Y'alright
An introduction, a survey for you, and a peek at our island
Over 200 people getting this email! This side endeavour has ballooned larger and more quickly than I ever expected. Next thing you know I’ll be writing “You’re doing it wrong: how I got 200 subscribers in less than 5 weeks.”
Just kidding. I would never do that to you guys.
I’m currently drafting an article about why I do not want an AI robot to do the housework for me, but it needs more time to percolate as it is, obviously, a very important subject. So in lieu of having nothing to offer this week, I thought I’d do an introduction of sorts. (A good place to start for anyone new around here would be my first post, and this broader manifesto of what I think early years are all about.)
The title of this post, “y’alright,” is the most common greeting around here, and to this day it totally stumps me. I never know whether to treat it as a question and say “fine thanks, you?” or as a greeting and offer back a “hi!” If someone knows, please tell me because I think it’s negatively impacting my social life.
How did I get here? Well, I was homeschooled K-12 in Yellowstone Valley Montana, went to a Liberal Arts college in Idaho and graduated with honours, a 20,000 word thesis on the philosophy of beauty, and a handsome British husband.
Said husband then whisked me back to a magical island in the English Channel (it is a crowned dependency, apparently King Charles is our duke, not our king. Don’t ask me.) We live off a road called La Pouquelay which literally means “fairy stone.” I have children who say things like “bin” and “pavement” and make fun of me for saying “soccer.” I’d say I’ve adapted fairly well – there is a giant sack of 500 tea bags sitting in my garage right now, and I will be the one to use 95% of them.
Looking at these pictures, you might ask whether homeschooling is just an excuse for us to spend every sunny day on the beach, traipse around old churches whenever we feel like it, and visit an 11th century castle as a supplemental history activity. The answer is mayyyybe.
No but I promise I do have academic standards. At this point I would consider my “core philosophical texts” to be:
The Liberal Arts Tradition, Kevin Scott Clark & Ravi Jain
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Charlotte Mason
Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
This article from a fellow alum
And the Winnie the Pooh canon.
In non-educationy topics, I only have about 10 short stories left in Flannery O’Connor’s collection, and am savouring them like a child carefully rationing their halloween candy. Any other Flannery fans out there??
Our son has been on more than 30 airplane journeys (counting whole journeys, not individual legs). I had never been to the UK before moving here, so enjoy taking trips to the mainland to explore when we can. So far Bath and Cambridge are my favourite cities, and Winchester my favourite cathedral.
Our kids have had meltdowns in historic locations across the country (see above). My husband had to make a mad dash out of a King’s College Evensong in Cambridge when our baby woke up and started screaming, and I once had to duck out of a historic house tour in Gloucestershire with my son because he’d gotten such a bad case of the hiccups that we were becoming disruptive. This most recent trip, the toddler climbed on top of the wooden donkey in the nativity in Salisbury cathedral.
I am bizarrely addicted to strength training for such an un-athletic individual, and a sucker for any kind of interior design content. My giant Persian rug is the most expensive thing we own. I can’t stand Youtube curriculum reviews or “day in the life” videos, and have never had even the slightest compunction to grow my own vegetables.
I also read a ton of middle grade fiction. Good, bad, I’ll try most anything. Most recently I read Jonathan Auxier’s The Night Gardener, which was a winner.
I’ve written a chapter book in the vein of Roald Dahl (my absolute favourite) and E. Nesbit, and I think it’s very fun so am working on a way find a way to get it out to the world.
I also am writing a “living geography book” in the style of Paddle-to-the-Sea, about a water vole’s journey down the River Severn in the UK. I’ve noticed that there’s ironically more living book resources for America than for England, since that’s where CM has taken root recently. If you would be interested in these kinds of resources, or if you have any hot tips for getting connected with illustrators, let me know!
Finally, if you have a moment, I’d love to know a bit about you.
Happy to have you here!
Cheers,
Anita
I am the other way round! Currently in London which is where I am from and married to an American. Our family will be leaving the UK for Pennsylvania next month and I’ll be sad as over time the little ones lose the British-isms and correct me rather than their dad. Love your work!
P.S ‘Fine thanks, you’ is the appropriate response to ‘y’alright?’ I prefer saying ‘not bad, you’ as I tell my husband, ideally you need to tone down any positivity for us miserable Brits. 😂
I hope your books do come to publication. I would buy them! (And I love the books you mention, too, as well as that article, written by my college classmate!)