Our Strange Western Sun

A few days ago I was reading to Evan from our current readaloud Johnny Tremain. Johnny Tremain is a boy growing up in Boston at the time of the American Revolution, witnessing events and people firsthand that we today only encounter in history books and movies. At the point we are in our reading, the British army is occupying Boston but no shots have yet been fired. They are about to be, and the chapter we just finished ends with a reference to "a strange new sun rising in the west . . . that was to illumine a world to come."

I wanted to make sure Evan understood the comparison of America to a sun--one whose rise would shine a beacon of freedom over the entire world. I started questioning him, trying to pull the answer out rather than just give it to him, but it took some doing, which surprised me. Then he said, "America isn't as free as it used to be" and I realized that the equating of my country with freedom which is in my mind a given, something I grew up with and feel at a gut level, was not as natural an association for him. Wow. It drove home for me that at the age of 13 the only president he has any memory of is Barack Obama, and what he has heard from his parents for much of his life is talk about how our freedoms in this country are being eroded and how the federal government continues to extend its reach and control beyond what it is Constitutionally given to do. It made me sad.

I told Evan that the peaceful transition of power that we are seeing today, Inauguration Day, is a testament to the freedom that we still have in the United States of America. I am thankful beyond words to have been born an American. I would not want to have been born anywhere else. God bless our country, its outgoing President, and the President-Elect. May we never take for granted the amazing gift we have been given to live under this strange western sun known as America.

2015 Reading Challenge

I can't believe I'm doing this. Seriously, I can't. In 2015 I will celebrate my eight-year blogiversary. In all that time, I have avoided any hint of anything remotely resembling a reading challenge. I have written here in the past about my struggles with reading. My former status as an English teacher notwithstanding, in the last 20 years (basically since becoming a mom) I have found it increasingly difficult to read material of serious length or depth, family readalouds excepted. I think the reasons are varied but primarily include motherhood-induced attention deficit as well as the advent of electronic communication and social media. Both have contributed to my declining ability to concentrate on anything at all for more than about thirty seconds, much less 350 pages.

The last few years, however, have seen an improvement in my ability to stick with and finish a book. I'm still not reading as much as I would like or as much as I used to, but I'm reading again. So against my better judgment I'm going to assign myself a reading list this year. Unlike some of my friends whose lists number 50 or more, I have decided to aim low: more than one book per month, but less than two. The list below consists of titles that have either been on my to-read list a long time or have been suggested or otherwise made known to me in the last few years. They are grouped by category.

Nonfiction:

1. Unbroken, Hillenbrand. Already started.

2. Night, Elie Wiesel

3. The Failure of Sex Education in the Church, Bartlett

4. The Eternal Woman, Gertrud von le Fort

5. The Seven Deadly Virtues, Hemingway et. al.

6. Orthodoxy, Chesterton

7. Studies in Words, C. S. Lewis

8. Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars, Camille Paglia

9. My Bright Abyss, Christian Wiman

10. Bondage of the Will, Luther

Children's literature:

11. The Princess and the Goblin, MacDonald

12. The Marvelous Land of Snergs, Wyke-Smith. "I should like to record my own love and my children's love of E. A. Wyke-Smith's Marvellous Land of Snergs." - J. R. R. Tolkien

Fiction:

13. Looking for Alaska, Green.

14. Les Miserables, Hugo. Backup plan if I hate Les Mis: Anna Karenina, Tolstoy. Backup plan if I hate Anna: nothing.

15. Alas, Babylon, Frank

16. Cry, the Beloved Country, Paton

17. The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury

18. Robinson Crusoe, Defoe

19. Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain. Or maybe Roughing It. Something by Twain.

20. Lord of the Rings, Tolkien. What can I say? Tried it many years ago, but didn't get through the first book. I am not a huge fan of fantasy. But so many of the people I love, love these books. I like the movies. I think I need to try the book(s) again.

In addition, 2015 is apparently the year of the re-read (who decides these things, anyway?) So to keep the reading gods happy, here are two re-reads, one that I loved and one I didn't.

