Trivium Pursuit Blog

Why are you so anxious?

“Be careful (or anxious) for nothing” Philippians 4:6. WORRYING is as definitely forbidden as theft. This needs to be carefully pondered and definitely realized by us, so that we do not excuse it as an innocent “infirmity.” The more we are convicted of the sinfulness...

My Favorite Sermons

Here is my favorite. Casting Pearls Before Swine by Rolfe Barnard (1904-1969) This one is good, too. Robinson Crusoe's Text by C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Hornbooks

I've been busy making a hornbook. Here's how it turned out. A hornbook was a teaching tool used by children long ago in England and early America to help them learn to read. As you can see, the alphabet, both capital and lower case, is printed on the front along with...

Sit Next to Me, Mom

Dear Laurie, Is it necessary for my child to do all his schoolwork on his own? I sit on the couch with my 10-year-old son and help him with the introduction to his assignments. For example, with his math lessons, I go through the lesson with him (takes us five...

Needs The Thinking Toolbox

Dear Nathaniel and Hans, Thank you for The Fallacy Detective test. I look forward to using it with my children this week. We are currently working through The Thinking Toolbox and would love to receive a test on that book, also, when you have completed it. As we...

Interesting Behavior

Dear Harvey and Laurie, I have a boy who manifests the following behavior: 1) Hates to hold a pencil and has terrible handwriting. 2) Isn’t motivated. 3) Does the minimum required -- seems lazy. 4) Wanders around with seemingly nothing to do. 5) Has to be continually...

A Visit of Love

Taken from The Gospel Standard, November 2005 Frittenden, January 23rd, 1923 My dear Friend, As my letter touched a chord in your heart, so has yours in mine. It brought to mind the Lord's former kindness when also upon a bed of affliction, and in meditating thereupon...

Correcting Default Settings in Education

Question from one of our readers Our oldest son (in fifth grade) has been anxious about public school from the time he started kindergarten, so now we are thinking about homeschooling him. Our youngest son (in third grade) loves school and is at the top of his class,...

Knitting

The girls have been teaching me to knit. Actually, I taught them to knit long ago, and now they are re-teaching me. We started with an easy project -- a shawl using just the knit stitch. I'm using Alpaca Boucle which is 90% alpaca and 10% nylon. I'm going to need a...

Don Potter’s February E-Letter

Dear Friends of Phonics-First, January has been particularly good for phonics. Our web site donpotter.net has received a total of 56,326 hits for the month! This is a record! There was a total of 4,904 visits. The KBytes is also respectible: 1,217,084. Florence Akin's...

The Math Worksheet Site

The Math Worksheet Site is the brilliant brainchild of Scott Bryce. For just a few dollars a year, you can print out an unlimited number of hundreds of types of math worksheets, all printed out to your own specifications. Amazing. I would include a subscription to...

Sap and Mine

Taken from The Gospel Standard, November 2005 There were little need of promises and such other encouragements as the Word of God is full of, if believers were not brought into such straits and difficulties as continually to need them. Our heart is full of unbelief,...

Getting a Good Education

Sometimes we confuse the phrase going to college with getting an education. If I were to state here that I think girls shouldn't go to college, I suppose someone would take that to mean that I believe girls should only stay home and learn how to cook and clean and...

Learning Hebrew

I love reading Johannah's book Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew to my little bitty baby everyday. I recently spoke with a person who speaks Hebrew and realized my pronunciations were WAY off. The sounds are so different than my English speaking self can analyze from...

Relative Support

QUESTION: Our relatives are not supportive of our homeschooling and are always criticizing us. How much contact should we have with them? Mary ANSWER: Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were surrounded by our own parents, and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and...

What Makes a Book Good?

We do not want only to develop a love for reading in our children. We want to develop a love for reading good literature. We won’t develop an appetite for good food by feasting on junk food – and we carry that analogy over to literature. So how do we know what books...

Classical Q & A

Q. What makes a classical style of education different from other methods? – Linda in Michigan A. We think the classical style provides a framework which shows us how to use all of the other methods – unit study, scope and sequence, Charlotte Mason, principle, etc. –...

Review of The Home Educator’s Tutor

Have you seen the newest homeschooling magazine? Actually, it's not a magazine in the usual sense, but is more a resource to supplement your homeschool curriculum. The Home Educator's Tutor is a treasure chest of old-time nature projects and stories, games, poems and...

J.C. Philpot Daily Reading, January 18

Through Baca's Vale by J.C. Philpot January 18 From all your idols will I cleanse you. Ezekiel 36:25 WHEN there are no crosses, temptations, or exercises, a man is sure to go out after and cleave to idols. It matters not what experience he has had, whether of trouble...

Spalding and Phonics

Hi Laurie, I was wondering if you would post this so I could get some opinions on the different programs that use the Spalding method. I have the book The Writing Road to Reading, 5th Edition. I also have TATRAS. I am interested in knowing if anyone has used Phonics...

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