Wow, it’s been ages and ages since I came to my own blog. How weird is that? I have been busy, and just not mentally “here” if you know what I mean. Don’t have a lot to say today, but I did want to check in and let you know I hope to get back into the groove soon. We’ll be going on a family vacation next week, though, so I’ll probably check in again after that.

Meanwhile, if any New Mexico residents happen to pop in, I wanted to let you know that I’ve enrolled in IDEA, and invite you to check it out. Here’s the official website: http://www.idea-nm.org/ And here is a parent-created forum: http://www.ideanmforum.com/

See ya soon!

One of the Moms in my local homeschooling co-op posted a link to this video. Very touching. And a good reminder to us homeschooling parents why it’s so worthwhile and important.

Heather Wilson (R-NM) Named to the League of Conservation Voters “Dirty Dozen” - Reflecting America’s disgust with Members of Congress cozying up to Big Oil while energy prices soar and simple solutions go untried, the League of Conservation Voters today announced that Heather Wilson would be among the next seven members of its 2006 “Dirty Dozen.” Wilson and the other “Oil Slick Seven” have sided consistently with the energy industry and against the American people. For example, Wilson voted for the disastrous 2005 energy bill, which gave billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies at a time of record breaking profits. Associated Press, 6/15/06

Emphasis mine. Disgust, also mine. Outrage, yep, that’s mine. I have voted against Wilson every term that I have lived in her district. Let’s hope that this time, more join me.

My daughter has been a little sick this week, and woke up pretty grumpy the last couple of days. Hubby left for work before she and I had finished breakfast, and as she was sitting there picking at her plate, she said “I haven’t been a very happy kid lately.” I suspected that the problem lay primarily with her illness, but I wanted her to tell me what she was feeling. So we talked for awhile about the things that were bothering her, and I listened with understanding and sympathy, and kept asking her questions to keep her talking about what was upsetting her.

To my surprise, she said something about missing school. We’ve been on a long, long break from homeschool since January, because I realized I had been pushing her too hard. She needed the break, and was very happy to get it. My plan was to just take the rest of the summer off and start First Grade in the Fall. But when she said that, I replied that we could do school any time she wanted to, we could start again today. She said “come here, I want to tell you something”. Knowing that she sometimes likes to whisper secrets to me even when no one else is around, I walked over to her side of the table. She stood up in her chair, leaped into my arms, and hugged me as tight as she could. She said “I love it when we do school together, Mommy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The rewards of homeschooling are abundant. But that one has got to be near the top of the list.

Chances are, you’ve heard something similar to this paraphrase of a snippet of conversation I overheard once while shopping in Target:

“My Mother was really milking her sickness for all it was worth — literally!!!”

Really? Ya think so? Your mother was literally extracting milk from her sickness?!? Ewww. No, sweetie, I think the word you were looking for was “figuratively” — you know, the OPPOSITE of literally!

And here’s one I heard tonight, certainly not for the first time, and unfortunately, I’m sure, not for the last either:

“Atheism is a religion because it affirms a faith that no God exists.”

If you have said this or something equivalent, do me a favor. Raise your right hand and solemnly smack yourself upside the head!!! Okay, now you can proceed with the lesson.

This sentence is particularly nifty because it redefines two words into meaningless oblivion.

Atheism: the absence or lack of religion, based on the lack of a belief in God. Labeling the very absence of a religion as being a religion itself is so completely absurd as to render the term useless. Is a complete lack of friendliness a form of friendliness? If I have an absence of vanity, am I vain? If your head is absent from your ass, does that mean you have your head up your ass?

Faith: belief despite lack of evidence. So, let me see here. There’s a lack of evidence for the existence of x. If you chose to believe in x anyway, that’s faith. And if you chose NOT to believe x, well that’s faith too. So we’ve just redefined “faith” to make it simultaneously mean everything and nothing.

I must say again: attempting to redefine words in this way makes them utterly nonsensical and worthless. Don’t do it. Just don’t.

Don’t!

And WHY would you want to? Why do Christians try to insist that atheism is a religion? What is to be gained by this? If you’re so convinced that you’re right and atheism is wrong, why are you attempting to put them on equal footing?

Don’t even get me started on “evolution is a religion too”.

You’ll see at the top right of the blog that I’ve added a page of Secular Classical Curricula (for the early years). I’m also going to be adding a page of our First Grade plan, curriculum choices, and a rough schedule. I’m also working on a “Designing Your Own Secular Science Curriculum” page since I have not found a science program that made me fall head over heels. Please, let me know by commenting here if you have suggestions for resources that I could add.

Thanks!

That is the title of a brand new book by Andrew Campbell, available through Memoria Press where you can read a brief description and an excerpt. I got my copy late Wednesday afternoon, and finished reading it through by Friday morning. But it’s a book I will refer back to over and over again. For any parent curious about Classical homeschooling, I think it’s eighteen of the best homeschooling dollars you’ll spend!

