Seven Quick Takes on Choosing a Sunscreen, New Podcast Episode, Missing Kidding Season, and MORE!

:: 1 ::

The latest Scholé Sisters podcast episode was released this morning! Do you remember Pam’s guest post called The Wonder-Based Classical Co-op? Well, this is an in depth conversation on the same topic {hence the name}. It went swimmingly, except I was still a tad under the weather when we recorded it, meaning my voice is a bit scratchy. But still – content is king, amIright? So here’s your pick-me-up for this fine Friday:

 

 

:: 2 ::

The sun is strengthening, which means it’s time for me to figure out our sunscreen situation. For the most part, we don’t wear any. But poor A-Age-11 has a sun damaged nose. I kick myself all the time for a bad burn she got when the sun peeked in on her when she was asleep at the beach as an infant. I thought she was fully covered, but I was wrong. So sad!

As a result, part of her daily routine is to put sunscreen on it. This is necessary. While coconut oil works well for most things, it isn’t sufficient for her poor, tender nose. Anyhow, after consulting with the Environmental Working Group’s sunscreen report, I decided to go with Badger this time around. I love that it’s a stick. Last time, I bought a liquid and she hated having zinc on her hands each morning.

 

:: 3 ::

This week’s links collection:

• Charles Koch: This is the one issue where Bernie Sanders is right from The Washington Post
  • “It is results, not intentions, that matter.” I think both matter, personally, but I agree that good intentions do not justify a thing done in and of itself.
• Treating Your Brain Well in a Digital Age by Dr. Christopher Perrin
  • How have you been treating your brain?
• NOTHING TO CELEBRATE by Carl Trueman
  • A few months ago, I told my husband that when I die, I expect a real funeral. Not any of this celebration of life nonsense. Needless to say, I appreciated this article.

 

:: 4 ::

This month in 2013:

I was pondering how Charlotte Mason taught me that good books can be fortifying — that we can use them to protect against both error as well as pride.

 

:: 5 ::

This is the last week of February, and I’ve been a bit sad about the lack of babies. You see, for many years, I kept a small herd of goats, and our February break week coincided with the first kidding of the season. February was always a delight and full of excitement, what with the drama of pregnancy and birth and such.

These triplets on the right were my favorite batch ever. Born in 2014, I ended up keeping the black one on the right {her name was Pepper} and raising her up as a milking doe. The two bucks were named Peter and Edmund.

It’s been nice not to have the work involved in keeping a flock, but I do miss the fun of babies jumping around and getting to know the new world.

 

:: 6 ::

Ya’ll saw that registration is now live for the AO conference in Dallas, right? Go sign up!

 

:: 7 ::

Answering Your Questions:

• Question: Do you recommend owning Charlotte Mason’s original work? I’m really just learning about CM and love it. We are several years away from starting formal schooling so I have plenty of time to learn. I’m finding many resources that quote Charlotte Mason, which is good, but I’d like to read it for myself. I know you can access her work from AmblesideOnline for free but it’s really hard for me to read on a screen.
  • Answer: Yes yes yes yes yes. And also: yes. 🙂 I own the red and white set, and it has been wonderfully faithful to me, though admittedly a couple of them are falling apart from use. But I can’t read well on a screen, either, and I completely understand. My study guide, Start Here, is a good way to get an overview of Charlotte Mason’s whole philosophy using her 20 principles as a guide. It walks through her sixth volume alongside For the Children’s Sake, with lots of optional readings in Miss Mason’s volumes, blog posts, and even old articles from Miss Mason’s magazine. You are so blessed to have heard about these topics before your children are school age. If you have a friend that is equally interested, forming a group is something I highly recommend.