Virtue in Small Bites: Education in Virtue's Virtue Cards

We've had Education in Virtue's set of small virtue cards for two years. The first year, I asked First Son and First Daughter to choose one card a week to read, but I felt like we should be able to get a greater benefit from them. This past year, I started reading one card aloud at breakfast each day, as I mentioned in an earlier post. A few people asked about the cards, so I thought I'd write a bit about what they are and how we use them.

The cards are divided into four main categories: Loving with Justice, Acting with Prudence, Contending with Fortitude, and Mastering with Temperance. For each of these four categories is a folded card with an explanation of the symbol for the category, a Scripture verse, the meaning (of justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance), a gift of the Holy Spirit for the exercise of the virtue, a list of related virtues, a prayer, and four saints that exemplified the virtue.

A varied number of cards were then created for each of the related virtues within the four main categories. For example, the related virtues for Master with Temperance are honesty, humility, meekness, moderation, modesty, orderliness, and self-control. Then, for honesty, there are seven double-sided cards. Each shows a child's drawing on the front displaying the virtue with text describing what honesty "looks like" and what it "sounds like." The "sounds like" statement is one a child might say when practicing the virtue. On the back is a prayer (the same one repeats for every card on a related virtue), a Scripture reference (sometimes repeated), and a description of one of the four saints that exemplified the virtue. Because there are seven cards for honesty, three of the saints appear twice.

The cards are 5.5" tall and 4.25" wide. They are printed in full-color and laminated for durability.

Each morning, I read one card aloud to the children. Depending on the morning, we may talk about what it means and how it might be applied in our own lives. Sometimes I just read the card and the prayer. We haven't looked up the Scripture references though it would not add much time to our study.

The descriptions and examples are generally perfect for elementary-aged children, especially first to fifth grades. My oldest (in sixth grade this year) was able to participate as well. Though some of the examples or definitions were imperfect, most were excellent and made the virtues accessible to children.

I found these cards an excellent way to make virtue study a part of every day with only a few minutes of time. They complement well all the books we read in which characters display growth of virtue (or the lack of it). I find it useful to have this small bit of time to make our discussion of virtues explicit and related to our lives.

The italic print: I purchased these cards at full price and receive nothing if you choose to purchase them or anything else from Education in Virtue.

November 2015 Book Reports

Editha's Burglar by Frances Hodgson Burnett is the story of a little girl who confronts a thief and foists upon him her own treasures in a courageous effort to prevent discomfort to her mother. It's a short book and sweet in its way. First Daughter (in third grade) will probably want to read it. (library copy)

The Diary of John Wesley Powell, Conquering the Grand Canyon edited by Connie and Peter Roop is an abridged and edited version of Powell's diary of his first expedition through the Grand Canyon. The editors claim to have remained faithful to Powell's meaning when adapting the text. From what I can tell, his writing would have been well served by better editing before his original book was published, so I wouldn't be too wary of sharing an edited version with my children. This book was created for young readers and I would expect First Daughter (in third grade) to be able to read it easily. I am considering reading this aloud to all of the children in anticipation of a hoped-for trip to the Grand Canyon ourselves. The natural world is portrayed in glorious and exciting language and the real risks of the expedition are clear. (library copy)

Francie on the Run by Hilda van Stockum is the second book in the Bantry Bay series. I read the first, The Cottage at Bantry Bay, aloud to the children last year. The one finally made it to the top of the pile. Though my mother's heart stopped at the thought of a six year old boy wandering Ireland, his adventures lead him to kind and generous hosts and all turns out well. I loved reading in my pale imitation of an Irish accent, too, and the children did not complain. They all loved Francie! (purchased Kindle version directly from the publisher)

Good Poems ed by Garrison Keillor is a book Kansas Dad and I picked out with a gift card on a visit to a bookstore on our anniversary. Oh, how exciting we are! I enjoyed reading the variety of poems selected. Well-known names like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are mingled with new poets. A book like this is a good one from which to read a poem a day, which is what I did. (purchased copy)

Laudato Si -- On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis in an encyclical which teaches the important of being good stewards of the earth and how that stewardship is intertwined with care for all people, most especially the weak, the manipulated, and those trapped by poverty. We read this with the adult education class at our parish. (copy provided by our parish)

Don Camillo and His Flock by Giovanni Guareschi, translated by Una Vincenzo Troubridge - Read my review. (inter-library loan copy)

The Education Of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart - Read my review. (free Kindle version)

