Right, but so far those variants aren’t necessarily more dangerous? I guess what I understand him to be saying in that our natural innate immunity (which is more effective in younger people) is pretty good at handling all the different Covid strains. And that there isn’t anything wrong with the Covid vaccine per se, it’s just that mass vaccination with a vaccine that reduces symptoms but doesn’t necessarily stop transmission will lead to it more freely mutating into more dangerous and virulent strains. And by then, our innate broad immunity has been replaced by specific immunity for the strains in the vaccine and we can’t fight off newer strains as well. And that it will be impossible to keep up with boosters for new mutations. here’s his original letter...I found it when I did a little digging. I don’t know. Maybe I’m unnecessarily worrying. But it was the first time I’ve really paused in regards to the vaccine. https://mcusercontent.com/92561d6dedb66a43fe9a6548f/files/bead7203-0798-4ac8-abe2-076208015556/Public_health_emergency_of_international_concert_Geert_Vanden_Bossche.01.pdf

You could probably make your own pretty easily. Just choose the wars you are interested in covering and make mini unit studies for each one. My boys love war stuff, and they are fascinated by all these books from Timberdoodle: https://timberdoodle.com/products/24-hour-history-set-of-5 https://timberdoodle.com/collections/history/products/amazing-world-war-2-stories https://timberdoodle.com/collections/history/products/true-stories-of-the-civil-war https://timberdoodle.com/collections/history/products/true-stories-of-world-war-i https://timberdoodle.com/collections/history/products/graphic-u-s-history https://timberdoodle.com/collections/history/products/true-stories-of-the-revolutionary-war They’re graphic novels, but man, do they retain a ton of info from them! And they devour them and re-read. I’ve been amazed at how much they learned. Same for these books: https://www.chestercomix.com it would be fun to go through and do different books, movies/documentaries, and activities for each war, going in chronological order.

I’m actually more concerned that if we all get immunized, the new strains will become increasingly lethal, and there is no way that they will be able to keep up with booster shots containing the new strains. I found this video to be pretty alarming, actually. As a vaccine developer and researcher, and having worked for GAVI and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this guy obviously knows his stuff. Of course I saw this *after* our entire family, minus the kids, got the vaccine!

Oh, don’t beat yourself up! I’m sorry your kids are sick, but you can never really know what would have happened if you’d made the other choice. If you had one kid who had a bad vaccine reaction, what’s to say another kid wouldn’t have. I see lots of stories of people remembering how miserable chicken pox was, but my siblings and I all had mild cases as kids...I don’t remember being in any pain at all, just itchy for a bit. No big deal here! And shingles cases have exploded among younger people...I’ve had a shocking number of friends in their 30s who have had shingles, some in their 20s. The reason people are getting it at younger ages is because chicken pox exposure (like when your kids get it) is like a natural booster shot against shingles. Since most kids aren’t getting it anymore, adults who have had chicken pox aren’t getting that booster. So at least you are more protected from shingles for awhile now! And maybe your kids would have gotten chicken pox regardless. A mom at my kids’ preschool had 5 vaccinated kids and 2 of the 5 still came down with chicken pox in spite of the vaccine. All this to say that you made the best choice you could at the time with the knowledge you had, and moms shouldn’t feel guilty for that. They’ll be better soon and this will all be a distant memory before you know it. Take care! And get them in lots of oatmeal baths!

I don’t have experience with a child graduating yet, but I do have two friends who were homeschooled themselves and are now doctors. One did a very rigorous math and science curriculum. I don’t know the specifics of what she did, but I know she was working at advanced levels far beyond what her public school peers were doing. The other just did a pretty standard Christian curriculum, like Abeka. One out of the box idea...besides focusing on all the STEM stuff, maybe really focus on character traits, too. I say that as someone who had a couple surgeries several years ago. The first doctor had a horrible bedside manner and was honestly not a good or kind person. (It was an emergency surgery and I had no say in who did the procedure.) Besides messing up the surgery and causing me all sorts of problems, she also traumatized me with her behavior. When I had to have a second surgery to fix her mistakes, the second surgeon was kind, considerate, and reassuring. He made special accommodations for me and made me feel like he cared about me as a person. It made all the difference in the world. Of course, I’m sure your daughter is a wonderful person, and I’m projecting my own experience here. But I feel like volunteering, empathy building, strengthening social-emotional intelligence, etc. will never hurt anyone!

Math: I think we’re going to try TGATB Simply Math. The only other possibility is Math With Confidence. But I think he’ll be ready for second grade math by the end of this year, and Kate Snow’s program currently only goes through first grade. Lots of supplements with MathTacular DVDs, Usborne activity books, Wrap ‘ems, Don’t Open This Math Book, etc. Language Arts: Language Arts for a Living Education 2. We also play some writing games. Reading: A mishmash of readers, probably mostly 2nd-grade-ish level. We’ll do the Sonlight 2nd grade readers, and I use a lot from TGATB booklist as well. I read out loud a ton, and try to do a mix of classics, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, picture books, poetry etc. History: This will be pretty loose and mostly consist of readalouds. No output required. Haven’t totally nailed down what we’re going to try to cover next year...we’ll do this as a family with older brother and younger brother. Bible: I think we’re going to go through the Jesus Storybook Bible and then watch each corresponding story on the DVD. Science: This will also be pretty loose and mostly consist of living books/readalouds, with no output. Looking to cover meteorology, earth science, and some basic physics stuff. I’ll try to do some STEM types of activities with them for fun. Handwriting: Possibly continue with HWOT, or maybe try something new....looking at TGATB, Zaner Bloser, etc. Extras: Soccer, maybe art class if our art center reopens for in-person classes. We’ll continue with swimming lessons and tennis in the summer. Hoping he might be ready for piano lessons later this year...currently he is not. We do Suzuki lessons and it’s a little more intense and much more of a commitment than the type of piano lessons I did as a kid! That’s about it! Can’t believe I’ll be going through first grade for the second time already...it seems like JUST YESTERDAY I was doing first grade with my rising FOURTH GRADER. How is that possible?! 😭

