Helene Hanff shows how reading one good book can lead to an entire course of self-education — provided one is perseveringly curious. “Q (Quiller-Couch) was all by himself my college education.”

Now that my youngest has graduated, what does a Reading Mother's "retirement" after more than a quarter-century of home education look like? From where I stand today, it looks more like a second career . . . or two . . . or more.

This past summer, our family spent a good bit of time reading and discussing the stories of Wendell Berry. There were our Friday nights spent lingering over That Distant Land with a few young folks from our church and community.

I took this picture last spring as my youngest son and I were moving towards the end of the school year – and the end of my homeschooling career. We decided to indulge in a final read-aloud of the Narnia books.

My prayer for my students and for myself as we plan for the coming school year:

Here’s an interesting article on commonplace books that details a bit of their history. “One of the original methods to keep, share, and remix ideas was the florilegium, which was a compilation of excerpts . . .”

I had the honor of writing a guest post for Scholé Groups on my own self-education journey.

Anne has been much in the news of late, with lots of folks weighing in on the new series created by Netflix.

Winter solstice is a delightful day! I love the reminder that the darkness is a passing thing. The true Light is come…

College campuses and "safe spaces" have been much in the news of late, often as an object of ridicule for an older generation. The trend is deplorable, in the true sense of the word. But it seems to me that a good share of the blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of that older generation itself.

Many moons ago, as a new homeschooler, I was introduced to Landmark books, a series of history books for children published by Random House in the mid-twentieth century.

Lindsay Brigham's recent article at Circe, To Kill A Mockingbird: Compassion Needs Imagination, traces Scout's progress in compassion.

For as long as I can remember, I have copied quotes from books, poems, songs, Scripture. I cannot remember what sparked the idea, but I am grateful that I began this lifelong pursuit. I remember many a day during my teen years, sitting at the desk in my 70s era yellow and orange room, copying lyrics from pop songs.

Classical educators frequently talk about the "Great Books" and the "Great Conversation" of the Western tradition. As a newcomer to classical education, it took me a bit to figure out just what these terms meant and why they were so important.

“When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before. Clifton Fadiman’s words, copied long ago in my commonplace book, came to mind on a recent return to Homer's “realms of gold.”

I had a mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.