It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Despite that, I've saved a lot of diverse links, so let's dive in!
Learning
- Best Homeschool Decision #1: More Time by Nadene at Practical Pages. Nadene's homeschooling posts have been so encouraging to my heart lately. Another related post from Nadene: Do a Little At A Time.
- Elementary Lessons: Our Mini Homeschool Co-op by Mystie at Simply Convivial. Think a co-op couldn't possibly work for you? Think outside the box. (P.S. I love our homeschool co-op.)
- Getting Through to Teenage Slackers by Joshua Gibbs at CiRCE Institute. Y'all, raising teens is not for the faint of heart. That has been driven home to me multiple times this week and I'm still processing how to proceed. (Disclaimer: I am not here saying that my teens / tweens are "slackers" or terrible people. But there have been some heart issues have been revealed that I can't just ignore).
- The Worst Thing Schools Do Is Teach Kids to Ask the Wrong Questions by S.A. Dance at The Federalist. Sample: "...the cheating itself isn’t the problem but the culture that values students’ answers over their questions. If answers are what we want, answers are what we’ll get! Furthermore, producing meaningless answers to irrelevant questions does not result in an education. It results in alienation." Anyway: read it!
- 7 Assets and Liabilities of an INFP Homeschool Mom by Anna at Little Drops of Water. I love reading Myers-Briggs + Homeschooling posts!
Living
- Reading is Not Enough by Heidi White at CiRCE. Convicting.
- Your Work in the Home Matters to God by Gracy Olmstead. I really want to read this book!
- You Cannot Raise Snowflakes in Jesus' Name by David Prince. This one made the rounds among my friends on social media, but just in case you haven't read it yet, I'll share it here. It's convicting!
- The Benedict Option Can't Save Your Faith or Your Family by Luma Simms at The Federalist. Another book that I want to read - I've certainly read a lot of responses to it. I still want to read it and think about it myself.
- What's Limiting You? by Tsh Oxenreider. Limits are a good thing.
- Why It's OK to Have Friends for a Season by Sheila Gregoire at To Love, Honor & Vacuum. In my personal experience, I would warn my fellow women: don't be so intent on finding a "kindred spirit" that you miss the opportunities to fellowship and encourage someone right in front of you.
- Some deeper philosophy about friendship: Good Friends Require Good People by Brian Phillips at CiRCE.
- 10 Thing Sexual Assault Victims Want You To Know by Karen Swallow Prior for CT. This is not easy reading, but it is needful.
- Two writers at The Federalist engaged in a duel of words this week. The first shot: Why Men and Women Can Never Be 'Just Friends' by Hans Fiene. And the response: Yes, Men and Women Can Be 'Just Friends,' Despite Our Hypersexed Culture by Gracy Olmstead. Both posts have inspired a lot of discussion in our home lately!
Loving
- This longform memoir post is devastating: The Widowhood Effect - What It's Like to Lose Your Spouse in Your 30's by Christina Frangou.
- I see stories just like this one in the communities around our church: Disabled, or Just Desperate? by Terrance McCoy.
- OK, those are two really heavy posts. Let's turn to something lighter. How about baseball? Our National Pastime by Kevin DeYoung. I think I share this every year, but hey, baseball is really the only sport I care anything about. (Go, Reds! Even though we're "rebuilding" and likely to be awful this year, a true fan is a fan through thick and thin.)
- Sweet news: Delicious Maple Syrup Enlisted in Bitter Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance.
- How Good Are the 'Best' Star Wars Books, Really? by Katharine Trendacosta. This caught my eye because just a few days ago I tried to explain the importance of Zahn's trilogy from the 90's to my oldest daughter. They came out before the "prequels" before the new sequels, and before George Lucas reengineered the original series. In my heart, they will always be the real rest of the Star Wars story. #starwarsnerdforever
- Made me laugh, made me sigh: My Fully Optimized Life Allows Me Ample Time to Optimize Yours by Holly Theisen-Jones at McSweeney's.
From Living Unabridged:
One year ago: Classical Education - Who and Why
Two years ago: Make Your Homeschool Days Colorful
What caught your eye this week?