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare - I have the Shakespeare Made Easy version. I like these editions because I can read the play as Shakespeare wrote it without interruptions unless I want to check my understanding. Then I can glance at the other page to see a contemporary version. Often I turn to the modern words for the comic scenes. The puns and allusions are the most difficult to understand. The children are memorizing lines from Twelfth Night right now with How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. (received in a swap on PaperBackSwap.com)

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden - Read my review. (library copy) 


Books in Progress (and date started)

• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (February 2015)
• Towards A Philosophy of Education (Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series) by Charlotte Mason (May 2015)
• George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen (November 2015) 
• Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen (November 2015)
• The Long Christmas by Ruth Sawyer (November 2015)
• The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (November 2015)
• The Nature of Kansas Lands edited by Beverley Worster (November 2015)

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). Links to PaperBackSwap could give me a referral credit if you follow the link, establish a new account, and post ten books. Links to RC History are affiliate links. Other links are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions. 

Challenges and Encouragement: The Education of Catholic Girls

The Education of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart

Originally written in 1912 (with an imprimatur), this book speaks to the educators and parents of Catholic girls, though much of the content applies to all Christian students, male and female. There are chapters on religion and character, Catholic philosophy, lessons and play, mathematics, natural science, English, modern languages, history, art, manners, and higher education of women.

The sections focused on mathematics and science are the ones most likely to seem outrageous to modern readers. As a woman with a degree in cell biology and genetics, I believe the author's discouragement of women and girls studying such subjects is incorrect. Men and women all contribute to the glory of God and many women may do so in math, science, and engineering. Yet finding a balance between the blessings of intellectual abilities and what it means to be a woman, how that might shape our families and our lives (because there are differences between men and women), is a challenging struggle. One of the most important reasons she presents for her hesitation in young women pursuing higher education is that "an atmosphere for the higher education of girls has not yet been created in the universities." I believe universities still lack such an atmosphere. Many women who successfully maneuver through sciences do so by bravely sacrificing their respectability as scientists to serve their families or reluctantly sacrifice service to their families (or a family at all) in order to compete in what is still a field dominated by men and a set of expectations nearly unchanged since the publication of this book.

Let us admit the author is incorrect in some of her assumptions regarding the intellectual capabilities of girls and continue reading regardless.

The early chapters focused on faith, specifically the Catholic faith. Many faith-filled and well-meaning materials for children are, in fact, childish. Mother Janet rejects simplifications. (I think Charlotte Mason would agree.)

The best security is to have nothing to unlearn, to know that what one knows is a very small part of what can be known, but that as far as it goes it is true and genuine, and cannot be outgrown, that it will stand both the wear of time and the test of growing power of thought, and that those who have taught these beliefs will never have to retract or be ashamed of them, or own that they were passed off, though inadequate, upon the minds of children.

For this reason, I love the Faith and Life books for catechism for our homeschool. They are not exciting and lack a story or narrative (other than the narrative of creation), but they are clear and precise at every level. There are no simplifications or glossings in even the earliest books that must be clarified later on.

The habit of work is another necessity in any life worth living, and this is only learnt by refraining again and again from what is pleasant for the sake of what is precious.

Another aspect of this book was the encouragement to develop our own characters, knowing that as educators our very persons and daily actions are more important than any "subject" we teach.

We labour to produce character, we must have it. We look for courage and uprightness, we must bring them with us. We want honest work, we have to give proof of it ourselves.

I declared this year the Year of Nature Study in our homeschool and therefore took careful notice of the sections on nature study. Week after week, we go out for a nature walk and week after week, I am doubtful we have learned anything of value. Perhaps we have...

The object of informal nature study is to put children directly in touch with the beautiful and wonderful things which are within their reach. Its lesson-book is everywhere, its time is every time, its spirit is wonder and delight.

Our walks are certainly "informal." A friend and I have a small co-op for nature study, among other things. I commented to her our nature walks are more Last Child in the Woods than Handbook of Nature Study, but at least we're there.

How little we should know if we only admitted first-hand knowledge, but the stories of wonder from those who have seen urge us on to see for ourselves; and so we swing backwards and forwards, from the world outside to the books, to find out more, from the books to the world outside to see for ourselves.

Repeatedly this year we have read something and then encountered something similar or related in our nature walks. Rivers and Oceans (which is outrageously expensive so use this link instead) and Rocks, Rivers and the Changing Earth come to mind.

One must know the whole round of the year in the country to catch the spirit of any season and perceive whence it comes and whither it goes.

We have also been visiting a few of the same places to acquaint ourselves with them through all the seasons.

The outcome of these considerations is that the love of nature is a great source of happiness for children, happiness of the best kind in taking possession of a world that seems to be in many ways designed especially for them. It brings their minds to a place where many ways meet; to the confines of science, for they want to know the reasons of things; to the confines of art, for what they can understand they will strive to interpret and express; to the confines of worship, for a child's soul, hushed in wonder, is very near to God.

