It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or reading-diary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or your own impression of the work, or of any part of it; but not summaries of facts. Such a diary, carefully kept through life, should be exceedingly interesting as containing the … Continue reading A 14 Year Old's Commonplace Book
Commonplace Book
January Notes: Nature, Camping, Keeping & Notebooks
We went on a family camping trip in mid-January which was a great nature study opportunity. We only went about three hours north of our home but it's surprising how much difference that short distance makes in the local flora & fauna. For years I've heard cicadas but I've only found their … Continue reading January Notes: Nature, Camping, Keeping & Notebooks
Culture of Character
I've been slowly reading through Charlotte Mason's book, Formation of Character, for about a year now. Despite the fact that this book was written over a hundred years ago, her thoughts on the development and nurturing of children, and the shaping of their personalities, are timeless, practical and wise. '...many a peevish, jealous, … Continue reading Culture of Character
A 15 Year old Boy’s Keeping
Benj is reading his way through the Renaissance and Reformation with books from Ambleside Online Year 8 and most of his Commonplace entries have been inspired by those books. He chooses his own quotes but when he first started keeping a Commonplace book and happened to comment on something that impressed him while he was … Continue reading A 15 Year old Boy’s Keeping
Intellectual Culture and a Boy's Commonplace Book
I've been encouraging Bengy, who has recently turned 15 years of age, to keep a commonplace book. In Sir Walter Scott's novel, Rob Roy (Ch II), there is an instructive example of how not to go about doing this. Frank Osbaldistone was a young man whose father was a man of business and he required … Continue reading Intellectual Culture and a Boy's Commonplace Book
journey & destination 