Somehow I missed this blog from you! glad to follow you here. Anyway, I think "Harriet the Spy" falls into two distinct categories of children's books for me. The first is books about smart girls written in the early 60s that my mom (who was very smart) found affinity with and then passionately passed them on to me. A lot of these books are fun (Freaky Friday; Mixed Up Files) but some (Harriet) are not really that good, except if you think about the landscape of the 1960s and how few smart women role models young girls had. The second category I haven't found a good name for yet, but it's the ephemera books of childhood. The ones that are fine, but not great (the way Little Women is great, for example), but they passed the time and anyway I read several books a week so not every one of them could be great. I try to tell my friends with chapter-book-reading kids to not worry too much about what they're reading (yes, have standards, but don't worry!) because honestly they are just reading voraciously right now and will come back to the ones that are really good. (But yes, I think the spectrum point is a good one.) Love the money/life article. (I mean, hated it because It's me! Hi! but really appreciated it!)
That’s so interesting about your mom’s take on Harriet. I remember also appreciating how smart she was, so maybe that was part of the appeal. The more I reflect on my love of it though, the more I wonder about my own childhood 😂. Ah, well.
I would also chalk it up to ephemera in general were it not that I keep bumping into claims made about it at the time or reflecting on that time period, about what a splash it made- people (adults) were extremely divided over it. And some thought it helped lead the way into a new form of children’s lit. So at least some adults seemed to want to hail it as a major breakthrough and not at all forgettable. (Have you read The Collected Letters of Ursula Nordstrom? They are fantastic and since she edited the book it got me thinking.) I don’t know how much is adult vs child perspective though.
Oh and to your question about personal economy, once I started realizing that that life wasn't coming for me, no matter how hard I worked, I started rethinking how I spent my money. It's been a slow process, but I eliminated big-box stores from my spending almost entirely. 3 years ago I stopped shopping at Target. Last year I only bought from Amazon when I had exhausted all other possibilities -- maybe 3 or 4 times the whole year. I tried to keep as many dollars in my local community as I could. Because even if I can't buy a house, part of the life that was so wonderful for my childhood and my parents prime working years was it's rootedness, and I realized that I can be very rooted, even if I don't own a house.
Wow! That’s really admirable and such an intentional choice. Do you ever feel hampered by it, or is it a freeing decision? I feel like it’s really hard, personally, to come to terms with the reality that the economy of the ‘90s is long gone 😅.
Honestly, like most decisions, it's limiting at first but then freeing. I gave myself a couple years to work on it (the only thing I quit cold turkey was Target because ooooof the impromptu $100 Target trip when you just went in for toilet paper is real!) and the joys are numerous. I know the guys at my hardware store and my bookshop and the little Italian market where I get my bulk olive oil. And even if I don't know everyone, often these are shops where high schoolers are working (always a joy to see) and it's all very real and village like (even though I live in a large suburb). There have been a few things that I have really wanted that I just cannot find locally, but even then I usually wait at least half a year before buying online to make sure it is something I *really* want/need. I also love thrift shops and estate sales, so do some buying there. (Recently I was thwarted by a simple replacement AV cable, which the local tech stores don't carry even though it's a pretty mainstream tool and literally only $3.50 on Amazon.)
This is really neat to hear about! For a while I was attempting something similar but where we live means it’s very difficult to find some things locally, not to mention things like no simple parking or small shops not open after 5pm (love it in theory but in practice I feel like they end up losing a lot of business bc people have to work.) I’ve currently settled on “trying but not excessively hard” (because my time and sanity are also in short supply) to shop local when I can. It’s definitely a compromise, and one I’d love to shift from in the future!
I love a good thrift shop, though and I wish estate sales were common here! I have browsed them online in the US and they look awesome.
I always appreciate hearing your thoughts in these posts. Over the past week I keep picturing that Joe Fox gif whenever I sit down to type.
I’m usually scribbling notes in a notebook, or tapping them into my notes app, then typing during naptime or bedtime. There’s almost always something I want to write, so I make myself do it even if I don’t think it’s going to turn out well. Across these things, I write every day. Recently, I forced myself to write and edit for an hour almost every night because I just wanted to be done with an essay that was hard for me. I don’t usually work in this kind of disciplined manner, but I told the good people of Substack and myself that it was the next thing I would post, so I was trapped haha.
