What We're Reading (and listening to) Wednesday

We continue to read St. Louis and the Last Crusade as well as the Far Blue Mountains in the evening.

We are also reading The Last Battle from the Chronicles of Narnia at lunch or tea time.

Our newest edition to the read aloud cast is our audio book for the car. We are about 18 chapters into Men of Iron by Howard Pyle and narrated by Jim Weiss. So far it is interesting and fun. It is a great introduction to medieval life and the life of a young knight-in-training.

I am still reading Theophilos by Michael O'Brien and still enjoying it. My problem is that I only seemed to get a few minutes before bedtime to read it, so it is slow going.

Normally I would bring Theophilos with me to M's class on Tuesday and Thursday but I keep forgetting it. So this week I had my Kindle with tons of stuff on it that I have mostly read and I decided to click on Common Sense by Thomas Payne. I had already started it before and can't remember anything from my first reading, but I decided to just pick up where I was. The part I read was a fascinating treatise on the flaws of the British system of government along with a criticism of Monarchy that included many references to Scripture. I recently read about how this little pamphlet changed the course of human history in an article that I can't, for the life of me, find!!

But, the story of this little booklet "Common Sense" is fascinating when you think about who it was written for (a bunch of farmers and shop keepers more than two centuries ago) and how it influenced the thought of the time. Many attribute the success of the revolution to the booklet and its influence.

Read it and ask yourself if you pictured a farmer in the 1700's being intelligent enough to read it, understand it and discuss it with his neighbor.

Then try not to get depressed about the current state of political discussion and education in this country.

I am also reading The Religious Potential of the Child by Sophia Cavelletti and am awaiting the edition addressed to ages 6-12. These books are the foundation for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and they have my wheels turning about the fall.

And finally, though this doesn't count has reading, I am listening to Andrew Pudewa from Excellence in Writing. I can't believe I haven't listened to him before. I watched a little introductory video and heard him mention two of my educational influences Robert Doman and Oliver DeMille, not to mention Charlotte Mason and others. The audio download that I listened to yesterday was called Nurturing Competent Communicators and it was really great. Not only am I confirmed in all my efforts to including reading aloud in our routine, but I am inspired to do more.

I highly recommend this talk to all my homeschooling friends. But also to my friends and family in the field in education. I wish I had heard it when I taught elementary school.