I'm waiting for the new edition of WTM to finish planning. Less than a month to go! I have some things figured out and ready on the shelves (after 23 years homeschooling, I do know what I like) but I'm excited to try some new things after reading that new edition. My plan is to retreat to my room as soon as it arrives to do some binge reading and planning. My family may not see me for days. :-)

Have they released a new report to the public? I only read what they e-mailed me at my request. They sent CopyByte's preliminary evaluation and a link to this blog post, which I had already read and thought lame. I was in shock that they sent that link. The blogger admits to not having read all Rachel Miller's examples of plagiarism, exhibits a "malignant spirit" toward her throughout his post, and ironically concludes by calling for church discipline for her "malignant spirit" toward Doug Wilson.

Critical Thinking in US History has a lesson on the Salem witch trials. Other lessons that cover topics that might be of particular interest to teenage girls are: "Did Pocahontas Really Rescue captain John Smith?" "How Did Immigration to Colonial Maryland Affect the Lives of Women?" "What Arguments Were Made for and against Women's Rights?" and many, many more. The time period covered in Volumes 1 and 2 of CTUSH matches the time period covered in SOTW 3.

Thank you. I hadn't heard of the Birchbark House series.

Nice list. We recently enjoyed listening to The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Wonderful book! Several of our favorites are on this list (Bound for Oregon, Little Britches, Number the Stars). I had never heard of Soft Rain. I'll check into it. Thanks!

Yes, great suggestion. But we've enjoyed most of them already. A few we'll do again because they're just so good. I should see what they've added to those cores recently. Thanks for mentioning it.

I'm looking for family read alouds, fiction and nonfiction, for my kids ages 8-16. We're covering American history this year up to about the year 1850. I still read aloud a lot of books the 8yo separately (outside of family read aloud time) and he has a high comprehension level, so I typically pick family read alouds that suit the older kids, and he usually enjoys them too. So mainly I'm looking for books the 11-16 yo kids will like.

George Washington and the Founding of a Nation by Albert Marrin Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson

I let each child choose the Apologia book they are interested in. They read a couple pages a day on their own and then tell me or dh about what they read. If they want to do the experiment, I have the supplies here, but it's their decision and their setup and cleanup. When ds did Chem and Phys, I did have him keep a running list of terms and definitions in a notebook, but other than that, we do no notebooking with these books. When my adult kids (some with science majors/degrees) come home, they are astonished at how much the kids know from those books. Very effective. Very simple. Very hands off for me. My kids love reading about science, so I hand them a lot of additional books such as the ones you find in the curricula plans at www.guesthollow.com. I don't require anything except reading, but the books on those lists are so interesting that the kids are always spontaneously narrating them.

This (the bolded) is what I was thinking. Depending on your child, you might be able to accomplish that through the Dowling Method stages 1 and 2.

I like this, Margaret. We say this, too. I feel like half the marital/family conflicts in the world would vanish if all parents would say this and repeat it often. We went almost a year when eldest dd was 18/19yo because she went to school overseas and had a very short Christmas break. She didn't meet her baby brother until he was almost a year old. For the first several years of his life he kept forgetting how she was related. :crying: We Skyped a lot during middle-of-the-night feedings (daytime for her on the other side of the world.) I was so thankful for Skype!

To answer your original questions: I don't think of them as a substitute for blueberries, so we don't add them to pancake batter and muffins. They are far more tart than blueberries and a bite of them is very shocking if you were expecting blueberry flavor. If you want to have them with pancakes, make a syrup to go over the pancakes. Crush some of the berries and leave some of them whole. The sauce will be a nice syrupy consistency because of the natural pectin in the berries. You won't need cheesecloth in this case either because you'll be leaving the berries in the sauce. And some interesting history: Black currant cultivation was banned in the US for much of the 20th century because the bushes carry a disease that damages white pine. At the same time, cultivation was encouraged in the UK during WWII because they are very high in Vitamin C while other fruits high in Vitamin C were difficult to get. So they are much more prevalent there. What that means is that it's not unusual for US residents to not know what to do with them, but you can get a lot of great recipes from British sites and cookbooks. Like this: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/seven-ways-cook-blackcurrants

One more thing. Black currants freeze better than any other berry I've frozen. If you don't want to deal with them now, just toss them into a ziploc and put them in the freezer. You can use them frozen for just about any black currant recipe you choose, except cassis. If you want to make the cassis, just put them in a jar with vodka now and you won't have to think about them again until December.