I’m working on writing with my eldest now and feel very humbled. Did I have a hard time putting words on paper when I was that age? I actually think not. But now I’m trying to look at the rules and teach according to a method. I don’t usually think about these when I’m writing, I just ask whether it’s cohesive and good, like you know when a soup is done by the taste. I don’t know. I’m also convinced that a voracious reader will catch on to writing very quickly, but perhaps I will have to change my mind.
What’s your experience with readers becoming writers?
Ooh Leah these are great thoughts! "There’s almost always something I want to write, so I make myself do it even if I don’t think it’s going to turn out well.” - this really struck me. I have so, so many things I want to write (and often will scribble notes about), but I struggle to find the sweet spot between ‘not every idea needs to be an essay’ and ‘if I don’t try I’ll never know.’ I’m also trying to navigate the whole needing to earn something but still enjoy writing scenario, which means the few times I’ve written something and it hasn’t been accepted has felt like a real waste. But if I start out writing just for fun, that tends to feel better (but not pay the bills!) I don’t really have any answers for it.
And that question about readers becoming writers - it’s a good one! I don’t have loads of experience with it, but I have observed a few things. One is that some people are always going to be naturally better oral narrators than writers. We don’t live in an oral storytelling world anymore, so it’s a skill that isn’t valued (nor is it taught outside of Charlotte Mason, I think.) There’s definite overlap between oral narration and writing (namely the ability to have and communicate clear ideas!) but I do see some people just better suited to one over the other. Not sure how that translates to teaching, but it’s food for thought.
The other thing is that it can be a real challenge to write if you don’t know what you want to say or if you don’t have anything to say! In that case, I think the voracious reader can benefit from writing in imitation, just like a good artist might reproduce the masters for a while. Read an opening paragraph or a character description from a classic, and just imitate it, over and over.
In short, it might be helpful to try to figure out what the difficult part is, for the student in question. Is it method? Is it content? Is it structure? Motivation? Some people can’t write because they don’t know what to say, others b/c they don’t know how to say it. Still others b/c they don’t have the motivation to join the conversation….
Ah see, you bring up a very important point, that writing for income applies a very different type of pressure. That is not a variable for me right now. But, yes, I think it's worthwhile to spend some time each day to at least try writing my thoughts.
I really appreciate your thoughts here about readers learning how to write, and getting to the root of the difficulty. I'm going to be returning to them! I did choose to enroll this child in a live online course for writing next year. It turns out it will be our third course with this teacher, so there is trust already built. I think that's important with writing and narration, so I'm hoping that it will help both of us grow in this area.
I also read that “I make great money” post and agreed with what they wrote and your response to it. What we expected everything to be at this point in our lives is not really lining up with how it actually is, that’s for sure.
"I’ve spent years gathering information about people’s writing processes. Is anyone else as interested as I am in this sort of thing? I’d love to hear more about how you write: what does it look like? Do you sit down at the keyboard, stretch your fingers, and tip-tap away, Joe Fox style?
Do you have notebooks in which you scribble furiously at odd moments throughout the day? Do you organize your research in giant Google docs? With color-coded sticky notes? Or does it all live in the steel trap of your mind? Do you write in the still dark hours of the morning? Do you come alive after everyone goes to bed? Do you read your drafts aloud to one lucky soul, or is the first pass only heard by your plants? Are you wed to 1000 words a day or do you let the muse move when she wills? Do you stop just when it’s getting interesting or do you finish the thought?"
^ I am always curious, as well, because I'm trying to figure it out as I go.
As of now, it's a combination of scribbling down, google doc dumping/drafting, and following the muse, at night. This could all be terrible best practice, but it's what it looks like for me right now.