21. A Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle. A childhood favorite.

22. Pride and Prejudice, Austen. I read it many years ago and didn't enjoy it enough to read any more Austen. But so many of my friends love Austen that I think I need to give Lady Jane another try. We always tell our kids they have to try the foods they don't like periodically because maybe their taste buds have changed. Well, maybe my reading taste has also changed. Or maybe I'll still not understand the passion some of you have for Austen. We'll see.

Also this year I will be getting my first ever review copy of a book! More on that later. And I hope to read my daughter's novel, but first she has to finish it. Disclaimer: I reserve the right to stop reading anything on this list if after giving it a fair chance I find it doesn't pull me in. Life is short. Books are aplenty. Reading should be a joy, not a chore. Besides, I'm not in school anymore and don't have to read anything I don't want to. So there.

Feel free to make suggestions for future reading lists, or additions to this list in case I get through it (miracles can happen!) and need more.

Last Lasts

Yesterday on Facebook I saw this.

It reminded me of a blog post I wrote a few years ago along the same lines. As parents we experience countless "lasts" with our children. Sometimes we know going in that it's the last time; sometimes we don't. Sometimes the "last" is a momentous event (graduation, confirmation); other times it's trivial (tying shoes or applying a bandage). Sometimes, while it's the last time for one child, we know there are others waiting in the wings to do the same thing. But if we're on our last child, there are all sorts of lasts that are specific not only to him but that are the last time we'll do that thing with any of our children, ever.

Yesterday something that came up in a conversation with Evan, my 10-year-old, prompted me to start reciting from the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. How many times I have read that book over the years, starting with Trevor (now 22), then with Caitlin (now 19), and finally with Evan. It has to have been hundreds! No wonder I can still recite large portions of it from memory. Sometimes when I do I can hear in my head the exact way it sounded on my children's lips. So it was a sweet and serendipitous surprise last night when Evan asked not only if we could read the book at bedtime, but if he could read it to me. (I am really glad my 10-year-old still likes Dr. Seuss.) We sat together, and he read, and we laughed, and I remembered. . . . and wondered whether this was another last last.

Let It Come

I know we're all walking around singing "Let it go" these days. Sometimes it's what we need to do. But long before Frozen there was Winnie-the-Pooh, and as Pooh patiently explains to Piglet in the passage below, sometimes it's not about letting things go, but letting them come.

Pooh and Piglet walked slowly after him [Tigger]. And as they walked Piglet said nothing, because he couldn't think of anything, and Pooh said nothing, because he was thinking of a poem. And when he had thought of it he began:

"What shall we do about poor little Tigger?

If he never eats nothing he'll never get bigger.
He doesn't like honey and haycorns and thistles
Because of the taste and because of the bristles.
And all the good things which an animal likes
Have the wrong sort of swallow or too many spikes."

"He's quite big enough anyhow," said Piglet.

"He isn't really very big."

"Well, he seems so."

Pooh was thoughtful when he heard this, and then he murmured to himself:

"But whatever his weight in pounds, shillings, and ounces,

He always seems bigger because of his bounces."

"And that's the whole poem," he said. "Do you like it, Piglet?"

"All except the shillings," said Piglet. "I don't think they ought to be there."

"They wanted to come in after the pounds," explained Pooh, "so I let them. It is the best way to write poetry, letting things come."

"Oh, I didn't know," said Piglet.

(From The Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh, "In Which Tigger Comes to the Forest and Has Breakfast")

It can be not only the best way to write poetry, but the best way to get through the day. My prayer for you today, dear readers, is that as you splash around in your baptism you are able to let go of that which needs to be washed away while letting the rest simply come. Please pray for me to do the same.

Spring Fever

"Don't you know what that is? It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want--oh, you don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! It seems to you that mainly what you want is to get away; get away from the same old tedious things you're so used to seeing and so tired of, and set something new. That is the idea; you want to go and be a wanderer; you want to go wandering far away to strange countries where everything is mysterious and wonderful and romantic. And if you can't do that, you'll put up with considerable less; you'll go anywhere you CAN go, just so as to get away, and be thankful of the chance, too."

