My hat's off to all you readers-aloud to more than one child at a time! I'm trying to do that now (plus reading a together book), and it is taking for. ever. to get through the separate reads.

You know, it just makes me feel better knowing someone REALLY understands. But yes, exercise would help, too. We have a Y membership, but I find getting there next to impossible.

What age are Horrible Histories appropriate for?

Check out this resource: http://notebookingfairy.com

THis year it just seems like I have very little recovery time. I don't know, it's like I hop from one thing to the next to the next. Part of it is the addition of Benny to our family; part of it is a change in dh's work schedule and responsibilities (plus that he has been in school, too, for a year or two). I'm having a very hard time having the planning time I need. How/when do you all plan? Not having the time I end for this makes me feel like I'm not doing a good job.

Ok. I'll start. One of my biggest helps is trying to maintain the daily quiet hour. Never mind that it's not really quiet and we haven't always finished the day's lessons by then, which means it isn't all that stress free, with lessons hanging over my head. ;-)

Maybe we need a support group. Oh. Wait. . .that's what this is.

At least we're not alone!

I'm struggling right now with stress over getting "everything" done. By everything, I mean schooling my school agers well, spending some time with my gregarious 3 year old (who wants nothing more than to sit in my lap and talk to me all day long), taking care of my nursing 10.5 month old crawler, making meals, and keeping up (somewhat) with laundry. Admittedly a lot of my stress is mental/emotional when I feel like I'm not doing a good job with my girls' school. Am I alone in this? How do you cope?

I'm interested in learning more about how you organize such an academic team. How did you get started?

I've often thought that field tripping across our state would be a good way to do state history in the elementary years. I'd like for my children to create notebooks/scrapbooks of the places we visit. Has anybody done this? How did you set up the notebook?

Farrar, can you elaborate on what PW actually looks like in your home? I didn't realize that it's actually an organized schedule. What are the assignments like?

Thanks, Farrar, for pointing out that picture books are a good way to address these difficult issues. Thanks, Chrysalis, for the "just the facts" observation--I think that's true. We've read a few MLK, Jr. picture book biographies. As an aside, isn't there a sequel to Roll of Thunder? I remember reading (& LOVING) a prequel, The Land, which would be appropriate for older kids. I just need to make a library list!

Thank you so much, Chrysalis Academy! I read Lions of Little Rock last year (I'm a former elementary librarian, so I read children's lit. for fun). I also know that The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 is a great one. For some reason, this seems like such a hard topic to tackle!

TWJ explains the whole "Bravewriter lifestyle." In my opinion, it's difficult to get the whole philosophy unless you read that. I am currently working through two different books with my two daughters and using The Arrow with each of them. We do it once a week (ish) as a "Fun Friday" addition to our normal WWE/FLL/MCT work. While my daughters would probably disagree that it belongs on FUN Friday, it is a totally different approach to writing than WWE. I like it, but I doubt I'll buy another edition of The Arrow because it's overkill with everything else I'm using, and I'm having a hard time fitting it all in.

I, too, used FIAR for my eldest's K year (with a tag along little sister just 18 months younger). I dud purchase as many if the FIAR books as I could, but I supplemented heavily with the library. I blogged about it, too. :-). (Look under FIAR category on my blog, which is linked below, if you're interested.). Another similar resource is Picture Book Preschool: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?page_id=2006

We have an opportunity in a few weeks to visit Selma, AL. My school-age children are 9 and 8. Does anyone have any suggestions for age-appropriate books we can read to get a bit of context for what we will see there in museums? We've been slowly meandering our way through SOTW, so we haven't done much American history, though my girls have read a good bit through their own interests. We are AL residents, so I'm also looking at this through the state history lens.

I thought of a few more: Ginger Pte and Pinky Pye narrated by Kate Forbes. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane narrated by Judith Ivey. As someone else has already mentioned, the Clementine books are fantastic. My girls have listened to the Little House series over and over and over. My own favorites are probably the E.B. White books narrated by the author himself.

Katherine Kellgren is a fantastic narrator/reader. My girls and I really enjoyed her reading of book one of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.

Here's mine: http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2014/02/21/odds-ends-6/#comments

We started participating in Community Bible Study this year because our local study started offering homeschool classes. I've been very impressed with the depth of my girls' studies. They're currently studying the book of Hebrews, just like I am.

I have nothing to add because we're in the same boat here, finishing RS E this year or the beginning of next. I just wanted to say how happy I am to read of others' success with RS. We've used it and loved it from the beginning. .

My children are 9, 8, 3, and 10 months. I want to get up early, but honestly it's usually between 6:30 & 7:00. My girls (8 & 9) get up between 7 & 7:30. The 3 year old sleeps in a bit, usually until about 8:00, but not always. The baby is the wild card. :-). I aim to start school at 8:30, but it's usually closer to 9:00. The girls have chores, piano practice, and Bible study to finish before lessons start.

So no one requires your children to double-check their own work?

I have BW and have read maybe half of TWJ. I'm doing The Arrow with both of my girls (Thimble Summer and Caddie Woodlawn). I love doing the individual reading with each of them but find it extremely difficult to schedule. With WWE, FLL, and MCT (I'm crazy!), it's probably overkill, though. My eldest will be in 5th next year. We've also always used WWE. I honestly mainly use BW for inspiration and as a reminder to not be do controlling, lol. ;-). For next year, I'm thinking we will eventually end up in WWS, whether at the beginning if the year or sometime later, right now I cannot say. I'll keep thinking about and trying to apply the "BW philosophy," though, because it tends to calm me down.