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Friday, September 24, 2010

Friday Four ~ Week 38

Sink or Float

:: Life is good.

I'm in a really good place today. Full of contentment and hope. Full of joy. I love my husband. I adore my crazy boys. I am so blessed with an incredible circle of family and friends.

I went to bed early yesterday evening with a book, slept all night, and slept in this morning. Maybe that has something to do with my good mood. Grin.

Today will be a quiet, foggy, rainy day of enjoying home life. The boys are playing creatively in their (clean!) room with playmobil and animal figures. I'm working on laundry and dishes. A little later we'll snuggle on the couch and go over some lessons. We're sure to sneak in a bunch of reading, as well.

:: Learning happens.

Sunday afternoon, Leif found a cork lying about the house and was reminded of a science experiment he watched on one of his Discover and Do DVDs. He recruited Luke to recreate the experiment with him. They got a bowl of water, several items (some from the video, some they thought of on their own), and a science journal to write down their discoveries. Sink or float.


:: Classical Conversations is an early success.

We've had two weeks of classes and lessons, and I'm pleased to say that I think that Classical Conversations was the right choice for us this year. The classes have been very productive. The tutors have been excellent, and just right for each of the boys. I'm so impressed with the work and preparation they've put into their classes. The boys have really been learning and digesting the material. Review has been enjoyable and very easy.... It is something we can do anywhere, at any time. Even while waiting in line for prescriptions at Costco!

I'll share more about CC as we progress through the year, I just wanted to give it an early two thumbs up.


:: Food for thought (Really great stuff. Don't miss this opinion article!):

How to Raise Boys Who Read
Hint: Not with gross-out books and video-game bribes
The Wall Street Journal

Education was once understood as training for freedom. Not merely the transmission of information, education entailed the formation of manners and taste. Aristotle thought we should be raised "so as both to delight in and to be pained by the things that we ought; this is the right education."

"Plato before him," writes C. S. Lewis, "had said the same. The little human animal will not at first have the right responses. It must be trained to feel pleasure, liking, disgust, and hatred at those things which really are pleasant, likeable, disgusting, and hateful."

This kind of training goes against the grain, and who has time for that? How much easier to meet children where they are....

One obvious problem with the SweetFarts philosophy of education is that it is more suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals. If you keep meeting a boy where he is, he doesn't go very far.

10 comments:

Beth said...

That is a great editorial! ANd so true!! I posted it on my FB. Our family is a family of educators: we limit video game play quite a bit, but this makes me want to limit it EVEN MORE! Thanks for sharing it.

~beautyandjoy~ said...

INLOVE with those last three paragraphs!

Lisa said...

Oh, how I dream of my kids both waking & falling asleep in clean rooms! We're trying!

Lisa said...

Great editorial and SO true!

Mirjam said...

My boys love both video games and reading (different books/magazines)...and because we're homeschooling, they're able to do both :).

Heidi said...

Mirjam~ My boys love playing on their computers and watching tv, too. And they somehow have time to do that and read (a lot!), as well. :) But I know what to cut out if reading drops off, or if attitudes tank, or if they start acting like barbarians.... :)

Laura at By the Bushel said...

thank you as always for posting comments & exerpts from writers & philosophers.
Saw a book in our universities bookstore catalog, written by a recent graduate about b*tts. yes, that was the title. 'meeting a boy where he is, he doesn't go very far.' ... so true. there is unlimited twaddle & garbage out there, and given the choice boys often seem to gravitate towards. I hope to train disciplined well-rounded men - no sissy's & wimps. crass doesn't have to be part of the curriculum from me to achieve a desirable man.
wishing you every good thing for the days ahead with your new one on the way. ~ Laura

Kelly said...

okay, so i have a 5yo girl...if you raise your boys as you say you believe they should be raised, i'll definitely be keeping track of you and yours! :-)

glad to hear that your weeks of CC are so-far-so-good. ours too! may peace be yours these next hours and days (but not too many) as you await your new pink bundle. the feminine child is a peculiar blessing, astonishing and wonderful when they come after a boy (or boys!)

Hannah said...

I have to agree with the author that for many (not all!) kids, books will just not compete with the allure of the flashing, blinking, short-term-reward video games. It's an issue we deal with ALL THE TIME in our house, although we recently outlawed all video/computer games during the week. I do see a direct inverse correlation between screen time and desire to pick up a book, unfortunately.

It's interesting, though, that just recently a friend cited a book to me in which the author encourages parents to let kids read whatever they want (even what we would consider junk) in order to fall in love with reading. Further proof, I suppose, that no matter which approach you take, you can find an expert somewhere to back you up!

Shell in your Pocket said...

Glad to hear CC is working. I have tons of friends around me that are in CC...

sandy toe