Thank you! We're moving into LAoW right now with my ds, and I've been casting about for what to follow it with. This looks really good!

Okay, I feel better now. They are in charge of their own rooms, thankfully, and this week dd12 suddenly decided to completely clean hers! I am in the midst of getting them to do more around the house -- I leave them a list each day when I'm at work that they need to complete before I get home. Thanks. I too feel that since it is temporary, and they'll likely keep on with some of the stuff they are studying anyway, I could back off for a few weeks, and just focus primarily on getting organized. I have what I think is a good plan ready to go, as far as maintenance, I just need to declutter to get there! Thankfully our house isn't dirty or anything like that, just disorganized. :tongue_smilie: And yes, I can see an ebb and flow. I need to keep that in mind! Like you, we just have a lot going on now, and so it could stand to lighten up for a couple of weeks or so, and then we can dive back in.

We're definitely not going to finish (this year): The Lord of the Rings. Heck, we haven't even finished The Hobbit (about halfway through) or Any real science or history program And my house remains perpetually cluttered, a tad on the messy side, at least more so than I would really like. I obviously need to re-prioritize a bit. So I have a crazy idea (when don't I?). We're going camping this weekend, just a little jaunt to a nearby favorite park campground, and then when we come back, I am thinking we might: Do just math, writing, and Hobbit reading every day (okay, 4-5 days a week) for the rest of March and spend the rest of "lesson" time getting the house actually organized. And clean. And uncluttered, meaning we've got to get rid of a bunch of stuff still. I have many books, homeschooling and otherwise, that we've never read, filling shelves I could otherwise use. And outgrown clothes that need to be donated. And a garage that needs a real overhaul. Garden beds to be put in. The list goes on, and on, and on..... And we have a sleepover to prepare for. Then, April and May, and into June, we can hit the books a lot harder, because we'll be organized. (I can hear you saying "in your dreams!") And I think we'll tackle The Lord of the Rings in the fall. DS and I are sort of drooling over this, (combined with British history) so that would be a good time to do so*. In the meantime, we may work in some of the "extra" books I wanted to tackle with a Tolkien study, books that influenced his writing. I'd also really like to actually finish reading A Little History of the World aloud for a general overview. We're also working on more structured versus more unstructured plans for fall. With ds hitting high school, we are a wee bit indecisive about fall plans (gee, what a surprise!). So yes, I am slacker mom extraordinaire. Wish me luck with my plans and hopes! *IF we don't end up doing The Big History Project + lots of additional reading/reflecting

We might end up going a lot more structured than I thought. Ds is interested in either The Big History Project + additional reading + integrated sciences, OR LLfLoTR + British history + integrated sciences. And dd is talking about wanting to have me read LoTR aloud, and maybe reading (herself) Our Island Story, OR doing an American history year + corresponding lit (she loves Patrica Beatty, for example). And she's considering a real biology program to follow up on this year's loosely knit zoology. I just don't know with these kids!

I knew I had something wrong there!

Okay, I know where I want my dd to go with writing in 8th and 9th grades, but 7th is throwing me for a loop. Right now she is using Diana Waring's Writing Skills (from EPS), and it is working well overall. BUT, I am not sure how to get her from here (where she is now) to there (future plans). I hope to use Thinking in Threes with her in 8th grade, likely along with a few other resources, and the Lively Art of Writing in 9th. But what to use in the meantime? I've looked at IEW, Jump In, Wordsmith, and so many other programs my eyes are crossing. Any suggestions?

NM. Edited original post.

What worked well... *Thinking in Threes (ds) *EPS' Writing Skills (dd) *BraveWriter inspired projects with both *Jacobs Elementary Algebra (ds) (after an AoPS fail) *Lots of reading aloud with both *Having a quiet reading time every day for all three of us to read our own books *Online stuff--Coursera, edX, etc. (for ds mainly, some for dd) *Letting them lead their own educations, mostly, outside of math and writing For fall/what didn't work/etc... *Ds will move into The Lively Art of Writing. I think it will be a good follow-up to Thinking in Threes! *Dd is having issues with Saxon, similar issues with Math Mammoth. So we are (right now, not waiting until next year), pulling out Life of Fred, which I can supplement with MM as needed. Ds says he might look at LoF too, but he's enjoying Jacobs a fair amount. *I'm stuck on writing for dd for fall. She's a bit behind due to just getting up to fluency with reading, so I'm looking at programs like IEW's Fables, Myths, & Fairy Tales, or Jump In maybe??? *I think we'll stick with interest-led for everything but the skills areas. I know, I "should" be more worried about ds since he'll be in ninth grade, but he's going the cc route in late high school rather than regular at home high school, so I have backup there in covering his General Ed requirements, which means we can be a little more relaxed than I had thought over the next couple of years! *We'll keep up with daily quiet reading time!