The author's thoughts on recitation and memorization struck me as well. I wrote about our own poetry memorization years ago, and have continued to ponder its worth. Mother Janet believed there is a value to recited poetry aloud (even when not memorized) because the sound of his or her own voice saying beautiful words outside his or her normal vocabulary expands the student's repertoire. In her experience, recitation leads to a desire for memorization. Memorization then leads to a love of reading and the formation of a literary taste. She cautions, however, to choose pieces wisely.

But it is a matter of importance to choose recitations so that nothing should be learnt which must be thrown away, nothing which is not worth remembering for life. It is a pity to make children acquire what they will soon despise when they might learn something that they will grow up to and prize as long as they live.

Reading aloud is eloquently supported.

Their first acquaintance with beautiful things is best established by reading aloud to them, and this need not be limited entirely to what they can understand at the time. Even if we read something that is beyond them, they have listened to the cadences, they have heard the song without the words, the words will come to them later.

A final quote:

A "finished education" is an illusion or else a lasting disappointment; the very word implies a condition of mind which is opposed to any further development, a condition of self-satisfaction.

Overall, I felt challenged and encouraged as an educator, of boys and girls, by reading this book.

April 2015 Book Reports

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier is the tragic story of a family devastated by the Revolutionary War. I appreciated the attempt to show the Tory side of the war and how families were divided. I felt like the end was unnecessarily hopeless. It would be much too violent to read aloud to my younger children (who will be 9, 7, and 5 next year), but I think I'll even look for something else for my 11 year old son to read. (library copy)

Bright April by Marguerite De Angeli is the endearing story of a young black girl. Her Brownie troop is a prominent part of her life so nature study forms a background for much of her education. On a special trip, she suffers discrimination and prejudice but with some wise advice and comfort endures to develop a friendship instead. I plan to read this aloud to the family next year. I think Second Daughter (who will be 7) will particularly enjoy it. (library copy)

Mysteries of Life in Children's Literature by Mitchell Kalpakgian - my review. (inter-library loan)

Cinnabar, the One O'Clock Fox by Marguerite Henry was recommended by someone in the Read-Aloud Revival facebook group. As we're just approaching the beginning of the Revolutionary War in our American history, I thought we could give it a try even though I hadn't read it myself. I thought it was a fine book, but my children all loved it. They begged for me to read from it first every day. It's not particularly historical and, I think, made fox hunting out to be a bit less cruel than it really is, but it was fun. (library copy)

The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3) by Lemony Snicket. We listened to this book on audio CD. I was pleased to point out the reference to Damocles to my daughter since we had read that myth earlier this year. We also had a good discussion about how authors choose names for characters that tell us more about them (like Captain Sham). The author reads this one, and he's a better author than narrator. (library copy)

Anna and the Baby Buzzard by Helga Sandburg with fantastic illustrations by Brinton Turkle is a book I found while searching the library catalog for something else. I just love Turkle's illustrations. Anna steals a baby buzzard from a nest (the saddest part of the book) and raises it as her own, learning to let him grow up and be a buzzard. Second Daughter is fascinated by birds and will just love this book. I intend to read it aloud next year. It's a bit long to consider it a picture book, but it is not a chapter book either. (library copy)

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean is the story of a girl who stops talking about a year after her mother's death, the blind-deaf boy who befriends her, and the dog who attaches himself to them both. Somehow it all comes together. Cally sees her dead mother, which is a little weird. I can't decide if she's supposed to be a ghost or if Cally is imagining her; the text isn't definitive. This is a middle grade book, touching on themes of loss, family, loving parents who might not know the best thing to do, and being comforted. This will be an option for First Daughter next year in third grade. (library copy)

El Deafo by Cece Bell is a graphic novel based on the author's life after she becomes deaf as a young child. She invents a alter-ego superhero to help her navigate elementary school. My children love this book, especially my 8 year old daughter. I think some of the references to a crush in fifth grade were unnecessary, but generally liked the way the tale is accesible to those who are not deaf, giving some insight into what it is like to be deaf and how important friendships and honesty are, especially when someone's life is so different from your own. As a interesting side note, one of our librarians is deaf. She used an aid like the one in the book but didn't have as good an experience with it and eventually stopped using it. (library copy)

King David and His Songs by Mary Fabyan Windeatt is a biography of King David in which the author imagines him singing one of his psalms throughout his life, with one psalm in each chapter. David's sins are appropriately presented for kids of all ages (as well as his penintence), but this isn't the kind of book that explores his life in great depth. My children enjoyed listening to this biography, recommended for Volume 1 of Connecting with History. (purchased copy)

