There are several interesting things happening this coming weekend. The CHAP convention will take place Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, in Harrisburg, PA. While I won’t be there personally, due to a very unfortunate conflict, I sent my able assistant...
Today we said good-bye to dear old friend. It’s never easy, and I’ll miss his ancient tottering steps following me through the house from dawn to dark. Today is the first time I’ve sat in my office chair, without needing...
I occasionally come across a resource that keeps me reading or browsing for much longer than I planned, and the new World Digital Library is one of those. Some of the earliest written works known to man have been digitized...
Sharing family dinner Is there anything more delightful than sitting down to dinner with family? Even if you’re having something as pedestrian as grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, the company and conversation can be joyous and memorable. And as...
Getting in to a college isn’t terribly difficult if you have decent grades, a professional-looking transcript, and a reasonable work ethic (if all else fails, most community colleges admit anyone who is willing to pay for classes). However, if you...
Is anyone else ready for spring? The daffodils are up, forsythia is glowing at the edges of the woods, and from my cozy spot by the woodstove, the bright sunlight offers the illusion of warmth. It’s quickly dispelled by the...
Learning to make good decisions is a lot like learning to walk. Babies do a lot of creeping, crawling, and falling before they are walking well. If you tried to keep them safe by never letting them out of the crib, you’d end up with a disabled adult. If you never allow your children the freedom to make small decisions and fall when necessary, they may be safe, but they’ll be crippled.
Charlotte Mason believed that a habit is “ten natures,” and she was right. Habits can make life smoother by automating repetitive tasks. By simply thinking through the things you do each day, and figuring out how to do them most...
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
Sarah Orne Jewett Sarah Orne Jewett (1840-1909) was an American author born in South Berwick, Maine, on the 3rd of September 1849. She was a daughter of the physician Theodore H. Jewett (1815-1878), by whom she was greatly influenced, and … Continue reading
