I got tagged by Nutmeg.
1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.
So, here's what my sentence is:
"I'm especially enjoying the mix of truth and beauty in many "nuggets" of wisdom within the ballad."
From my post I'm Reading the Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton
Good thing I double-checked. First time around, all I got was "Denmark." :)
I will tag my sisters Clairity and 1st Grade Mom, sister-in-law Molly, and friends Nancy Brown and Mary Eileen.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Update on Rembrandt Exhibit
I mentioned in a previous post that we were trying to find an inexpensive alternative to Rembrandt and His Times (the book for sale at the Milwaukee Art Museum relating to the exhibit we visited a few weeks ago). They did offer a smaller book on the exhibit, but that focused on the paintings and my daughter was interested in the landscape sketches. Anyway, we found a great alternative used online - and I've seen additional copies kicking around online in case anyone had the same issue we did. The book is called Drawings from the Albertina: Landscape in the Age of Rembrandt (published by Art Services International 1995, editor Marian Bisanz-Prakken). We found ours used on Amazon for $10. Hurray! We just received the book today. It's beautiful, large size and with very nice prints (retails for $30, but it may be out of print).
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Authenticity, cont.
Some immediate causes of error ("due to an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence"):
haste,
we wish to impress others (with rapid answer, keen insight)
vanity
because we like a position
pleasure
lifestyle
conformism
emotional pressure - fear, joy, anguish, elation, anger (interfere with cool reasoning/insight)
"We err because we lack love...Defective motivation induces intellectual darkness. The more one loves, the more he sees ultimate reality. Love puts one into contact with God and with men as nothing else does. The person who loves fully sees deeply... He sees deeply because he is free of the thousand emotional and willed obstructions to inner vision. His passions do not prompt him to embrace an illusory but lax morality. Just as there is no one so blind as he who wills not to see, so there is no one so seeing as he who wills to love. He is authentic." (pg. 38)
haste,
we wish to impress others (with rapid answer, keen insight)
vanity
because we like a position
pleasure
lifestyle
conformism
emotional pressure - fear, joy, anguish, elation, anger (interfere with cool reasoning/insight)
"We err because we lack love...Defective motivation induces intellectual darkness. The more one loves, the more he sees ultimate reality. Love puts one into contact with God and with men as nothing else does. The person who loves fully sees deeply... He sees deeply because he is free of the thousand emotional and willed obstructions to inner vision. His passions do not prompt him to embrace an illusory but lax morality. Just as there is no one so blind as he who wills not to see, so there is no one so seeing as he who wills to love. He is authentic." (pg. 38)
Finally Getting Back to Dubay's Authenticity
Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment by Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Ignatius Press, copyright 1997)
Dubay really packs a punch. His material is challenging. Not so much in the sense of difficult to understand, as forcing the reader to examine their own conscience and look at themselves in a more complete way.
Some notes and quotes:
We live very cluttered lives here in the 21st century.
Awesome
This last part reminds me of a Latin proverb that came up in Lunch Bag Notes by Al and Ann Marie Parisi (Loyola Press). The proverb is...
Age quod agis.
"Do what you are doing." I really like that (and need to be reminded often!).
This is so true. I think we homeschool moms especially need to be reminded. A lot is expected of us and we're doing a lot. Sometimes we think we're failures if we can't do "everything". Or we think it's wrong to burden someone else with our problems. But the Sacrament of Marriage doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to handle every single one of our children's needs without assistance. There's nothing that says we'll be good at teaching Algebra or handling every teaching challenge that comes our way. I always like the analogy (can't remember where I read it) that homeschool parents are like contractors on a construction project - an important part of the job is finding people/resources for tackling parts of the job. The contractor isn't inadequate if he can't do everything himself.
This is a really challenging concept and it can be tempting to blow it off as just politically correct, "open-mindedness" stuff. But it's not. One example that struck me was that we can be so passionate about a cause that we can throw the virtue of prudence out the window and end up hurting the very cause that we care so passionately about. (An example of this might be a pro-Lifer who decides to use violence to accomplish his goals.) This segment reminds me of a term I like better than "open-minded", and that is "broad-minded."
Good stuff.
Dubay really packs a punch. His material is challenging. Not so much in the sense of difficult to understand, as forcing the reader to examine their own conscience and look at themselves in a more complete way.
Some notes and quotes:
Scripture says a great deal about the conditions necessary before one is uncluttered enough to detect the gentle voice of God speaking in the depths of the person. (pg. 25)
We live very cluttered lives here in the 21st century.
Authenticity is reality without sham. (pg. 26)
Awesome
The human person must be whole to be completely authentic. ... There is only one enough for man, and that is the divine Enough. Anything less is incomplete, truncated... The Father made us in the image of his Son, so that anything less than conformity to this image is a falling away from the authentikos, the original. 'The disciple of Christ consents to live in the truth, that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his truth (CCC 2470).
