Today I’ll share a couple of short passages from books I’ve been reading recently with my children. Both made me laugh, though I guess the context also helps. The first is from Susan M. Coolidge’s What Katy Did: “Imogen was a bright girl naturally, but she had so read so many novels that her brain wasContinue reading “Milly-Molly-Mandy meets What Katy Did”
Category Archives: Joy
St Elisabeth of the Trinity
The reason I haven’t posted for a while is because I have been reading the work of St Elisabeth of the Trinity and it has had a profound impact on me. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know where to start in writing about this remarkable Carmelite who was a near contemporary of St ThereseContinue reading “St Elisabeth of the Trinity”
On Foxgloves and Marauding Strawberries
Heidi, the Prodigal Son, and Patience
The precious book that Heidi receives in Frankfurt contains a story which she returns to time and again: the story of the Prodigal Son. Why should this story, in particular, matter so much to her? On the face of it, the prodigal son’s experience is utterly different from Heidi’s. He turns away from his father:Continue reading “Heidi, the Prodigal Son, and Patience”
Long Live the Weeds
“Some people are flower lovers. / I’m a weed lover.” So said Norman Nicholson in his poem ‘Weeds’ and I’m with him: Weeds don’t need planting in well-drained soil; They don’t ask for fertilizer or bits of rag to scare away birds. They come without invitation; And they don’t take the hint when you wantContinue reading “Long Live the Weeds”
Treezilla
I deliberately don’t often include links on this site because I am very mindful of the fact that “the Net seizes our attention only to scatter it,” as Nicholas Carr puts it in his fascinating book, The Shallows. However, today I’m going to make an exception because I want to mention Treezilla, a project from theContinue reading “Treezilla”
‘Heidi’ – an unschooling Classic? Part 2 – Learning to read
An important turning point in Heidi comes when in Chapter 10 “another grandmother” comes to visit Clara and Heidi in Frankfurt and shows Heidi a book: “For a moment or two she looked at it with brightening eyes, then the tears began to fall, and at last she burst into sobs. The grandmother looked at the pictureContinue reading “‘Heidi’ – an unschooling Classic? Part 2 – Learning to read”
‘Heidi’ – an unschooling classic?
There is a really interesting passage in Johanna Spyri’s Heidi where Heidi’s grandfather resists the great pressure that is put on him to send Heidi to school. “I am going to let her grow up and be happy among the goats and the birds; with them she is safe, and will learn nothing evil,” heContinue reading “‘Heidi’ – an unschooling classic?”
Spring unfolds
Over recent weeks and months I’ve been trying to respond to the unfolding seasons by sketching what I see rather than by taking lots of photos. It’s an attempt to slow down and really see what’s there, though my artistic skills aren’t yet up to the job. (However, I have learned quite a lot inContinue reading “Spring unfolds”
My latest article for UnHerd
Here’s my latest article for UnHerd in which I write about education during and after the lockdown, industrial and slow education, and the importance of leisure.
Snapshots of Spring
Catching up on reading under lockdown
Creating a nature journal
A few days ago I wrote about why we might want to create nature journals. Today I’m going to share a few thoughts about what could be included in those journals.
Who needs schools anyway?
And here’s an earlier article I wrote for UnHerd: ‘Who needs schools anyway? What homeschooling taught me – and my kids‘. I should point out that I didn’t write the headline!
The secrets of successful home teaching
Here’s a recent article I wrote for UnHerd on ‘The secrets of successful home teaching‘.
Some recent articles on making the most of isolation
I have been writing quite a few articles in the last few days and weeks, so I thought it would be a good idea to post links to them here. First up is my article for The Catholic Herald on ‘Making the most of isolation: How to strike a balance in homeschooling‘.
Teaching our children at home
My latest article for UnHerd on ‘The secrets of successful home teaching’ is now available: https://unherd.com/2020/03/how-to-survive-as-a-home-teacher/ . I hope it helps.
Introducing a new reading group
Now that we have lots of time to read, I am pleased to introduce a new reading group that focuses on children’s books. In this first episode I introduce the group and our first book – Hilda van Stockum’s The Mitchells: Five for Victory. https://anchor.fm/roy-peachey0/embed/episodes/Introducing-a-childrens-book-club-ebnbj9/a-a1nvknb
The Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians
“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. “Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death …” So said St Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, but heContinue reading “The Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians”
Quotation of the Day
“À proprement parler, l’éternité n’existe pas. Elle n’est qu’une vue de l’esprit. La foi biblique ne porte pas sur cette abstraction anonyme. Elle ne cherche pas, comme les sagesses philosophiques, un état de tranquillité. Ce qui l’inspire, ce à quoi elle aspire, ce n’est pas l’éternité, c’est l’Éternel. Avec un É majuscule, monsieur. Parce queContinue reading “Quotation of the Day”
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