Brandon and Mindy Withrow have a five volume "History Lives" series organised by era. Peril and Peace is their early church volume. Generally one chapter per person, although where the lives of famous Christians intersect they pop up in one another's chapters too (eg Ambrose and Augustine). Protestant perspective.

Perhaps this is your answer. Isn't Cindy Rollins one of the major contributors to Ambleside? So that would be her baseline of what "rigorous" and "age appropriate" should look like. I'm with you: there are some excellent books on that site, but following the plan as written would be too much in my house.

I mean, SOTW is quite suitable for middle school - you would just add different supplementary books. The Well Trained Mind Academy does precisely this. But if you're definitely wanting to change, you might look at K12's Human Odyssey. The chapters aren't identical, so to keep youngers and olders together you could continue reading SOTW to everyone and assign the middle schooler relevant chapters of K12.

I'm not American, so it was always going to be Around the World for us - but it's fantastic! We have been spending 2 weeks per country, then getting together with a group of friends for food, games, crafts etc. The kids cover the full range of K-3 with some younger siblings tagging along, but it would easily stretch up to 4th or 5th grade with a few extra books. It's been easy to find the suggested books plus loads of supplementary stuff. My current second grader will be so much better prepared for SOTW 1 next year because of spending this year bedding down basic concepts about the world first. There's a blog called Little School of Smiths with fairly extensive posts about how one family used and adapted it. We're using it pretty much as written and I find the guide to be worth the cover price: makes it very open and go, and most of the book suggestions have been hits with DD6.

Just dropping a fourth option into the mix: have you seen World Geography and Ecology from Beautiful Feet? It's aimed at 7th-9th, lit based, non-sectarian.

Thanks fellow Aussies, I hope you are right. I suspect, though, that Queensland is going to try to become the new record holder for tightest regulation of home education. Over the weekend, we've become aware of a report in the background that seems to have prompted this. Two years ago, a child known to the Department of Child Safety committed suicide after repeated attempts and a stay in a mental health unit. The death was investigated by the Child Death Review Board and it was noted that the child was homeschooled. The Board recommended that Queensland strengthen its legislation so that children known to Child Safety could be refused registration for home education on the grounds that it was not in the best interests of the child, and also recommended there be a means for government representatives to interview home educated children to be sure they are not being harmed. Home education is a legal choice in Queensland, but that didn't stop the Government spokesperson at this morning's public briefing from admitting that the Government wants to look into the increased uptake of home education "and change that uptake".

My home state of Queensland, Australia is in the process of introducing new legislation that will have negative effects for homeschoolers. It's open for public comment at the moment, and anyone can have their say. You don't need to be an Australian citizen, or an adult, or a homeschooler. The parts that many homeschoolers object to are: * A new requirement (section 217) for us to follow the National Curriculum, as is already required of homeschoolers in many Australian states. The National Curriculum is much narrower that homeschool curriculum I am aware of - it doesn't fit with Story of the World, Writing With Ease, Writing With Skill, etc. It will require my kids to all study history, science etc separately as they will have to complete the content for their individual grade level - Ancient Egypt is for Grade 7, not Grade 6 or 8. It also doesn't suit kids who are gifted, asynchronous or with learning difficulties (so, most homeschoolers) because it assumes a classful of same age kids working at an arbitrary given level in all subjects. For older kids who might be doing dual enrolment, it appears to accidentally cancel that option (university study is not one of the approved options listed). * An expanded requirement to report on 8 subject areas per child every year. Currently, I submit a plan for each of my kids and someone from the Department assesses whether it will provide a "high quality" education. At the end of the year I report back with work samples in English, Math and one other area of my choice. When the consultation paper was released in 2022, the Department was suggesting they were snowed under and that although we should continue preparing reports, they should only have to read 1 in 8 (!!). Enrolments have continued to grow and staff numbers have not, yet now they want to more than double the amount of reporting and have it keyed to curriculum standards as well. * A new requirement that children remain enrolled in school until the Department has assessed and accepted the parents' plan for home education. This is not a big deal for continuing or intentional homeschooling, but parents who need to suddenly remove children due to bullying or other school trauma previously had the option to keep them home while their application was processed. * A new requirement that homeschooling be "in the best interests of the child", without defining who gets to make that call. Worth noting that there is no comparable clause requiring state education to be in anyone's best interest. Would you be willing to make a submission to the Parliamentary Committee responsible for this legislation, telling some of your own homeschooling story and asking them to listen to the Queensland homeschooling community? You can follow the "click here to make a submission" link on the Parliamentary Committee's webpage, here. You can see an explanation of the changes and how homeschoolers could be affected, put together by parent volunteers, here.