The genuine man or woman measures up to the real, to the factual situation. He is humble because he knows and professes himself to be neither more nor less than he actually is. He is single-minded in his pursuits, for he operates with the pure motivation of eating and drinking and doing all else for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).. He accepts the whole gospel, not simply the popular, pleasant parts of it. He welcomes correction because he knows himself to be ignorant of many things and a sinner besides (Prov 9:7-9)... Especially is he authentic because he is a total lover of God, and love brings all the other ingredients of authenticity (1 Cor 13:4-7). (pgs. 26-27)
This last part reminds me of a Latin proverb that came up in Lunch Bag Notes by Al and Ann Marie Parisi (Loyola Press). The proverb is...
Age quod agis.
"Do what you are doing." I really like that (and need to be reminded often!).
Part of living the truth is an acceptance of a reasonable dependence on others, an acknowledgement of a need for admonition and advice. (pg. 33)
This is so true. I think we homeschool moms especially need to be reminded. A lot is expected of us and we're doing a lot. Sometimes we think we're failures if we can't do "everything". Or we think it's wrong to burden someone else with our problems. But the Sacrament of Marriage doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to handle every single one of our children's needs without assistance. There's nothing that says we'll be good at teaching Algebra or handling every teaching challenge that comes our way. I always like the analogy (can't remember where I read it) that homeschool parents are like contractors on a construction project - an important part of the job is finding people/resources for tackling parts of the job. The contractor isn't inadequate if he can't do everything himself.
Most people tend to allow the truth they possess so to dominate their thinking that they see few other truths that place their one truth in perspective and balance it out. There is probably no heresy in the history of the Church that did not have its truth. The problem invariably is that the one truth so took over the heretic's mind that he was committed to cast out any number of other doctrines that clashed with his interpretation of it. (pg. 34)
This is a really challenging concept and it can be tempting to blow it off as just politically correct, "open-mindedness" stuff. But it's not. One example that struck me was that we can be so passionate about a cause that we can throw the virtue of prudence out the window and end up hurting the very cause that we care so passionately about. (An example of this might be a pro-Lifer who decides to use violence to accomplish his goals.) This segment reminds me of a term I like better than "open-minded", and that is "broad-minded."
Philosophers have long noted that error proximately is due to an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence. (pg. 37)I really liked that phrase "an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence." Very helpful to remember.
Good stuff.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Shakespeare, Shakespeare and Shakespeare
My 10 year old son is working on memorizing "Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow..." from MacBeth. So we've been hearing my three year old daughter wandering around the house chanting, "Today, today, today." :)
More on Narnia and other stuff
My children were relieved to hear about Barb Nicolosi's Narnia Review because they've had a long-time pet theory about Disney turning books into movies. According to 12 year old dear daughter, in these Disney movies, no one can die and they always put in a scene where someone is hanging on to a window ledge or cliff or some such thing... with one hand... for dear life.
I absolutely detested the old version of these movies - was it BBC? - especially The Silver Chair. Although I'm always at risk of being disappointed (what doesn't carry this risk), I usually welcome attempts at rendering favorite books into movies. It's enjoyable to see someone else's "vision" of the book (and we all take such different things with us when we read a book that a great book can be a truly unique experience for each reader), but, perhaps more importantly, in our day and age a movie tends to bring a book into the popular culture in a special way. Let me try to explain.
When I was a child, our family was very different from anyone else we knew. We read things like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. Our dad worked out of our home and my mom attended daily Mass. There were seven of us children (when we moved to our last family home, rumors went around the parish that we were a blended family from two different marriages). My mom was heavily involved in the proLife movement and ran a Crisis Pregnancy Center when I was too young to remember. Anyway, we were real oddities for the 70s (when I was a small child) and, in some ways, were a homeschooling family long before my parents formally took us out of the local schools.
A lot of good people today worry that things are getting worse: the pro-life movement hasn't made any progress, families are falling apart, more and more good books are going out of print, the priest-abuse scandal signals the greatest crisis in Church history, etc. My theory is that we've actually come past some of the very worst of it; it's just that more and more people are waking up to the problems (and that in itself is a very good thing).
Sure, we still have a lot of problems to deal with. This has never NOT been the case since the fall of Adam and Eve.
Much of the priest-abuse scandal dates from decades ago. I strongly believe that, overall, it's a good thing that it's coming to light, because how else can it be corrected?
When my Mom was working in the pro-Life movement, there was much more resistance by Catholic schools and parishes to be involved than there seems to be today.
In the end, what I see is a lot more families attempting to follow the same model that our family did 20 and 30 and 40 years ago. A very small sampling of this is the way that Narnia and Lord of the Rings have become more popular.
Did that make any sense? :)
I absolutely detested the old version of these movies - was it BBC? - especially The Silver Chair. Although I'm always at risk of being disappointed (what doesn't carry this risk), I usually welcome attempts at rendering favorite books into movies. It's enjoyable to see someone else's "vision" of the book (and we all take such different things with us when we read a book that a great book can be a truly unique experience for each reader), but, perhaps more importantly, in our day and age a movie tends to bring a book into the popular culture in a special way. Let me try to explain.
