A letter to a gifted prep school friend
Dear Friend,
You are caught up in a hundred little deaths of your soul these days. You are forced to sit through classes which are beneath you.
You know more about these books, these histories; you understand them better than your peers. You are better read than some of your teachers. This is really true, at least in an academic sense.
In other classes you are made to study material you know you will never use. Odds are good you won't need that quadratic formula in graduate school or in cooking your dinner.
And this is an indignity. You, O Suburban Minion, must abide the endless chores of polite conversation, lunchroom shufflings, leading questions, obvious observations, endless chores, polite conversation....
You have better taste.
Every day you are forced to eat food lacking in subtlety, speak to people lacking in insight and nuance, and grind through homework assignments lacking in imagination and spark, taught by adults who punch the card when you include "setting," "characters," and an ample amount of ham-handed adverbial verbiage. Similes that sit like a knuckle sandwich in your mouth.
What's the use? Where are Sartre and Camus and Kerouc and Woolf in all of this mundane flotsam and jetsam? Where is the Green Knight?
Where is Keats in this tedious homework assignment to analyze Fanny Brawne -- 'til the Bright Star herself becomes thick-limbed, ugly, and graceless with dead eyes? Nothing like the sun.
Oh to be one of those noted intellectuals! Those brilliant sparks, caught up in thought and conversation, and not hampered by The Daily Bourgeois of suburban high school and carpool line and vacuuming the stairs.
Oh to feed that bright fire of the mind, all day, with people who understand and appreciate the heat!
Yet, you are well-read. What about those characters you know so well?
What about Saruman in his tall tower hanging in the thin air far above the plains and the little men and the beasts.
What about Uncle Andrew and Queen Jadis, and their "high and lonely destiny"?
What about that invisible man, and his lone scientific pursuit of autonomy, fed by a withered heart lacking in human connection?
What if Dr. Frankenstein was a monster and the Monster had a soul?
What about Virginia's Lighthouse? Did it help her see the rocks?
And you have read The Intellectual Greats. What if:
What if many of those ivory tower intellectuals were tiresome bores in the pub or the parlor?
What if it would be insufferable to share just one drink with them? What if they were the ones everyone avoided at the cocktail party or on the street?
What if they were people that made other people look at the clock to mutter about appointments and traffic and "needing to go, so nice to touch base with you...."
What if -- in their rejection of humility, humanity, and the simplicity of duty -- they lost touch with glory, divinity, and the deeply complex?
What if, in their single-minded pursuit of truth and beauty in isolation -- in the rarefied company of themselves and their toadying salons -- they lost both. (Truth and beauty, that is.)
What if we all felt sorry for their wives and children and dogs and next door neighbors?
And more.
What if Mother Teresa was a genius and Sartre was a fool (himself telling tales full of sound and fury, signifying nothing)?
What if Einstein practiced piano scales daily as a kid?
What if the capitalist down the street is a philanthropist, the humanist down the street is a misanthropist, the scholar is a bigot, and the small town sheriff is a sage?
What if theology is the queen of the sciences?
It's complicated, isn't it?
Think:
What if we maintain our connection to the divine, in part, by maintaining our relationship with the human?
What if we love God in part by loving others and performing daily duties?
What if even the Word Himself became flesh. And dwelt among us.
And what if to love and know and learn, we have to go where the unwashed they are, and live where the un-nuanced they live, and eat their casseroles, boiled vegetables, and drink their iced tea, and do their homework assignments?
And in meeting with daily life and daily people, what if we find not just truth and beauty, but also ourselves right there?
What if we find that we, in fact, are just another one of them: merely a co-regent of all creation. (Nothing big.)
My friend, what if we find our best selves in the mundane performance of daily duties that bring order and abundance, done with love, joy, and humility?
Here is your next homework assignment for "Life 101"
* Read the Gospel of John to yourself aloud and slowly
* Read "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Andrew
* Read "Intellectuals" by Paul Johnson
* Discuss with your fellow co-regents. (Ie, your middle class parents, teachers, and friends. You might be surprised at how much they know.)
Sincerely,
An old friend who once hated homework, wore black turtlenecks, and choked on both gnats and Camels
Showing posts with label co op. Show all posts
Showing posts with label co op. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Lit Bit: Parables, Fables, Folktales Class Letter to Parents
Hi!
