That sounds just like the chapter I just finished in Pieper's "Leisure the Basis of Culture". The utilitarian emphasis on doing at the expense of being is something that is hard to counteract.

I don't remember what EFL said (it's been awhile since I read her), but I don't think that being read to should necessarily be dismissed as pure entertainment with no educational value. It seems to me that many word meanings can be picked up through context without ever having to have the definition spelled out. I feel like breaking up the reading with explanations is more an exercise in frustration and diminishes one's attention span. Those who know EFL better than I, what do you think?

Could you share a link or pic, PJ? We don't currently have the funds for new furniture and really would prefer to keep the space we've gained (1000sqft house with 7 ppl, you want every inch of elbow room!). We may potentially have funds for a nice purchase after Christmas. I'm thinking about it now though because I hate making spur of the moment choices when there's more money involved so I'd like to weigh our options and have time to consider what might work best for us. Unless we move to a larger house in future, a couch is currently out of the picture. As an aside, my mom thinks we are depriving the dc horribly because there's nowhere to spread out and relax. I don't think they miss it all that much - they used the old couch as though it were playground equipment anyway. :D But she's trying to convince me that their childhood is going to be ruined somehow. :lol

I love this idea! Just worried that it would take up a lot of space... but on the other hand it's not like it would take up any more space than the old couch did... I'll have to see what dh thinks.

what do you do when you just want to lounge and relax? We tossed our ancient and falling-to-pieces couch and chairs this past spring and decided not to replace them for various reasons. We love having more space in the living room! And for the most part we don't really miss the couch and chairs,but sometimes it's nice to just to sit on something comfy instead of the floor or a dining chair. We'd rather not get new furniture, but I'm thinking it would be nice to have something to use for this purpose on occasion. So what are our options? Bean bags? Pillows? What do you like and why?

That makes perfect sense. Thanks everyone for taking the time to help us out!

Ok. That makes a little more sense. I guess I'm still confused by the wording. When I read "the product of ninety-nine 99s" I can't see how it comes out to be saying 99×99 done 99 times.

Ds and I were reading the guide today p54-61 about finding the units digit of a product. In the part where Calmitous Clod comes in and has them solve for the units digit of ninety-nine 99s they went through the whole process of finding a pattern and concluded that the answer was 9. Ds and I are confused - why is the answer not 1 since 9×9=81. What are we missing?

I'd personally go with blank, but the dot grid probably would be nice too. Really interesting! I wonder why that is. I have the Green Lion text. It's enough for me to try to work through that so I haven't even begun to think about other editions! Lol

Basically I read it through, then go about proving it myself by writing down each step with words and drawing the diagram step by step. Does that make sense?

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I think this is awesome. I LOVE Euclid. Love him. I bought the Elements on a whim after a mention in a talk by Andrew Kern (it was several years ago, so I don't remember which one) and started working through the book. It's really slow going because my time is severely limited, but every time I open the book and work through a proposition it's like taking a deep breath of cold mountain air. It's absolutely invigorating! I've hardly made a dent in the book, but I can see the way it has affected my thought process and has made it clearer than before. Each proposition builds on the previous ones, and while they're not too hard to understand in a first read through the building on each other starts to become more complex as you get further in. At first I just read through and moved on, but now I make myself work through each prop until I can prove it myself, without referring back to the book before moving on. That has helped tremendously.

ditto wanting to hear about transitioning from oral to written narration.

My middle dd just pointed out Lotso from Toy Story in one of the level 3 books the other day. He looked like part of the trash pile in one frame and in the next he was crawling away! I never would have noticed myself. Now I pay even closer attention when we read. :)