When I was a child, our family was very different from anyone else we knew. We read things like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. Our dad worked out of our home and my mom attended daily Mass. There were seven of us children (when we moved to our last family home, rumors went around the parish that we were a blended family from two different marriages). My mom was heavily involved in the proLife movement and ran a Crisis Pregnancy Center when I was too young to remember. Anyway, we were real oddities for the 70s (when I was a small child) and, in some ways, were a homeschooling family long before my parents formally took us out of the local schools.
A lot of good people today worry that things are getting worse: the pro-life movement hasn't made any progress, families are falling apart, more and more good books are going out of print, the priest-abuse scandal signals the greatest crisis in Church history, etc. My theory is that we've actually come past some of the very worst of it; it's just that more and more people are waking up to the problems (and that in itself is a very good thing).
Sure, we still have a lot of problems to deal with. This has never NOT been the case since the fall of Adam and Eve.
Much of the priest-abuse scandal dates from decades ago. I strongly believe that, overall, it's a good thing that it's coming to light, because how else can it be corrected?
When my Mom was working in the pro-Life movement, there was much more resistance by Catholic schools and parishes to be involved than there seems to be today.
In the end, what I see is a lot more families attempting to follow the same model that our family did 20 and 30 and 40 years ago. A very small sampling of this is the way that Narnia and Lord of the Rings have become more popular.
Did that make any sense? :)
Chesterton
A question for all of you Chesterton enthusiasts (I love GKC, but am not terribly knowledgeable). My 12 year old daughter would describe herself as a G.K. Chesterton freak. She LOVES the Fr. Brown audio books (from Blackstone Audio Books - 1/2 price for homeschoolers!) and the Ballad of the White Horse (thanks in part to Regina Doman's Shadow of the Bear - she's actually working on MEMORIZING the Ballad of the White Horse). She's becoming a regular reader of Dr. Thursday's delightful blog. I'd love to feed this interest in Chesterton and great books. Any suggestions for other Chesterton writings that might be up her alley, or other books that would be appreciated by someone with these interests??? I was thinking of subscribing to Gilbert! magazine - I've never seen it - would that be interesting/worthwhile for young readers?
Thanks & God Bless!
Thanks & God Bless!
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Human Faculties
Some notes to myself (from yet another old notebook when I was preparing my Getting Started talk this spring - I doubt these will make much sense to anyone else):
Human Faculties:
Intellect
Will
Conscience
Memory
Imagination
Intellect - Knowledge, Understanding, Critical Thinking
Will - Perseverance, Diligence
Conscience - Natural Law, Basic Moral Order, Knowledge of Catholic Teaching
Memory - Strengthened with Use, Important Tool of Conscience and Intellect
Imagination - Underlies everything, Sensitive in Early Years
The Soul's Appetitive Power
a habit may be called a virtue in a limited way
(Part I of the 2nd part Q57A1)
the virtues of the speculative intellect are those which perfect the speculative intellect for the consideration of truth
Three Habits of the Speculative Intellect -
Wisdom, Science and Understanding
St. Thomas Aquinas would say that Wisdom and Understanding are habits/virtues of the intellect (as well as gifts of the Holy Spirit).
Recipe for success - grace, example, teaching, develop habits
Intellect -
corrupted by muddled or agenda-driven teaching,
gets lazy from little use
limited by natural abilities and lack of challenge
Will - hard hit by fallen nature
virtues - perseverance, diligence
should look to well-informed conscience for direction
Habits, Virtues, Sacrifices play big here
Conscience - starts with natural law
is part of the intellect
developed by example and teaching
application of conscience is in the will
corrupted by external influences
Memory - important tool for everything
needs exercise
closely related to imagination
Imagination - hard hit by fallen nature
undelries everything
particularly sensitive in early years
corrupted by external influences - even against one's will
The soul understands through the intellect
Intellect
Goals -
LONG TERM - Know Christ
SHORT TERMER - (habits) think clearly, read carefully, make important distinctions
SHORTER TERM - (knowledge) base of important knowledge, especially conscience
VIRTUES:
virtues in a restricted sense:
wisdom
science
understanding
art
prudence - both moral and intellectual
Supernatural Virtues
Faith - infused virtue by which the will assents firmly to the truths of Revelation
can be sparked and strengthened by reason (check this)
Hope - allows the will to work toward its supernatural end as a good that is possible to attain
Charity - the theological virtue by which we love God because of his goodness and love; and love our neighbor because of God
The faculty of choice...
The will is affected by:
fallen nature
conscience/knowledge
discipline
habit-good or bad
natural consequences
experience - direct or indirect
The will determines actions and decisions
Virtues that come into play: Faith, Hope and Charity (as mentioned above)
patience, temperence, diligence, perserverance, neatness/order, justice, fortitude
Strengthening the Will -
punishments or rewards (best rewards are intangible)
sacrifice
grace
Conscience - Practical Intellect
Application of Principles -
affected by temperment, natural abilites, habits, environment
Different people have natural aptitudes for different virtues.
