Well, while I was asking you this question, I was working through some other "understanding" that related to this, specifically regarding reading with comprehension and writing effectively...and today, after much study, it all fell into place in my mind. But you all were very helpful in this process. Thank you for flushing out my ideas and understanding for me. 🥰

Home Again, Farrar, and Lori D., I just have to say again a very big THANK YOU! for taking the time to answer my concerns and questions. I really really appreciate it. It has helped me so much and I am feeling much more confident about what books I am choosing. Thank you again!

Thank you this is very helpful. I really appreciate you sharing with me all of this. It has shown me how to have balance in our literature selections for each level.

Thank you Farrar and Lori for your input. Very helpful.

This was really really helpful! Thank you!!! I needed this guidance.

Clarification needed. What is 'YA' mean?

"No literature is an absolute must." There I repeated it after you. Yes, I will keep repeating this to get it into my head. Thank you. 🙂 I guess I just find choosing books based on my preference could lend to a lack of covering the variety that is needed. That is why I didn't want to use my own preferences. I want to have discussions about the 'challenging topics' with my children, not avoid them, which could happen if I went with what I liked. lol But your suggestions above were helpful.

This is a bit more of what I need. I have done some of this already. I do have a variety of books from different time frames of our historical period, and I have varied the authors. I will look at the certain sort of book to see if I have anything repeated. That will help.

Yes, that is good, BUT how do I know which literature books should be absolutely covered and which are best to lay aside for my children to pick up on their own alter on? Making decisions based on my limited knowledge and understanding of literature is not a good guide. I wish there was a website or someone that would explain this for me: What literature is an absolute must and what is not, and why? And how can a person cut their literature lists down effectively without losing the essence of why they are learning literature in the first place.

For our current year, we are in the history cycle of 1500 to 1850 AD. For my logic level student, we have planned to read 4 literatures per term (there are 3 terms) (and we are going to read most, not all, of TWTM logic literature list for grade 7) along with Canadian Literature (1 book), Shakespeare and Poetry. I am finding it is still too much for us to cover. How do I know what books to read and which can be cut? I would like to get my list down to about about 2 literatures, Shakespeare and Poetry, therefore I would like to know what book I could cut from our list of TWTM logic literature list for grade 7. And then I would like to know how to go about doing this for the future in any other grade? I would really love to hear from those who are strong in literature and can give me real practical principles to follow. Thank you!

I just want to say to lewelma and all others who have added to this topic a BIG THANK YOU! This is something I have been thinking about and working through for myself and my children.What I have learned from my own personal experience is that these things come easily (as in they pick them up or clue into them easily)for soem people. Also, generally, depending on who you are, it is easier to figure out these EF in some subjects versus others. For instance, I am great at figuring out how to learn math with mastery and got a 98% grade in high school with ease, but ask me to do that in English or History and I struggled because I just did not know what to do, and as one person mentioned above, only a few teachers in schools teach these EF in their class. I find most don't and expect people to figure them out themselves. I am learning that the first step is to learn oneself or your children to know what kind of person they are. Secondly, I have learned that no matter the type of person they are, we all need to learn these skills (or as I see them, these frameworks) that are so important to know and use in one's life to make them successful. These frameworks are how we make sense of things and live effectively ~ how to read, think, and express ourselves (basically knowledge, understanding and wisdom is another way of expressing it). Lastly, knowing who we are and that we need to learn these skills, as lewelma shares, we need to figure out how to teach these things so that it clicks in each persons mind. And motivation and maturity has a huge amount of influence in this. Thank you so much for making this thread. I am going to read through and really digest this one. And I will definitely refer people to this thread for further help in this area.

Hello everyone, I am interested in finding books for my children that share how to read the weather and nature to know what is coming up in terms of weather and danger, good crop etc... (ex: the sky is dark for 3 nights in a row, therefore, it means that ....is coming... or the animals are running quickly away from this direction therefore this means....). Also, I would like to start teaching my children survival skills and how to take care of themselve without the need for government assistance. This could range from homesteading to how to run a business etc. Any suggestions?

Thank you again Serendipitous Journey! I really appreciate all that you have shared. It has given me much to look at.

Thank you for responding Serendipitous Journey! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. I have looked at that curriculum, but not indepth. I will look at the other recommendation too. I thought that Wile's curriculum would be good, but each book covers all the various topics of the 4 year science cycle as outlined in TWTM, and I did not want to cover Chemistry or Physics until grade 7 and 8. I am looking to have more in depth learning/ experiment learning in grade 5-6 like I have with the NOEO courses.

Hello. I am trying to plan my logic science plan for grades 5 and 6. We are a Charlotte Mason/Classical Type homeschoolers. I am following TWTM plan for science. With my older children this is what I used for them based on the 2nd edition TWTM: Grade 5 - Human Body/ Animals How the Body Works How Nature Works Grade 6 - Astronomy/Earth Science How The Universe Works How the Earth Works I found these books okay but the real difficulty was the experiments. I use NOEO Level 3 Chemistry and Physics for Grades 7 and 8. What I need help with is what other science curriculums can I use to replace Grade 5 and 6. I would like a complete curriculum like the NOEO ones (if I can find one) that have the books and experiments and plan all wrapped up into one. I am thinking about the NOEO LEVEL 2 Biology curriculum (http://www.logospressonline.com/noeo) which would be good, but then I don't know what to do for Grade 6 astronomy and earth science. What would you suggest? I don't have TWTM 4th edition so I don't know what Susan Bauer suggests. :( Perhaps I have to get the 4th edition. For grades 1-4, I am using Dr. Wile's elementary science curriculum (5 books) here: https://www.bereanbuilders.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=ELEM I know a person can use his curriculum for grades 1-6 and then go into his Apologia Science curriculum, but we are not doing that. Could I still use his elementary science curriculum until grade 6 nevertheless and just continue with NOEO course in grade 7 and 8? Would this curriculum cover grades 5 and 6 topics enough? Or do you have a better idea?