22 May 2018

Classical Education’s Delight (Norms & Nobility Notes, ch. 1, II)

by | posted in: classical, homeschooler | 1

Previous: Classical Education’s Distinctives, chapter 1, section I chapter 1, section III planned for June 5 Did you know that, historically, not only were the ideals of education and virtue intimately linked, but so was the ideal of happiness? When our founders wrote that we have a right to the pursuit of happiness, they were drawing on the classical tradition, which firmly believed that happiness was tied to virtue, not to consumer goods. Stating that the first true source for … Read More

16 Jun 2017

Morning Time As Happy Time

by | posted in: classical, homeschooler, teaching | 4

What is happiness, really? That’s actually a deep philosophical question expounded upon by great minds for millennia. Too often, we think happiness is doing what we want, having no laundry to fold, or eating chocolate. And our kids think happiness is sleeping in, playing computer games, and having no chores. Guess what? We’re both wrong. If that’s your idea of happiness, make sure your goal is not to keep your kids happy. Then again, we can’t say happiness doesn’t matter. … Read More

3 Aug 2016

Wisdom leading to virtue is the only liberal art – Seneca on learning

by | posted in: classical | 3

I am making slow, slow progress through The Great Tradition: Classical Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being is a collection of the writings about education from Plato to the modern era, the writings that have informed the development of western civilization and classical education. Today is one final quote from Seneca, Roman statesman living in the time of Christ and Nero, whom the medievals and John Calvin read with respect. Liberty requires wisdom. In our … Read More

21 Oct 2015

Reordering Loves, Organizing Attitudes, Being Happy

by | posted in: convicting, mother, philosophizing | 12

An organized attitude, scholé, and ordo amoris are all tightly connected, at least in my mind. The threads are coming together in the book Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness which I purchased and began chiefly on the strength of the title. Of course I checked out the author and a few reviews, but the title had me. I’ve not been disappointed. Virtue is Happiness Virtue is my word of the year for 2015, and it … Read More

8 Jan 2015

Back to (home)school is hard to do

by | posted in: extra, homeschooler, planning | 2

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ Despite better intentions, we did absolutely no school between Thanksgiving week and this week. That’s a long break. It was great, and I think it was needed for the other stuff that did get done, but it means this had the potential to be a very rough week back. Especially when the new year rolls around, I always want to dive into the deep end and start off strong: The … Read More

23 Jan 2014

Capturing Contentment: Being interested in the details of daily life – Simply Convivial

by | posted in: extra | 4

Like Mother, Like Daughter‘s subtitle for this meme is “Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life,” and I love that. My own subtitle for my phfr posts this year will be Capturing Contentment and Contagious Conviviality. To have a happy, joy-filled home, I am the one who must be joy-filled. A mother’s joy – or discouragement or frustration or anger – in the home is a contagion, infecting everyone else who must live with her. How can we pursue … Read More

8 Mar 2013

Review: Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin – Simply Convivial

by | posted in: mother, philosophizing | 2

Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin Publication date: 2012 Date read: January 2013 Source: Personal library My rating (out of 5): ★ ★ ★ I would recommend borrowing it or watching for a cheap second-hand copy (it’s still new, so that’s unlikely). Summary Gretchen Rubin tries her hand at a second Happiness Project, this time focusing on resolutions targeted at … Read More

28 Dec 2012

The Habits Project – Simply Convivial

by | posted in: organizing | 4

Gretchen Rubin, in The Happiness Project: Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, spent a year pursuing the topic and the practice of happiness. She picked an area of focus each month and consciously worked on projects and habits related to that focus. What she focused on in January, I will focus on all year: Boost Energy. She did this by going to bed … Read More

9 Nov 2012

Review: Practical Happiness by Bob Schultz – Simply Convivial

by | posted in: classical, philosophizing | 1

Repost from 2010. Practical Happiness: A Young Man’s Guide to a Contented Life by Bob Schultz My rating: 4 of 5 stars Own. Purchased & read on Kendra’s recommendation. Review first published in January 2011. The target audience of this book is young adolescent men, but the lessons are applicable to anyone. Schultz writes as if to tell his younger self what his older self now knows after many difficulties and life lessons. Schultz has been a good steward of … Read More

12 Mar 2012

Making a Convivial Home: Lighten Up

by | posted in: homemaker, mother, podcast | 1

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but it has to me often. A parent relates a disobedient or otherwise disciplinable antic of their child, and comments, “I had to leave the room because I couldn’t help laughing.” Nine times out of ten I simply can’t relate; I find myself giving a blank stare or a forced “Heh, heh, yeah.” I almost never have that problem. With a small toddler who is cute but testing defiance, perhaps … Read More