Tag: Classical education

Posted on

Update on Life and Craft

I haven’t posted in some time. Life gets busy. It’s the good kind of busy.

Tomorrow begins the third week of a new school year. The final grandchild who attends our school is a senior. I can almost hear the whoosh of passing time.

I’ve spent much of the last year working on The Broken Harp and Strong Walls, a middle grade novel set in Ireland during World War II. Irish history is captivating, especially from that period of neutrality in the war, a time of new independence from England and before the Troubles of the late twentieth century.

The main character, Brian, his father, and his brother, Patrick, are dry stone wall builders who navigate the times the Irish government called the Emergency and the divided loyalties of the community around them. Because of Ireland’s treatment at the hands of the British over the course of centuries, many in that time and place favored Germany in the war.

Brian and Patrick help an American RAF pilot (yes, that happened before Pearl Harbor) and an outcast weaver who is harboring two Jewish children after their father is interned, accused without trial, suspected of being part of the Irish Republican Army.

My granddaughter/illustrator is enjoying her freshman year of college and has crafted beautiful images already.

Hoping to publish on Saint Patrick’s Day 2026.

I’ve also written Virtue Stones, a companion picture book, that explains the theological virtues, the cardinal virtues, plus a few more to get the count to ten. My nephew is doing watercolor images for that effort. Publication date is unknown.

Recently, Wandering Swallow received another award. This time from the American Christian Fiction Writers KidLit Contest, second place for middle grade novels. Paul and I spent a good portion of the spring attending homeschool and classical conventions in Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, Delaware, and Pennsylvania to spread the word about this book.

Free curriculum for Wandering Swallow is available on milicomathersreads.com, Good books for kids and teens.

This Saturday, we’re set to have a booth at Jesus Jam, a local music festival featuring Rebecca St. James.

After a steamy summer, cooler temperatures have finally arrived. We’re on the cusp of a new season, my favorite. A new school year, another year of teaching and writing, Lord willing, another year to invite others into the wonder of God’s world through literature and learning.

We’re feeling very blessed and busy.

The good kind of busy.

Image Credits: Lily Hildebrand and Jason Bulger

Our website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me at milicomathersreads.com or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author and illustrators.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing. Wandering Swallow is published by EA Books Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Posted on

The Vanishing American Adult

“We are going to need America’s children to rise to their best in the years to come, because a nation of adult-children cannot be a nation of self-governing people.
“A plea for self-discipline and self-control is the one and only dignified alternative to discipline and control from without. For in this broken world of lawless souls, there will be control; there will be government. Order-seeking and security-seeking people, as well as those in search of power for their own purposes, will invariably seek to hold back the chaos of the world. The question is whether people will control themselves or submit to the control of others.” Ben Sasse
When I was a college student in my thirties, I found a couple simple ways for dealing with stress. And not to brag, but my stress was significant.
I had a part-time job as a bank teller, and yes, that’s a stressful job. I was a single mother dealing with the aftermath of an antagonistic divorce, a leaky roof, and a car that somehow seemed invisible to other drivers who would periodically hit it with their cars.
Stress-relief 101 included a more than once a week walk through the grocery store. These trips were not the weekly restocking of my larder, in which my five children typically participated thereby generally ensuring the opposite of stress relief. My solo store visits were brief times at the end of classes. They included listening to benign music and unwinding while making a few small purchases mostly involving comfort foods.  Continue reading “The Vanishing American Adult”

Posted on

The Food of the Soul

“As Chesterton saw, it is the search for truth that keeps us sane, because it always brings us back to reality. And why is reality so important? It is what we are made for. Reality is the food of the soul.” Stratford Caldecott
In Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance includes a moment from his youth when he didn’t understand the difference between intelligence and knowledge” (59). A classmate had shown off his multiplication skills. Vance had yet to realize the concept even existed.
He felt stupid. In response to his sense of failure, Vance’s grandfather devoted time once a week to drilling the youngster in mathematical concepts. Papaw showed patience when Vance got frustrated. Papaw crowned success with ice cream. The lessons stuck.
But Papaw wasn’t the only one to enrich Vance’s mind. His mother introduced him to the library and encouraged reading in the home. His father introduced him to faith.
Papaw was a rock of stability for the boy. Mom? A sea of dysfunction. Dad? Absent in his early years. But what they gave was enough. Small meals of wonder. Continue reading “The Food of the Soul”