Thanks for sharing! That’s very similar to mine. Lots of scribbling and Google docs titled things like “notes on rest” only there are 3 versions with different quotes and notes on topics not exactly related to the title 😅
Somehow I missed this blog from you! glad to follow you here. Anyway, I think "Harriet the Spy" falls into two distinct categories of children's books for me. The first is books about smart girls written in the early 60s that my mom (who was very smart) found affinity with and then passionately passed them on to me. A lot of these books are fun (Freaky Friday; Mixed Up Files) but some (Harriet) are not really that good, except if you think about the landscape of the 1960s and how few smart women role models young girls had. The second category I haven't found a good name for yet, but it's the ephemera books of childhood. The ones that are fine, but not great (the way Little Women is great, for example), but they passed the time and anyway I read several books a week so not every one of them could be great. I try to tell my friends with chapter-book-reading kids to not worry too much about what they're reading (yes, have standards, but don't worry!) because honestly they are just reading voraciously right now and will come back to the ones that are really good. (But yes, I think the spectrum point is a good one.) Love the money/life article. (I mean, hated it because It's me! Hi! but really appreciated it!)
That’s so interesting about your mom’s take on Harriet. I remember also appreciating how smart she was, so maybe that was part of the appeal. The more I reflect on my love of it though, the more I wonder about my own childhood 😂. Ah, well.
I would also chalk it up to ephemera in general were it not that I keep bumping into claims made about it at the time or reflecting on that time period, about what a splash it made- people (adults) were extremely divided over it. And some thought it helped lead the way into a new form of children’s lit. So at least some adults seemed to want to hail it as a major breakthrough and not at all forgettable. (Have you read The Collected Letters of Ursula Nordstrom? They are fantastic and since she edited the book it got me thinking.) I don’t know how much is adult vs child perspective though.
Ursula is on my list, but haven't gotten to it yet!
Oh and to your question about personal economy, once I started realizing that that life wasn't coming for me, no matter how hard I worked, I started rethinking how I spent my money. It's been a slow process, but I eliminated big-box stores from my spending almost entirely. 3 years ago I stopped shopping at Target. Last year I only bought from Amazon when I had exhausted all other possibilities -- maybe 3 or 4 times the whole year. I tried to keep as many dollars in my local community as I could. Because even if I can't buy a house, part of the life that was so wonderful for my childhood and my parents prime working years was it's rootedness, and I realized that I can be very rooted, even if I don't own a house.
Wow! That’s really admirable and such an intentional choice. Do you ever feel hampered by it, or is it a freeing decision? I feel like it’s really hard, personally, to come to terms with the reality that the economy of the ‘90s is long gone 😅.
Honestly, like most decisions, it's limiting at first but then freeing. I gave myself a couple years to work on it (the only thing I quit cold turkey was Target because ooooof the impromptu $100 Target trip when you just went in for toilet paper is real!) and the joys are numerous. I know the guys at my hardware store and my bookshop and the little Italian market where I get my bulk olive oil. And even if I don't know everyone, often these are shops where high schoolers are working (always a joy to see) and it's all very real and village like (even though I live in a large suburb). There have been a few things that I have really wanted that I just cannot find locally, but even then I usually wait at least half a year before buying online to make sure it is something I *really* want/need. I also love thrift shops and estate sales, so do some buying there. (Recently I was thwarted by a simple replacement AV cable, which the local tech stores don't carry even though it's a pretty mainstream tool and literally only $3.50 on Amazon.)
This is really neat to hear about! For a while I was attempting something similar but where we live means it’s very difficult to find some things locally, not to mention things like no simple parking or small shops not open after 5pm (love it in theory but in practice I feel like they end up losing a lot of business bc people have to work.) I’ve currently settled on “trying but not excessively hard” (because my time and sanity are also in short supply) to shop local when I can. It’s definitely a compromise, and one I’d love to shift from in the future!
I love a good thrift shop, though and I wish estate sales were common here! I have browsed them online in the US and they look awesome.
I always appreciate hearing your thoughts in these posts. Over the past week I keep picturing that Joe Fox gif whenever I sit down to type.
I’m usually scribbling notes in a notebook, or tapping them into my notes app, then typing during naptime or bedtime. There’s almost always something I want to write, so I make myself do it even if I don’t think it’s going to turn out well. Across these things, I write every day. Recently, I forced myself to write and edit for an hour almost every night because I just wanted to be done with an essay that was hard for me. I don’t usually work in this kind of disciplined manner, but I told the good people of Substack and myself that it was the next thing I would post, so I was trapped haha.
