Wittenberg Gate

Violet's Poems

If you enjoy poetry, check out Violet's pieces, Word Dwells Richly, and Master Gardener's Touch, at promptings.

Beautiful, humble and grace-filled.

Homeschooling High School: How to Read a Book

I know, I know, reading a book about how to read a book seems oxymoronic, but Mortimer J. Adler's classic How To Read A Book, revised with Charles Van Doren, is a must-read for families homeschooling high schoolers, or for anyone interested in self-education and getting more out of their reading. (Here are links to the Christianbook.com and Amazon.com pages for this book.)

In an earlier post, I described the type of research that high school students in the rhetoric stage of their education ought to be equipped to do. This book teaches the reading skills necessary for this level of research.

Adler describes four levels of reading. After reading this book for the first time, I realized I was only thoroughly accomplishing the first level: Elementary Reading, that is, decoding what the text says. Just sitting down and reading a book cover to cover is Elementary Reading. The second level Adler describes is Inspectional Reading. This is something I had learned something about in school, but Adler has systematized this type of reading, as he does the others, by explaining the goals of skimming, and how to do a thorough inspection of a book. Homeschoolers should be sure their middle school students have mastered these skills. They can be introduced in late elementary school.

The bulk of How to Read a Book addresses the third level of reading, which Adler calls Analytical Reading. Again Adler's approach is very systematic.

Finding Good Blogs to Read

Perhaps you've had the experience I've had of browsing for blog sites and being confronted with material I'd just rather not see. If you're looking for some good reading, try these blog groups:

League of Reformed Bloggers

Pro Life Blogs

Evangelical Aggregator

Blogdom of God