It’s summer, so a particularly appropriate time to think about thinking. This is the season when I usually go through past curriculum, evaluate what worked for us and what didn’t, get rid of books taking up space in the shelves, buy books and materials that fit our philosophy and learning styles better (yeah! my favorite part). It’s also time to not only evaluate the what, but more importantly, the why. These are my favorite authors, whose works I come back to over and over… I have their books scattered in various parts of the house — my bedside table, my planning shelf, our living room, etc. They’re beneficial not only because they’re Catholic but because they’re the products of great thinkers… and I find myself wishing often that when I grow up, I want to become, think and write and like them.

Pope John Paul II

Peter Kreeft — here’s his website

Mortimer Adler – I’ve only read part of his How to Read a Book and Paideia Program
but I want to read more. Here’s a website with his works.

Here’s a guy whose works I really need to delve into more [sigh]:

G. K. Chesterton

New to my wish list:

My oldest child is 18. She’s done with high school. We promised each other we’d have our own little book club — she “prescribes” a book for me and I prescribe one for her. Right now I’m reading Anne of Green Gables and she’s reading Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America and The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. While she’s not in college we’ll try to do this course on Logic that we planned on doing and didn’t. Oy. Something tells me she’ll have a family of her own and we won’t be done, as both our lists are extensive. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a “homeschooler” even when my kids are grown. I love getting them to think, and I love when they make me think. The learning is endless.