Cindy Rollins has said before that there were plenty of days when her morning time was not ideal. There were times when the older kids were only there for part of it and times when younger kids wandered in and out. She tries to let people know that it's not all sunshine and roses all the time. Here we've had (and continue to have) our share of bad attitudes, complaining, whining and short tempers. Some days I wonder if it's worth it to continue. But there are good days too, and I am committed to sticking it out because I know that it will bear fruit. When there are stinky attitudes here the offender is asked to leave. I send them to their rooms and tell them they can return when they're ready to be with the rest of us. It usually doesn't take long because none of them like miss the stories we read. There are some times when they come back and have to be sent away again. Some days one or more dc miss it altogether. At first that used to upset me because I felt like it was an important part of our day and they would be behind with those readings and the memory work, etc. But then I realized that the lessons of learning how to be with people in a pleasant way, and learning how to not be disruptive or disrespectful are just as important as the things we're reading, if not more so. It stinks that they have to choose the moment of our nicely planned MT to decide to learn those other lessons, but it is just the way things go sometimes and I have learned to roll with it. I think it's important to remember that MT needs to be seen as part of the bigger picture. Looking at individual days, or even weeks, makes it easy to feel like we're failing at it, but if we can step back and see the whole, and look at how it has been effective over time, the picture becomes clearer.

Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Anything performed by Andrés Segovia

Congratulations!

My eight year old noticed me reading it and, as soon as she knew I was done, started reading it herself. She says it's a great book!

We have some things which are done daily and some things on a loop. Daily: 1) Prayers 2) Lives of the Saints and Bible reading 3) Memory work 4) 2-3 things from our loop. The Loop: History reading x2 (1 spine for world, 1 for American) Shakespeare Geography Nature Study (includes both reading and nature journaling) Literature x2 Spanish Grammar Artist and composer study (alternate weeks)

Have you been following Fr. Stephen Freeman's blog lately? He's been writing about how there is more to reality than just what we see or think about (combating nominalism). After reading him the whole talking to my clothes thing doesn't seem quite so far fetched :P

That's my challenge too. I have one friend in particular who loves to shop at thrift stores and can't pass up a good deal, even if she can't use the item herself. She gives me so many things, especially clothes, and I am really seeing the need to be able to let them go back out again if I don't actually care for them. I got through all my clothes today and put them away. I also folded dhs clothes and arranged his closet without tossing anything. What a pleasure to open the drawers and closet and actually be able to see everything! It's exciting! I really appreciate the fact that she doesn't put a number limit on how much you "ought" to have. I kept everything that sparked joy with no guilt and I still have 6 full garbage bags to give away and plenty of room in my drawers. Next I'll be tackling kids clothes, but that is going to take a loooong time!

So great to hear all the positive feedback! I'm in the middle of my clothes and wow! I always thought I didn't have much, but I've got 2 huge bags to get rid of already and I've only been at it for about an hour! Too bad all these kids slow things down! :D

How are things working out? Have you been able to keep things tidy or have reverted back to old ways? I just read the book yesterday and I'm excited to get started. :)

I'm only just getting this going again after 2 years of diminished brain power and the exhaustion the comes with pregnancy and the first baby year. I've been getting up between 5:30 and 6 and I'll say my prayers, shower and then read my Bible and take some time to study Greek, Arabic and work on going through Euclid's geometry. I don't let myself take very long. I would love to be able to spend more time on each thing, but it turns out that I just don't have that much time and if I wait for a large uninterrupted block nothing happens. So I stick with doing a few exercises in each subject each day. It usually takes about 20-30 minutes, then my time is up and the day gets started as usual. It's very refreshing and makes that early wakeup time worth it. I do have to get to bed by 11 at least. Any later than that and I can't get up. But my goal is actually to be in bed by about 10 or so.

Math War: https://denisegaskins.com/2006/12/29/the-game-that-is-worth-1000-worksheets/

It's not a big deal at all. If she knows the letter names already it's just that much easier to teach her the sounds. So if she knows the letter A you just tell her "A can make 3 different sounds - /a/ /A/ and /ah/. That's it. She'll get it. :) I agree with those who've said that it's very individual. My eldest didn't read fluently until the age of 7 despite much hard work on my part. My second child started to read fluently just around her 5th birthday with no input from me at all, aside from what she'd observed me doing with her brother. My current 6 year old is just taking off and she's doing fine. If I'd tried to start her early there probably would have been tears. Look at your own child and decide based on what she is ready for. Theoretical children in books will never live in your house no matter what you do. ;)