--Tom Sawyer, Detective, "An Invitation for Tom and Huck" by Mark Twain

Readaloud Dilemma

We finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer today. Yes, it took us a while. We savor our books. :-)

Here are a couple of pictures I took of Evan and Willard while I was reading. (Notice who is on the blanket. Willard loves readaloud time.) The second picture captures the moment they turned to look at me after I took the first one.

Back to our readaloud. Today Tom and Huck found the robbers' hideout, along with their supplies, and--let us not forget!--the treasure. This discovery led to a discussion of robbers and their practices, as Tom and Huck made plans to inaugurate their own prepubescent gang of criminals. (For those who have never "met" Tom Sawyer, it is probably good to interject here that Tom's boyish imagination knows no bounds.) The conversation covered the important points of killing all the men but being gracious toward the women--so that they will fall in love with you, of course--and then wrapped up thus:

"Now less fetch the guns and things," said Huck.

"No, Huck--leave them there. They're just the tricks to have when we go to robbing. We'll keep them there all the time, and we'll hold our orgies there, too. It's an awful snug place for orgies."

At this point Evan broke out into loud, sustained laughter punctuated by repetitions of the sentences "We'll hold our orgies there!" and "It's an awful snug place for orgies!" Finally the guffaws subsided and he turned to me and asked, "What's an orgy?" I continued reading.

"What's orgies?" [said Huck].

"I dono. But robbers always have orgies, and of course we've got to have them, too. Come along, Huck, we've been in here a long time. It's getting late, I reckon. I'm hungry, too. We'll eat and smoke when we get to the skiff."

Such is the adventure of reading aloud. Sometimes you stumble on things you're not quite expecting (even if you've read the book before)! I told Evan that an orgy was kind of like a party--but a party where people get carried away and eat and drink too much, so not a very nice party. The problem with this definition (which is not incorrect) is that it excludes the more common modern usage of the term, the one everyone thinks of when he hears the word. But I don't want to tell my child that meaning yet! Which, of course, opens up the possibility that he'll decide to show off his new word at a less-than-opportune time. Oh, Tom, dear Tom--you just love complicating things, don't you?

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Reading this book with Evan has been an interesting experience. He can't figure out the main character. He disapproves of Tom's fighting, his naughtiness and his lying. And who in his right mind would elect to run away from a very nice home to spend several days and nights roughing it on an island, all the while letting the folks back home think he was dead?

Last night we read Chapter 25, which begins thus;

"There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure."

Evan's response?

"Not me!"

The one aspect of the book that he doesn't seem to have much trouble identifying with is Tom's affection for Becky Thatcher. It would seem I'm rearing a lover, not a fighter. I'm okay with that.

Mom Fail, Defined

Noun, compound. When your 9-year-old who is a good reader but who hasn't embraced reading to the degree his older brother and sister did at this age suddenly decides at 9:00 at night that he wants to start reading The Silver Chair but when you go to the shelf to take it down you realize it's not there because you already packed it (because the realtor said you have too many books) and now it's in a box somewhere in the Portable On Demand Storage (PODS) unit sitting in your driveway and you really don't want to go out and look for it in your pajamas in the dark.

It's in there . . . somewhere . . . (probably right next to the microscope).

UPDATE: Narnia has been found. The microscope is still AWOL. 

One Thing Leads to Another

Road trip!

Ever since it became clear that we are moving to Oklahoma, I have been trying to do things that will be geographically harder to do once we leave this area. At the top of that list is a visit to one of my best friends in the world. She lives with her family in eastern Iowa, only a few hours from here. The schedule finally cleared enough to allow us to plan a get-together. So next week Caitlin, Evan and are looking forward to spending some time with our friends on their farm, enjoying fun and fellowship.

Then, as I was talking to my husband, he pointed out that it would not be too far out of our way to swing by one of the colleges Caitlin is interested in looking at: Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. So we decided to add a night to our trip and schedule a campus tour. Then upon studying the map, I discovered that our drive home would take us right through Hannibal, Missouri! Why does that excite us? Have you ever read Huckleberry Finn? If you haven't, you should! Hannibal is the childhood home of author Mark Twain and the model for the town of St. Petersburg in that book and its precursor Tom Sawyer. The town boasts a Mark Twain museum, a Mark Twain cave with live storyteller, and a riverboat ride, among other attractions.