I try to incorporate art, music, and such through day-to-day life. I print out pictures from the Artchives, and hang them on the fridge. We listen to classical music while we work, and both kids listen to music of their choice while doing math. We go to concerts, performance poetry readings, planetarium shows, museums, parks, etc. And we discuss things. I show them budgeting through grocery shopping, nutrition through meal planning, etc. We read a lot, and discuss what we have read. None of it is formal, but they are learning. I too have a list of what I want them to learn over the course of homeschooling. I may only have 4 years left with one, and 6 with the other at this point, but that is still a lot of time overall to finish what I have started. I keep lists of books I think we should read, science topics to be addressed, projects I would like to do with them, and so forth, though more often, as they are getting older, they have ideas for all this too. And so much of it can be integrated -- geography, art, and music within history; logic and art with math... I don't feel a need to categorize each topic separately. At this point, I plan each year with math and language arts, and the rest falls into place. Is it a "perfect" education? Probably not, but it is one that allows for them to go deeper, or to skim the surface as needed.

My ds wants a break from physics to explore chemistry. Suggestions for a brief-ish unit on this topic? Thanks!

Oak Meadow has a high school geography that looks intriguing, and has hands-on options for many assignments.

:001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub:

:bigear:

Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year, and other books by David M. Carroll We are really enjoying a strange, slightly outdated book... An Everyday History of Somewhere: Being the True Story of Indians, Deer, Homesteaders, Potatoes, Loggers, Trees, Fishermen, Salmon, and Other Living Things in the Backwoods of Northern California. So far in it, we have read about trees, local Native American culture, deer, and coyotes. Nicely written too! here's a link to a Goodreads list of "Best" Natural History books: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/28410.Best_of_Natural_History

If you don't mind vintage books (really well written ones), you could also use Landmark and World Landmark books. Here's a link to a good list of them, done both chronologically and a bit by civilization: http://the-classical-homeschool.blogspot.com/2012/04/landmark-books-in-chronological-order.html

We're planning to use The Sciences: An Integrated Approach - also addresses some biology, earth science, etc. I think it's a college text, but very approachable.

I wonder if any of these are any good (though I love the decription of the one Rose posted): http://www.amazon.com/Epic-History-Biology-Anthony-Serafini/dp/073820577X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423852910&sr=8-1&keywords=history+of+biology http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Book-Epigenetics-Milestones-Sterling/dp/1454910682/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423852910&sr=8-2&keywords=history+of+biology http://www.amazon.com/History-Life-Sciences-Revised-Expanded/dp/0824708245/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1423852910&sr=8-3&keywords=history+of+biology http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Biology-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0385017200/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1423852910&sr=8-5&keywords=history+of+biology

I think it is articles/events like this that tend to give homeschoolers a bad name. Strange case! http://news.yahoo.com/alecia-pennington-cant-prove-shes-american-even-exists-150312826.html

I was going to recommend this!!!

The biggest help for me this year is that my dyslexic dd is reading! She has turned into a "Mom, can I please read in bed a little longer?" kid at last. That's my bright spot this month! And it's good that we have math to suit both kiddos, and writing.

:D

I am almost sure that ds will be doing The Big History Project in the fall, but am also considering Hakim's Story of Science book(s) for history, using something else for actual science. I have found plenty of posts on the WTM boards about them as a science program (which many felt would be too light without the Quest guides, etc.), but what about reading through them for history? Just thinkin' aloud... :unsure:

My mom has a no solicitors sign like this one. A realtor came to her door the other day, said "Cute sign! I'm just in the area..blah, blah, blah" and then she seemed baffled when we pointed to the sign, and closed the door.

Write On Writing Skills (EPS, Diana Hanbury King) Writing Tales

Watching this thread with interest, as I've got an average rising 7th grader, who will someday be an average rising 8th grader. She's bright enough, just not motivated.