style. The versatility of Dickens is striking. A Tale of Two Cities contrasted sharply with the charming, humorous, touching story of David Copperfield which I read for the first time last year.

I wish I had covered more pages in less time when beginning the book. I think I would have followed the story line more clearly, though it seems as if Dickens was trying to be somewhat vague and mysterious and didn't intend for his readers to immediately understand where he was headed. A few chapters into the book, I was completely hooked.

The haunting imagery, the poetic cadence, and epic tone of the novel will stick with me for a lifetime. It is a story I am sure to revisit in the years ahead.

I've posted quotes from A Tale of Two Cities in the past months, here and here. Good stuff, that.

Babies Don't Keep

BABIES DON'T KEEP

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

I have been enjoying my boys immensely of late. All I want to do is read to them, snuggle with them, listen to their stories, make silly faces, play games, see new sights, and learn fascinating things with them. My house is starting to show it, but these are moments and days that I will never get back. I have much on my plate this next week so the posts will be light, but hopefully I will at least be leaving you with a thought for the day. Go rock those babies... even if they aren't quite babies anymore.

Hope

Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man. ~Victor Hugo

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:19 a

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops... at all. ~Emily Dickinson

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

Hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier. ~Author Unknown

Levitical Sayings

Mom, come this way! (We were exploring paths on a hike) I promise I'm not Flatterer. (Which will probably only make sense if you've read Pilgrim's Progress.)

May I please watch a quiet movie? (He looks at me with pleading eyes during a long pause.) I lack a yes....

Mom, do you know what cumbersome means? (I ask him to tell me.) Heavy. Hard to handle.

The rain is striking in different directions!

The frog is pleading for some food.

(In the middle of the night I hear his voice calling. I go in. He says in his sweetest voice...) Mom, could you help me with my covers, please? I only say those words when I need assistance. (I cover him up. He doesn't move or open his eyes.) Thanks, mom.

I'm going to pounce. That means to spring on someone suddenly.

(He gets out of the bathtub... His swimming trunks are dripping wet, but he doesn't seem very clean.) Only the south half of me is wet. The north half is still dry. (He puts his hands around his waist.) This is the equator.

(I ask him if he likes Tae Kwon Do.) Yeah! (Slight pause.) Except for the pushups. They give me the arm aches.

I despise you, Diego! (Said one Zorro to Diego from Go, Diego!)

Connections

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the chance to make connections along with my children. I find it fascinating how one piece of information leads to another and another....

Our most recent Around the World card featured Chinese pagodas. The first was the Big Wild Goose Pagoda built in 652. While searching around the web, I found an article about the largest pagoda in the world, the Tianning Pagoda, which is 13 stories high. The picture shows Buddhist monks attending the inauguration of the Zen Buddhist pagoda.

Levi remembered seeing pictures of Buddhist monks and statues in the fabulous picture book People by Peter Spier. This book alone provides hours of 'people watching' with seemingly endless detailed illustrations. (As an aside, I wish my childhood bookshelf would have included any of Peter Spier's works. I could have spent hours pouring over his illustrations!)





We moved on to a discussion of the various ways people around the world worship using The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions. Upon opening the book, Levi immediately spied a photograph of the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall) in Jerusalem, Israel, which was added to our Around the World cards after I read The Silver Chalice.

And who knew that a short geography lesson would also add saffron to our color palette?! One of our books described the monks' robes as being saffron, and Levi was searching for a saffron ribbon in the ribbon drawer this morning. (How many times can I use the word saffron in one paragraph?)

Anne of Green Gables

My first brush with Anne of Green Gables occurred when my uncle gave a lovely hard-bound book of the same to my older sister. My mother read the book aloud to the three of us girls that winter.

It seems as if it couldn't have been too long after that when the movie version was shown on the public broadcast station. We were all hooked, my youngest sister most of all. She became Anne.

I don't remember details from the early reading of Anne, but the movie became an important part of our lives. It is probably the most-watched movie in my collection, and the one I wouldn't ever want to part with. I feel as if Anne helped shape my childhood. My husband was 'given the privilege' of watching the movie with me before we were married. I'm not sure he would have been allowed into the family otherwise.

