Does penmanship matter anymore? Is there any reason for an ordinary person to learn decent penmanship? I believe there is, even if handwriting seems difficult or unnecessary. Clear penmanship, especially a simple Italic hand, is an art form that virtually...
Praise has power. Well-earned and properly given praise has the power to motivate and build confidence, while improperly directed praise can create unhealthy attitudes, provide an inaccurate self-concept, and even make children unwilling to try new or hard things. What...
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...
A Simple Year-End Planning Routine Each year at this time, I try to spend at least an hour each day planning, organizing, and tidying. A tidying of my physical space helps to organize my mind and heart for the new year, but I’ve discovered that year-end planning works...
The greatest gift of all When you are planning a gift, it can be hard to know what a loved one might need or want. There is one gift that is truly one-size-fits-all, and when truly given, it will not...
Almost everyone I’ve talked with for the past few weeks has sounded overwhelmed and exhausted, so although this week’s post was supposed to be about planning, I’m going to postpone that for something a bit lighter—a review and giveaway of...
I’m at that giddy moment just after I’ve uploaded book and cover files to the printer, and am waiting for the proof copy. Let’s just say, cartwheels are happening somewhere, even as I sit here, soberly typing. This particular book has...
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...
Robert Louis Stevenson poetry ranges from children’s nursery rhymes to poems of travel and adventure. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment. From A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885) This collection was one of my childhood favorites, and I … Continue reading
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (1770-1850), an English poet, was born at Cockermouth, on the Derwent, in Cumberland, on the 7th of April 1770. Wordsworth’s family and childhood He was the son of John Wordsworth (1741-1783), an attorney, law agent to … Continue reading
As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad … Continue reading
In Hilaire Belloc’s humorous book of More Beasts (for Worse Children), a companion volume to The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, you will find poetic descriptions of real and imaginary beasts. Many like “The Vulture” offer a tongue-in-cheek moral. The … Continue reading
A Letter to Students Why We Read The Odyssey Tuesday, March 9, 2010 By Deborah Stokol I’ve been full-time substitute teaching English at Harvard-Westlake, my Alma mater, for six weeks now, lecturing on The Odyssey and covering Creative Writing. A … Continue reading