A couple suggestions.... have you looked at Math Lessons for a Living Education? It’s less rigorous that most math curriculums, but if you’re just wanting her to get a handle on things and get caught up for now, it might work. The pages are uncluttered, and it appeals to children who are less “mathy” and like stories and reading. It’s “Charlotte Mason inspired”, so the lessons are very short and sweet. I think I would have really liked the curriculum as a kid, because math did not come naturally to me, and I, too, got very overwhelmed and discouraged by cluttered worksheets. MLFLE is a little more spiral-y, which is probably good for you...it will keep reintroducing previous concepts that she might be forgetting. what about Right Start or The Good and The Beautiful? I’m mentioning both of those because they have lots of games, which your daughter may like. once you find something, I would stick with it. Jumping around so frequently I’d sure to leave gaps, which may be your main problem at this point! I would also supplement/reinforce learning with stuff like...”keys to”, math games, living books, and MathTacular DVDs. good luck! She can do it!

Aw, I love that! I have the wheels turning from all these great suggestions! I feel like I’m set for the next couple years! Haha!

You all have such great ideas! Now the hard part is going to be narrowing it down and choosing what to use! I want to do everything! 😂

Thanks! I haven’t heard of On Mission! And I had no idea there were Ms. Frizzle history books...my kids LOVE Magic School Bus! I’ll have to look for those. Great suggestions...I’m keeping track of all of this! 🙂

Thank you! That’s super helpful and gives me lots of good ideas! I’m the type who wants to “do it all!” There are just so many great books and units out there, and I want to experience all of it! 😆 I’m going to sit down and see how I can meld all of these suggestions into a cohesive school year. Haha. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Thank you both! That gives me some great starting points. I think we might emphasize geography and culture more this year, too. They also love that stuff, so I think backing off a bit from history and focusing more on that would still be really fun for them. Thanks again!

Hello! we have been doing SOTW audiobooks for the last couple years, and my kids love them, particularly my 9 year old. We are also doing Sonlight history, core A—1st-3rd grade. The books are great, but we have recently read Twenty and Ten, about hiding Jewish children during WWII, and are now reading a book about missionaries in Africa. It has touched briefly on cannibalism, etc.m The issue is that my six year old is extremely sensitive, to the highest degree. We can watch very few movies (which are always gentle children and family films) without him getting upset and crying about something...an animal in peril, a child getting teased, etc. He is very drawn to acting aggressive and acting out war, killing people, etc., I think as a way to process what we are reading. I can tell that he is very anxious during these books, and repeatedly asks, “was this true?” I think we need to back off some of the upsetting things for now, because he cannot handle it yet. I’m actually going to pursue counseling for him this year, because he is definitely struggling hardcore right now with emotional regulation. He gets “triggered” by everything and then doesn’t know how to handle those feelings in a healthy manner. Anyway. Does anyone have recommendations for a more gentle history curriculum? Both boys love history. I’d really like to continue doing history together. I was planning to stick with world history next year, and sort of an overview of creation to modern day. But I can be flexible. This is probably our favorite subject and I want to do something fun and engaging! Thanks so much for any recommendations!

This sounds EXACTLY like my 9 year old. He is an excellent reader, and an incredibly bad speller. The mistakes you mentioned are very similar to the type of mistake he would make. We struggle with even straightforward words. I’ll be very interested to see what advice you get! I haven’t focused as much as I probably should...spelling is included in his language arts curriculum, so we do that and that’s about it. In the past, we had okay luck with just DK Spelling workbooks. I guess I haven’t worried that much about it because he seems to have the exact brain as my engineer dad and brother...they are also great readers, very strong in math and science, and can’t spell to save their lives. And knowing that he’ll probably do much of his writing in a post auto-correct world, I guess I have kind of shrugged it off. But I know it is important, and it definitely makes people doubt your intelligence, no matter how smart you are, if you can’t spell basic words!

Following! My kids love the audiobooks, too!

Thanks! Looks like there are more good options than I originally thought!

Nice. Thanks! Sounds like it would be beneficial!

Thanks so much. 🙂 I like the look of it. It wouldn’t appeal to my oldest...I’m going to stick with HWOT for him. But I think my younger two would enjoy it. My preschooler hasn’t done handwriting yet, so I was just thinking about him for next year...do I want to stick with HWOT or try something new. Looks like there are a few options to consider! I appreciate the input! 🙂

Thanks! I just looked at it...looks good!

Thanks! I’ll check it out!

Thanks! What didn’t you like about TGATB? I was considering that one! Haha. I figured they were all about the same, but my boys do not enjoy their handwriting and I wondered if there was something “better“ out there I was missing. 😜 Just something they’ll have to get through, I guess! My oldest did the cursive book this year. He can copy, but has trouble remembering how to form the letters if the example isn’t right there in front of him.

Which curriculum do you like best for handwriting, and why? I’ve only used Handwriting Without Tears, which has been fine, but just wondering if there is anything better out there? Or are they all basically the same? 🤪 Thanks!

Have you looked at Math Mammoth? I got a lot of recommendations for that curriculum when I asked about math programs, and it looks like a really solid program that would help cement what she needs to know. Have you looked into Learn Math Fast to get up to her grade level? Maybe something a little slower with lots of mastery and review? Rod and Staff, or Math-U-See?

For sure, that’s so awesome. I’m glad she has that opportunity...I know she wouldn’t get that anywhere else!

I’m so impressed with your persistence and patience. (And hers too, of course!)