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes - my review. (library copy) 

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo was recommended on a facebook thread for the Read Aloud Revival group. Our library had an audio copy available and we needed something for the van, so I requested it...and absolutely loved it. This book may be one of my favorites of all time. There's courage, goodness, honesty, and kindness, in a world that's a little bit silly. Don't watch the movie. (library copy)

Evangelizing Catholics: A Mission Manual for the New Evangelization by Scott Hahn was the book selected for the adult education class at our parish. Overall, I'd have to say I don't recommend it. Though I don't think it was intentional, the depiction of Protestants seemed more negative than positive (or even neutral). I felt like Dr. Hahn wrote this book really quickly off the top of his head in order to have a book on the shelves focused on the New Evangelization and I think he probably has better books, though I haven't read anything else he's written. (borrowed from the parish)

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry is another book set in Port William. This one tells the life of Jayber Crow, a bachelor barber who falls in love with a woman married to another man and remains faithful to her in secret until her death while her unfaithful husband ruins her family's land in a quest for a bigger and more industrialized farm of modern America. It's not quite as grim as it sounds, but was not as near lovely as Hannah Coulter. (library copy)

I also finished Minn of the Mississippi, Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, and Our Lady's Book. I read these just ahead of First Son, who read them independently in school this year (fifth grade). I may write homeschool review posts of them at some point. (all purchased copies)


Books in Progress (and date started)

• Open Mind, Faithful Heart by Pope Francis (January 2014) 
• The Education Of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart (February 2014)
• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• Good Poems ed by Garrison Keillor (October 2014) 
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit (February 2015, listening with the children on LibriVox)
• Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (February 2015)
• Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat (April 2015)
• The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 5) by Lemony Snicket (April 2015)
• The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). My homeschooling budget is always grateful for any purchases. 

Links to RC History are affiliate links.

Links to Sacred Heart Books and Gifts are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions.

Book Review: The Mysteries of Life in Children's Literature

Mysteries of Life in Children's Literature by Mitchell Kalpakgian

I saw this book at Amongst Lovely Things and knew I had to read it. Along with Tending the Heart of Virtue, this book provides evidence for the importance of sharing a particular kind of children's literature with children. The author, Mitchell Kalpakgian, draws examples from a small number of books (twelve, including Andersen's fairy tales, Burnett's The Secret Garden, Hawthorne's A Wonder Book, and MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind) to show how the deepest truths of human life can be found in and nourished by children's stories.

The book reads like a series of essays rather than a coherent whole. In fact, you could easily read one or a few of the chapters individually without confusion. Kalpakgian explores the mysteries of life, wishes, luck, goodness, truth, beauty, children, play, friendship, home, nature, divine providence, and stories. The chapter on nature seemed the least coherent to me, though perhaps I just didn't have enough time to spend on it. I enjoyed the chapters on wishes and luck the most. Before reading them, I had not thought much about how the depictions of wishes and luck in fairy tales might reflect reality.

True wishes are unwavering and constant; they do not disappear. True wishes are answered as a result of good deeds. Their realization often comes as a consequence of effort, suffering, and sacrifice...Genuine desires seek happiness only in moral ways and do not seek satisfaction through devious, dishonest methods.

The final chapter, "The Loss of Mystery and the Loss of Childhood," is completely different from the others. In it, the author argues that our modern society devalues everything he has unearthed from children's literature in the previous chapters, all inevitably stemming from our failure to protect life in the womb. I would not say I disagree with the author's assertions in this chapter, but it all seemed a little overwrought to me.

In short, children's classics are pro-life, pro-family, and pro-God. All of life is sacred, magical, and mysterious, and every aspect of the world is full of poetry, adventure, and romance. Goodness, truth, and beauty abound in infinite supply.

My main problem with the last chapter is that someone who was merely interested in the concept of children's literature as a source of the greatest mysteries of life might just dismiss the whole book after reading the last chapter, even if the previous ones were intriguing. A belief in a Christian God is an important part of every chapter, though, so perhaps I am mistaken and no one like that would ever get so far in the book.

Overall, this book is a good resource for those who are interested in sharing truth, beauty, and goodness with children through literature. The author gives clear examples of how specific stories and books reveal aspects of reality in ways children can contemplate without oversimplification. He also shows how they can lay a foundation of respect for families, home-life, and children. Though only twelve books are used as examples, it is possible to extrapolate the patterns to discern similar themes in other books and stories.