Guilt started creeping in when I realized how important Anne was in my life, and yet I had never read the book on my own. Determined to remedy said tragedy, I added Anne of Green Gables to my autumn intentional reading list. And I loved it. Absolutely. Loved. It. Don't go through life without meeting Anne. (Read the book(s) first if possible, but I highly recommend the movies Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea.)


pg. 77

"Saying one's prayers isn't exactly the same thing as praying," said Anne meditatively. "But I'm going to imagine that I'm the wind that is blowing up there in those tree tops. When I get tired of the trees I'll imagine I'm gently waving down here in the ferns--and then I'll fly over to Mrs. Lynde's garden and set the flowers dancing--and then I'll go with one great swoop over the clover field--and then I'll blow over the Lake of Shining Waters and ripple it all up into little sparkling waves. Oh, there's so much scope for imagination in the wind! So I'll not talk any more just now, Marilla."

"Thanks be to goodness for that," breathed Marilla in devout relief.


pg. 83

Marilla felt helplessly that all this should be sternly reproved, but she was hampered by the undeniable fact that some of the things Anne had said, especially the part about the minister's sermons and Mr. Bell's prayers, were what she herself had really thought deep down in her heart for years, but had never given expression to. It almost seemed to her that those secret, unuttered, critical thoughts had suddenly taken visible and accusing shape and form in the person of this outspoken morsel of neglected humanity.


pg. 286

"That Anne-girl improves all the time," she said. "I get tired of other girls--there is such a provoking and eternal sameness about them. Anne has as many shades as a rainbow and every shade is the prettiest while it lasts. I don't know that she is as amusing as she was when she was a child, but she makes me love her and I like people who make me love them. It saves me so much trouble in making myself love them."


pg. 287

But Anne, with her elbows on the window sill, her soft cheek laid against her clasped hands, and her eyes filled with visions, looked out unheedingly across city roof and spire to that glorious dome of sunset sky and wove her dreams of a possible future from the golden tissue of youth's own optimism. All the Beyond was hers with its possibilities lurking rosily in the oncoming years--each year a rose of promise to be woven into an immortal chaplet.

Can You Find It?

I pulled this book of art off the book shelf, remembering that the cover art depicted San Francisco. (View of San Francisco, Number 2 by Peter Saul.) Luke is fascinated by Golden Gate Bridge lately.

Can You Find It? showcases 19 works of art of various styles and time periods ranging from Scenes from the Tomb of Nakht (unknown artist) to Sweets by Randall Deihl, an American realist painter. Each painting covers 3/4 of a two page spread, large enough to search for small details such as 1 man who looks like a rock, the time 9:45, 7 blue parasols, 6 brown jugs, and 3 men on a roof.

This search and find book was produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the introduction, the author describes playing Can You Find It? at an art museum. The game requires a partner. One player finds a detail in a painting and says, 'I see a man who looks like a rock,' and the second player searches until the detail is found. What a fabulous way to encourage young children to spend time looking closely at a painting!

When you've finished the paintings in Can You Find It? be sure to move on to Can You Find It Inside? and Can You Find It Outside?.

Happy Costume Day

Warm-Weather Beach Boy and Diego

Cold-Weather Diego and Zorro

Diego, Lion, and Zorro

Socialization

Because the big 'S' word comes up so often in homeschooling discussions, I thought I would share links to a few articles and posts I have found recently.

Three of my links send you over to Principled Discovery where Dana has some pointed things to say on the subject. Check out How Education Became Indoctrination, On Socialization, and So, how do I plan to socialize my children?

Here are a few funny (and a few not so funny) socialization responses over at A to Z Home's Cool.

Greg Sherman, Ph.D. gives Ten Good Reasons to Homeschool. It is an excellent article and sums up my reasons for homeschooling quite well. Check out Reason #6.

Homeschooling and the Myth of Socialization by Manfred B. Zysk is another interesting article if your eyes haven't yet glossed over.

Lesson Planning

I promised to share with you, those readers who might be interested, my non-scientific, laid-back, low-key lesson planning for Levi's Kindergarten year.

We began doing 'Kindergarten' work in February of this year, as Levi had turned five in January. I would have held off until this fall if I hadn't felt that he was more than ready. Sitting still in a chair for hours a day or being quiet for long periods of time (particularly where there would be a group of children and/or interesting information being presented) would not have been an ideal situation for him, but he was definitely up to working on new skills and taking in new information.