So, a move leads to a visit with a friend, which leads to a campus tour, which leads to a family field trip, which of course can only mean one thing: it's time to read as much of Tom Sawyer to Evan as I can before Thursday of next week! That's how we roll in the Philipp Nicolai Lutheran Academy!

This Modern World in Which We Live

This just struck me as funny, and reflective of a world that has exploded with allergies and sensitivities. Yesterday Evan decided he wanted to make scrambled eggs according to the recipe in the Dr. Seuss book Scrambled Eggs Super. That recipe includes things like ginger, horseradish, nuts, and I can't remember what else. I prevailed upon Evan to make his scrambled eggs the normal way, suggesting that if he really wanted to add something, he could toss in a little cheese. So he took my advice, and his eggs were quite palatable. He was proud of the outcome and decided he would share his recipe with the piano students later in the day. "I bet they will like it," he mused, but then added, "unless they're lactose intolerant." I can't remember giving any thought to such things when I was nine years old!

ABP, Day 10

Today, I--

1) Went to church & Sunday School (and both were wonderful, just wonderful). 

2) Made a meatloaf.

3) Put together Caitlin's bed with a lot of help from Caitlin and a little help from Phillip. (His little help at the end saved the day because after almost five hours Caitlin and I were done, DONE, DONE.) 

That is all. As Dr. Seuss says, "Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

I Beg to Differ

Evan and I are still reading Charlotte's Web. This morning we had this passage:

"I didn't know you could lay eggs," said Wilbur in amazement.

"Oh, sure," said the spider. "I'm versatile."

"What does 'versatile' mean--full of eggs?" asked Wilbur.

"Certainly not," said Charlotte.

Hmmm, I don't know. In my experience, "versatile" and "full of eggs" seem to go hand in hand.  

Spider Wisdom

"What do people catch in the Queensborough Bridge--bugs?" asked Wilbur.

"No," said Charlotte. "They don't catch anything. They just keep trotting back and forth across the bridge thinking there is something better on the other side. If they'd hang head-down at the top of the thing and wait quietly, maybe something good would come along. But no--with men it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider."

"What does sedentary mean?" asked Wilbur.

"Means I sit still a good part of the time and don't go wandering all over creation. I know a good thing when I see it, and my web is a good thing. I stay put and wait for what comes. Gives me a chance to think."

--Charlotte's Web, Chapter 9

Rudolph and Bullying

Recently a new children's book came out entitled No More Bullies at the North Pole. You can read more about it here. It is a politically correct revision of the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story (as it was told in the old television special) that is currently receiving a lot of well-deserved ridicule. If you do a web search for "Rudolph" and "bullying" you will find all kinds of stories on the topic, both pro and con.

I do not think that children's stories are appropriate vehicles for the advancing of political agendas, and the things that I have read about this updated Rudolph make me roll my eyes in exasperation. At the same time, I seem to have a different take on this story than many of my online friends. I have always been bothered by the unkindness and bullying that are a part of the old Rudolph television story, going all the way back to when I watched the program as a child. I remember being horrified at Rudolph's treatment at the hands (hooves?) not only of the other young reindeer but also of the reindeer flying instructor, of Santa, and even of his own father, Donner. After Rudolph is born and his nose first lights up, Donner expresses deep shame and embarrassment at his new offspring and quickly fashions a covering of mud that makes it hard for Rudolph to talk and breathe. When Santa visits and sees the nose, he chastises Donner for having such an offspring and applauds Donner's efforts to keep the nose a secret. And when Rudolph goes to school, the teacher is the one who leads the other young reindeer in ostracizing Rudolph. The grownups in Rudolph's life, who ought to be helping and supporting and protecting and defending him, set the example for how others should mistreat him. Even Santa!

