Transition
I am in the process of copying my posts from this blog to my new blog. New posts will be located there rather than here. Comments will be lost in the transition, I’m sorry to say, but at the moment they are inaccessible here anyway.
Beginning Reading
For my second go-round with reading instruction, I decided to use the McGuffey Primer along with some CM-style activities. (I do not pretend that I was rigorously implementing an exactly-CM reading program!)
For each McGuffey lesson, I typed up word cards so that I had about three cards for each word introduced in that lesson. We would study each word, then dd would find the matching word cards that were mixed in with the other word cards. She would also try to write the word on a white board without looking at it. Sometimes I had her spell the word in the air with her arm–I should have done that more often, actually. Sometimes I would put the cards around on the floor, call out a word, and have her hop onto that word card.
We would play with word families. If we learned the word “cat”, I would write “at” on the white board and then add different initial letters and have her tell me what the new word was. When we were looking at a new word in our lesson, if it contained a “word chunk” we had studied before (like “at”), I would bring that to her attention to help her identify the new word.
We’ve spent a complete school year using these types of lessons. Because dd was not truly ready for them, her progress was slow. At times we had to backtrack. But we have completed through lesson XV pretty thoroughly and dd is now able to recognize words we haven’t studied and can read stories from other readers with simple vocabulary.
Parenting in Chains
Back in the first century, devout Jews worked hard to learn and follow God’s commands. God provided detailed instructions in the law, but not detailed enough to satisfy the people. To resolve questions, religious authorities compiled lengthy lists of rules extending and clarifying the original laws. Many of those devout people trying so hard to obey God’s commands ended up committing egregious offenses against God by adhering to rules meant to assist them in understanding God’s will.
As humans, we find rules reassuring. In every context of our lives, we tend to add rules. As Christians, we often find it intimidating to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit rather than on a list of specific rules, much as the Israelites preferred to have a human king rather than waiting on God to direct them. As parents, we are too quick to accept a list of rules for parenting that have the imprimatur of some respected Christian teacher or that are backed up by scriptural arguments.
God has called us to follow His direction. For this purpose He gives us the scriptures as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Alas, He in no case gives us as full a set of directions in scripture as we desire. This should force us to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we search ALL the truth that God has revealed to find the best course to take.
All too often when we encounter a situation where scripture does not give us clear, explicit instruction in specifics, instead of seeking guidance prayerfully and educating ourselves about God’s truth as revealed in other sources (always enlightened by the truth we have in scripture), we instead turn to authorities who parse scripture for us to make lists of rules that purport to guide us in God’s ways. These are not, of course, God’s rules–nowhere does He give us these rules explicitly. They may be wise principles, effective in particular situations, but we abuse them when we give them the weight of Divine authority and apply them indiscriminately.
God has not given us step-by-step instruction on how to train our children. He has given us some principles by which to judge and adjust our efforts, and He promises to give us wisdom if we ask for it. The Holy Spirit knows our children, knows what they are thinking and how best to train them. He will guide us if we ask Him fervently and continually.
Certainly we should educate ourselves about what scripture says that has bearing on our task as parents–we must study the scriptures and even other resources that help us understand the principles in scripture. Certainly we should also educate ourselves on the natural law regarding child training–we must study our children but also study what has been learned about effective child training, even from secular sources. Along with this we must also pray and seek the guidance of God, trusting Him to help us find the right methods for each child.
Simple Spiral Crochet Hat Pattern
This pattern is majorly estimated, so don’t try this if you need specific, exact instructions! I just jotted some notes for the last few hats I made; this is the result. I probably almost always size my hats too small, so unless you crochet very loosely you may want to make yours bigger than specified.
This pattern uses:
* Worsted weight yarn
* Size I crochet hook
(The same principles will work for other yarn weights. For baby weight yarn, use a smaller hook and keep increasing for more rounds. For a heavier yarn, of course, use a larger hook and make fewer increasing rounds.)
Chain 2.
In second chain from hook, make 6 single crochets. (If you crochet over the tail, you can pull it tight at the end of the round to close up the hole.)
Use a stitch marker to mark the last stitch of the round so you don’t lose your place. Move the stitch marker to the end of each round as you complete it.
Make 2 single crochets in each stitch around. (12 sc)
*Make 1 single crochet in the first stitch, then 2 single crochets in the next stitch (increase).* Repeat from * to * to end of round. (18 sc)
*Make 1 single crochet in the first stitch, 1 single crochet in the next stitch, then 2 single crochets in the third stitch (increase).* Repeat from * to * to end of round. (24 sc)
For each round after this, until the correct crown size is reached, keep increasing the number of single crochets before the increase by 1. (So the next round would have 3 single crochets before making 2 single crochets in a single stitch to increase. The round after that would have 4 single crochets before increasing. And so on.)
Here are some approximate crown sizes:
* Infant – 9 single crochets before the increase
* Toddler – 11 single crochets before the increase
* 3-5 years – 12 single crochets before the increase
At this point, you don’t need to move the stitch marker anymore. Just single crochet around until the hat reaches the desired size. You can make it a bit big because the bottom can be folded up to customize the fit and allow the hat to be worn longer.
If you want to make ear flaps, stop the single crochet rounds when the hat comes to about the middle of the ear.
Chain 1. Turn.
Make 14 single crochets. (Adjust this number as appropriate for the size hat you are making.) Chain 1. Turn.
Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Make 10 single crochets. Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Chain 1. Turn. (12 sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (12 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together, then make 8 single crochets across, then make 2 single crochets together. Chain 1. Turn. (10 sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (10 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Make 6 single crochets. Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Chain 1. Turn. (8 sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (8 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Make 4 single crochets. Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Chain 1. Turn. (6sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (6 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Make 2 single crochets. Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Chain 1. Turn. (4 sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (4 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Make 2 single crochets together (decrease). Chain 1. Turn. (2 sc)
Single crochet across. Chain 1. Turn. (2 sc)
Make 2 single crochets together. Chain 1. Turn.
Make one single crochet.
Chain 30 or until appropriate length for tie.
End off.
For the second ear flap, find the opposite side of the hat. (Take the total stitch count for the last round, subtract 28–or twice the number of stitches in the ear flap first row, and divide by 2. Count that many single crochets from the end of the first flap.)
Attach the yarn there, and repeat the instructions for the first ear flap.
Let me know if you find any errors in this pattern!
Shipwrecked at the Stable
Many years ago dh and I started observing Advent as a season of preparing for Christmas, much as Lent is a season of preparing for Easter. Every day during Advent and the twelve days of Christmas (spanning the period from Christmas to Epiphany), I read from Watch for the Light, a book of readings by various authors. Yesterday’s reading from Brennan Manning was really long, but one passage particularly struck me:
The shipwrecked at the stable are captivated by joy and wonder. They have found the treasure in the field of Bethlehem. The pearl of great price is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Everything else is cheap, fake, painted fragments of glass.
The question for all of us is what we will really aim at next Christmas. If all we are going for is a placid decency, routine prayer, well-behaved worship and comfortable compassion, then we have effectively parted company with the shipwrecked and have no fellowship with the pearl-finder.
I wonder, if we were to stop people at random in the street on December 24 and ask them what they want most for Christmas, how many would say, "I want to see Jesus"?
I believe that the single most important consideration during the sacred season of Advent is intensity of desire. Paraphrasing the late Rabbi Abraham Heschel, "Jesus Christ is of no importance unless he is of supreme importance." An intense inner desire is already the sign of his presence in our hearts. The rest is the work of the Holy Spirit.
May we all begin to see the world in which we live as artifice and show and to seek wholeheartedly after the true reality.