My lesson planning methods early in the year were certainly low-key. I simply used a calendar with a large amount of white space and lines for writing for each day of the month. When we covered educational material, watched an educational show, went on a field trip, worked on a skill (writing, math, or phonics), or completed a project together it was written on the calendar. I was able to see at a glance what we had covered and what had been missed. So many of the things that I wrote on the calendar were a part of our everyday lives, but I needed to see in black and white that I was doing my job.

While much of our learning environment comes naturally, I truly delight in sharing 'aha!' moments with Levi, and I adore having the shared imaginative landscape that comes from reading together--I absolutely take this responsibility seriously. Educating our children is a tremendous job. It is a priority that cannot, must not, get shoved down the list by the mundane chores of life, by tempting frivolous activities, or by lack of self-discipline. For myself, some planning, list-making, and accountability is necessary to make sure the job gets done well. But I also have to realize that there is a point in time where one must put down all the lists and plans, roll up one's sleeves, and get to work.

We 'schooled' lightly but consistently through the summer months and then more deliberately beginning in September. Our main curriculum (math, phonics, and grammar) are fairly straight forward when it comes to planning and implementing. Mostly they require 'doing the next thing.' When I sat down to plan our school lessons, September through December, I started by counting the number of weeks. There were 10 regular weeks, 2 'Thanksgiving' weeks, and 4 'Christmas' weeks. I then figured out where I wanted to be by the end of the year and planned backwards. How many lessons would we have to cover each week in each subject to reach that point? It was also important to give ourselves some breathing room. I didn't want to over-schedule and then constantly feel the need to play catch-up.

For other subjects I had a general idea of the material I wanted to cover. For example, I wanted to read The Story of the Orchestra for our music studies, adding in additional material for each composer introduced in the book. It was fairly easy to go through the book and realize that we would probably need to read about and listen to one composer weekly. I pulled out the books and other resources I would need for each subject and made similar rough plans for each.

The next step was to type up a simple weekly lesson plan form. I listed each subject (some with basic notations regarding the number of lessons to complete weekly) and left blank spaces in which to write. Each week (usually on Saturday or Sunday) I print one off, penciling in any specific lessons, passages for reading, or projects I hope to do. If any extra materials are needed for projects or experiments, I add them to Monday's shopping list.

I thrive on specific schedules, but I've had to content myself with a loose routine at this stage in our lives. Most of our lessons happen early in the afternoon while Leif is napping and Luke is having quiet time. Often Luke joins us for reading or projects after Levi's desk work has been finished. We usually begin with copywork for handwriting. Levi copies sentences (which I have prepared in advance) on his writing paper while I quickly read over the math lesson and gather anything we might need. After math, we migrate to the couch to work on phonics and grammar lessons. Then we read, do projects, or whatever else might be in our plans. I keep our stack of current 'school' books on the desk behind the couch so they are easily accessible.

Our chapter book reading usually happens in the evenings. We go through our 'circle time' notebook (which includes memory work, poetry, Bible verses, Around the World cards, some art study, and a little bit of geography) all together during our breakfast time. I'm sure that Leif is memorizing the poems along with us. Grin. Some mornings we make it through a single poem. Some mornings we review from beginning to end. Some mornings I barely manage to get breakfast on the table without a nervous breakdown.

I plan on doing lessons about four days each week, but rarely plan our 'off' day in advance. With three little guys, I never know which day will go down hill due to illness, failed nap attempts, or any other number of things. Some weeks I find we spread out the lessons over six days, without any concentrated effort.

When we complete a lesson, again, I simply fill in the blank spaces on our lesson plan form. Sometimes we accomplish everything I had planned, sometimes we do not and the plans get rolled over onto the next week. At the end of each week, I have a tangible record of what we have accomplished, and it gets filed in a 3-ring binder. Nothing fancy. Nothing stress-inducing. Nothing that would particularly matter to anyone other than myself and my desire fulfill my responsibilities.

And in the end, it isn't the paper that really matters. It is the light in Levi's eyes when we are learning, discovering, imagining, and just plain living that is the true reward for a job well done. I love engaging him in conversations. I love watching him make connections.

