Open Doors Blog

The Child Who Sees

There is a profound truth hidden in that simple image. Before a child learns the names of flowers, he learns whether flowers matter. Before she can identify a snowdrop or...

The Child Who Sees

There is a profound truth hidden in that simple image. Before a child learns the names of flowers, he learns whether flowers matter. Before she can identify a snowdrop or...

Not by Bread Alone

We do not live by bread alone. Neither do our children. There comes a moment in a mother’s life — sometimes sudden, sometimes slow — when she wakes up. Not...

1 comment

Not by Bread Alone

We do not live by bread alone. Neither do our children. There comes a moment in a mother’s life — sometimes sudden, sometimes slow — when she wakes up. Not...

1 comment

Shall Our Children Have Cursive?

There was a time when many educational experts predicted that handwriting would disappear. Computers, tablets, and keyboards seemed destined to replace pencil and paper. Why spend time teaching cursive or...

Shall Our Children Have Cursive?

There was a time when many educational experts predicted that handwriting would disappear. Computers, tablets, and keyboards seemed destined to replace pencil and paper. Why spend time teaching cursive or...

Why Hawthorne Wrote for Children

Many years have passed since I first sat in a patch of sunlight reading the Greek myths. Since then I have read thousands of books, raised a daughter, homeschooled for...

Why Hawthorne Wrote for Children

Many years have passed since I first sat in a patch of sunlight reading the Greek myths. Since then I have read thousands of books, raised a daughter, homeschooled for...

A Note of Gratitude

Over the past months, many of you have left comments on Open Doors that I have carried with me long after reading them. Since the blog system doesn't allow me...

A Note of Gratitude

Over the past months, many of you have left comments on Open Doors that I have carried with me long after reading them. Since the blog system doesn't allow me...

Why Great Books Matter Now

  Last Friday, I spoke at the INCH homeschool conference on moral imagination, great books, and the forming of the inner life. I had prepared notes carefully. Yet once I began...

Why Great Books Matter Now

  Last Friday, I spoke at the INCH homeschool conference on moral imagination, great books, and the forming of the inner life. I had prepared notes carefully. Yet once I began...