Sources
Summa Theologica
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1911 Catholic Encyclopedia
Human Faculties:
Intellect
Will
Conscience
Memory
Imagination
Intellect - Knowledge, Understanding, Critical Thinking
Will - Perseverance, Diligence
Conscience - Natural Law, Basic Moral Order, Knowledge of Catholic Teaching
Memory - Strengthened with Use, Important Tool of Conscience and Intellect
Imagination - Underlies everything, Sensitive in Early Years
The Soul's Appetitive Power
a habit may be called a virtue in a limited way
(Part I of the 2nd part Q57A1)
the virtues of the speculative intellect are those which perfect the speculative intellect for the consideration of truth
Three Habits of the Speculative Intellect -
Wisdom, Science and Understanding
St. Thomas Aquinas would say that Wisdom and Understanding are habits/virtues of the intellect (as well as gifts of the Holy Spirit).
Recipe for success - grace, example, teaching, develop habits
Intellect -
corrupted by muddled or agenda-driven teaching,
gets lazy from little use
limited by natural abilities and lack of challenge
Will - hard hit by fallen nature
virtues - perseverance, diligence
should look to well-informed conscience for direction
Habits, Virtues, Sacrifices play big here
Conscience - starts with natural law
is part of the intellect
developed by example and teaching
application of conscience is in the will
corrupted by external influences
Memory - important tool for everything
needs exercise
closely related to imagination
Imagination - hard hit by fallen nature
undelries everything
particularly sensitive in early years
corrupted by external influences - even against one's will
The soul understands through the intellect
Intellect
Goals -
LONG TERM - Know Christ
SHORT TERMER - (habits) think clearly, read carefully, make important distinctions
SHORTER TERM - (knowledge) base of important knowledge, especially conscience
VIRTUES:
virtues in a restricted sense:
wisdom
science
understanding
art
prudence - both moral and intellectual
Supernatural Virtues
Faith - infused virtue by which the will assents firmly to the truths of Revelation
can be sparked and strengthened by reason (check this)
Hope - allows the will to work toward its supernatural end as a good that is possible to attain
Charity - the theological virtue by which we love God because of his goodness and love; and love our neighbor because of God
The faculty of choice...
The will is affected by:
fallen nature
conscience/knowledge
discipline
habit-good or bad
natural consequences
experience - direct or indirect
The will determines actions and decisions
Virtues that come into play: Faith, Hope and Charity (as mentioned above)
patience, temperence, diligence, perserverance, neatness/order, justice, fortitude
Strengthening the Will -
punishments or rewards (best rewards are intangible)
sacrifice
grace
Conscience - Practical Intellect
Application of Principles -
affected by temperment, natural abilites, habits, environment
Different people have natural aptitudes for different virtues.
Sources
Summa Theologica
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1911 Catholic Encyclopedia
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Jesuit Saints?
I was looking at lists of Jesuit saints to include in a review of some religious costumes for children (coming soon to http://www.love2learn.net). In the course of things, I came across this Litany of Jesuit Saints. All kinds of great saints are included, like St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Claude la Colombierre. But as I read through the list, I also found, Teilhard de Chardin and Karl Rahner. The Internet can be a really, um, interesting place sometimes. Yikes!
The Catholic Homeschool Companion
The Catholic Homeschool Companion, a collection of essays on Catholic Homeschooling with an extensive and up-to-date resource section (I helped edit this), is due to be released by Sophia Institute Press this December. (So general editor Maureen Wittmann informs me.) It will include an essay by yours truly entitled "Apologetics: Sacraments, Service and Study."
Congratulations Maureen on all your hard work!!!
Congratulations Maureen on all your hard work!!!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Milwaukee Art Museum
Some new Renaissance dresses from Flights of Fancy and a local cheap-o store inspired a visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum yesterday. Our first visit ever to this museum was in August and that was a huge success. We printed out some pictures from the website and each child had a painting to search for (we also only had two hours - no time for anyone to get bored). Well, this time, three little girls wore their beautiful dresses - most appropriate to the occasion :) - but one REALLY wanted to be at the Milwaukee Public Museum instead. Nevertheless, the beauty of the paintings themselves started to interest her (she's 7) and she was all smiles by the end.
My 12 year old dd really enjoyed the Rembrandt and His Times exhibit. Lots of sketches of scenery. If you've ever spent time with a Nature Notebook, attempting to simplify the lines of animals, plants and other scenery into simple pencil drawings, you'd have to be impressed with all of these lovely landscape sketches. We're hoping to pick up a book ($45 at the Museum store - yikes!) so she can study the images further (our Renaissance ladies kept the pace pretty fast through this exhibit).
