Letter 14: Summertime in a song, salad dressing, and a homeschool day-in-the-life

July 2023

Notes from Me

Summer Fishing by Camille Pissarro. Pairs well with Satie’s song below.

Reading: I read The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature by Dr. Angel Adams Parham and D. Anika Prather. I am indebted to them for introducing me to the classical educator and advocate, Anna Julia Cooper. Her philosophies (children are comprised of more than mere matter and brain) and strategies (education being the science of relationships between ideas) overlap with another 19th century educational philosopher, Charlotte Mason, whose ideas have helped shaped my home educating methods. I want to read and mull over more of Cooper’s works. Below is a quote from her essay, “On Education.”

My plea is for the sacredness and inviolability of the growing period of the child. Guard it, nurture it, foster it. Give it the one needful thing—time. If it costs sacrifice, it is richly worth it

Listening: Two songs. First, “Je Te Veux” by Erik Satie, which I learned about from Year of Wonder, sounds like an idyllic summer stroll. Second, Joy Ike’s “Day by Day” is lovely— and the lyrics resonate with how I hope I am ordering my days, under the care of my Heavenly Father.

With the Boys

Reading: All of the boys, but especially my almost-4-year-old, have loved this new book Evergreen by Matthew Cordell. A modern twist on Little Red Riding Hood, it is told in short chapters, and features a squirrel named Evergreen. The pictures are both cozy and invigorating, reminiscent of Arnold Lobel’s work. See a summary from the author here or an enthusiastic pitch from a middle school educator here.

In the Kitchen

Eating: I tried Alexandra Stafford’s “5-Ingredient Greek Salad Dressing.” It was sweet, creamy, and zingy. I don’t typically have Grey Poupon in my fridge, so I subbed mayonnaise mixed with mustard powder and it worked well. This is the first recipe I’m adding to a must-repeat-homemade-salad-dressing file.

Small Joy

Trips to the vast ocean and how being at the beach is both intensely stimulating and strangely soothing.

P.S.

I was happy to share about a typical homeschool day-in-the-life over on the How We Homeschool (thank you, Catherine!) Along those lines, I also loved reading Rachael’s reflection on her school year and this interview with home educator, Liz Yeboah.