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An organisation has recently been formed in Canada called Libraries Not Landfill. It is calling for the halting of a process which has begun in that country of officially removing from school libraries all books that date from before 2008. Presumably Canada's school educated youngsters are now no longer able to enjoy Winne the Pooh, Swallows and Amazons, The Tale of Peter Rabbit or Wind in the Willows.
You will not need me to tell you why such open censorship is being advocated, even if not as yet practised, in Canada. Instead, I'll just use this opportunity to reassure you that all the materials on the Mothers' Companion flashdrive date from before 2008, and some indeed from before 1908. If you live in Canada and would like a Mothers' Companion flashdrive to redress the balance, contact me and I might be able to arrange a special offer! I'm not sure why exactly 2008 is considered a watershed but when buying books for your children I'm sure you will have noticed that “the older the better” is a useful rule of thumb. “No society that destroys books has ever ended up on the right side of history!” says Libraries not Landfill. I wonder what “the right side of history” means and I'm sorry to say I can think of some children's books (many published after 2008) that should be in landfill but I definitely understand the sentiment. Please note: there seems to be a problem with the postal service at the moment. Some customers have waited over three weeks for Mothers' Companion flashdrives to reach them after I posted them off. If you are thinking of ordering a flashdrive, please be aware of this. If you need your flashdrive urgently I can post it recorded delivery but will have to charge the extra postage.
I always valued children's Bible story books such as those by B A Ramsbottom that have life like illustrations with no depictions of Jesus. I also always avoided cartoon style illustrations in any books with my children, whether they were specific retellings of the Bible, general books or even fiction. The first of these principles is easy to understand from the second commandment. What is wrong with cartoons though? For a long while, although uneasy with them, I never thought it out. Something shocking that happened this weekend made me go over things again and try to think out properly why. Often there is not time to think out this sort of thing when you are up to your neck just doing home education!
The word cartoon comes from an Italian word for strong heavy paper which was used for full-scale preparatory drawings for frescoes, oil paintings or tapestries. This preparatory drawing is what we mean when we talk about the Raphael Cartoons. This is not what we are discussing here. Today the word means a “simple drawing showing the features of its subjects in a humorously exaggerated way” (Oxford Languages via Google) and especially the animated film version of this art form. I think it is the exaggeration that I find disturbing in general cartoons especially those produced for children's book illustrations. Other styles of illustration always have (or strive to have) something beautiful about them. Cartoons work by distortion rather than beauty. Peter Rabbit is beautiful. Bugs Bunny is not. As for cartoon human characters, they seem like a twisting of the image of God that is in human beings. When it comes to children's Bible story books the humour element of a carton presentation is definitely not appropriate. Of course, we want our children to be happy but the message of the Bible is not a laughing matter. There is a time for laughter – and there is a time for seriousness too, for children just as for adults. The cartoon also reduces and distorts. The aim of any Bible presentation for children must be to enable them to understand what the Bible says. A cartoon lion is not a picture that is worth a thousand words when explaining about Daniel in the lions' den. I am still reeling from a shocking exposure last week to an animated cartoon that depicted Christ riding into Jerusalem. In fact, a few frames were enough, for the rest I confess I shut my eyes. My Saviour reduced to a distorted comic image was more than I could bear but those around me thought it was just the thing for the children. To see Him distorted and laughable was horrific. To present Him in this form to children was worse. Children have long memories and this impression will stay with them. The Welsh hymn-writer Anne Griffiths wrote of Christ something that is roughly this in English: Two natures in one Person Joined indivisibly, True, pure and unconfounded, Perfect in unity. Christ is truly divine and truly human – not a cartoon. Compulsory registration of home education is in the Queen's Speech. That means that those of us who thought it would happen in Wales but not in England (for the time being) might be wrong!
Why does it matter? It is not being banned is it – only registered? We can all just carry on as we are but be registered can't we? The answer to that is a chilling “no”! Registration is being portrayed as a necessity because of “safeguarding”. Let's leave aside for the moment the undoubted fact that children being abused are (with the possible exception of one case) in school rather than home educated and already “visible". Let's leave aside the fact that the most shocking systematic cases usually seem to involve children in Local Authority “Care”. Let's grant this need for “safeguarding” just for argument's sake. Does it mean detecting what you or I might think of as child abuse? No. Child abuse will now also include denying a child a suitable education. And you can be sure that is what will be the focus when it comes to home education. And what will a suitable education have to include? In Wales it will be a deluge of sexualisation woven into every subject. I can't bring myself to enumerate the gruesome details but they can be found here and it other places if you search. And we now know that what happens in Wales happens in England. Why do governments want to register us? Because governments are composed mostly of the liberal great and good whatever political party label they carry. These are selfish, powerful people. The plans to smash children's abilities to lead a normal life, to make friends, to stay pure until marriage (now considered an absolutely laughable idea by such people) are deliberate. They will result in a generation of confused, vulnerable and highly available youngsters and this is the desired outcome. They want to close all the loopholes so that none can escape. Compulsory registration ensures that none slip through the net. Children's commissioners and their ilk now speak of “our children” as though the children of the nation belong to them. But children do not belong to the state: they belong to God. He has delegated responsibility for their care to parents. Governments have their mandate from God. When they step outside the mandate God has given them they make, as it were, illegal laws. The Queen's speech moves out of the area mandated by God for government and into tyranny. From time to time parents of children who have finished using the material on the Mothers' Companion ask what they should use to follow on from it.