I’m working on writing with my eldest now and feel very humbled. Did I have a hard time putting words on paper when I was that age? I actually think not. But now I’m trying to look at the rules and teach according to a method. I don’t usually think about these when I’m writing, I just ask whether it’s cohesive and good, like you know when a soup is done by the taste. I don’t know. I’m also convinced that a voracious reader will catch on to writing very quickly, but perhaps I will have to change my mind.
What’s your experience with readers becoming writers?
Ooh Leah these are great thoughts! "There’s almost always something I want to write, so I make myself do it even if I don’t think it’s going to turn out well.” - this really struck me. I have so, so many things I want to write (and often will scribble notes about), but I struggle to find the sweet spot between ‘not every idea needs to be an essay’ and ‘if I don’t try I’ll never know.’ I’m also trying to navigate the whole needing to earn something but still enjoy writing scenario, which means the few times I’ve written something and it hasn’t been accepted has felt like a real waste. But if I start out writing just for fun, that tends to feel better (but not pay the bills!) I don’t really have any answers for it.
And that question about readers becoming writers - it’s a good one! I don’t have loads of experience with it, but I have observed a few things. One is that some people are always going to be naturally better oral narrators than writers. We don’t live in an oral storytelling world anymore, so it’s a skill that isn’t valued (nor is it taught outside of Charlotte Mason, I think.) There’s definite overlap between oral narration and writing (namely the ability to have and communicate clear ideas!) but I do see some people just better suited to one over the other. Not sure how that translates to teaching, but it’s food for thought.
The other thing is that it can be a real challenge to write if you don’t know what you want to say or if you don’t have anything to say! In that case, I think the voracious reader can benefit from writing in imitation, just like a good artist might reproduce the masters for a while. Read an opening paragraph or a character description from a classic, and just imitate it, over and over.
In short, it might be helpful to try to figure out what the difficult part is, for the student in question. Is it method? Is it content? Is it structure? Motivation? Some people can’t write because they don’t know what to say, others b/c they don’t know how to say it. Still others b/c they don’t have the motivation to join the conversation….
Ah see, you bring up a very important point, that writing for income applies a very different type of pressure. That is not a variable for me right now. But, yes, I think it's worthwhile to spend some time each day to at least try writing my thoughts.
I really appreciate your thoughts here about readers learning how to write, and getting to the root of the difficulty. I'm going to be returning to them! I did choose to enroll this child in a live online course for writing next year. It turns out it will be our third course with this teacher, so there is trust already built. I think that's important with writing and narration, so I'm hoping that it will help both of us grow in this area.
Leah I just saw this piece pop up in my feed and it seems like it could be really helpful for teaching writing. https://annesulsky.substack.com/p/exemplars-unlocking-students-best?r=zdzsm&utm_medium=ios
Thank you, I’ll check it out!
I also read that “I make great money” post and agreed with what they wrote and your response to it. What we expected everything to be at this point in our lives is not really lining up with how it actually is, that’s for sure.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mackenzie- there are so many of us in the same boat.
"I’ve spent years gathering information about people’s writing processes. Is anyone else as interested as I am in this sort of thing? I’d love to hear more about how you write: what does it look like? Do you sit down at the keyboard, stretch your fingers, and tip-tap away, Joe Fox style?
Do you have notebooks in which you scribble furiously at odd moments throughout the day? Do you organize your research in giant Google docs? With color-coded sticky notes? Or does it all live in the steel trap of your mind? Do you write in the still dark hours of the morning? Do you come alive after everyone goes to bed? Do you read your drafts aloud to one lucky soul, or is the first pass only heard by your plants? Are you wed to 1000 words a day or do you let the muse move when she wills? Do you stop just when it’s getting interesting or do you finish the thought?"
^ I am always curious, as well, because I'm trying to figure it out as I go.
As of now, it's a combination of scribbling down, google doc dumping/drafting, and following the muse, at night. This could all be terrible best practice, but it's what it looks like for me right now.
Thanks for sharing! That’s very similar to mine. Lots of scribbling and Google docs titled things like “notes on rest” only there are 3 versions with different quotes and notes on topics not exactly related to the title 😅
And I don’t think there is objective best practice. Only what works for you in the season you’re in!