Campbell begins by defining Classical education, a definition inspired in part by Tracey Lee Simmon’s Climbing Parnassus. He also contrasts his traditional definition with that of neo-Classical education, invented by Dorothy Sayers and popularized by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer in The Well-Trained Mind. In a nutshell, traditional Classical education, when compared to neo-Classical, is more streamlined, more focused on Latin and Greek, with fewer subjects, and built on a foundation of the principle of multum non multa, “not many but much”. This means that traditional Classical is “simple but deep”. Rather than attempting to shallowly cover a vast quantity of material, a few selections of the best are chosen, and are studied in great depth. Let’s face it, there is a lot of good resources to which your student could devote her time and effort. Why not simply have her focus on those few that are The Best?

The bulk of the book is an outline of a K - 12 course of study based on this philosophy. The information is organized by subject area (e.g. Latin). Campbell gives a general overview of what you should hope to accomplish in each stage of the child’s schooling: Primary (K - 2), Grammar (3 - 8 ), and Secondary (9 - 12). (e.g. “During the primary years, give your students a gentle introduction to Latin that emphasizes vocabulary words, phrases, and prayers. Plan to spend no more than 15-20 minutes a day on Lain at this stage.” Then, grade by grade, he recommends specific curricula and other resources to help you reach this goal.

The result is a book with tremendous appeal to old pros and newbies alike. If you were lucky enough to be Classically Educated yourself, and already know the ins and outs, this could still provide a very useful framework for giving your child a Classical Education. If you’re new to the idea, this simple, straight-forward, concise guide will give you the reassurance and confidence that you can do this, and it won’t be as hard as you might fear! If you are familiar with neo-Classical education, this streamlined approach may appeal to you for the way it can simplify your life while giving your child a truly great education.

My only complaint about the book is that I wish there had been more discussion of secular Latin programs. Even before his book was published, I was aware of Campbell’s preference for the Memoria Press Latin program (a very Christian program). So it came as no surprise that Memoria Press chose to publish his book, and that he continued to recommend their program. So, it’s only a minor complaint, because I realize that secular Latin choices for the early grades are very limited. Plus, he does mention a couple of them as possible supplements, which is great. But since Latin is the cornerstone of a Classical Education, it’s very important to me to find a Latin program that truly suits my family’s needs. That said, however, I have to give Campbell big time kudos for recommending secular science resources! He does write from a Christian perspective, but his tone is warm and welcoming to people of all faiths or no faith. (Not at all like Douglas Wilson’s books on Classical Ed!) In the appendices, he includes a note to non-Christian parents about why they might not want to entirely skip the chapter about Christian Studies, but include the Bible as literature in their homeschool. He makes a compelling argument, and I intend to do this, though not every year or in as much depth as he outlines for Christian parents.

I consider this book an invaluable addition to my homeschooling library. While Climbing Parnassus provided the inspiration, this book will be my pracical, day-to-day, “How To” guide to giving my daughter the education I wish I had received. I am very excited about learning alongside her. I feel as if I’m not so much her teacher on this journey, as her co-student!

For more information, please see the LatinClassicalEd Yahoo! Group and The Latin-Centered Curriculum website.

Look what just made headlines at Salon

I just wanted to let you know it may be a little while before I post anything again. Right now I’m very focused on rethinking the way I’ve been teaching my daughter to read, and plans for this fall, and really trying to focus on what our goals are and how best to accomplish them. It’s taking up every spare bit of my mental power, which isn’t much to begin with! For Mother’s Day, I got a gift certificate to my favorite book store. So I ordered some teaching books and I’m very absorbed in them at the moment. Once I’ve kind of gotten my bearings again, maybe I’ll blog about all of this.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton just introduced a bill that will immediately raise the minimum wage to more than $7 an hour and provide automatic raises – just like Congress receives. The bill will require the federal minimum wage to be increased by the same percentage amount as Congressional salaries every year.

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at just $5.15 an hour since 1997. But members of Congress have voted to raise their own salaries six times since 1997, totaling $31,600 each year. Someone working full-time at minimum wage earns $10,712. And the Republican leadership has blocked legislation to increase the minimum wage from coming to a vote. Is that fair?

Once again, it takes a Democrat to act on behalf of working families, while the rich Republicans fight tooth and nail to prevent minimum wage workers from earning a salary they might actually be able to live on. The selfishness of the Republican “leadership” never ceases to amaze me.

Let’s remember our US history for a moment. It was the Democrats who brought us such luxuries as THE WEEKEND, the eight-hour work day, holidays, minimum stanards for a safe work environment (such as no longer allowing employers to lock workers in the building to let them die in horrible fires), and the end of “child labor” aka child enslavement. Yeah, those crazy liberals. How dare they think that just because somebody works hard all day they ought to be able to support themselves and maybe even, (gasp!), a family. Republicans support family values MY ASS!

Okay, enough ranting. Here’s what you do:

Get Informed.

Contact your Senators and urge them to support Senator Clinton’s bill.