Book Review: Parenting without Borders

Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us 

by Christine Gross-Loh, Ph.D.

I picked up this book on one of those rare days I was at the library and could peruse the new books in person. At first, as I read it, I thought it was a brief and unnecessary survey of ideas I had already seen and read elsewhere, but as I continued, I found a coherent and thoughtful response to the author's own experiences in other countries as well as a well-researched book bringing together lots of sources and information for American parents. Dr. Gross-Loh (whose degree is not in education or child psychology or anything particularly related to the material in the book) manages to provide insight into the lessons of other cultures while respecting and honoring the American ideals of individuality, creativity, and independence. While it is true she did not present much I had not already read somewhere else, she has summarized it well and non-threateningly. I highly recommend this book to new parents and parents of young children.

Unlike in the United States, parents overseas were confident and certain where we Americans were beset by too many options, which tended to make us feel confused about our role. As I learned more about the history behind many of our contemporary parenting practices, I wondered if perhaps we Americans were paying a price for what we thought were enlightened and modern parenting ways, ways that give us choices, along with the mistaken (but oppressive) belief that as long as we choose wisely, we will be able to completely and perfectly control how our children's lives turn out.

The author's initial interest in the subject of parenting across cultures arose in the years she lived in Japan with her two young sons. In Japan, her children attending a yochien, a single school for preschool and kindergarten in which children mingle across the ages.

But in parent-education workshops held throughout the year, the yochien teachers explained that fighting, crying, and making up again were normal ways of figuring out how to get along. They insisted it was important not to interfere in this natural process, but to let children hone their innate abilities to work things out on their own. The teachers didn't see aggression as a sign of aberrant behavior or the mark of a "problem child" who would grow into a violent adult, but something normal that arose in childhood and would naturally fade when it had been allowed to run its course.

When I read of this kind of situation, I always think of the mother in Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly, "Work it out, you two!"

Because peers are harder on each other than adults, peer play gives kids even more opportunity for challenge, negotiation, and growth than they have when we adults are playing with them. Peer play gives kids powerful opportunities to learn how to resolve conflicts, how to read other kids' verbal and nonverbal cues, and how to interact with different personalities and play styles.

Reading passages about how children choose to spend their time in other countries encourage me in our search for "real" experiences for our children, time to explore the real world in a tactile and messy way rather than through apps. (Not that we don't have any apps, but they hold a much less important place.)

Kids making mud balls learned much about the world in a tactile way that no book could teach them. They were learning about the properties of mud: how mud changes when it is wet, or when it is dry, how much water to use, how much force to apply as they roll it over and over in their little palms. They were learning to cultivate patience, concentration, perseverance, and self-control as they dealt with frustration over the occasional failed or cracked mud ball. They practiced conflict resolution as they dealt with children who might accidentally step on and crush their mud balls. They felt task satisfaction when they watched the little mud balls pile up. And they gained the respect of their peers, and learned about cooperation, as they crouched side by side to make these little balls.

But the most important thing was that this play, whether kids were making mud balls, playing house or tag, or looking for bugs in the garden, was self-directed.

The information on active play and recess was especially interesting for me. This is an area in which I need constant reminders to send my children outside. (How thankful I am for our new neighbors and the boys who lure my children far from the beaten path on our own land!)

In our country, school administrators and teachers are under pressure to provide visible, measurable academic results, often compelling them to cut back on recess to make more room for academics. But the neuroscience of play has shown that this is the wrong approach. It's especially counterproductive since today's students need to develop twenty-first-century skills that require the sort of initiative and creativity that they develop through play.

She talks about a "forest kindergarten" she visits in Denmark (and mentions them in other places as well). These were also mentioned in a book I read recently, Boys Adrift.

The kindergarten is for ages three to six and is located on the edge of a forest; a small, icy bay lies on the other side.

The children are outside for the entire class. They have circle time outside, maybe a snack, and then they play. Self-directed play. They walk in the woods. They build playground equipment. They dip their feet in the frozen bay.

If kindergarten were like that here, I'd send my children. That would be better than what I do with them at home. You know, because I don't like to go outside myself. Anyone around here want to start one? I'll enroll Second Daughter and Second Son!

She interviewed a lot of parents that spent time in multiple countries. One mother, a Finnish woman who lived in America and Finland with her children said:

"Here in the United States I feel like I spend all my time fighting for a situation that can work for her. They try to fit her into a box. In Finland, they fit the box around her." In  Finland her learning style was not a problem. In America it became a disability.

Some of the statements were shocking. Her last chapter focused on teaching our children to be kind, considerate, compassionate, and unselfish.

