When I was a senior in high school, I came across a poem which became my moral compass in a way, for my life ever since. It’s called Self Dependence by Matthew Arnold (you probably had to read his poem “Dover Beach” in high school): Self Dependence WEARY of myself, and sick of asking What I am, and what I ought to be, At the … Continue reading Self-Dependence
I was reading an excellent column by Clarence Page today about Robert F. Kennedy’s speech in Indianapolis on the day that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. In his speech RFK quotes the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus: He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against … Continue reading Ain’t that the truth?
Since I was in high school I have suffered from cluster headaches. Fortunately, it has been several years since I have suffered an episode. However, for years I lived with persistent daily bouts of scathing pain for weeks and sometimes months at a time. One of the things I discovered from living with pain was that over time, your ability to cope with fairly minor … Continue reading The Long Walk
Over at Why Homeschool the Cates have put up this amazing quote: “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to … Continue reading “Patience serves as protection against wrongs”
Many moons back, we had our oldest son, and for one year, our younger son enrolled in Montessori schools. When I began homeschooling, the first books I bought were the Teaching Montessori at Home books by Elizabeth Hainstock and Lee Davis. (There is one for preschool and another for grade school. I think I lent my preschool one to someone, but I have no idea who. If I lent it to you, could you let me know? Thanks 🙂 )
Anyhow, as I went through the preschool edition, I was struck by some of the activities. In particular, the ones involving pouring activities hit me as very odd. Continue reading “Spilled Kool-aid and Montessori Education”
Spring officially begins in just a few hours, but spring time malaise has already set in here in the northern tundra. Perhaps this isn’t something you suffer from and you whole heartedly buy into all the wonderful visions of new life springing forth from the earth, the cycle of life and cute baby animals coming forth into the world. If so, I’m willing to bet … Continue reading Spring Malaise
I have a 13 month old baby who has recently started offering us portions of her food to share. Of course, she also throws herself on the floor and screams when you stop her from climbing on everything like a monkey. Basically I am living with both sides of the argument over whether people are intrinsically good or bad quite well. Really, it’s a stupid … Continue reading The Altruism of Babies
The Upside Down World 