Category Archives: book group

Summer Mom-School

 So, I think our computer is back for good.  Yay!  I’ve had a project in the works for several weeks.  I’m a little late in getting it going, but better late than never!  Here’s an e-mail I just sent out: 

Hi friends!

I’ve been working on a project.  For my Ohio friends– do you remember the book group I started where we read books about educating our kids with a few literature classics mixed in?  I’ve been desperately missing those discussions and need some ideas and reminders so I came up with a plan.

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Anyway, I’d like to get people together to read homeschooling books this summer and then we’ll discuss them via conference call.  Here’s the schedule I came up with:

June 27– How Children Learn by John Holt
July  11– Leadership Education: the Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille
August 1– The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer
August 22– Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire by Rafe Esquith
September 12– The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

The calls will take place at 8 AM Western, 9 AM Central, 10 AM Eastern.  We’ll try to keep them to an hour.  The beauty of the discussions being via conference call is that I can chat with some far away friends and do some discussions while I’m on vacation!

Here’s how to participate:

Send me an email at jessica (at) seedpodbooksandart (dot) com with the subject “Summer Mom-School Sign Up” and tell me in the body of the e-mail which books/ dates you would like to participate in.  You don’t have to commit to all of them, just those (or the one) that you really would like to read.  Then I’ll send you an e-mail with the conference call phone number and access code.

Barry has also set up a blog at www.summermomschool.org where we can write about and discuss the books.  I’m also going to post pod-casts of our discussion calls so that we can add some inspiration and thoughtful discourse to cyberspace and maybe help other parents out there.

I know summers are crazy– but when you get a second go through the book list, read book reviews on Amazon, check your library’s availability, and give it some thought.  Then write me be back if you want to join in.

You all are so inspiring!!

Love,
Jessica

(And thanks to my friend Jessica for the cool logo thing.  She should be playing along and I’m super excited!)

thought

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Thinking is hard work-in fact the very hardest that human beings are ever called upon to do. It is fatiguing, not refreshing. If allowed to follow the path of least resistance, no one would ever think.
Mortimer Adler

But, it is in thinking that we find meaning in the mundane repetitive tasks of life. I’ve been volunteering at an 1880s living history farm. It’s quiet and peaceful–and it’s hard work. You have to keep the fire going if you want to cook something. You have to go get eggs from the chickens or analyze the pantry contents before making a meal. You treadle the sewing machine pedal up and down over and over and over to piece a quilt or mend a shirt. And you have to think about what you’re doing while you’re doing it. The slowing down is time consuming, but for me it seems to create such a connection to the act of living.

There are so many things that we simply take for granted. We live in such ease that we can go without thinking. A lot of the time our lives are governed by expediency and just going through the motions.

But, by thinking about the what and why of even the smallest things, we can create so much more meaning in our lives. We can conciously choose and create our circumstances if we stop to think and ponder and meditate…

My discussion group was wonderful and empowering and inspirational. I am so excited to be embarking on this adventure and building real friendships and to be spending time with women talking about positive things. And thinking together.

That’s pretty cool.

Do you believe it?

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.
-Robert Louis Stevenson

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I really firmly believe that every single person ever born has a mission, a purpose for which they were created, something they alone can do.

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And I think God gives us hints and glimpses of our unique and individual missions through our passions, dreams, and abilities. We have to listen for them. We have to be looking. We have to find our center and quiet place…

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It is often hurdling the distractions that is hardest. There is so much that is blaring loudly telling you what to think, how to look, what to eat, how to be, what to watch…

I’m preparing for the first meeting of a book group I’m starting with a purpose of helping us each create a meaningful family culture that lays a solid foundation of truth, fosters a love of learning, and gives us tools we need to fulfill our own unique missions in life and help our children find and fulfill theirs.

I just gave a few articles out with the invitation for this first discussion. Want to join in? Here’s the first one. The second is here, but I don’t know if just anyone can get to it because it is in the member section of the Art of Womanhood site. (You can register free of charge and have access to the article if you really want.)

I’ve felt like I needed to start this group for a while, but the time just wasn’t ever right. I was released from my big church responsibilities, so that frees up a lot of time (Now I get to play the piano for the choir!). All that was left was overcoming my self conciousness that everyone would just think I’m wierd, and working up the courage to just do it. “If you build it, they will come.” People have been coming out of the wood work asking to be a part.

I know teaching and discussing my thoughts with women is part of my mission. I’m passionate about that. I’ve jumped one hurdle.

How about you?