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...
I was poking around in my mother’s bookshelf this past summer, and I found a treasure — our Aunt Edie’s handmade commonplace book. It’s not a very big book, and after many years of love, is a bit faded and...
It has been awhile since the last Ideas Worth Sharing (IWS) gathering post. Here are a few things I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks. But first, let me give you the link to the Mighty Mug giveaway — I’ve had a...
Why spend time reading? Just in case you need an excuse to read to your children (or just to read for yourself), the infographic below outlines a host of benefits of reading. Although there are many practical reasons to read...
Love it or hate it, it’s time for a new school year. It may seem absurd to think about simplifying now, just as you are faced with crisp new notebooks, sharp pencils, and delectable stacks of books, but the first month...
I like old books (Who am I kidding? Some of my best friends are old books!), so if I come upon one that’s irresistibly priced, I’ll take a second look, even if the cover looks a bit shabby. Like this...
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...
In honor of Independence Day 2015, here is a classic poem about the nickname of the American flag. Use it as copywork or just enjoy it! I’ve also included a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful and few pithy quotes....
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