There are a number of suggestions in the Diary on volume 9 of the flashdrive. In addition you might like to look at the website https://latinigcse.weebly.com/ which has recently been updated. This website provides a completely free three year course leading to IGCSE Latin based on Latin Without Tears. If you have been using the flashdrive for Latin you will have covered everything in the first year of the three year course as far as the actual Latin language study is concerned. If you have not done any Latin yet the first year gives a very gentle step by step introduction. On the fourth day of each week of the first year there is a lesson on Classical Thought – essentially a mini philosophy course which would be useful to anyone, whether doing Latin or not. The first day of each week also consists of a lesson on the Bible in terms of classical languages which again would be useful to any child. Topics covered include the origin of language at Babel, the Greek alphabet, the inscription on Jesus's cross, the Old Latin Bible, Jerome and the Vulgate, Tremellius translation and Beza's New Testament. I have recently started work on updating the old website https://hisstoryolevel.weebly.com/ to bring it into line with current IGCSE syllabus requirements. The site is still useful for general interest and I hope to bring it up to date over this year so watch this space. The website https://christianhomeeducation.weebly.com/ has free lessons which are designed for use with a wide age range. There are often topics suitable for older children especially those headed “Something to think about”. For exams I always recommend Cambridge IGCSEs as these can be done without coursework and maintain a high standard. There are a number of centres that offer them. For a low cost option for anyone living within reach of Mop Cop in Cheshire contact the Christian Education for Deeside Exam Centre secretary [email protected]. This is a two volume history of England and Wales designed to grow with your child. Originally written for use with my own children it begins with material suitable for children as young as six and ending with material for those approaching their teens. You just use the various chapters as your children “grow into them”. With a little parental help, of course, any chapter can be used with younger or older children. The original edition is on the Mothers' Companion flash drive in "chunks". The second volume (printed edition) was recently revised and updated, correcting a few typos and bringing the story up to Brexit. The recent revision of the first volume (printed edition) has been very exciting. For years I have wanted to incorporate the late Bill Cooper's ground breaking research in his book After the Flood into the book but I could never work out how it fitted in with the rest of early British history. Thanks to some help from Joseph Hubbard of Creation Research UK I now have the answer. As a result I think I can safely say that the new edition is unique among children's history books. You can get your own copy from the Blog about Britain website.
For bodily exercise profiteth little:
but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Do you ever go to a Bible study and come away thinking, “I never knew that before – and it is exactly what I needed to hear”? It happened to me yesterday. I had been feeling a bit downhearted. A Christian lady who had not realised we had home educated our children was telling me what a shame it was that home educated children missed out on so much academically. I tried to explain that not only was this not the case with many home educated children but that also, even if it was the case, there were more important things that academic achievement. She did not get my points. Then came the Bible study. I used to think that in 1 Timothy 4:8 the Apostle Paul was comparing the value of physical exercise – sport for instance – to training in godliness. Yes, there is some value in physical exercise but it is only felt in this life. The value of godliness, however, is eternal. All true. However, I learned at the Bible study that there is something more. Apparently the Greek word used for “bodily exercise” relates to the word “gymnasium”. This word in English usage does indeed mean a place where you do physical training. However, in the rest of Europe, especially in Germany, the word also means what we might call a “grammar school” – a place where you go for mental training. In other words we can consider that all training of body and mind except training in godliness is of secondary importance. Wow! That is an encouragement! If you have been following the case of the Portsmouth Judicial Review no doubt by now you will be aware that the Portsmouth home educators have lost their case. This is a very serious matter and a great disappointment. Please keep the situation in your prayers. The Lord's will be done.
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All the latest!Here is the place for news on updates to the Mothers' Companion as well as notes on my researches into Mrs Mortimer and other bits a pieces! Archives
October 2023
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