Two points to consider: One: How many facts will a 7 year old truly remember? If the story is short and interesting, then they will get a good feel for that period which will provide a basis for later learning. My point is that perhaps the inaccuaracies (if there are any - I'm not arguing for or against that) aren't that relevant right now unless it's a huge discrepancy. Two: what kind of learner is your child? We have 4 children. My older 3 are all avid readers who love storytime. My youngest fidgets. She'd rather have something hands on to do. We still read aloud, she still has required independent reading, but I've learned to accept she's not going to be enthusiastic when it's time to sit to read. However, if I give her silly putty to play with while I read, it's more pleasant. It seems as if she's not listening, but later I find she was when it's time for discussion. That said, there are so many opinions with a multitude of curriculum choices out there that I'm sure you'll find something that works for the two of you. I do recommend the AG guide to coordinate with the books if you choose SOTW. If it doesn't work the first year, switch to something the next year. Regardless you'll cover much more history than would be seen at this age in public/private. Best of luck to you.

Day 1 we completed the map Day 2 and 3 - we answered two daily questions That's all we did. Some weeks we didn't do geography, but at the end of the year, the geography notebooks (5th and 3rd grade) had a little over 20 weeks complete. In the spring we were a part of a geography co-op. There were 3 weeks to each continent. Week 1 - foods/cooking from 1 or more countries from that continent Week 2 - arts/crafts from 1 country Week 3 - science (think biomes, inventors, etc). It was fun. This year we won't be a part of the co-op due to other commitments. When we read another subject, we'll go look on a map any location mentioned. All in all it was a good year. My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to plug along what you can or what interests you. The girls learned a lot. Best of luck to you.

How's the reader list for SOTW 2? The girls will follow assignments by someone else from Mystery of History, but I plan to read some from this book plus the encyclopedias. I'm thinking I don't really need SOTW 2 AG guide, but I feel pulled. I tend to buy too much.

Do you have Half Price Books or another used book store in your area? We found a college textbook on Art History with a brand new CD in the back. Also, The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History Prehistoric to Post Modern can be found on amazon for less than $10. It's a great reference. Enjoy! I look forward to seeing some other answers come up.

Does anyone remember the movie "You've got mail"? I thought it would be okay to watch with my 15, 11, and 9 year old. Realize how hard it can be to accommodate all 3 ages. It was okay, but in one scene the father is kissing his date, and the son says on the telephone (as he's watching the kiss) "Oh no, she's a prostitute (subsitute this with slang beginning with h - I'm trying to keep it clean to not offend someone). My 9 year old asks, what's that mean Mom? Before I could come up with an answer my 11 year old answers, "It's a homeless person." The movie continued. THAT'S why I homeschool. My older two knew the true meaning of this word by the time they were 11 because they had heard it (and explained) in school. I don't want to protect them forever, but I do value that my younger girls can hold on to their innocence a while longer.

You can tell by the title I live with teenagers and pre-teens, but it truly is wonderful! Have a blessed year.

Do you have to finish the textbook in one year? We've done science about 2 days a week and my daughters have learned WAY more science than their older sisters did at the same age (older sisters were public schooled). I don't know what grade you are teaching, but it's one thought. BTW, I recommend the Science Wiz (elementary) and Thames and Kosmos (various ages) kits to go with your lessons. You can buy them online. I get them from Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon.

What about one of the virtual public schools for the first year since she likes the workbook approach? Perhaps it would make the mom more comfortable. We've not used it, but I'm sure some on this board could give more information. I've heard of some using Oak Meadow. I've also heard of Connections Academy and K12.

This last year was our first year for written narrations with Noeo. For history we simply discussed it as a family, following up with some video and hands on activities. My girls were 3rd and 5th. Narration was tough for both at the beginning of the year. It continued to be tough for my 3rd grader until the last half or quarter of the year. I read the Usborne book to them; we stopped at the end of each paragraph and they took turns telling me what they considered to be the important facts from that paragraph (if any) or highlights if you will. At the end, they went to the kitchen table and wrote what they felt was important. Sometimes I gave small suggestions and they were allowed to talk to one another about it because I thought it made the learning more meaningful. I'm fairly new to homeschooling, but it worked well for the girls. They learned a lot from it. If you're doing Physics, Science Wiz has science kits the girls really enjoyed. You can find them at Hobby Lobby. I have one friend who used the Kingfisher history encyclopedia and her 5th grader had to write one important fact from each paragraph. I'm sure there are other interesting suggestions out there - I look forward to reading them.

Based on Swimmermom's recommendation (because it sounds like she knows her stuff in the language department), I bought Duke TIP's independent learning study on White's book about King Arthur. It's pretty amazing; in junior high they are covering the TCQC (basically the ingredients to include in an answer) approach to a literary essay. I noticed Duke also has a program called The Reader's Journey which introduces literary analysis, though LL looks pretty incredible as well. Just throwing another choice out there.

It's definitely written by a Christian. I see no references using Usborne books and there's mention in the front about her creationist viewpoint, but most of the books are secular in content so I think it could be used as a reference book for anyone, much like some use Sonlight from a secular perspective. Perhaps you can find a homeschooler who owns this book near you to see if you would like it for yourself or Barnes and Noble could order it for you to look at it? It's made life easier for me because I don't have to research the different lists from curriculum that I don't plan to buy. My dream job, to own a book store - heaven on earth. Hope this helps.

I have a sixth grader who will do this- female - any other girls tackling this program? It looks spectacular - our first Duke adventure. Way too much on our agenda; it should prove interesting. Thanks for all of the ideas.

