School has started for most of my readers, and here in Central Massachusetts the weather has gotten nippy for sure.
I am saving eggs against the day when the hens stop laying. Did you know you can do that? The information is here. I've already tried an egg from the first jar (from June) and it's fine!
Speaking of school, you know, in my book set The Summa Domestica (affiliate link), Volume Two is about education, and even though I started writing here to help with homeschooling, I wrote about so much more than just curriculum.
There is a lot in there about criteria for choosing and setting goals for all subjects — but also, so much more!
I write about the home environment and how to make the cultural shift from being consumers of entertainment to producers and enjoyers of beauty — in music, art, and dance! And I have a whole section about the moral education of the child...
A dear Instagram reader sent me the following comment and gave me permission to share it with you. I was delighted with what she said, because I answer this question all the time: “Is your book just for homeschooling?” and the answer is “Not at all!”
At first I avoided Volume Two on Education, because my kids attend Catholic schools; however, I was wrong. That one is my favorite! I have always taught my children the faith and read aloud to them daily and your wisdom inspired me to continue this. Thanks for being an encourager for families that choose alternatives to homeschooling. We are the first educators of our children.
Indeed! The family is the school of virtue, of life, for the children! Parents are the primary educators and what happens at home is decisive for the child's formation!
Thank you for reading along, and I hope you enjoy the book set as well!
bits & pieces
- Tony Esolen write here about dances back in the day. In the Summa Domestica I have lots about such things and how to bring them back. The thoughts are the fruit of my life here in a good solid Catholic community — may you benefit as well!
- I've been making these shortbread cookies from Smitten Kitchen — but I can't recommend Ted Lasso for reasons I'm mulling over (besides the constant barrage of profanity — I mean I am not a prude but phew! give it a rest).
- Beautiful Pre-Reformation Polyphony — give the embedded (short) pieces a listen — they are haunting!
from the archives
- When old favorites are updated — they are not better! (I'm seeing reports of new episodes of Peppa Pig — basically, buyer beware!)
- From my other blog: If only there were a list of things to do and not to do — the 10 Commandments
liturgical living
Two favorite saints today: St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Hildegard of Bingen
follow us everywhere!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available now from Sophia Press! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing!
My new podcast can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
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Toni says
My Summa Domestica is three volumes (no yellow book). Am I missing something?
Leila says
The yellow is the slipcase!
Mignon says
I just read your piece on the 10 Commandments linked here to yourr other blog. Wow! What a great piece! So many spot-on observations that echo my thoughts on other subjects besides the moral law. That same false idea that kids need to be “de-bunked” exists in the realm of literature studies. I have a friend who teaches kindergarten— KINDERGARTEN— in the public schools, and do you know what they teach for fairy tales? Twisted up modern renditions. The children have never learned the originals, but they are learning the “corrected”, or rather, critiqued versions of them. I remember not encountering this kind of stuff until college, years ago, in a modern poetry class where I read some Anne Sexton poems playing with fairy tales (Sexton was a feminist poet, a depressed one at that, who ended her own life).
The point is, of course, even the debunked version loses its “punch” or meaning if the actual one is never encountered. This is where we are with morality. We are in a post-post-Christian culture, and the only thing to do is to go back to square one, the Commandments themselves, instead of worrying about the various responses to and comprehension of the rejection of them, whichi is now ancient history anyway.
Leila says
Thank you, Mignon.
And then, when children are so confused, because we haven’t given them the right order of development, we come up with complicated curricula to try to teach them “critical thinking skills” — when really, if we had just read them proper fairy tales and taught them the 10 Commandments, they’d be well on their way to have more common sense than most who are in charge!
Carolyn says
Auntie Leila, have you seen Andrew Klavan’s commentary on Ted Lasso? It might help with the mulling over. Once I saw Klavan’s video I had no interest in trying out Ted Lasso. It’s called “Klavan Reviews Ted Lasso” on YouTube. The best part starts around minute mark 6:45.
Leila says
Thanks, Carolyn!
He expressed very well one of my strongest objections to the show. And there are many more. It’s absolutely true that the people who make these shows cannot bear any innocence or goodness — I think they genuinely wouldn’t know it if it hit them over the head.
I have watched quite a bit of the show and it’s definitely the case that they don’t understand the character, the character that they created, at all.
Weird, when you think about it!
Rosemary says
My parish is having a family dance next weekend! It’s designed for parish families of all ages. We are really looking forward to it. I always loved attending dances, and grew up knowing that my parents met at a Catholic singles dance in the 70s. I would hope there to be a revival for families and singles.
Mrs. T says
I’ve been meaning to research a way to preserve eggs, however I have a suspicion you cannot do it this way with store-bought eggs. I’ll have to dig a little deeper. A few months ago I was paying $2.80 for 60 eggs… now it’s over $10! It kills me.
We are entering our ninth year of homeschooling. One thing I’ve learned along the way is to keep it simple. You cannot do it all! Better to do a few things well then be a scatterbrained mess trying to fit it all in.
And your “what’s for dinner” point is spot on. I’ve reached the season now where younger mothers are approaching me on what sort of curriculum do I use and I always bring up the dinner/laundry point first. I also mention authority. If you have young children who do not respect your authority, best to put aside the books and work on discipline first and foremost. I learned that the hard way.
Leila says
You are right — it doesn’t work on washed eggs (which is how storebought ones in the US are). The eggs must be clean but not washed.
I can’t believe that pasta in the store is now twice as much per pound as 2 years ago. Flour too. The lockdown has really hurt us badly.
And basically, yes, my whole blog and books are about these points! Know what’s for dinner, have order in your family life, and keep schooling simple (and old-fashioned)! The wonder will follow!