Cultivating wisdom, knowledge, and virtue.
Do you read poetry and share it with your children? I’d like to prescribe a dose of poetry every single day, but I know that might seem daunting. How about poetry every week instead? Start with simple poems, laying a solid...
Springtime puts me into a poetic frame of mind, so by the time April arrives — it’s Poetry Month, you know — I have a stack of poetry by my chair and favorite lines running through my head. Most of the...
Psalms in Music The Psalms were the first poetry and prayer that I encountered as a child, and they still bring daily joy, peace, and comfort. I recently found this playlist of the entire book of Psalms in music, sung...
Is there any reason for an ordinary person to learn decent penmanship? I believe there is, even if handwriting seems difficult or unnecessary. Clear italic or cursive penmanship is an art form that virtually anyone can master. Because handwriting is...
My granddaughter called this morning, and we talked about building snowmen. Since we are both living in a snow globe, it seemed a perfect topic. However, I did experience a pang of guilt upon hanging up. Remembering the years of...
Never be within doors when you can rightly be without. Charlotte Mason I have always loved Charlotte Mason’s idea of keeping nature notebooks, and tried different ways of doing it with my boys. We were never able to make a habit of...
“It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or reading-diary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or your own impression of the work, or of any part of it; but not summaries of...
Most of my favorite childhood moments took place outside. I remember hours of playing with neighborhood children — skating, riding bikes, playing hopscotch, and acting out stories around my swing set and playhouse. Other happy hours were spent with my grandfather...
I’ve had an enduring love affair with literature that began in my childhood. Reading was my gateway into other times and places; reading was where I met interesting people I would never have encountered...
Barbara Frietchie John Greenleaf Whittier Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September morn, The clustered spires of Frederick stand Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. Round about them orchards...
While writing the Excellence in Literature curriculum, I had a choice in how to structure it. Should I write a large textbook with lengthy, encyclopedia-style entries for each of the context resources? Or would...
Morality By Matthew Arnold We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides; The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides. But tasks in hours of insight...
Melville’s Early Life Herman Melville (1819–1891), American author, was born in New York City on the 1st of August 1819, the son of a commission merchant and importer of French dry goods who lived...