My 10 year old son got a hold of a magnifying glass (some were floating around the exhibit for general use) and he absolutely loved it. The paintings, especially, were impressive close-up.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Bethlehem Books
John and I and the kids have been big Bethlehem Books fans since I was first introduced to The Winged Watchman in 1997 or 1998. My son (now 10), when he was just three years old, would point out his favorites based on the logo on their books.
This morning, my 12 year old daughter was poring over their catalog, counting how many of their titles she had read. She came up with 38! Then she counted how many I had read - the total was 56. Somehow I don't think it will take her long to pass me up. If you count her re-reads of her favorite titles, I think she's way ahead of me already. :)
This morning, my 12 year old daughter was poring over their catalog, counting how many of their titles she had read. She came up with 38! Then she counted how many I had read - the total was 56. Somehow I don't think it will take her long to pass me up. If you count her re-reads of her favorite titles, I think she's way ahead of me already. :)
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Barb Nicolosi Reviews Narnia Movie
This looks EXTREMELY promising!!! I'm really looking forward to seeing this with my children. The younger ones (5 and 7 year olds) usually get left out of movie theater visits...
Read the review here
Read the review here
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
More on Montessori
Because this has the potential to get a little lengthy, I thought I'd move the discussion from the comments of the previous post to a new post:
----------------------------
Nutmeg wrote:
My 3 oldest went to a Montessori school here in Texas, and it was wonderful....reading about Maria Montessori really chalenged the way I was parenting (just call me Mama Hitler) and opened my eyes to see things from the child's perspective. Hard balance, though, that fallen nature/listen-to-the-child thing. My oldest "figured out" how to get away with doing as little Math as possible, and now really struggles with it. Also his handwriting is atrocious, since he never really knew how to make the letters, he would just trace them on the light box. There is much that they were exposed to and did, that I am very grateful for, but I just wanted to share our struggle, and see what others think about it...
----------------------------
Thanks for the comments Nutmeg. I've never had any of my children in a Montessori school (and I think the one yours went to was particularly good). I'm definitely not an expert on Montessori. These are some observations based on how Montessori has influenced our family and various things I've read on the subject.
The first is that I've heard (this came up in Natural Structure from Catholic Heritage Curricula) that it is much more difficult to implement the Montessori Method with children who are spoiled. Montessori worked with poor children over a hundred years ago. Today, even many poor children in our country will tend to have a lot of toys and spend a lot of time in front of the T.V. and computer. When children are accustomed to being passive and being entertained by flashy, colorful things all the time, it is much more difficult to get them to want to exercise their brain and do challenging things. I feel that this is one of my greatest challenges (whether using Montessori or not) is to try to avoid letting my children grow up spoiled or too "coddled" in this day and age. In any case, I think it is important to interpret Montessori's writings in an historical context. In her day, many children worked in factories, were "seen and not heard", etc. Now we are at an opposite extreme where children can do no wrong, etc.
One way of implementing the method that I've incorporated to some degree into our homeschool (I think I got this idea from Michael Olaf someplace) is to have certain requirements that the children have to meet first thing in their school day. When those are finished, they have more freedom to choose from different educational areas. Our children have to finish their Math, Latin/Phonics (depending on the age) and Music (for the ones who take piano) on a fairly strict schedule and before they can get to other things. They aren't completely free after that, of course, but things are less structured and those subjects (like History and Science) tend to be their favorites. With my 10 year old boy, I have to insist on an hour of reading in the late morning, where I can hardly keep my 12 year old daughter away from the books. I am also more structured (in general) with the older students than the younger students.
I've never been a strictly Montessori person anyway. I do engage in some "no-no's" like using some rewards some of the time (such as M and M's to get my 7 year old musically talented daughter through piano lessons when they made her completely miserable - we got over the hump after a few weeks and no more M and M's). I also use rewards sometimes for extra credit (motivation) or to test what they are capable of getting accomplished when they are motivated.
Just some random thoughts. :)
----------------------------
Nutmeg wrote:
My 3 oldest went to a Montessori school here in Texas, and it was wonderful....reading about Maria Montessori really chalenged the way I was parenting (just call me Mama Hitler) and opened my eyes to see things from the child's perspective. Hard balance, though, that fallen nature/listen-to-the-child thing. My oldest "figured out" how to get away with doing as little Math as possible, and now really struggles with it. Also his handwriting is atrocious, since he never really knew how to make the letters, he would just trace them on the light box. There is much that they were exposed to and did, that I am very grateful for, but I just wanted to share our struggle, and see what others think about it...
----------------------------
Thanks for the comments Nutmeg. I've never had any of my children in a Montessori school (and I think the one yours went to was particularly good). I'm definitely not an expert on Montessori. These are some observations based on how Montessori has influenced our family and various things I've read on the subject.
