Thoughtworthy (Categorizing Mother Culture Books, New AfterCast Episode, and MORE!)

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This comment from last week brings up a good point:

I laughed out loud, as did my husband when I told him why, about The Self-Driven Child being considered moderately easy. I cracked it open last weekend and it has changed our lives. While the boys are working on improving their manners this summer, Mama will be working on reigning in her own anxiety and letting them have more control over their lives. I have been shocked by how ridiculously difficult it has been for me. And yet we have already seen improvement in behavior and attitude. Our oldest just got his driver’s permit as well which was also a challenge on the first and second practice drives. I had a great list of books to read this summer. But then decided I needed a light, easy, beach read for the time being to alternate with The Self-Driven Child.

First, I wanted you to know how wonderful someone else thinks The Self-Driven Child is, too! ♥

But also: what is a Moderately Easy book for one person might be a stiff book to another. Never feel pressured to categorize books the same way someone else does. There are books on my Moderately Easy list that would have been Stiff had I read them 5-10 years ago. Other times, a book where the reading level is easy enough for you might still need to be categorized as a Stiff books because of what it demands of you — for example, reigning in anxiety is some major work!

For me, The Self-Driven Child is Moderately Easy because I’ve spent the last six months traveling and speaking about Charlotte Mason’s concept of Masterly Inactivity, which dovetails SO much with The Self-Driven Child that it’s amazing to me at times! Because I’ve been working with these ideas for a number of years, it’s different than if this had been my first encounter with them.

Make sense?

The bottom line is use the categories in a way that makes sense for you. Don’t worry about how anyone else has them labeled!

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Episode 16 of AfterCast came out last week:

Of course, the best way to listen to it is to find AfterCast in your favorite podcast player and subscribe. 🙂

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Also last week, I finished up my last GHC of the season! Is was wonderful and amazing and all the good things GHCs always are, plus exhausting, which is something else they always are.

While I could go to all seven GHCs next year, I am not choosing to do that because I don’t think I can pull that off and still be a good headmistress for our homeschool. I will still do Texas and California because … I love you, Texas and California! But after that, how about a vote? Tell me where I should go: Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri, New York, or Florida? I can only do one or two of these, so tell me your opinions now before my husband decides FOR you. 😉

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This month in 2016:

This was part of The Low-Energy Mom’s Guide to Homeschooling (which, technically speaking, I am still writing).

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This week’s links collection:

• A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election from Office of the Inspector General, US Department of Justice
  • The media has been pretty loud about certain things lately that it’s been quiet about in the past, so I did what I always do and tried to figure out what news the media should be reporting, but isn’t. Turns out, the IG report finally came out, it’s almost 600 pages long, and it’s frightening. The corruption, the compromised information, the whole thing. It’s evil, and it is mighty concerning. It makes Watergate look like child’s play.
• Over 2,300 suspected child sex offenders arrested in nationwide bust from The New York Post
  • I can’t believe how many arrests there have been lately! It’s fantastic!
• Breaking Elgar’s Enigma from The New Republic
  • The “world’s greatest classical music mystery” is something I’d never heard of until reading this article, but it was still amazing.
• UI study links food allergy to autism spectrum disorder in children from The Neuropsychotherapist
  • Not surprising, but worth the read.