I love black currants. Of everything we have growing on our farm, they are my favorite. They have such a deep, happy flavor and smell like home to me when they're cooking. Black currants have a lot of pectin, so you can make wonderful jam, jelly, or syrup with no added pectin or thickener -- just the berries and sugar. There are a lot of recipes online for this. My favorite recipe is the cassis from the cookbook The Cook and the Gardener. Put them in a jar and pour vodka over them now. In December strain them and cook the liquid with sugar. Here are the instructions. We serve this over vanilla ice cream, or blend raspberries with vanilla ice cream and serve it over that (we learned this in Brazil), or put a tablespoon or so in a glass of champagne for New Year's Eve. Sometimes I make a thick syrup from sugar and black currants, and we use it to make Italian sodas. Or you can make granita for a cool summer treat. From the cookbook River Cottage Every Day: 2 pounds black currants At least 2 cups confectioners' sugar Put the black currants in a saucepan with 1 cup water, bring to a simmer, and cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes, until the fruit is completely soft. Push it through a sieve to remove the seede and skins. Sift in the sugar and whisk well. Taste the mixture and add more sugar if you think it's needed (bear in mind that, once frozen it will taste less sweet). Pour the mixture into a large shallow container (if the puree is in a layer no more than 2 inches deep, it will speed up the freezing process). Freeze until rock solid. Remove the granita from the freezer about 20 minutes before you want to serve it, to allow it to soften slightly. Just before serving, use a fork to scrape the mixture into crystals and shards. Pile into glasses and serve at once. Variation - Snow-capped granita: Try drizzling a little heavy cream on the granita in each glass just before you serve it.

Does this mean they don't plan to make the results available to the general homeschooling population? Why not?

You might like Invitation to the Classics. It gives background information on many of the great books and is much more beautifully written than Omnibus . . . and it's not plagiarized either. :-) I compared the two side by side a few years ago and immediately sold Omnibus.

Not exactly a book, but I signed up for 3 classes at Well-Educated Mind Academy and have been pre-reading some of the books this summer.

I haven't done this, but my adult ds did it while camping with his girlfriend's family. They packed the egg mixture in plastic water bottles. Everyone added to the bag whatever they wanted for their own omelet. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/85107/omelet-in-a-bag/

I love this. Thank you for posting.

X-post from the High School Board: I think the The Food Lab might fit your criteria. It's a beautiful large book full of pictures. The narrative is engaging. I bought it for my niece's high school graduation last month, and she's already read it cover to cover.

I think the The Food Lab might fit your criteria. It's a beautiful large book full of pictures. The narrative is engaging. I bought it for my niece's high school graduation last month, and she's already read it cover to cover.

We listened to this on our most recent road trip. Everyone enjoyed it, including ages 8, 11, 13, 21 and middle-aged parents. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg Description from Amazon: In this Newbery Honor-winning page-turner, twelve-year-old orphan Homer runs away from Pine Swamp, Maine, to find his older brother, Harold, who has been sold into the Union Army. With laugh-aloud humor, Homer outwits and outruns a colorful assortment of civil War-era thieves, scallywags, and spies as he makes his way south, following clues that finally lead him to Gettysburg. Even through a hail of gunfire, Homer never loses heart--but will he find his brother? Or will it be too late? With engaging wit and comical repartee reminiscent of Mark Twain, master storyteller Rodman Philbrick introduces us to the unforgettable character of Homer in his latest groundbreaking novel.

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with difficult people at such a difficult time, Kelly. It sounds, from your last post, as though you're thinking very clearly and handling it really well. I do understand. When our tenth child was stillborn at 8 months, a close family member said she was our "tithe" (one-tenth). I couldn't believe it. And there were so many other hurtful comments (similar to those you've gotten) at a time when we were devastated. But there were kind people, too, who knew just what to say, and, more importantly, what NOT to say. I hope you can surround yourself with those for awhile.

I use Audible Download Manager. From there, select "General Settings." Under "After download import files to:" make sure the itunes box is checked. Then transfer the book to ipod from itunes.

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