The Bibliovore's Wife

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

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

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,

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