Do you have an unlikely treasure hidden in plain sight at your house?
Here’s mine:
My house is full of binders just like this, but this is one of my favorites.
Last year I decided to collect the notes I have taken from literature since moving to Arizona and compile them in a book for easy reference.
It’s an odd assortment of stuff; some of it is personal religious study; some of it is evidence of curiosity; many books I have studied so I can teach them. I don’t take notes on everything that I read. More often you will find my notes scribbled in the margins of my books. But there are some books which require a little more effort. This is where I keep the evidence of those efforts.
I read The Republic twice last year to make any sense of it. I made notes in columns to show the dialogue.
After reading The Aeneid and making careful summaries, I decided not to use much of the work in Paige’s study plan.
This book is evidence of many elements of my life which coincide with my studies. I was a mother of a toddler at the time I was studying a text on the American Revolution.
My notes from Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith were left on a chair at Spring Lake and received a good soaking from the sprinklers.
After I read a book, I decide whether I want my children to study it. If so, I will often make a study plan, research commentaries, and write essay questions and sometimes worksheets. It’s not very often that I read something and discover that I can’t use it in some way in our classes.
I gave up personal reading during high school and college. It took me years to revive the hunger for ideas which was stamped out during those busy years. I didn’t like much of what was assigned to read during those years. I became weary from ideas of authors I didn’t admire and books I had not chosen. Of course these reading experiences had value, but I am grateful to be in a new phase of study.
This time of my life is a little bit like being back in school, but I love the freedom to read what I want and study as little or much as I please.