Today I came across a recent survey of homeschoolers in Queensland, Australia. A huge increase in homeschooling numbers over the past 4 years has been a factor in a decision to overhaul the state education laws - a bill is before Parliament for debate right now. The survey was conducted in 2022 by inviting all parents registered to homeschool to participate. This would exclude those using distance education schools or homeschooling "under the radar", without following the requirement to register. A little over 10% of registered parents responded, and the results have just recently been published. I thought it was interesting reading, and also that it shows the change made by covid: there's a clear distinction between those who were already homeschooling pre-2020 and those who've begun since then. You can access it here: https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-and-educators/other-education/Documents/research-insight-report.pdf

This. Moms are being distracted by "free and pretty" and aren't looking deeper to "insubstantial, shallow". I'm outside the US and online academies aren't big here yet, but I think a majority of local families who started post covid here are using TGTB. They like the lifestyle of having their kids home and not having to do school drop off/pick up, but many don't seem interested in increasing their own knowledge or developing their own philosophy of education. It's a lifestyle, not an academic, decision.

I keep my budget looking trim by just considering the cost of my annual Rainbow Resource order, and excluding the cost of those Amazon boxes that keep showing up at my door all year long 😜

This is not the first time you've posted things like this. I'm curious to know what happens between these posts. To a poster who was hitting school goals moderately well for a few months, then being derailed for a week by big feelings or unusual circumstances, I might say "This happens to everyone" and talk about how to get through it. I have homeschooled through multiple terminal illnesses among our immediate family and a probably related burn out for myself, and I understand the need to give yourself grace and cut back to the basics sometimes. Gently, I would not take this approach with a poster who was consistently struggling to complete the basics over a period of months and years, and whose "not working" posts reflected the usual atmosphere of their home and not an exception. I would be more likely to ask what their goals were for their kids, and explore whether other options besides homeschooling might be suitable, even for a short term period or for just some of the kids. If you manage to keep your kids home for K-12 but your marriage, family relationships and mental health are harmed and you don't even have the cold comfort that a minimum level of education has been achieved, that sounds like a bad deal to me.

Hello, and good on you for working ahead like this! @HomeAgain has given you a great list to start with. This is also a great time to shore up your own education in literature. Deconstructing Penguins gives a really enticing view of what it can be like to discuss literature with your own kids. If you're then left wondering how to learn to do that, there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. 1. Use a program like Teaching the Classics from Center for Lit to teach yourself how to read and discuss a book well. It's not too soon for you to do this, because you can apply their approach to even the picture books you're reading with your lap-sitter, and it's a huge advantage to have time for these ideas to sink in. 2. Use a book list - perhaps The Well Educated Mind, or perhaps select from a K-12 sequence like Reading Roadmaps (another Center for Lit product; I love their stuff) or The Classical Reader - to stretch your own reading. Maybe to start with you read mainly middle grade chapter books and slowly add in a couple of classics each year. Maybe you're already a reader and your list is mainly great books from the get-go. It doesn't matter where you start, your ability will build and when your kids are in high school you'll still be equipped to teach them. I highly recommend you also take brief notes on your reading, including what grade you think it might be appropriate for. It's amazing how they all blur together after a while and you can't remember if that series was perfect for your 9 year old or had some graphic scenes that you'd rather wait on! 3. Join a book club. Practice thinking and talking about books with other adults now. You could simply listen in on an online book club like Circe's Close Reads or join in live with (again) Center for Lit's Pelican book club, or maybe you have an in-person option available to you. This is enjoyable, lets you process what you're reading, and gives you practice discussing a book with like-minded people for fun. Best wishes for your self-educating and home-educating journey!

Yes, different layout but very similar content. I wouldn't do both... Discovery of Deduction from CAP could work, though. It's formal logic.

I always appreciate hearing your choices, because we have several same-age kids and tend to make some similar choices. We're doing Art of Argument at the moment (7th) for logic and I'd recommend it, but particularly if you can get a few kids together so there are more opportunities to discuss. For your geography year, perhaps you'd find some good ideas in Beautiful Feet's new World Geography and Ecology course, aimed at 7th-9th graders? My tentative plans are: Dimensions 8 + Mindset Mathematics 8 Writing With Skill 3 Monthly Center for Lit style book club with friends CAP's Everyday Debate and Discussion K12 Human Odyssey ancients plus WTM style reading list... I have SWB's History of the World Ancients as well... Earth Science. Undecided whether to use the Berean book which is aimed at 8th grade, or try the K-6 Apologia one with siblings and beef it up to 8th grade level with extra reading and writing. Foreign language: we'll finish up Keep Going With Latin this year. I'd prefer to continue on to Linney's Latin Class, but I could be convinced to let this kid swap to German if the desire is still there in a couple of months. Extracurriculars: rocketry club, karate.

I hesitate to post because I only have 3 and I know it's not the same. However, I also have one who does best when read to, so I thought it might be worth reminding you that audiobooks can be your friend. I use them to give my voice a break, or so my hands are free to wash dishes etc while we all listen, or assign them to that kid instead of a physical book sometimes. I also want to acknowledge that toddlers and preschoolers are tough! Once my youngest was big enough to play with siblings, things got much easier. Hugs to you in a difficult season!