“Let It Be”
What do you do when all your plans for education—your own as well as your child’s—are swept aside by unexpected circumstance? This “mother culture encouragement” letter was sent out to our Sursum Corda homeschool community.
Reading Old Books
How do you get started, reading old books? It might not be as easy as it sounds, even for those who believe in its importance… Here are some ideas and tips for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers who are practicing “mother culture”—the … Continued
Grammar and Wonder
This article about the “wonder” in learning Latin first appeared on the website of the Sursum Corda homeschool community. What do you think of, when you hear the word “grammar”? As a child, I picked up the attitude from adults … Continued
“Phrases & Praises, Quarantine Edition”
A few months after our first Phrases & Praises sheet, designed to be posted on a family fridge or wall, I asked my students to come up with some new phrases that would be useful in the strange times we … Continued
“One Windy Day”
I start this poem remembering a day full of the joy of learning, in graduate school…then reflect on how rare and precious that was in my education, and how I long to see it in my daughters’ days. In April … Continued
Latin Grammar from 30,000 Feet
This very quick overview of Latin grammar was designed to orient a complete beginner–as if she were seeing the territory from an airplane! This video was part of the online Latin course for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda homeschool community.
Charlotte Mason on Latin
What did Charlotte Mason–beloved 19th-century educationalist–actually say about Latin? Here are a few interesting quotes in a handout I made to accompany my colleague Sami Brandon’s talk in the online Latin course for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda community.
The Road to Fluent Latin Reading
What is “fluency,” really, and how is it achieved? This video is the follow up to An Audacious Goal: WHY Study Latin. Both appeared in an online course I developed for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda homeschool community.
An Audacious Goal: WHY learn Latin?
Learn Latin in order to read living books—from a long and beautiful tradition—in their original language. This video was part of an online course I created for mothers/teachers at our Sursum Corda homeschool community. Here is a Reflection Worksheet, to … Continued
Phrases & Praises for Latin at Home
Printable sheets for families to put on the fridge and use at home! These first appeared (with pronunciation guides in Ecclesiastical or Classical Latin) for our Sursum Corda homeschool community on January 13, 2020.
Nature Journaling for the Bookish Family
I believe in the importance of time spent in nature. But going outside has never been my natural instinct: I’m just more of a curl-up-with-a-book-and-tea person. I read with awe about mothers who are constantly outside with their kids: getting … Continued
The Simplest Journaling for Language Learning
What kind of foreign-language writing is simple enough to keep up every day? or even every week? Writing in the foreign language(s) you are studying is powerful, and I have gained a lot from each “journal” I have started over … Continued
How to Start a Reading Journal
Do you keep a reading journal? One just for your thoughts about books? I have to confess that soon after I started with the bold title page in the picture, that journal started to have entries about other things…and soon … Continued
Colorful Close Reading of Poetry (with a printable reference card)
How do you help a kid find something to write about a poem? How do you dig into a poem yourself, especially one you don’t “get”? And how do you find the beauty in densely poetic scripture texts? I use … Continued
Kids and Journals in the Art Museum: 4 Tips
Taking your children to an art museum can be frustrating: it can involve hot children, tired feet, a harried parent, and a fair amount of squabbling. But it can also—even on the same trip—involve a few moments of magic. For … Continued