“The truth is that nobody can do everything, and that learning is a lifelong process. Setting goals and celebrating achievements is good; collecting assignments and checking off pages just so you can say you’ve “done it” is not.” Dewey’s Treehouse: Teaching to Standards (found via last week’s Carnival of Homeschooling hosted at Sprittibee.)

“In the fall I’ll be teaching a new course I’m creating for the University of Pennsylvania called “What’s So Funny?” It’s a critical writing course that focuses on understanding humorous writing. Students will be reading essays, articles, reviews, plays, stories, maybe a couple of novels, Internet sites, whatever else I can find, and then discussing the use of humor and writing papers analyzing the whole thing.” Scott Stein, author and teacher, is asking for suggestions on material to use in the course. I gave him my Best Laughs list. Go over and add your favorite humorous literature to the comments.

Tangentially, I’m interested in what makes writing funny. I’ve read that one thing that makes us laugh is incongruity, something startling or unexpected. However, a gunshot or a clap of thunder can be unexpected; it’s not usually funny. My reaction to the thunder might be funny. What do you think makes humor humorous?

Is a school that requires boys to do nothing but memorize the Koran all day acceptable in America? Spunky says it is, although she’s not a fan of Islam, and I agree. If parents believe that memorizing the Koran is the best education they can offer their young men, then they should be free to send their boys to Koran school. I don’t like the idea, but some people wouldn’t like what I’m teaching (or not teaching) my children either.

Rebecca lists kid-friendly hymns, a much better and more enjoyable and more valuable thing to memorize than the Koran, in my humble opinion.

Finally, in honor of Fine Art Friday, I’ll leave you with a beautiful watercolor painting by a self-taught artist. I think she’s quite talented, and I’m not a bit prejudiced.