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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Goodbye, Things (Book Review)



I had to wait awhile for my turn to borrow Fumio Sasaki's Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism from the library, but it was worth it. I'm not actually finished reading it yet, but I've been so inspired, I just had to share!

Fumio is a single, childless man who lives by himself in a small apartment in Tokyo. He was once a maximalist living with messy heaps of books, CDs, clothes, an antique camera collection that he never used, and various miscellany. He literally lived in the dark, too overwhelmed to open the blinds. He drank too much and squandered his time on video games.

When I was a single gal, I had my own small, cluttered, messy apartment. I didn't play video games or sit around drinking too much, and my lifestyle was interesting, active, and creative. But I can relate to how having too much stuff and living in chaos held me back from feeling as confident, capable, and joyful as I could have. And the thing is, decades later, living with a family in a much bigger space, I am still struggling with clutter. Yes, I've made much progress and have cultivated better habits, but I just wish I had discovered minimalism while I was still single!

I got a lot of help from Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, but I must admit to becoming stalled and never finishing the project, which should have taken only six months. I think her idea of paring down by categories is genius. At the same time, there's something so encouraging about seeing an entire room that is finished.

I started with my bedroom, because the space where you sleep should be a sanctuary. Since I've been reading Fumio's book, I'm looking suspiciously at the books in my bedroom, which I did pare down, and thinking that more of them need to go. But I'm going to write a post specifically about book addiction later! I also have some jewelry on the my dresser that I could pare down, and there are a few things left in my closet that I ought to part with.

Fumio lives much more simply than I would want to. I find interior decorating to be a joy, and I like expressing myself creatively with my wardrobe. I'm not into the "uniform" look, which Fumio adopted from his minimalist hero, Steve Jobs. But even here, I can learn from the idea of honing in on a certain style and owning less clothing, making it easier and less time consuming to get dressed and do laundry.

This young man is not against housework, however. He loves keeping house, because the results of a clean, uncluttered home are so beneficial, and it takes him very little time to accomplish his tasks. Charlotte Mason would wholly approve of Fumio's emphasis on positive habit formation!

This week Ive been digging into my kitchen cupboards while my husband is working out of the house. A woman needs a well-functioning kitchen! I had gotten to a place where I wasn't inspired to cook anymore, and I think this decluttering and reorganizing process is going to take care of that problem. I'm looking forward to going to the farmers market and grocery store today!

It takes time, diligence, and persistence to pare down one's belongings and tidy one's home. But as Fumio has attested, it does change your life. He's a new man, and I want to be a new woman! I want to live better, more fully and meaningfully. Paradoxically, this means living more simply and being content with what you have.

The only criticism I have of Goodbye, Things is that Fumio tends to repeat himself, but I think he revisits stories in order to make an additional point.

My laptop battery is running low, so that's my cue to get moving! Read Fumio's book so we can discuss!!

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Minimalist Homeschooling





Now that we're about a month into our homeschool year, I can evaluate how the new, minimalist schedule is working out. I did so much planning beginning last spring, tweaking things (way too many times!) over the summer, and fretting about this thing called Jr. High. But I also prayed a lot, and that makes all the difference. I was very well prepared, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by how smoothly things are humming along. Yet I find myself amazed! I am converted to minimalism.

I decided not, at this time, to try to do a double history-based unit study, combining the Old Testament and Victorian England themes. We're sticking with ancient history, focusing right now on the Old Testament. We begin each lesson time with prayer and a Bible reading. Since we began with King Solomon in our Bible History book, the Bible readings are coming from the books he authored--Proverbs, Canticle of Canticles, and Wisdom. This also comprises our poetry study!

For literature right now, we're simply doing free reading. This means that my daughter got to choose from among 10 books of literary value that we already had in the house. She simply reads a chapter each day to herself and is not required to do vocabulary lessons, analysis, chapter questions, narrations, or anything but enjoy it! This is also a practice used in schools which is believed to be of great benefit for the child's language arts skills. (They call it Sustained Silent Reading, or SSR, 'cause you gotta have an acronym for a thing to be real, right? Here's an article on its benefits: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr038.shtml.) Beezy also reads a novel of her own choosing each night before bed. One of my primary goals this year is to facilitate more independent reading.




We have covered a couple of chapters in A Child's Geography of the World (Hillyer) on the "Bible Lands" but won't continue with that until be get to the chapter on Babylon in Bible History in a few weeks. At that point Beezy will begin working on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon art project in the Draw and Write Through History book. In the meantime we are reading about prehistoric art in The Story of Painting (Jansen) and a book from the library. 

Our spelling words come from dictation lessons. Misspelled words are copied three times, followed by a test. We're also going to work through The Everything Kids Spelling Book, which I got from the library. I think it will be beneficial to go through the rules and get more practice in this area. Another major goal is to step up the writing skills, so in addition to dictation, Beezy has cursive writing (or copy work), journal writing, and written narrations. She also still does the occasional oral narration. Note taking, book reports, and literary elements and devices will also be introduced this year.

I think the rest of the schedule is self-explanatory, but don't hesitate to ask for more clarification in the comments! For those who are new to the blog, this curriculum is for my 7th grader. We have pared down our Catholic Charlotte Mason schedule and are trying out history-based unit studies. We are basically tracking 12 subjects, and a few more with extracurricular activities. Only 7 subjects are done per day. The liberal arts feast is being spread, but it doesn't feel like a circus trick to keep up with. In fact, this feels to me like the most perfect balance I've ever achieved!

 
Catholic Homeschool Schedule 2017–2018

Old Testament Unit

Daily Core: (Open with prayer and Bible reading)

- Total Math
- Free reading: Into the Land of the Unicorns (Coville)
- Piano practice
- Cursive writing (Seton)

Twice Weekly Loop:

- Grammar (CHC)
- Learn Spanish with Grace!
- Health: The Feelings Book (journal writing)
- Spelling

Weekly Loop:

- Bible History (Seton)
- Prehistoric Art (dictation)
- Religion (Seton)
- Nature Study: Some Animals and Their Homes (written narration)

Extracurriculars:

- Piano lessons
- Tumbling class
- Religious education class
- Choir and Musical Theater homeschool co-op classes