Reading A Hillbilly Elegy

I love learning new words. I didn't know the meaning of the word elegy when I picked up Hillbilly Elegy to read. And I still didn't when I finished reading it. Just now as I sat to write my response to this honest description of growing up in working class poverty by J.D. Vance, did I finally look up the definition. As a reader who grew up in a working class family, I suspect J. D. would understand that order of fulfilling my curiosity. I love learning new words. My interest in incorporating new vocabulary into my speech is just one small example of how this story resonates for me. I relate personally to this memoir on many levels, the most obvious simply the familiarity of the experiences described. 

elegy

[ el-i-jee ]

a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.

a poem written in elegiac meter.

a sad or mournful musical composition.

It isn't actually my interest in learning new words that provides one of many connections to J.D. Vance's story, but more accurately the experiences of being rebuffed for trying to use any new vocabulary in my day to day speech in a working class neighborhood as a child. The culture I grew up in was not Kentucky "hillbilly" the label J.D. Vance uses for his own family background but the experiences of my own raised poor working class upbringing would be recognizable to the folks in Vance's childhood community. 

I made a new acquaintance recently during my reading of the book, carrying it along on a recent trip. Having already read the title she saw I held, she said it was hard to read. After sharing her thoughts of dismay and shock about events in the story, she asked my reaction to the book. I launched into my own disturbing family stories. My retelling of similar family experiences was probably more than she expected. My own life is filled with crazy poor working class substance abuse stories passed down from earlier generations of my family and lived through in my childhood. 

Addiction, co-dependence, domestic violence, teen pregnancies and limited higher education were all a part of my life growing up, but fortunately so was a reasonably good public education system, a neighborhood of families who kept an eye on each other's kids and accessible public libraries. Those community resources were contributing factors in being able to rise above the disfunction I was raised in, but so was my own innate curiosity about the lives of others and the options I had a glimpse of. It was books filled with words of the life stories of others, books with promises of more somewhere else, sometime in the future, books that offered a mental escape. Holding those promises in my heart was a way to get through it all with the hopes of more and dreams of peace intact.

Hillbilly Elegy presents the hardships suffered by the working class in a specific part of our country but I've lived through and seen similar problems in other geographic locations in the US.  Despite the hardships presented, Hillbilly Elegy is a story of hope and the accomplishments that can be made by one individual with the right love, encouragement and support to back them. 

In just the last few days, I've learned that J.D. Vance is currently making an attempt to spread that hope further by running as a candidate for the US Senate in Ohio. Based on what I've come to know about him, I'd say he'd be an excellent voice for the people he would represent.

Review of a Product by Roman Roads Media

Roman Roads Media is a curriculum publishing company specializing in online classical education. As a Homeschool Review Crew member, I was given access to one of their online vocabulary building subscriptions. My teen daughter and I have both been working our way through basic Latin vocabulary words of the natural world using the subscription called Picta Dicta Natural World.

Picta Dicta Natural World

Picta Dicta teaches natural world Latin words.

Picta Dicta Natural World takes the student through a series of vocabulary lessons, first introducing the Latin word with pictures. The English terms for the objects aren't presented in the early lessons. The presentation of the Latin terms directly eliminates a student's tendency to translate from one language to the other. Instead it develops an associating of the Latin term directly with the item pictured. English terms are reviewed later in the lessons but not in the early first lessons.

Systematically presented, the lessons incorporate the use of several different learning modalities, including visual, auditory and story with information about word origin. The lessons also include the expectation that a student will pronounce and also spell the Latin terms themselves to move on to increased vocabulary. The lessons are user responsive and repetition of terms not yet memorized is presented until the student gets it. The vocabulary units described as "campaigns" are presented in related categories. Large animals, fruits, plants, anatomy and geographical land forms are all topics that are covered incrementally through the course.


Through the family account each teacher/parent has access to monitor each student's progress. The parent/teacher is also able to have a seat as a student for their own Latin vocabulary learning. With short sessions three to four times per week my daughter and I have both been able to move through the categories fairly quickly with sufficient retention of the terms. The program saves any progress even if interrupted in the middle of a lesson.

