Thanks, Zoo Keeper. You make a really good point.

I'm trying to decide on a family read aloud for Greek history for ages 10-14. It's between Famous Men of Greece (Haaren) and The Story of the Greeks (Guerber). This isn't my kids' only history. They have texts they're reading on their own (SOTW and Oxford First Ancient History, for example.) If you've read one or both of these, which would you prefer as a read aloud for these ages?

Haha, no, don't put that on me! This is just what correlated with my own objectives and worked with my style of teaching. There are a lot of experienced homeschool parents here.

After 24 years of homeschooling 12 children, with the youngest in 4th grade and an older dc through his doctorate in a scientific field, I'd say the two most valuable curricula for us through the long haul have been: Apologia Science (middle school through advanced high school) R&S English (grades 3 and up) The two above have gotten more positive reviews from my eight graduated dc than anything else. A few other favorites we've stuck with through the years are: Phonics Pathways Singapore Math Elementary Greek

Avoiding FODMAPs can alleviate symptoms. It's the one thing that's helped me and other people I know with the same problem. http://www.fodmapliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Stanford-University-Low-FODMAP-Diet-Handout.pdf

Another family favorite: Red Curry Lentils

We raise livestock, so we're not trying to cut back on meat. But I make this lentil/rice dish simply because my family loves it. It's a recipe I saved from our leaner college years. http://www.food.com/recipe/brown-rice-and-lentil-casserole-74629

We found a VRBO near Puerta Vallarta, Mexico in March. It was the best vacation ever. Flights were cheap, but we live in the Northwest.

These are all very helpful resources: https://www.pelvicexercises.com.au/ (and all her youtube videos) Dr. Northrup The Bathroom Key (more comprehensive) The Art of Control (an easier read for a quick start)

Barbarian Diagrammarian is geared toward teaching the grammar necessary to succeed in learning Latin, Greek, and other languages. It is focused on the structure of language, not on mechanics. It's been a few years since I've had a child take that course, but I don't remember it being homework intensive. (Not like the Latin courses, which are crazy intense -- totally worth it, but intense.) I like Jensen's Punctuation for mechanics. Punctuation is only one aspect of mechanics, but it's arguably the trickiest one, and Jensen's is a painless way to get it down cold.

We raise sheep, so they miss lamb.

I just e-mail them to myself.

Brilliant! I love this idea!

I'm much like you. I cannot read aloud with undue distractions. I've raised five active boys to adulthood and have two more still at home, ages 9 and 14. I took the view that learning to listen quietly and attentively is a necessary life skill and that read aloud time is a good opportunity to develop it. There are all sorts of real life situations where a child is expected to sit quietly (church, meetings, weddings, tours/field trips, special dinners, etc.) It's a pity when children aren't used to being quiet and still in those situations. They disrupt things for others and lose out on the learning opportunity themselves. That said, my kids are allowed to color or draw while I read, as long as they do it quietly. And as others have said, I do make sure they've had plenty of run around time before we read.

.A Book in Time - A lot of great lists covering all time periods and listing approximate grade levels.

Children's Classic Book Carousel This one is more for the ancients and middle ages, so I'm sure it's not the one you're thinking of. But what I like about it is you can search the blog to find literature study notes for several of the titles listed.

Here's another one. Although this one doesn't have any reading levels attached to each book, I like how it's arranged, and there are some wonderful fiction titles on there. http://www.love2learn.net/history/readingthroughhistory.htm

Sonlight books arranged in Well-Trained Mind order The History Shelf at Guest Hollow Paula's Homeschool Archives

Make sure you check out Guest Hollow. She's done an amazing job of choosing books and activities/experiments that kids absolutely love. Many of her guides can be used free and most of the books can be found in the library.

I've had a few kids not like the beginning of the General Science book, but they always got used to it within a few chapters. Last year, I had one that hated it and could not get used to it, so we ditched it and used Tiner's books instead. He's my 10th child to use upper level Apologia books, and that's the first time I've ever dropped one. This year he's been using Apologia's Physical Science and absolutely loves it. He told me this week that it's his favorite book ever. I was surprised. Among his older siblings, that one was probably the least favorite. So you never know. :001_smile: I'm a huge fan of Dr. Wile's science texts. I've graduated eight so far and all of them used Wile's texts through middle school and high school. Some of my kids have gone into scientific fields and have been very successful. Nearly all of them cite those texts as a highlight of their homeschool experience.

Well, I don't use EP. I think it's overkill unless the child is struggling with concepts. If a child seems overwhelmed, you can drop down to the Workbook and IP. Then use CWP at the end of the year or through the summer for review.

It varies a lot from day to day, but we're averaging about 30 minutes per day. This child generally works more quickly than most of my other kids.

https://dmfashion.com/collections/bundle-tops We swim a lot, and these hold up well for a few years. I've bought these and Lands End suits for myself and my daughters.

What ages are you teaching? You might want to call Memoria Press and ask what they would recommend after LC II. I've used LC I & II, the Form series (1-3), Henle, Wheelock, and others -- many others. (I'm in my 24th year of homeschooling.) If my child had just finished LC II and was in middle school, I'd go to the Latin Road to English Grammar. 13yo ds is finishing up LRtEG, Vol. 2 and got a gold on the NLE Latin 1 this year. I like the presentation and the pace of LRtEG better than the others for middle school. There would be review for a child finishing up LC II, but LC II is very elementary, so you'd want the review anyway, no matter what you use. The others you listed are nice choices, too.

The history shelf at Guest Hollow might be helpful.