One study compared three- and five-year-olds' sense of fairness and sharing candies and other desirable items in seven different cultures: China, Peru, Fiji, the United States, and three distinct urban sites in Brazil. The study showed that while many traits were consistent across cultures (by five years old, all children tended to show more fairness in sharing), they differed in the degree of self-interest that children showed...Two groups of children displayed the highest and most similar degree of self-interest: impoverished, unschooled, unsupervised Brazilian street children and the middle-class suburban American children.

Yikes.

I'm glad I took a little time to read this book myself. In many ways, it comforted me in some of the choices we've made that, while not necessarily against the grain in our community and social groups (considering we're Catholic homeschoolers in Kansas), are in some ways more difficult than other options. As I said above, I highly recommend this book to new parents and parents of young children as well as those that find themselves dissatisfied with the people they see their children becoming in contemporary America.

Book Review: Boys Adrift

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men'

by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D.

This is the second book I've read by Leonard Sax. You can see a brief review of Why Gender Matters here. I'll always remember that book because Kansas Dad read it first, suggested I read it, and joked that maybe we should homeschool. And here we are, seven years later, homeschooling and usually thankful for the experience.

In this book, Dr. Sax addresses a problem he sees manifesting in young men in America: men without ambition or desire to get a job, marry and raise a family, or really grow up.

Certainly, not all boys have been infected by this weird new virus of apathy. Some are still as driven and intense as their sisters. They still want the same independence, financial and otherwise, for which we expect young people to strive. Because we still see some of these successful young men around us, it's easy to miss the reality that more young men than ever before are falling by the wayside on the road to the American dream. The end result, then, are frantic parents wondering why their son can't, or won't, get a life. He's adrift, floating wherever the currents in the sea of life may carry him--which may be no place at all.

While reading this book, I  asked Kansas Dad if there really were grown men living in their parents' basements, playing video games all day. I certainly don't know any men like that. Being a professor, Kansas Dad said he recognized many of the symptoms Dr. Sax mentions in his students. Not all his male students, of course, but enough that he agrees it seems to be a common problem. I remember seeing in the book a particularly startling graphic from two researchers at Queens College at City University of New York (Andrew Beveridge and Susan Weber-Stoger). In it, they showed a steady and unequivocal increase in able-bodied men aged 30-54 who are not looking for work (and therefore not included in unemployment statistics). From 1950 to 2004, there is a startling increase every decade in every state.

Dr. Sax gives five reasons he believes a larger number of young men in America are disengaging from life. (You can find a summary of the five factors on his website)

1. Change in schooling - Kindergarten now is much more academic than it used to be. As many boys are not ready for such academic work at five years old, they are learning to dislike school.

2. Video games - There are some references in this chapter to good studies showing actual deficits linked to playing video games. They are, in fact, not good for you at all, and some many be especially bad for young boys. (As I write this, First Son is playing on the Wii...)

3. Medications for ADHD - Though he is careful to caution against changing any medications without working with a doctor, Dr. Sax gives some strong evidence for the over-medicating of boys in our country.

4. Endocrine disruptors - This chapter outlines research linking materials in plastics (like PBA) with gender-specific effects in boys. This book was published in 2009 and I think much of this information is pretty commonly known among parents today.

5. Neglecting the transition from adolescence to manhood - This was one of the most interesting chapters. Here, Dr. Sax looked at how we as a nation teach our sons what it is to be a man, suggesting that our method for doing so (or lack thereof) is one of the reasons boys are apathetic.

A boy does not naturally become a gentleman--by which I mean a man who is courteous and kind and unselfish. That behavior is not hardwired. It must be taught.

He suggests

[B]eing a real man has nothing to do with drinking any particular brand of beer. It has to do with using your strength in the service of others.

That definition--giving all you have in the service of others--is an integral part of the Judeo-Christian tradition that has animated Western history for the past two millennia.

I am not suggesting that this definition of real manliness is the only one...But a culture is defined in part by how it answers the question "What defines a real man?" Every culture must make choices and value judgments...We must choose, individually and collectively, how we are going to define masculinity. If we abstain from this choice, that failure to make a choice is itself a choice--and the marketplace will make the choice for us...

The end results of ignoring this question is not a generation of androgynous flower children. The result is, on the one hand, young men who have no motivation to work or to serve, young men who feel no shame in living indefinitely in their parents' homes, no shame in taking much and giving little in return. These young men--many of whom are white men living in the suburbs--don't have any concern about being seen as "real men." It's not important to them.

It's not important to them because our culture has taught them a real man isn't to be respected or honored. Dr. Sax makes this argument based on how grown men are portrayed in contemporary television shows.