My interest in having my daughter use this subscription came from my understanding of how much even some basic understanding of Latin terms can be applied to the study of other subjects and pertinent to her current plans, in providing information and clues in test taking for completing high school requirements and SAT/ACT testing. Many years ago, my own ACT test scores, especially in science, were enhanced by a weekly Latin spelling test given in a high school physiology class. By exposure to the basics in this course, I expect her learning of  Latin vocabulary through the Picta Dicta Natural World program will do the same for her.

Classical curriculum materials beginning through advanced are available.

Malum, anyone?

Roman Roads Media has several of these Latin vocabulary courses but they are only the beginning of what Roman Roads Media has to offer. They are a publishing company that provides an extensive line of resources for classical study for use in home education. Their stated goals include making high quality classical Christian education accessible to homeschooling families to inspire students and impart wisdom. Their resources cover the humanities, logic, rhetoric and history from a classical Christian perspective. A family wanting their high school age students to have a classically based education would do well to use Roman Roads Media teaching materials. They offer many hard copy and online materials. Live lectures are also a part of the teaching curriculum available. The live classes presented by expert teachers are closed for the 2018/2019 school year but definitely worth considering in your future homeschooling curriculum. However, in the meantime, the resources offered by Roman Roads Media are extensive and could easily cover much of a high school course load.

Beginning with basic Latin vocabulary is a great place to start with younger students, any students just being introduced to Latin or like me wanting a review of previously learned terms. Delightedly, in some categories and embarrassingly so in others Picta Dicta Natural World has jogged my learning memory of Latin terms. My teen has progressed as quickly despite this being her first coordinated exposure to Latin vocabulary. I am glad we had the opportunity to use and discover more about this publishing company.

There are parent resources, too. Are you up for a challenge?

An additional  resource directed at parents that looks interesting, extensive (and challenging) to me is their Great Books challenge for parents. Still open, registration is required for the 2018/2019 school year parent's challenge. Parents, grandparents, even great-grandparents completing the challenge will earn a unit of free curriculum. The cost of these materials doesn't look prohibitive, especially given the breadth of what is offered. Clearly, they take their mission to impart wisdom seriously and produce high quality online instruction.

You can find them at: https://romanroadsmedia.com/
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My Word of the Year 2018

For most of us, the beginning of a new year offers the opportunity to plan and dream. However, my goals for a new beginning are quite often overly ambitious and become less of a plan and more of a dream. I've seen the idea of choosing a word of the year and it looks like fun. I like to read a word of the day and have a dictionary app on my phone. Even one word a day can be one word too many though on some days.

Learning new vocabulary is fun and as I read once paraphrased; "Learning the vocabulary of a subject is the beginning of mastery of  a subject". Vocabulary learning can in some ways provide a bit of a shortcut to more in depth learning and understanding. For high school students vocabulary study is suggested as test prep for the biggies, ACT and SAT. It's important to keep talking with one another and using a broad vocabulary with children.

The choice of a personal word of the year isn't really about vocabulary though, it's more about personal growth and awareness. It's an interesting challenge. And I'm taking it on for 2018.
I'm joining in the yearly word idea with my own word of the year. I'll see how far it carries and if there are any interesting results. If you are doing something similar or have in the past, let me know. Was it worthwhile? Fun? Produce any surprising results? What's your word for 2018? Keep reading to see mine.

Symbolic of my word of the year choice and a new found passion.

There are so many interesting ideas and activities. Many of my own interests have been put aside as I've raised my kids. As someone who likes to create, I have lots of back logged projects of art making and sewing. So with the idea to complete a few projects, improve my feelings of accomplishment and reduce my own sense of overwhelm. To learn to practice the art of not being so easily distracted, my word of the year for 2018 is:

Focus

focus

[foh-kuh s] 

 

• Synonyms
• Examples
• Word Origin

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural focuses, foci 

 [foh-sahy, -kahy] (Show IPA)

1.

a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity:

The need to prevent a nuclear war became the focus of all diplomaticefforts.

2.

Physics. a point at which rays of light, heat, or other radiation meetafter being refracted or reflected.

3.

Optics.

1. the focal point of a lens, on which rays converge or from whichthey deviate.
2. the focal length of a lens; the distance from a focal point to acorresponding principal plane.
3. the clear and sharply defined condition of an image.
4. the position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an opticaldevice necessary to produce a clear image:
   in focus; out of focus.

Happy New Word of the Year!