The Bibliovore's Wife

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Essential Paternal Reading for the Would-Be Neurodiverse Christian Homeschooler

As of the writing of this post (about a month in advance of publication), I've just completed the "book" prereading I've set myself for the upcoming book! There's a lot more research and thought to be done, but the foundation is there. This post is the first one dealing specifically with my target audience, neurodiverse Christian homeschoolers. The fundamental question I am asking and (hopefully) answering: what should a father read to prepare for this venture? Neurovidersity in Adulthood One key term in this discussion is neurodiversity--originated in the 1990s or a bit earlier by high-functioning autistics (think Asperger syndrome as an approximation). The intent was to de-stigmatize autism and enable those in society to be more aware of the strengths of an autistic brain. A more recent term, intended to be both broader and more accommodating of the possibility that autism may be much more common than previously thought, is neurominority. According to Ortega 20

Educating for Shalom: A Book Reflection

If you're trying to get into philosophy of education, specifically Christian philosophy of education, there are a couple of "big" authors to read. Charlotte Mason is one of them. Another is Nicholas Wolterstorff. The latter is less familiar to me, and probably many of you. One recent Christmas present of mine was his book of essays, Educating for Shalom . Because this book was so compatible (in my mind) with my noetic structure on Christian educational philosophy, I'd love to take you through this book in hopes of inspiring you to read it yourself! As a reminder, here's the general outline of this post: I will . . . Contextualize the author's writings as a whole (bibliography) Bring the author's major ideas to the present day Comment on major sections of the book, or important chapters, depending on organization Bibliography Wolterstorff , a long-retired Reformed philosopher, has focused his writings on articles and books. What books has he written? Relig

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: a Book Reflection

Last year, a group in adult Sunday school at church went through Peter Scazzero's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Because that book differed in several key philosophical aspects from Surprised by Hope (which Bibliovore and I led a discussion on) and Strange New World (our discussion class before that), we did not attend all the sessions. I'm addressing philosophy a lot on the blog this year, so I wanted to revisit Scazzero's book in that light. As a reminder, here's the general outline of this post: I will . . . Contextualize the author's writings as a whole (bibliography) Bring the author's major ideas to the present day Comment on major sections of the book, or important chapters, depending on organization Scazzero's Bibliography From Goodreads , one can find a list of 11 unique books, plus workbooks, video lessons, and translated versions for some. These center around one theme: emotional health/intelligence (as we'll see in the later sections

Truly Core Christian Doctrines: A Lay Anglican's Take

If you've read my blog for any part of the last year or so, you've probably noticed that I talk about fundamental or "core" Christian doctrines quite a lot, from a magisterial Protestant stance. This week, I'm going to try to tie a couple of those ideas together, using as my anchors a book we've recently finished at church, the Ecumenical Creeds, and the commonly accepted Ecumenical Councils. If you'd like, come along for a mini-book reflection on this ride! How do we Define a Core Doctrine? As the saying goes, the one who defines the terms is most likely to win the argument or debate. Between traditions, I get the strong impression that The List of core doctrinal positions of Christianity is still lively debated, so here are the parts of my definition as a reasonably well-educated lay Anglican. Sine qua non for Being a Christian As an apple tree cannot grow except from (ultimately) an apple seed, a Christian cannot grow except from the "seed" d

Thoughts on Composition and Grammar Education in the Home

Depending on the time of life, this post's topic is either my favorite or my least favorite! Grammar and composition, specifically in English, was my least favorite subject growing up and being homeschooled--but it has grown enough so that I was able and happy to use it in part-time work for several years during college, in the academic resource centers at two different institutions. Because I didn't like it when I was going through the childhood-era education years, I'm putting this post toward the end of my homeschooling-thoughts series. You can check out previous posts in the series here: health education , life sciences , history , geography , math , and foreign language . Here's a related tidbit about my upcoming book: one of the later chapters will address how neurodiverse parents can address practical skills instruction if they're not necessarily strong in those skills themselves. In parents with autism spectrum disorder, language skills can be impaired,

Basic Philosophical Vocabulary

One part of learning about a subject is learning its vocabulary. It's been an uneven road for me as I have learned bits about philosophy over the last few years, starting with semester 1 of the PhD program where a course introduced the terms ontology and epistemology . Somehow, I confused these terms for the next couple of years. I hope this post can prevent that for you, and introduce you to some of the most helpful terms to be familiar with if you're diving into philosophy! Selection Process: History of Philosophy One of the first problems in philosophy that I learned about when starting to read about it in earnest, was related to vocabulary. Reading philosophy as a neophyte is like learning a new language--with a twist! Over the centuries of philosophical writing, especially in the modern and postmodern eras, philosophers use many of the same terms as their predecessors and contemporaries do, but they'll also develop their own and use different definitions of some "