The Bibliovore's Wife

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 "

Hello, and welcome to another post in my homeschooling-thoughts series for all K-12 subjects! As you might remember, I've been exploring subject-specific home education strategies on this blog in 2024. Especially in toddler years (Child #1), one can set up children for success in later work by nurturing their love of learning and discovery, as well as being mindful of the destination ahead (a well-rounded, well-educated mind in a healthy body, mens sana in corpore sano ). This week, I will explore foreign language education, which I have a tiny bit of experience in but not that recently. Here are links to my other posts on  health education ,  life sciences ,  history , geography , and math . First, though, I wanted to give you a heads-up about the 2025 blogging theme --I am in the early stages of researching for a new book! The general topic will be homeschooling strategies for Christian parents who are themselves neurodiverse. More to come . . . Basics In my years of being homes

Somehow, as the year progresses, posts get more difficult to write for me. Parts of this one felt out of my depth as I researched and drafted. Yet, writing is the best way that I know of to think, learn, and (hopefully) communicate. If you've made it this far into the blogging year, I thank you for your companionship and invite you on this short journey on a formal  (ish) introduction to philosophy--the study of wisdom--for non-philosophers, a.k.a., yours truly! The Bibliovore: An Introduction As the Bibliovore's Wife, I'd like to introduce you first to the Bibliovore's mind by way of academic background. The nickname came to him by way of his undergraduate academic advisor, who also taught most courses in one of his majors. His bibliographic contribution to our marriage was on the order of 900 books (to my ~300), and we have kept adding steadily to the home library to the point that our next major home improvement project will likely be installation of childproof floor

Welcome to another post in my homeschooling-thoughts series! As you may remember, I've been exploring subject-specific home education strategies on the blog in 2024. Even in toddler years (Child #1), one can set up children for success in later work by nurturing their love of learning and discovery, as well as being mindful of the destination ahead (a well-rounded, well-educated mind in a healthy body). This week, I will explore one of my weaker subjects, geography. Here are links to my other posts on  health education ,  life sciences , history , and geography . Basic Background for Mathematics Sources for this section inclue 3 glossaries ( ThoughtCo ,  Math is Fun ,  Story of Mathematics ) and Encyclopedia  Britannica . I know I'm trying to summarize an impossibly large amount of information in an impossibly small space, but I'll try anyway. General Areas and Some Terms According to the encyclopedia, mathematics is "the science of structure, order, and relation"

In areas of my and the Bibliovore's life including work, reading, social interaction, and media consumption, we notice and are bothered by the Dunning-Kruger effect. I've been wanting to explore this topic fo a while--and am hoping to avoid a rant! Therefore, the sources for this post will be more on the academic/technical side than what I usually cite. I will also hone in on the blogosphere aspect, as a means of self-reflection. What is the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE)? Named for its namers, David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the Dunning-Kruger effect (abbreviated DKE throughout this post) is one of many possible cognitive biases. Not all biases are bad, but the DKE is fairly problematic.  Definition From one of my favorite references, Encyclopedia  Britannica , the DKE was described and defined in 1999 by Dunning and Kruger based on analysis of students' self-assessment scores compared to their self-ranking scores (within a peer group) and their actual competence scores in s

I've been exploring subject-specific home education strategies on the blog in 2024. Child #1 won't start formal homeschooling for a few years, but I love being prepared! Even in toddler years, one can set up children for success in later work by nurturing their love of learning and discovery, as well as being mindful of the destination ahead (a well-rounded, well-educated mind in a healthy body). This week, I will explore one of my weaker subjects, geography. Here are links to my other posts on  health education ,  life sciences , and history . As with history, geography is an area in which I feel weaker in knowledge and understanding. That's part of the beauty of homeschooling, especially when one spouse has knowledge and interest in areas in which the other is lacking. The Bibliovore has a thoroughly historical mindset and thus a decent grasp of geography (see below). I, meanwhile, have more of a STEM mindset. I look forward to learning about non-STEM areas along with our