On the other hand, we are beginning to reap a fearful harvest of young men who do care about being real men and who--receiving no guidance from the adult community about what that means--are turning instead to gang violence, or street racing, or drug abuse, for affirmation of their masculine identity and for their rites of passage. The devaluation and disintegration of the masculine ideal is the fifth factor driving the growing epidemic we've been investigating.

In the eighth chapter, he gives recommendations for what we can do as a society to bring young men back into the community, addressing each factor in turn.

I found this book a little frightening in the bleak picture it paints for many young men in this country, and perhaps he overstates his case a little. I thought it was enlightening, though, and it definitely gave me some ideas on how to interact with our sons as they grow.

Here's a link to the website focused on the book. (He should use some of his profits from his books and speaking engagements to hire a designer for his website.)

October 2013 Book Reports

The Scourge of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler is the third and final book in the Legends of Muirwood series for young adults. I enjoyed them quite a lot, just as something to read for fun. (Kindle edition borrowed for free from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library)

Half Upon a Time by James Riley is the first book in a trilogy for middle grade readers set in an enchanted land easily recognizable to fairy tale readers and yet full of surprises. I also read Twice Upon a Time, the second book, and Once Upon the End, the final book of the trilogy, this month. They were really enjoyable. I'll share them with First Son next summer. (library copy)

Father Damien and the Bells by Arthur and Elizabeth Sheehan is the story of St. Damien of Molokai, who left Europe to serve the mission field of Hawai'i and then dedicated his life to the leper colony. His life is a great example to us and highly recommended. First Son will be reading this book as one of his saint biographies in fourth grade, probably in the next few weeks. (copy purchased from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a classic I've always avoided because every film version I saw bothered me; it just didn't make sense. Honestly, the book doesn't make much sense, either, but it's delightful in a way the movies never were. I immediately added it to our read-aloud list for this year and hope we have time to read it soon. Now I need to read the sequel. (library copy; there are plenty of beautifully illustrated versions available)

Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian (library copy)

The Queen and the Cross by Cornelia Mary Bilinksy (a review for The Catholic Company)

The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos is a heady book of a young priest at his first parish. I enjoyed parts of it but am pretty sure I missed some of its depth. (Kansas Dad's copy)

Books in Progress (and date started)

• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (August 2013)
• Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (September 2013)
• How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (October 2013)
• Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Liseux, third edition (October 2013)
• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry (October 2013)

Book Review: Tending the Heart of Virtue

Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination
by Vigen Guroian

This book begins by arguing that contemporary American society is neglecting to teach children virtues. Then the author argues that fairy tales offer the perfect model for teaching these neglected virtues.

The great fairy tales and fantasy stories capture the meaning of morality through vivid depictions of the struggle between good and evil, where characters must make difficult choices between right and wrong or heroes and villains contest the very fate of imaginary worlds.

These stories provide a way for children to see how virtues like honesty and self-sacrifice play out in an imaginary world, with consequences that affirm the virtuous and, often, punish those who are less so.

Mere instruction in morality is not sufficient to nurture the virtues. It might even backfire, especially when the presentation is heavily exhortative and the pupil's will is coerced. Instead, a compelling vision of the goodness of goodness itself needs to be presented in a way that is attractive and stirs the imagination.  A good moral education addresses both the cognitive and affective dimensions of human nature. Stories are an irreplaceable medium for this kind of moral education--that is, the education of character.

Later, he says:

Much of what passes for moral education fails to nurture the moral imagination. Yet, only a pedagogy that awakens and enlivens the moral imagination will persuade the child or the student that courage is the ultimate test of good character, that honesty is essential for trust and harmony among persons, and that humility and a magnanimous spirit are good greater than the prizes won by selfishness, pride, or the unscrupulous exercise of position and power. 

Once the author has established that virtues are necessary and not currently taught in a reliable way, he continues by providing examples from specific fairy tales and other classic stories like Bambi and Pinocchio.

With quotes of C.S. Lewis and Josef Pieper, this book fits well with the thoughts and philosophy of Poetic Knowledge. I didn't agree with all of his selections (Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon is one I refuse to share with the children, given the disparaging depiction of St. George), but overall I thought this book presented a good argument for reading fairy tales, even those that may seem harsh to our modern parent ears, to our children and providing them with the opportunity to discuss the actions of the characters within them. While only a relatively small number of tales are discussed in depth, the ideas can be generalized to many fairy tales.

My Favorite Picture Books: Uncle Jed's Barbershop

Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell, illustrated by James Ransome

I discovered this book a few years ago, when we read through American history in picture books for First Son's kindergarten year. I checked it out again as I was planning our financial history course for next year as it's a wonderful example of working and saving toward a business goal.