The first is that I've heard (this came up in Natural Structure from Catholic Heritage Curricula) that it is much more difficult to implement the Montessori Method with children who are spoiled. Montessori worked with poor children over a hundred years ago. Today, even many poor children in our country will tend to have a lot of toys and spend a lot of time in front of the T.V. and computer. When children are accustomed to being passive and being entertained by flashy, colorful things all the time, it is much more difficult to get them to want to exercise their brain and do challenging things. I feel that this is one of my greatest challenges (whether using Montessori or not) is to try to avoid letting my children grow up spoiled or too "coddled" in this day and age. In any case, I think it is important to interpret Montessori's writings in an historical context. In her day, many children worked in factories, were "seen and not heard", etc. Now we are at an opposite extreme where children can do no wrong, etc.
One way of implementing the method that I've incorporated to some degree into our homeschool (I think I got this idea from Michael Olaf someplace) is to have certain requirements that the children have to meet first thing in their school day. When those are finished, they have more freedom to choose from different educational areas. Our children have to finish their Math, Latin/Phonics (depending on the age) and Music (for the ones who take piano) on a fairly strict schedule and before they can get to other things. They aren't completely free after that, of course, but things are less structured and those subjects (like History and Science) tend to be their favorites. With my 10 year old boy, I have to insist on an hour of reading in the late morning, where I can hardly keep my 12 year old daughter away from the books. I am also more structured (in general) with the older students than the younger students.
I've never been a strictly Montessori person anyway. I do engage in some "no-no's" like using some rewards some of the time (such as M and M's to get my 7 year old musically talented daughter through piano lessons when they made her completely miserable - we got over the hump after a few weeks and no more M and M's). I also use rewards sometimes for extra credit (motivation) or to test what they are capable of getting accomplished when they are motivated.
Just some random thoughts. :)
Monday, October 10, 2005
Fallen Nature vs. Let the Children Come to Me
Cross-posted to Love2learn Blog
I was thinking today about what we know to be concrete Church teaching about how to educate children. What I whittled it down to (in my head for the moment at least) is that:
Our final goal in education is the child's salvation
and
Children have free will and a fallen nature
and yet
Jesus said "Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God."
The final goal is somewhat obvious, I think, but an important point to remember is that this goal should influence every aspect of their education in some way (directly or indirectly).
The thing that struck me today was the contrast between "Children have a fallen nature" and "Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God." The contrast seems almost contradictory at first glance, and yet I think Jesus' statement about being like little children can help us to interpret and temper our understanding of fallen nature (and we as parents and teachers should be empathetic to some degree since we struggle with fallen nature ourselves!)
Consider this statement for a minute. Adults and children both have fallen natures, but there is something in children that adults should try to emulate. This seems to me a very significant statement regarding education and for me a reminder to be humble. I need to remember that Christ is present in my children. I should be open to learning from them and seeing the world and its beauty through their eyes.
I do think Maria Montessori was onto something in her ideas of respecting the child. To me this includes things like respecting the attention they pay to a particular task they are wrapped up in and not disrupting that task unnecessarily (this includes even a toddler who is trying something - poking a stick into a hole, or looking at a picture book, or whatever). These intellectual ideas help me to remember to be loving and affectionate to my little ones even when I'm cranky and would rather be doing something else.
The idea of fallen nature keeps some of this from getting too carried away. I try not to pick up my three year old when she whines. We don't give children anything they want or let them make every decision for themselves. I love Montessori's idea of freedom within limits. "If you talk to me nicely, I will try to help you." We set boundaries, goals, requirements, rules, but allow them the opportunity to make choices and take some responsibility where they are able. This might include letting a three year old pick her own clothes from the weather-appropriate choices you have left in her drawer. It could involve letting a child spend extra time in subject of special interest (while still covering the basic requirements set down ahead of time).
Here is one of my favorite Montessori quotes (favorite because it is both beautiful and challenging - and I need to be reminded of these things):
"Who does not know that to teach a child to feed himself, to wash and dress himself, is a much more tedious and difficult work, calling for infinitely greater patience, than feeding, washing and dressing the child one's self? But the former is the work of an educator, the latter is the easy and inferior work of a servant. Not only is it easier for the mother, but it is very dangerous for the child, since it closes the way and puts obstacles in the path of the life which is developing."
(Maria Montessori The Montessori Method)
There is a great deal of truth in this quote and it applies well beyond self-care or the toddler years. A very great part of educating our children is, not just to force them to be good and to be a Catholic (although these may be required interim steps) but to help them want to be good (and develop habits, virtues and willpower to follow through on that desire). And so, this quote always brings me back to the following one by Fran Crotty in Implementation of Ignatian Education in the Home:
It should be the objective and is definitely the responsibility of every rational Catholic mother and father to see that the child is educated, so that he can be truly Catholic with the consent of all his faculties.
I was thinking today about what we know to be concrete Church teaching about how to educate children. What I whittled it down to (in my head for the moment at least) is that:
Our final goal in education is the child's salvation
and
Children have free will and a fallen nature
and yet
Jesus said "Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God."
The final goal is somewhat obvious, I think, but an important point to remember is that this goal should influence every aspect of their education in some way (directly or indirectly).