I wanted to send the parents in this class a basic introduction to the upcoming Parables, Fables, and Folktales class.
This year, we will be discussing these 3 literary types. Each endeavors to teach a truth or communicate a value through an engaging story.
We will first discuss the parables of Christ. While these are stories told to teach a lesson, unlike fables and folktales, they are the direct communication of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to teach truths about the Kingdom of Heaven.
I want to emphasize this unique aspect of these parables on this e-mail and at the start of the class.
I want to emphasize this unique aspect of these parables on this e-mail and at the start of the class.
We will then cover some of Aesop's Fables, which are lessons about life and human nature, and they are often taught using animal characters.
Finally, we will discuss various folktales/fairy tales from around the world. These stories are longer and more elaborate, and often contain magic or talking animals (think Cinderella and Puss-in-Boots and Rumpelstiltkin). They were also passed on through generations to teach lessons about life and human nature.
Each week the students will receive an assignment to read, we will discuss it in class. At the end of the first semester, they will write a parable of their own and at the end of the second semester, they will write a fable or folktale of their own. This Friday will simply be an introductory lesson.
Should be a fun year!
Literarily ;-)
Letter to Manners Class at Co op
Hi everyone! I am looking forward to Manners Class for the 4-6th graders this year. I wanted to pass on a few notes to the parents of the children who will be in my class.
Friday's class will be an introduction to manners and we will be answering the question...WHY should we even bother to learn manners!
As a parent, I am teaching this class because I know my own children need a basic primer and practice on simple, everyday manners -- meal times, greetings and introductions and conversations, church manners, class room manners, library manners, telephone and correspondence, etc.
Teaching these things at co op will help me be accountable to work on these things with my own kids at home.
Teaching these things at co op will help me be accountable to work on these things with my own kids at home.
Why Manners?
1. Manners communicate to people a basic, biblical truth that we were created as image-bearers of God. We are fallen and sinful, but we are still precious. In our culture, humans are lightly discarded: the elderly, the weak, the physically and mentally disabled, children, and the unborn are casually dismissed as insignificant or inconvenient. But as believers we know that humans have dignity and worth. Manners communicate to people that they are special -- they are God's creation, not to be dismissed or discarded.
2. Etiquette is a form of cultural communication. Manners vary from country to country, from region to region, from social group to social group, even from family to family.
As believers, we want to reach people with the gospel in the culture we are placed. But if we want to reach people, we need to learn to speak their language...and manners are part of a culture's language.
We are all "missionaries" in our own way -- even if we are missionaries to our own home town! The gospel never changes, it is an objective truth and reality. And the gospel is, by nature, offensive; it is a stumbling block for people. Given this, I believe people are more likely to listen to the message of a humble and gracious person than a rude one. In fact. I Corinthians 13 states something that Love is NOT. It is not rude.
3. Etiquette experts agree on the big things, but even the experts have points of disagreement on details. You may disagree with some of my approaches. And of course, within your own family you have and will establish certain standards -- create a certain culture -- that may differ from my approach.
That's fine!
Please feel free to use this class for your children as a jumping off point at home to discuss your own or others' approaches. This is an opportunity to teach children to show Grace to people (a bedrock principle of etiquette) who do things differently from the way they do. Love does not point out a wrong. Whether someone "goofs" or simply does things differently, a gracious person does not mock or gloat.
1. Manners communicate to people a basic, biblical truth that we were created as image-bearers of God. We are fallen and sinful, but we are still precious. In our culture, humans are lightly discarded: the elderly, the weak, the physically and mentally disabled, children, and the unborn are casually dismissed as insignificant or inconvenient. But as believers we know that humans have dignity and worth. Manners communicate to people that they are special -- they are God's creation, not to be dismissed or discarded.
2. Etiquette is a form of cultural communication. Manners vary from country to country, from region to region, from social group to social group, even from family to family.
As believers, we want to reach people with the gospel in the culture we are placed. But if we want to reach people, we need to learn to speak their language...and manners are part of a culture's language.
