Seven Quick Takes: Deer Cakes, Meet Hayley, Consider This and More!

:: 1 ::

Daughter A.’s tenth birthday cake was a combination of a couple we’d seen on Pinterest. I think it looks like a hunting cake, but she really wanted to memorialize the fact that she read Bambi recently. I am reminded that we have a rule that the children can’t watch Disney movies until they’ve read the real books. {So that they can appreciate how Disney has ruined the book. Ahem.} This makes for strange ages to first see Disney movies. Who wants to watch Bambi for their tenth birthday? Our kids, that’s who. I keep trying to find a copy. Netflix has me waiting…and waiting.

Anyhow, at least the cake was fun. You can’t go wrong with Schleich toys as cake toppers!

:: 2 ::

I want to introduce you all to my friend Hayley. You can say hello in the comments. She’ll probably be horrified that I’m doing this, but I’m willing to risk it. 😉 Hayley is my real-life friend. We’re in the same local CM group, and we also go to the same church. She’s been helping me behind the scenes for a while now, and recently I asked her to guest post. She said yes! So her first post will appear here next week.

The thing with Hayley is that she has a lot of little ones — five children ages seven and under to be exact. And she is just so good with them. Truly. So I asked her to share about what she does with her non-nappers during naptime, and I think her post might be especially helpful for a lot of you who have been asking me about preschoolers lately.

:: 3 ::

I finally got my Christmas gift! That’s right. If you recall, Siah took my advice on gifts for classical, Charlotte Mason mamas and gave me one big, huge gift. A cultural experience, if you will. He bought me two tickets to Shen Yun. The performance was last week. He said I could take whoever I wanted as my guest, so naturally I took him. Any other guest wouldn’t be so easily suckered into buying me a nice dinner beforehand. Plus he’s handsome.

So it was great and I thought you should know. I love Traditional Chinese Dance — it’s just so beautiful.

:: 4 ::

This week’s link collection:

• Forget Science. The Farmer’s Almanac Predicted Our Terrible Winter This Year from The Daily Beast
  • The title is deceptive — an algorithm based upon astronomy and sun spot activity is not unscientific; it’s just a different approach than is currently used for weather prediction. Still, a good read.
• Why Our Children Don’t Think There Are Moral Facts from The New York Times
  • Ultimately, I don’t see how someone can insist upon moral facts without a belief in special revelation.
• Poetry as a Means of Intellectual Culture from Journey and Destination
  • I loved this.

:: 5 ::

So we’re almost done with The Green Ember. It’s a well-woven tale, for sure. The children are always begging for chapters, and it is satisfyingly long. The character development and landscape are divine. Truly, it is a good book for the six-and-up crowd.

With that said, it still bothers me that they are rabbits. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it didn’t help, either. I kept trying to tell myself that these are human-like animals, such as in Narnia, but I haven’t been able to reconcile myself. I just kept wishing they weren’t rabbits.

But don’t let that stop you from reading it. It’s awesome, despite the rabbits.

:: 6 ::

Are any of you reading Consider This? I read a pre-publication version, but the final version is still of my to-read list. It’s a fantastic book — definitely in my must-read category for homeschooling moms. In fact, I’m considering proposing the book as a selection for our local group, but we’ll see.

Anyhow, it came to my attention that the study guide that goes with the book is available in paperback. I have the PDF version, which is free, but if we end up doing it as a group, I think I might buy the paperback version because that seems less messy to me.

:: 7 ::

Answering Your Questions:

• Question: How can I instill a love for reading in my children?
  • Answer: Oh, good. An easy question. 😉 This is worthy of an entire blog post, so I’ll try to be concise while admitting I can’t also be thorough. One philosophical principle I’ve acquired along the way is that exposure breeds taste. For some children, books are like ice cream, and for others they are more like Brussels sprouts. In other words, some children have to learn to like them, and might not ever like them as much as the ice cream crowd. To acquire a taste, we have to be exposed numerous times. Over and over and over. So, the answer is reading. For my resistant readers, we have thirty minutes of free reading set aside per day on every normal day. Another helpful thing is reading aloud. Some children only enjoy books that are read to them — they don’t much like reading alone. There are a number of possible reasons, but the point is that if they are enjoying a book, they are enjoying a book, and that’s a step in the right direction. Other than this, I just wouldn’t stress about it or put any pressure on. Exposure breeds taste. So: lots and lots of good books over time, and let God make of it what He will.
• Question: Do you know of any homeschool groups that do CM in or around the [insert name of city here] area?
  • Answer: I get so many of these questions that I’m not able to answer them all individually anymore. But, let me point you to the amazing resource: Charlotte Mason in Community. I want each and every one of you to make sure your local group is on this site! It is steadily growing, and every new listing makes it more effective. Also, if you want to start a group in your area, you can post a listing and try to find people that way.
• Question: I would really like to know how other CM/Classical mothers who struggle with low energy levels or health issues manage their lives, and manage to stay balanced in all areas of life. I don’t see this particular issue discussed much on CM/Classical blogs. There seem to be so many energizer bunnies out there.
  • Answer: Maybe I will try to write something about this in the future. I’ve been toying with a post on how I kicked my anemia problem. I feel your pain. I think some people perceive me as an energizer bunny, but I am far from it. I have struggled with chronic severe anemia and other issues. The main thing I will say here is that realizing that we have to manage energy when planning our schedules goes a long ways. Also important are getting help {if and when you can} and delegating. I think that low energy moms need to train their children in good habits. I mean, we all should, but it’s important for survival when Mom has health issues.