Monthly Archives: February 2016

Reading and Narrating with a wide age span

By Headmistress | Published: February 25, 2016

From time to time when my kids were young, I would read them all the same story and had them narrate, even though there is a wide spread. Greek and Roman mythology pleased everybody, and even my teenagers enjoyed hearing a familiar old fairy tale read aloud (still do).  And sometimes I read them all something […]

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Audio Post: Nature Study, The Ideal

By Headmistress | Published: February 21, 2016

In 1905 Reverend Thornley presented the following paper to a P.N.E.U. Conference- well, he presented a longer version- this audio file is just part 1. In this section on the ‘ideal’ he is not presenting idealistuc but impractical ideas for nature study. Rather, he is explaining the ideology behind nature study- why it’s important, what […]

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My Grandma’s Deployment Bag

By Headmistress | Published: February 19, 2016

In the comments to this post, Tracy asked me what I pack in my emergency bag, which is the pink duffle bag you see to the left.  It’s roughly the size of a backback, with straps and everything just like a regular dufflebag, only about a third the size,  just the right size to sling […]

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Writing changed how we think

By Headmistress | Published: February 19, 2016

“Writing supported social enterprises of unprecedented complexity, but it also had a powerful effect on the human mind. As Walter Ong memorably put it, “Writing is a technology that restructures thought.” Reading knits together regions of the brain that evolved for different purposes but connected around the challenge of recognizing and deciphering texts. Writing also […]

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valued for its own sake

By Headmistress | Published: February 17, 2016

( According to Notes on the Teaching of English Literature by E. E. Speigiht, in School: A Monthly Record of Educational Thought and Progress, Volume 1, 1904): “Four years ago Prof Skeat wrote me a characteristic letter, in which the following remarks occurred: “Your statement that in the Public Schools and in many of the […]

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