Uncle Jed is a traveling barber, serving the black community at a time of sharecropping and segregation. He is always saving his earnings to invest in a barbershop of his own. He sacrifices savings for his family. He suffers a total loss in the Great Depression. Yet he perseveres. It's a beautiful story, lovingly illustrated.

As with all great picture books, it introduces us to a range of issues like race relations, discrimination, family, sacrifice, dedication and perseverance, all seemingly without effort. They are simply part of the story. As a real tale based on the life of the author's great-uncle, it appeals especially to my kids who love to hear about real people.

My Favorite Picture Books: Chicken Sunday

Chicken Sunday, written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco

I have to admit, Patricia Polacco is not one of my favorite illustrators, but that does not keep me from reading aloud many of her wonderful books to my children. Chicken Sunday is my favorite of her picture books.

There is so much to admire and love in this story, it seems difficult to believe: inter-racial friendships and understanding, love for neighbor, love for family, perseverance and dedication to meet a goal in service of another, financial responsibility and reacting to injustice with compassion and forgiveness. And it's a true story.

This book deserves a place of honor in every library.

Homeschool Review: Program for Achieving Character Education (PACE)

Program for Achieving Character Education (PACE) by M. Monica Speach, a program for Catholic schools and homes

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update 8/7/16 - PACE has a new website, and it (currently) includes a quote from this post!
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I read about this program on the Mater Amabilis Yahoo group emails and was immediately intrigued. I wasn't looking for a character development program. If I had thought about it at all, I would probably have said I expected our readings of the saints, history, myths and fairy tales to guide the children to naturally develop virtues like honesty and perseverance. As I considered the idea, though, I thought "studying" a particular virtue might allow us to delve further into each one and more explicitly address behavior, particularly between the children. So I found a little extra money in last year's budget to purchase the book.

It's a spiral bound book, which makes it very easy to leave it open while planning my lessons. I also liked being able to flip the front pages all the way around so I could hold it while writing on our virtue paper, which is just a sheet of newsprint I tape to the wall for notes on our current virtue. (It lists the definition, some examples and notes on people or stories First Son and First Daughter can name that highlight the virtue. We add to it throughout our study.) I did feel like the spiral binding kept working its way off the pages and I'd have to spin it back down into place. That was a little annoying, but it didn't really hurt anything.

In the note to teachers in the beginning, Ms. Speach recommends a schedule to work completely through the book in one school year: 10 virtues in 10 months including self-discipline, work, perseverance, faith/trust, compassion, friendship, courage, loyalty, responsibility and honesty. I opted to spend six weeks on each virtue, skip Advent when we have so many other additional lessons for the liturgical season, and instead cycle through the virtues every two years.

A sample lesson with explanations is included in the front of the book to give a good starting point for the teacher.

The PACE program uses stories from The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass: Stories for a Life's Journey by William J. Bennett as well as other books to highlight each virtue. I was lucky enough to already have these on the shelf and pleased to find a way to rather easily incorporate them into our studies. The program book includes sample quotations (for memory work or copywork), a definition, recommended stories for different ages from The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass, relevant Bible stories, meditations or stories of Mary and the saints that exemplify the selected virtue, picture books or other books for different ages, example discussion questions, example writing prompts for older students, enrichment activities (music, art, nature, and classroom projects) and examples of ways the children can practice the virtue in their own lives.

We would start our study with a definition and discussion of the virtue, during which I like to include ideas for the children to practice the virtue. Then, over the course of six weeks, I would read out loud two stories from The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass (or The Children's Book of Virtues or The Children's Book of Heroes which we had also received as gifts), one or two Bible stories, and one or two stories of the Saints (mainly from Once Upon a Time Saints, More Once Upon a Time Saints, or Saints for Young Readers for Every Day). I also always chose at least one picture book, usually from the lists Ms. Speach provided, but sometimes one I happened to know myself. I often included at least one activity in music, art or nature study, but I considered those optional. I always encouraged the children, especially First Son, to watch and listen for examples of the virtue in our other readings as well. They often came up in our regular saint readings.

One of the things I like best about this study is how robust it is with ideas for all ages. I can see us using this as a spine for character education for years to come, all studying the same virtue over and over again but with different readings and levels of understanding. I'm looking forward to continuing our virtue studies next year.

I did not receive anything in exchange for this honest review. I do not receive any compensation if you follow the link to Sacred Heart Books and Gifts (where I purchased this book). If you follow other links to Amazon.com and make a purchase, I do receive a small commission.