The thing that struck me today was the contrast between "Children have a fallen nature" and "Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God." The contrast seems almost contradictory at first glance, and yet I think Jesus' statement about being like little children can help us to interpret and temper our understanding of fallen nature (and we as parents and teachers should be empathetic to some degree since we struggle with fallen nature ourselves!)
Consider this statement for a minute. Adults and children both have fallen natures, but there is something in children that adults should try to emulate. This seems to me a very significant statement regarding education and for me a reminder to be humble. I need to remember that Christ is present in my children. I should be open to learning from them and seeing the world and its beauty through their eyes.
I do think Maria Montessori was onto something in her ideas of respecting the child. To me this includes things like respecting the attention they pay to a particular task they are wrapped up in and not disrupting that task unnecessarily (this includes even a toddler who is trying something - poking a stick into a hole, or looking at a picture book, or whatever). These intellectual ideas help me to remember to be loving and affectionate to my little ones even when I'm cranky and would rather be doing something else.
The idea of fallen nature keeps some of this from getting too carried away. I try not to pick up my three year old when she whines. We don't give children anything they want or let them make every decision for themselves. I love Montessori's idea of freedom within limits. "If you talk to me nicely, I will try to help you." We set boundaries, goals, requirements, rules, but allow them the opportunity to make choices and take some responsibility where they are able. This might include letting a three year old pick her own clothes from the weather-appropriate choices you have left in her drawer. It could involve letting a child spend extra time in subject of special interest (while still covering the basic requirements set down ahead of time).
Here is one of my favorite Montessori quotes (favorite because it is both beautiful and challenging - and I need to be reminded of these things):
"Who does not know that to teach a child to feed himself, to wash and dress himself, is a much more tedious and difficult work, calling for infinitely greater patience, than feeding, washing and dressing the child one's self? But the former is the work of an educator, the latter is the easy and inferior work of a servant. Not only is it easier for the mother, but it is very dangerous for the child, since it closes the way and puts obstacles in the path of the life which is developing."
(Maria Montessori The Montessori Method)
There is a great deal of truth in this quote and it applies well beyond self-care or the toddler years. A very great part of educating our children is, not just to force them to be good and to be a Catholic (although these may be required interim steps) but to help them want to be good (and develop habits, virtues and willpower to follow through on that desire). And so, this quote always brings me back to the following one by Fran Crotty in Implementation of Ignatian Education in the Home:
It should be the objective and is definitely the responsibility of every rational Catholic mother and father to see that the child is educated, so that he can be truly Catholic with the consent of all his faculties.
Use It or (Start to) Lose It
Funny how a lot of our skills and faculties need exercise. If I don't drive my husband's car (manual transmission) once in awhile, I become more uncomfortable with the idea of driving it and more awkward in changing gears when I finally try. Last year, when I started riding a bicycle again after not having ridden one in over ten years, it took a little while to get my body used to that kind of exercise. When I work with my middle-schooler on Math, it sometimes takes a little adjustment to get "up to speed"; but when I start to do this more often, my comfort level and ability to solve problems is much better. Our bodies need exercise, our minds need exercise, our wills need exercise. Exercise makes us stronger, frequent exercise builds habits and makes hard work come easier and more naturally. When we keep our bodies, minds and wills in good shape, it keeps us happier and healthier in each of those realms.
One of the reasons I like homeschooling is that it forces me to exercise my brain more than I would have otherwise. One of the reasons I am so fortunate to have children is that they have made me a better person than I was before (not that I don't still have a long ways to go, :)
One of the reasons I like homeschooling is that it forces me to exercise my brain more than I would have otherwise. One of the reasons I am so fortunate to have children is that they have made me a better person than I was before (not that I don't still have a long ways to go, :)
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Love2learn Library
The Love2learn Library has just been started today. Take a peek. I'll be adding goodies (stories, tidbits, etc.) there periodically.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Comments.
My apologies - I lost all of my comments when I installed Haloscan (which allows me to ping other sites when I link to them in the course of a blog). I don't think that was supposed to happen.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Mother Teresa: A Still Small Voice
I do seem to be on a life-issues thread as of late. Perhaps because I attended the Pro-Life Wisconsin banquet on Friday night. Here is a must read article (flashback from the past) on Mother Teresa, a woman completely unafraid to champion the truth...
"A Still Small Voice" by Peggy Noonan
"A Still Small Voice" by Peggy Noonan
Realtor Gone Bad
This is so unbelievable, that someone could get away with this...
Did Gerald Mahr Give Away the Farm?
"The Realtor befriended the farmer, then produced a contract to buy property for just $8,700 an acre"
Did Gerald Mahr Give Away the Farm?
"The Realtor befriended the farmer, then produced a contract to buy property for just $8,700 an acre"
For You Classical Scholars...
Cross posted to Love2learn Blog
Island Home of Odysseus Found after 3000 Years
You go, Homer!