I don't know if anything in this post has been helpful, but I will follow it up with specifics for each subject if anyone is interested.

The Gallant Pig

I recently finished reading Babe: The Gallant Pig to Levi. (I have to admit here that Russ read a few of the chapters...) I know I rave about so many of the books we read, but this story is another one for the wonderful list. Babe is a lovely example of the rewards of being polite and kind. I love the simplicity. I love Mr. and Mrs. Hogget: he, the silent type--she, the boisterous, rambling, head-nodding, red-cheeked, farmer's wife. They seem so genuine.

We often watch the movie version of books once we have read them. I remember watching Babe years ago and loving it. The movie ended up in my cart at Amazon (wonder how that happened). Levi loved it! Babe is a perfect family movie. Add it to your collection!

Creating the Spring Orchard

After much cold, rainy weather already this autumn season, the last few days have been gorgeously sunny. I adore cool, sunny autumn days! The boys have breathed in quantities of fresh air, and a few projects have been accomplished. We (well.... Russ) managed to plant three fruit trees to begin the Spring Orchard. (We'll be planting more in the spring.) I planted 50 daffodil bulbs with Levi's assistance and have various other bulbs to plant in the next few days if our weather holds out.

Eventually, we will have fruit trees bordering the length of our driveway, each tree circled by masses of flowers in the spring. Hence the name Spring Orchard....

Around the World Apple Pie

Need ingredients for an apple pie, but the market is closed? You'll need to pack a suitcase and catch a steamship bound for Europe! How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World is a picture book full of vivid, whimsical watercolor illustrations. Gather wheat in Italy, cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and sugar cane in Jamaica! When you have finished reading this story, your mouth will be watering for hot apple pie. Luckily our neighbors have an apple orchard, although Vermont would have been lovely!
Because I had a five-year-old and a three-year-old helping (and a one-year-old under foot), we experimented with an easy press-in crust rather than rolling out a traditional pie crust. The boys loved getting their hands messy (and the counter, and the floor....).

Guilt, Ignorance, and Responsibility

Do you ever wish for ignorance? I wish I was completely ignorant of the fact that much of the world's chocolate comes from the labors of oppressed people. What is our responsibility as consumers? What does a person do with the guilt they feel when overwhelmed by the feelings of responsibility?

I appreciated Heather's post and the following comments over at her blog, Becoming. As I was thinking a little bit about the questions raised, I came up with this non-professional, non-earth-shattering, nothing new advice (mostly to myself):

Start with one thing and let the rest go. Seriously. It doesn't help much to become paralyzed with guilt and consequently unable to do anything. If you are a planner/list maker like myself, make a list of things you could do to become more socially and environmentally responsible. Depending on where you are in life, the things on your list might be small or large, but try be specific. For example, list 'switch to organic milk' rather than 'eat organic food.' Your list might look something like this:

1. Switch to organic milk.
2. Find local source for eggs.
3. Keep lights off in house when not in room.
4. Stop using heat dry on dishwasher... let the air do its job.
5. Vote.
6. Volunteer at local shelter.
7. Buy only fair trade chocolate.
8. Use cloth grocery bags.
9. Visit a farmer's market.
10. Plant a small veggie garden.
11. Use local honey to replace sugar in recipes when possible.
12. Switch to environmentally friendly household cleaners. (Vinegar and baking soda if nothing else...)
13. Have a sit-down dinner with family at least four times a week.
14. Stop shopping at Walmart.
15. Take children to a nursing home to visit.

If you want to try my trick, list the things you already do (like vote) and mark them off. Grin. Then pick one thing on the list. Try a smaller thing to start with such as air-drying your dishes. And Just. Do. It. Give it some time to sink in. Let yourself get comfortable with it, then move on. It might be a week; it might take a month or two. Don't let yourself get hung up with guilt over the other things on your list. You'll get to them! If something new comes to your attention, add it to the list. Don't let yourself get side-tracked.

What is first on your list?

Ilex-Maiden

Ilex

Haikus
by Ilex

Yellow harvest moon
Early morning field song is
Calling autumn in

Blue cloud snow falling
Winter is ice cold dropping
melted icicles

Spring birch trees shiver
The evening breath whispers through
Listen to the wind

Summer cicada
Purple dawn rises above
The garden blossom

Drake-ster

Drake