In the articles I have read on this story it is usually pointed out that Rudolph overcomes his bullying and that is what makes it ultimately a positive story. But the fact is that none of those responsible for mistreating him have any second thoughts about their behavior until it becomes clear that Rudolph might be useful to them. Then they change. I'm not sure if that counts as true remorse.

Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that people should not let their children watch Rudolph or that they should go out and buy the new, politically correct version. Maybe I am oversensitive because I was severely bullied as a child. But I think the old Rudolph includes a level of bullying behavior that is rather shocking for a children's story. Not just the other "children" but Rudolph's teacher, father, and even Santa (who is always the one who is supposed to make everything right in secular Christmas stories) are terribly cruel to him. No wonder the poor little dude ran away.

UPDATE: More discussion of this topic (including further opining by Yours Truly) here.

Animals, Animals, Animals

A few weeks ago Evan and I started an animal "unit." (I put the word "unit" in quotation marks because it suggests organization and planning, neither of which are in play here.) We started reading The Story of Dr. Dolittle, and I pulled an armload of animal books off the shelf. A few of them are old favorites from the circa 1960 Random House "Step-Up" series (here's an example): Animals Do the Strangest Things, Reptiles Do the Strangest Things, Insects Do the Strangest Things, Birds Do the Strangest Things, and Fish Do the Strangest Things. As a child, I devoured these books. (There are other books in the series--mostly biographical and historical--and I credit the reading of those books with much of the basic historical knowledge that has remained with me. Somewhere along the way we got rid of my set of books, but a few years ago I had the opportunity to buy a vintage set online for a very reasonable price, and I grabbed it.)

Another book that came down from the shelf was one that has been there a year or two but that we had not yet investigated: Eric Carle's Animals, Animals.

You know how there are books you enjoy but then pass on and books you keep and treasure? This one is in the second category--it will always have a place in our home. Within a few minutes of opening it Evan was hooked. The book combines Eric Carle's illustrations with various poems and literary passages about animals. Authors included are Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Kipling, Lewis Carroll, Jack Prelutsky, Ogden Nash, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as passages from the Bible, Talmud, and folk sayings and poems from a variety of cultures. Evan on his own has repeatedly revisited this book even though some of the selections are not typical first grade fare:

"I will not change my horse with any that treads . . .
When I bestride him I soar. I am a hawk.
He trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it."
--William Shakespeare

I dare you to tell my kid that passage is beyond his reading/comprehension level.

The third group of books we have been enjoying is from Usborne: the "Beginner" series. I believe several of these books are included in Sonlight's primary science curriculum. Evan has enjoyed Eggs and Chicks and Tadpoles and Frogs but halfway through his reading of Caterpillars and Butterflies he brought me the book and instructed me to put it where he could no longer see it. He's a sensitive one, this child. The illustration of a puss mouth caterpillar rising up to frighten its enemies was too much for him. This book will be stored for the time being.

What book(s) have you and your child been enjoying lately?

This Is Just Wrong

"New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Lose 'N' Word"

Those who are in favor of the censorship say they hope it will lead to the book being read by more people. If I were Mark Twain, I would rather have it not be read at all than have it read in a compromised form.

On the Fly Homeschooling

Last week I outlined our plan for homeschooling my youngest (age 6) this year. Revisiting that post this week, I think it looks a lot more complicated than it is. There are several areas in which the goal is primarily to splash around and have fun (science, history, math). There are a few other areas that are more intentional (writing, Bible/catechism, piano). Much of the time it's just a matter of seizing on the thing that is most interesting to Evan at the moment and extending it (that's the unschooling element of our approach). Here's an example.

A few weeks ago I was discussing the subject of children's literature with some of my Facebook friends. There were several recommendations for stories/series with which I was not familiar and I made a note to myself to look into them for Evan. One came courtesy of this guy (and he's the sort of guy you tend to listen to because he's just so danged smart). I knew immediately from the title that I needed to get this book: "Stand Back," said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"

We read it yesterday, and I thought I would share a bit about what we did for those that might find it useful or interesting. None of this was planned. This was simply an instance of "Hmmm, I haven't thought about what we're going to do today; let's read that fun book that Bi-Colored Python Rock Snake suggested."