We are all "missionaries" in our own way -- even if we are missionaries to our own home town! The gospel never changes, it is an objective truth and reality. And the gospel is, by nature, offensive; it is a stumbling block for people. Given this, I believe people are more likely to listen to the message of a humble and gracious person than a rude one. In fact. I Corinthians 13 states something that Love is NOT. It is not rude.
3. Etiquette experts agree on the big things, but even the experts have points of disagreement on details. You may disagree with some of my approaches. And of course, within your own family you have and will establish certain standards -- create a certain culture -- that may differ from my approach.
That's fine!
Please feel free to use this class for your children as a jumping off point at home to discuss your own or others' approaches. This is an opportunity to teach children to show Grace to people (a bedrock principle of etiquette) who do things differently from the way they do. Love does not point out a wrong. Whether someone "goofs" or simply does things differently, a gracious person does not mock or gloat.
4. Practice at home will be part of this class. You can practice with just the enrolled child or with your whole family. The work will not be burdensome, but there will be something each week for the children to work on.
[Though I do personally think it is wise for every household have a standard etiquette book on hand to help navigate through various situations. These books contain excellent ideas for how to word kindly thank you and condolence letters, how to address various officials, how to set a table, what to expect at a variety of engagements from casual to formal, etc.]
Our lessons will focus on every day situations, not white-tie balls and such!
I will craft lessons for the children myself and send home sheets so you can know what to work on at home.
Looking forward to a great class!
Politely ;-)
Anne
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Poems for Homes: Lit Bit
Lit Bit Enrichment Class
Below is the syllabus from the enrichment class for 4-6th graders at our Fine Arts co op. Class goals: a "treeline" overview of literary genres and devices, demystify some terminology, and introduce children to great works.
Start with these descriptions:
Literary Device=Writing Tool (metaphor, alliteration, rhyme, etc)
Literary Genre=Writing Type (novel, play, poem, etc)
The class was meant to be a supplement only to the children’s language arts classes at home. It was comprised mostly of 10- and 11-year-old boys, and it took place Friday before lunch.
Hence we avoided writing exercises for the most part, and instead did some acting, reading aloud, drawing (hyperbole and onomatopoeia), a few games, fun worksheets, and had good discussions.
For example, we might discuss the definition of alliteration and then read a line or two (or three or 10) from a great work illustrating it.
This “treeline model” proved to be a great way to just introduce them to a few great works of literature in a way that was non-threatening and palatable to wiggly 5th grade boys. (And it was loads of fun for their teacher.)
At the end of the year the children presented memory work – 10-30 lines they chose to memorize from several selections offered.
How delightful is it to hear the first 13 lines of Chaucer’s "General Prologue" from The Canterbury Tales on the lips of a skinny, 11-year-old, tow-headed boy in sneakers and baggy shorts? “When April with her showers sweet with fruit/The drought of March has pierced unto the root…” Or to hear a tousle-headed, tee-shirted boy who loves Bionicles recite Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. ”Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him…”
How delightful to hear a wee little slip of a girl with a brown ponytail boldly recite “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” “Half a league/ Half a league/ Half a league onward/All in the valley of Death rode the 600…”
Or to hear a freckled boy with round glasses whose mom is battling cancer recite Robert Frost. This child chose “The Road Less Traveled.” “I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence…”
Yes, my dear, and so shall I.
In many cases, Wordsworth’s line that “the child is father to the man” is very good news.
Syllabus: Lit Bit, 2010-2011 academic year
Each semester we covered various aspects of literary structure. We discussed each aspect, read and analyzed samples from great works of literature, and in some cases, wrote our own samples.
Fall Semester: (a sampling of) Literary Devices
Simile
Metaphor
Hyperbole
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Allegory
Spring Semester: Literary Genres
This semester, in addition to studying the genres below, each child memorized a piece of literature from a great work. (They chose from a list comprised of pieces from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Byron, Tennyson, and Frost.)
What is The Western Canon?
Fiction vs Nonfiction VERSUS Truth vs Falsehood
Encyclopedia/Dictionary
Play
Novel
Poetry: rhyme, meter,
Haiku
Sonnet
Fairy/Folk Tale/Fable
Parable
Newspaper/magazine article
Propaganda/Advertisement
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