Evaluating the book on Amazon is a great idea. Another thought is to buy All Through the Ages History through Literature Guide by Christine Miller. There are lists for chronological history as well as geographical history. Literature is recommended by grade level under topics such as resource book, historical fiction, literature, and biography. It also gives abbreviation to let you know if it is a book used by Sonlight, Veritas Press, Newberry Award, Books Children Love, etcetera. After the title and author, a short note about the book follows. I use this book weekly, but then like you, we read a lot of literature to coordinate with history. Happy hunting - too many books, not enough time!!

We used both Horizons and Singapore last year, taking out any work not needed. This year the girls will attend a university model school 2 days a week using Abeka math (they want competitive sports without community select programs). I plan to supplement at home. Which should I choose - the Horizons or Singapore? I have a word challenge book for Singapore. By the way, this is for grade four. I will supplement with Chalkdust for my older daughter. I'm not worried about basic math calculations, but I would like to keep my fourth grader progressing in pre-algebra and geometry concepts. Thanks guys for answering a question for the younger grades - I think you can see a bigger picture than someone with children still in elementary and junior high.

We own both, but have only used Trail Guides. However, we were only using it as an introduction to all of the continents - we will begin the 5 themes of geography next year. From your response of how you plan to use geography, I would recommend ATW in 180 Days. If it fits your budget, buy the Trail Guides CD for the notebook pages. They are well done. We've also enjoyed Eating Your Way around the World. It's informative, as well as having doable, great recipes children can accomplish independently. If only we could own it all, but my budget and wall space cry no. Should you not choose TG, pm me and I'll type their recommended literature coordinating to the continents, along with books recommended by a couple of other resources if you have elementary ages.

The CD contains any notebook template you could want:animal, plants, country fact sheet at a glance, flashcards, landforms, and more. It also contains the outline maps. I found it an incredible resource for the notebooking pages. There are no assignments in the CD, but it does have the weekly questions. The book depends on whether you like to create your schedule/ideas or have it planned for you. For each continent, there's a page providing instructions for mapping, notebooking, and further activity/research. There may also be art, dictionary, or other suggestions. At the end of the book are suggestions for literature coordinating with each continent and a 9 week unit lesson plan for Around the World in 80 Days. We liked the program. It's true it can be used more than one year. Whether you choose one or both depends on how you plan to use it, plus your level of desire to plan or have it planned for you.

i didn't keep the links, but this forum has all listed in past threads. Have you tried a search yet? I have the ISBN's for pre-algebra, but that's the only one I've copied to date as our older homeschooler is only in 5th.

bravewriter.com has an online book club. I've considered it, but haven't actually taken the leap. They show their book lists from past years to give you an idea what they choose.

I just wanted to let others know that Barnes and Noble has the Auffmann substitutes brand new for cheaper than amazon has them used. I bought the same dvd set used on amazon. At least two dvds has scratches, enough that a replacement was needed since we desired to teach by dvd first. The second time I discovered I could buy it new, cheaper - thought I'd share the nugget with others to save someone else the hassle. (I can see there are grammatical mistakes, but rushing off to a busy day)

These aren't books, but stories: Jim Weiss CDs He's the storyteller for SOTW audio, but we love his other CDs even more. The list is long for this time period. http://www.greathall.com/storytelling.html

The book Irishmommy mentioned may be the same one I have: Harcourt Brace's The Story of Texas. It's a slim Texas history textbook - great as a spine from which you can pull topics, info, and stories. If you don't have a Half Price book near you, look when you're in Austin. You can also find larger Texas textbooks there. For stories, there's Susanna of the Alamo by John Jakes (non-fiction), Voices of the Alamo by Sherry Garland, and Texas Hello USA by Kathy Pelta. The first two were recommended to me by a librarian. I bet you can find any of the above used through amazon. Fun unit!

Kingfisher 2004 matches your examples.

I recommend Archimedes and the Door of Science. It's a narrative book describing the life of Archimedes, but it also describes different physics concepts. It was a winner in this house. I also like the Usborne Science Encyclopedia. For experiment ideas, Jan Cleave has a physics experiment book. Btw, we're currently going through the Thames physics workshop - love it. Here are some of our favorite physics projects we did this past year which you can google for instructions: pizza box solar oven, 2 liter turbine, pvc stomp rocket, marble roller coaster, 2 liter catapult, water bottle merry-go-round, balloon rocket, cartesian diver, and a compass. I hate to leave physics, but we move to chemistry so we can make things fizz and explode now. Best of luck.

My belief is that the younger years are the foundation of the love of learning. Would you consider not doing all of it - perhaps writing, grammar, and pick and choose among SL when time for fun is being left out? It's just a thought because the beauty of homeschooling is that you make the choices for what's important for your children. I homeschooled my oldest when she was a first grader with a preschooler and a baby. I tried to follow a similar route to yours only to give up and put her back into school. I regret that I didn't do things differently, but then again I didn't have this forum or a local co-op for support so you're already ahead of the game! My two older remained in the school system. A few years back we pulled our younger two out (giving the older girls the option to leave school) with the determination to do it all differently - yet still provide rigor with a christian perspective as a part of our curriculum. I'm sure you'll find what works for your family. Best of luck.

I recommend The Story of the USA books 1-4 by Franklin Escher, Jr. They are slim paperback books written in a narrative format with small worksheet sections which we go over orally or ignore. It's what is used by Sonlight as their spine for grades 3 and 4, but my 5th grader is very well versed in American history using this style. We follow up the sections with historical fiction and non-fiction library books. You can buy these used on amazon.