The story is about an elephant that announces he's going to sneeze. All the other animals, having been through this before, panic at what is coming and beg him to forbear. The story is written in verse, which makes it all the more fun. It's all silliness, but there are also opportunities for learning. When the buffalo protests--"Your sneezes send everyone flying along"--he compares the elephant's sneeze to a gale or hurricane. Voila! Ready-made vocabulary lesson! "Evan, do you know what a gale is?"

When it comes to the bees, their concern is that once again the elephant's sneeze will blow off their stingers and they'll have to again "make do / With rose thorns and glue." So we learn that bees don't bite but have stingers. The fish are afraid the elephant's sneeze is going to blow off their scales and give their gills the chills, so we learn about what scales and gills are. The bear worries that the elephant's sneeze is going to again blow off all his hair and leave him spending the winter (hibernation, anyone?) in long underwear: "Nothing's so sad as a bear that is bare."

Jackpot. Later in the day, after we had read the story several times through (and the part about the hippopotamus falling on his "bottom-us" at least ten times), I found a simple drawing book that we already had on our shelf. I gave Evan a sheet of storybook paper--blank on top and ruled on bottom--and had him draw a bear step-by-step with me modeling the steps for him on another sheet of paper. (As simple as the approach in the book above is, I simplified it even more. Our bears were mostly made of circles and ovals.) Then on the lines below the drawing we wrote, "The bear is bare." We talked about the words "bear" and "bare" and how they are different and discussed how sentences start with capital letters and end with periods.

So much more interesting than copying lines of a's and b's in a handwriting book or working our way in order through a spelling or drawing book. And because the lesson grew organically out of something Evan enjoyed he was fairly cooperative. Mostly. Invoking his points helped keep him on task. (We have a point system by which Evan is able to earn points for above and beyond behavior. Once he has earned 50 points he can cash them in on a reward, and right now he is particularly motivated because his DS is broken and he is trying to earn points so as to get help from Mom & Dad in buying a "new"--it will be used--one.)

When Evan was done with the picture and writing I had him carry it to his sister and brother for affirmation and then we hung it on the bulletin board to share with Dad when he got home. All in all a pretty successful lesson, and I didn't find it in a curriculum guide. And it may be a week or more before we do something similar, and that's okay. It will happen when we stumble on another great reading moment.

There's more to "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" than I can adequately share here, both in learning possibilities (all those animals!) and enjoyment. I recommend it for anyone that has children in the preschool/primary age group.

Who needs Dick and Jane . . .

. . . when you have Calvin and Hobbes?

I love homeschooling!

(I don't know why the video is showing up with bars. If you click play, it will play.)

Update: it appears the bars are gone. Just a glitch, I guess.

Reading from Cheryl on Vimeo.

If the Name Fits . . .

For the last few months Evan has been learning the Ten Commandments. Today we studied the 8th Commandment: "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Big words for a 6-year-old. So we talked about the meanings of "false" and "testimony" and "neighbor" as well as "honesty." Then we read the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree as an example of telling the truth even when it's hard to do so.

Evan does not take well to having his stories picked for him. He likes to pick his own. So I typically make a "deal" with him: I'll pick one and then you can pick one. Today after we read about George Washington he picked another story from the same book (the Children's Book of Virtues, edited by Bill Bennett). This one was the tale of St. George and the Dragon.

Tonight, wanting to show off what we had done in "school" today I asked Evan to tell his dad what he had learned and he quickly answered "the 8th commandment" and with a little help recited the same. Then I asked him to tell his dad what story we had read. He couldn't quite remember, so I prompted him: "It was about our first president. Remember? What was his name?"

His eyes lighting up, Evan turned to his dad with a smile and announced, "We read about Saint George Washington!"

New fiction . . .

. . . by a young author of my acquaintance:

Riversong: Path to Paradise

It's also available in paperback.

If you are a fan of anthropomorphic fiction, quest or "road" stories, allegory, or themes of love, friendship and sacrifice, this novella is worth your consideration. Suitable for age 10 & up, with polished, mature writing of the highest quality.

And if you're interested, I think I can arrange for an autograph.