Write more books! Make us all happy. I saw this quote from Marilynne Robinson on her writing routine: "I have benevolent insomnia. I wake up, and my mind is preternaturally clear. The world is quiet. I can read or write. It seems like stolen time. It seems like I have a twenty-eight hour day." (Daily Rituals) ​ ​​I'm 48 and have been dealing with waking at 2:30 since my early 40s. I still can't quite see insomnia as "benevolent." My mind is not "preternaturally clear" ever, and especially not in the middle of the night, but I do enjoy the quiet. Like lewelma I listen to audiobooks, but my drug of choice is Juliet Stevenson reading Jane Austen. Or I read a book. Sleepytime tea helps sometimes. :grouphug:​ I hope you find something that works for you.

I have not used this yet, but Lightning Literature World Lit has a schedule for coordinating BJU Geography with World Literature I & II. It's in the appendix of World Lit II. They recommend the World Lit for 11th or 12th grade, but I'm sure it depends on the student. I plan to use it this year with my 10th grade dd and will alter plans mid-year if necessary.

We did our annual trek to the theme park with the kids' reading tickets yesterday. After the two hour drive home, it was midnight and we were exhausted. Normally we wouldn't have any light pollution, but a nearby mountain is lit up with a wildfire. It caused a lot of smoke cover, too. So we gave it 15 minutes and collapsed into bed. We'll try again tonight.

If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, watch for the Perseids meteor shower to peak tonight (August 12-13). It's supposed to be an excellent year for viewing. http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower

We have a lot of pear trees. Many of our favorites have already been mentioned. Here's another: fruit leather. The recipe calls for peeling the pears, but if you have a powerful blender (like a Vitamix), you can skip peeling. And dh's favorite pie is pear pie. I can't get allrecipes.com to load right now, but the recipe is on there, and it's called "Fresh Pear Pie".

Have you seen Kate's Homeschool Math? I've been homeschooling more than 21 years, even have dc who have graduated from university with honors in computer science and other STEM majors, but I learn something new every time I go to her blog. She makes a great case for conceptual math.

Thank you. This is the type of review I was looking for. Do you know which edition she used?

Mr. Mosley is loved in our home, too. If my kids ever saw him, it would be like they were seeing a celebrity. Thank you for your response. That's exactly what I was looking for.

We love Derek Owens videos, too. Some of my kids would never have made it through Jacobs without him.

I've used Jacobs geometry with several kids. Some loved it; some hated it. I can't figure out what the difference is. Is there a way to predict whether or not Jacobs will be a good fit for a particular student?

I've used Chalkdust for PreAlg, Alg 1&2, and PreCalculus. Across the board, my kids have loved Chalkdust. For geometry, we've used Jacobs. It's been hit or miss--big hit or big miss. Some of my kids absolutely loved Jacobs, citing it as one of their favorite courses in high school. Others really disliked it. I can't seem to predict which ones will love it and which will hate it. (If anyone knows how to predict this, please enlighten me! eta: I'm going to ask this in another thread.) So I'm thinking about just using Chalkdust Geometry for my next student. I'm interested in reviews on the 6th edition.

This happens to us constantly. The most bizarre was when we invited a family over for swimming and a light supper because we had been wanting to spend time with them, and they picked up a hitchhiker on their way here and brought him along with them. I'm glad you asked this because I've been wondering the same thing. I couldn't tell if it was more common these days or if it was just typical for where we live, which tends to be a more relaxed area than most (rural northwest). Whenever it happens, it surprises me, but I'm getting better at just rolling with it.

Yes, I do agree...except...can you imagine Beauty putting all those books on the floor to sort them into two stacks? All I'm saying is the method breaks down for me when it comes to sorting books. :-)

Yes, Laura! Exactly this! I am ruthless with clutter. Clutter drives me nuts. Books are not clutter! I don't know how many books we have, but I know it's well over 1000 at least. Having full bookshelves sparks joy. I only cull when they no longer fit on the bookshelves and have started overflowing to stacks on my desk or the floor. If that happens, I use one of two strategies: 1) cull the non-book curricula first -- like the stuff that comes in binders or spirals-- or 2) build more bookshelves. I put bookshelves over our toilet. :-) The other day 10yod was telling me about a conversation with her friend who said he had read all the books in his house. She thought that was terribly tragic. She said, "I don't think that's possible in my house!" And her face was beaming when she said that. The fact that she will never run out of books to read in her home gives her (and me!) obvious joy.

Another great resource from Leland Ryken and his son is The Literary Study Bible. This course sounds very appealing to me, and I'm enjoying seeing all the great resources. I'm just curious what you all would call it on a transcript.

I would feel comfortable sharing if I had the time and knowledge to summarize her argument, but it's not that simple. I'm so sorry. I wish I could, but I feel that I would do such a paltry job of it and not give it the justice it deserves. I just don't have time right now to go back and take notes to make sure I convey things accurately.

I am not aware that she has any argument against CHOW. To the contrary, I am under the impression that she considers it a good choice. We have loved and used CHOW for about 20+ years, and AO uses it, too. I think CHOW would be a good place to start if you're looking for an alternative to OIS, but the pace at which AO schedules it is way too slow if that were all we were using. Not to sound like the broken record that I fear I am becoming, but is there any way you could listen to the lecture? It would answer your questions.

I don't use it. I used to use it, not as a history text, but more as free reading. And we enjoyed the stories. SWB's talk persuaded me to put it away altogether. Your arguments, the tack you take, would never have persuaded me. All I'm saying is that you might try a different approach.

Like I was saying -- hyperbolic.

Well, I think "Chapter 1 is a myth" would have sufficed. But then we all already knew that. It's probably more helpful to evaluate the overall message of the book, which is what SWB did in her talk -- not to beat a dead horse, but her approach was more persuasive, a little less hyperbolic. What Rebecca Fraser had to say in her preface of The Story of Britain was helpful. While acknowledging the value of histories like Our Island Story which are "heavily biographical, extremely colourful and full of adventures which made them easy to remember" she admits that "the world has moved on . . . what might seem heroic to an earlier generation appears in a different guise today."

Yup, I'm wondering, too. Every time this question comes up and you respond, Bill, I wonder if we've read the same book.

FWIW, I don't think OIS is rubbish and SWB didn't present it as such. It's a product of its times, but it's still an engaging narrative. We enjoyed it. However, SWB did cause me to reconsider its value as a history spine for young children. There are better options available. I still like AO, but I use it as more of a book list than a curriculum plan now. For those of you wondering about OIS, see if you can find a way to listen to the lecture. It answered a lot of questions for me.

A student's ability to do well in Apologia's General Science, Physical Science, and Biology depends almost entirely on his reading level. Prior knowledge in science has almost no correlation to success in the jr/sr high Apologia texts. I say "almost" because knowing vocabulary does boost reading level. Nevertheless, I know from experience that a strong reader jumping into General Science with no previous formal science can do very well. Is your son a strong reader? If so, he should do fine with the General Science text. If you want to think ahead to future years, be aware that by the time he gets to chemistry he should know algebra, and for physics he should have had geometry. (See the website for more specific math prerequisites.)

It's a great lecture and really worth the money and time. I haven't listened to it for a little while, so I would have to go back and listen again before summarizing. Even if I did, I think it would be difficult to summarize. It greatly changed my perspective on teaching history. I was using AO when I listened and decided to drop some of the books, including Our Island Story which had been a favorite for a long time.

Have you listened to SWB's history lecture? It's worth a listen before choosing AO. She has some interesting things to say about Our Island Story.