(hat tip to Redeem the Time)
Also, did you hear about the Italian who discovered an Ancient Roman villa by viewing images on Google Earth?
Island Home of Odysseus Found after 3000 Years
You go, Homer!
(hat tip to Redeem the Time)
Also, did you hear about the Italian who discovered an Ancient Roman villa by viewing images on Google Earth?
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Ideas for a Pro-Life Curriculum/Scope and Sequence
From the Land of Unfinished Projects (circa 1999 with a few additional notes I'm just adding)
I just found a page of notes while cleaning out the basement on a potential life-issues educational scope and sequence for children. Never hammered out age-appropriateness or anything like that - just some ideas and idea of order (I was thinking of something spread out over many years)...
Unit One - What makes man different from other animals... including good stewardship and proper respect for all life.
The dignity of man, including how we treat others.
It is interesting to consider that only man concerns himself about the environment and the welfare of other creatures.
Unit Two - Development of an Unborn Baby - pictures from A Child is Born, unborn baby statue
depending on age, the topic of abortion might come up here
Unit Three - Overpopulation - kids enjoy learning about the concept of how crowded various parts of the world would be if the entire population of the world were evenly distributed into that space.
UPDATE:
Links...
Over-Population Myths - National Center for Policy Analysis
Over-Population Myths - Tennessee Right-to-Life
Population Research Institute
Unit Four - History including other types of life issues (useful for analogies, etc.) especially Slavery and the Holocaust
Unit Five - Other life issues - euthanasia, disabled, death penalty, suicide
Unit Six - Chastity
Resources:
Challenging Children to Chastity
The Catechism of the Catholic Church starting around 2331
Here's a great sample quote:
Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. 'Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.'
(CCC 2339)
Unit Seven - Understanding/Apologetics Study on the Church's teachings on life issues, including the natural and supernatural (i.e. practical and spiritual) problems with birth control, problems with embryonic stem cell research (and worthwhile/morally licit alternatives). I think the birth control issue is especially important for young women to study, since they tend to have to answer questions on this topic from other women.
I just found a page of notes while cleaning out the basement on a potential life-issues educational scope and sequence for children. Never hammered out age-appropriateness or anything like that - just some ideas and idea of order (I was thinking of something spread out over many years)...
Unit One - What makes man different from other animals... including good stewardship and proper respect for all life.
The dignity of man, including how we treat others.
It is interesting to consider that only man concerns himself about the environment and the welfare of other creatures.
Unit Two - Development of an Unborn Baby - pictures from A Child is Born, unborn baby statue
depending on age, the topic of abortion might come up here
Unit Three - Overpopulation - kids enjoy learning about the concept of how crowded various parts of the world would be if the entire population of the world were evenly distributed into that space.
UPDATE:
Links...
Over-Population Myths - National Center for Policy Analysis
Over-Population Myths - Tennessee Right-to-Life
Population Research Institute
Unit Four - History including other types of life issues (useful for analogies, etc.) especially Slavery and the Holocaust
Unit Five - Other life issues - euthanasia, disabled, death penalty, suicide
Unit Six - Chastity
Resources:
Challenging Children to Chastity
The Catechism of the Catholic Church starting around 2331
Here's a great sample quote:
Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. 'Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.'
(CCC 2339)
Unit Seven - Understanding/Apologetics Study on the Church's teachings on life issues, including the natural and supernatural (i.e. practical and spiritual) problems with birth control, problems with embryonic stem cell research (and worthwhile/morally licit alternatives). I think the birth control issue is especially important for young women to study, since they tend to have to answer questions on this topic from other women.
Interesting Life-Issue Blogs
Here is a blog entry that made me reflect on the importance of educating our children to go out into the world someday and deal with erroneous concepts that need clear and unemotional responses:
Sicut Cervus: Infectious Rhetoric
I am reminded again of this quote by Orestes Brownson:
No amount of pious training or pious culture will protect the faithful, or preserve them from the contamination of the age, if they are left inferior to non-Catholics in secular learning and intellectual development. The faithful must be guarded and protected by being trained and disciplined to grapple with the false systems of the age…. They must be better armed than their opponents - surpass them in the strength and vigor of their minds, and in the extent and variety of their knowledge. They must, on all occasions and against all adversaries, be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them.
Here is a blog challenging us to live out our pro-Life principles within our own families, even when things get tough:
Aborting Grandchildren
Sicut Cervus: Infectious Rhetoric
I am reminded again of this quote by Orestes Brownson:
No amount of pious training or pious culture will protect the faithful, or preserve them from the contamination of the age, if they are left inferior to non-Catholics in secular learning and intellectual development. The faithful must be guarded and protected by being trained and disciplined to grapple with the false systems of the age…. They must be better armed than their opponents - surpass them in the strength and vigor of their minds, and in the extent and variety of their knowledge. They must, on all occasions and against all adversaries, be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them.
Here is a blog challenging us to live out our pro-Life principles within our own families, even when things get tough:
Aborting Grandchildren
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