:iagree:Sound advice. I purchased and re-purchased Bigger Hearts. It was only successful when I made it fit our needs. For example, our 9yo reads what's intended as read-alouds independently. And although he does most, he also doesn't do every history and geography activity. Now I view the TG as a help and not a manual. I also purchased and used CTC for the art only! Lol. For me, the price tag was worth it. HOD guides are a wonderful value. We all are enjoying HOD immensely, but we don't do every single thing.

YVW. :) I hope your dd will find some joy in history with MOH.

In my humble opinion, yes. When I think back of how much history I retained from middle school, much less high school, it's an emphatic YES! The author's writing style definitely makes it more interesting than some of the traditional textbooks I drudged through in my school years. I have found a love for history while teaching my own and one of the reasons is MOH. My 12yo ds has learned a lot through her method. He does the suggested written summaries as well as the mapping. He's about half-way through the second book and although history is not his favorite subject, he's enjoying MOH. I also like how it is one source (as opposed to juggling several books) and is written chronologically. It's very orderly and concise, yet doesn't lack for extras if you want to dig deeper. As Linda and Heather suggested, flesh it out with additional literature or other resources if you like. However, I think it's meaty enough, especially if your dd is not a big history fan.

:bigear: bump

I agree completely. This is one reason we'll be looking elsewhere after Preparing. Bummer.

You could still do most of it with her! I look at the TG as suggestions, but you could tweak it to fit the needs and desires of your family.:) As you may have read in my previous post, my 9yo reads Bigger's read-alouds independently. However, we do the activities together. Just a thought...

oops

If you're looking for a Christian worldview, you might consider A Beka's 7th grade text, History of the World as a spine. You could flesh it out with good literature from online lists and catalogs. Fwiw, this is one A Beka title I've heard that dc enjoy. Of course you could skip all the tests and quizzes. They go overboard on the dates and squeeze the joy out of history in that respect.:tongue_smilie:

Thanks, Tina. I'll take a look at these as well. :)

Thank you, Becky. I'm actually using it for my 9yo 4th grader and he's in the 300 level. He is flourishing with it, and that's the very reason I'm considering it for my 12yo. However, he is so much more self-conscious about levels and grades. Maybe I could just try one Lightunit with him after he completes MUS Zeta? I typically have them working on math through the summer anyway. Thanks again for the encouragement. :)

I think we have a winner. ;) ESV it is. Thanks so much, ladies! And thanks, Carmen. I'll check out those other titles as well.

... for use in our daily studies. We have used the NIV for several years, but I've heard there are closer versions to the original text. Blessings! :)

Commiserating here, Holly. 12yo ds is presently using MUS Zeta (and he started in Gamma in 3rd), but I think he needs more review than they have. CLE is on the short list for us next year, but I'm afraid he'd test into a lower grade. [sigh]

There are several pros, but the one that stands out for me: Carrie does an exceptional job of correlating history, Bible, character, geography, and science (loosely) within the time period all in a Christ-centered manner. We are using Bigger and although I do *not* want to study a one-year sweep of world history, I'm considering their Preparing program for next year based on those same reasons. My 9yo ds in particular is really enjoying history this year and has deemed it his favorite subject. That's a sales-pitch in itself. :)

My 6th grader loved the Viking Quest Series by Lois Walfrid Johnson. It was the first time he ever read beyond what I assigned. :-D I originally bought him just the first book, but he ended up wanting to read every one of them and now we own the whole set. He also enjoyed David MacAulay's Castle. We're still in the midst of our study so I'm sure there will be more favorites to come.

We are only using CLE math at present (the 300 series), but I'm considering their language arts and reading. The reasons I like it are: It's not teacher-intensive. It's so thorough. No need to supplement! There are daily drills in a little box at the beginning of each lesson for the child to check off. They are for mastering facts through flash cards and timed drills as well as counting in different series (i.e. by 4's to 40 forwards and backwards.) The instruction immediately follows and gives a very clear explanation of new concept(s) without being overly wordy. This is followed by daily review of previously learned concepts. Also included are the quizzes and tests in this one neat and tidy package. It is not visually over-stimulating. It has plenty of white space and a nice font as well as a few black and white illustrations. The content is wholesome. Each Lightunit has a theme related to a science or social studies topic (i.e. an insect or a missionary story) that helps make math a little more interesting. And finally, it's so affordable! My only complaint: I wish it wouldn't have taken 12 years to discover it! ;)

Could it still be that he's just so little? I see in your siggie that he's only 6. Both of our middle boys were 7 before they had them down pat. I'm partial though. We love CLE Math here! ;-)

Welcome Cheryl! It's so nice to have you here. :) Agreeing with the others that MOH would probably be a bit heavy for those ages. However, I love the looks of LLB's ancient history study that incorporates SOTW. It will help give the Biblical history along with SOTW and be much more enjoyable for your littles. We used Biblioplan for a couple of years and while I liked it, it did feel a bit disjointed at time when trying to tie in history and the Bible. It does offer a wonderful correlated reading list though as well as visuals if you were to use the encyclopedia suggestions. For simplicity's sake and since your dc are so young, you may even consider one of the SOTW schedules from Paula's Archives. There are two there that incorporate wonderful children's Bibles.

Okay, after reading Faithe's post, I have to confess. We do use CLE Math and Math U See as written. Guess I'm somewhat conventional after all... :001_rolleyes:

:lol: Lol, Willow. You're so funny. Your post gave me a good chuckle. I sometimes aspire to be more conventional, but isn't that the nature of many homeschoolers? We want to do our way. I just can't imagine putting each of my dc in a box (not literally of course) like that. They are so uniquely created and I've found through trial and error that while one curriculum might bring a dc great joy, the very same one might produce groans or tears from another.

Bumping, as I'm curious too. :)

It's a bit pricey, but Rainbow Science. It's targeted at 12-14yos and his writing style is engaging. He also includes plenty of hands-on lab exercises. It's on our short list for next year.

Are you looking to combine your dc? If so, TOG is probably your best route, but as others have said, it does require planning on your part and you already know the cost. When I combined our middle boys, we used Biblioplan. However, there are no discussion questions and I found myself trying to make connections and fumbling because frankly, I need the help! ;) We've moved on to Heart of Dakota's Bigger Hearts for our 9yo ds and Mystery of History for the 12yo. The 12yo is really enjoying MOH, and while there are not discussion questions per se, it is written in a very conversational style and the author's knowledge of history as it relates to the Bible is tremendous. He orally narrates to me and it has naturally prompted great discussions. There are also literature suggestions, tests and quizzes, and many activity suggestions. I love that everything is combined in one volume, albeit large. :tongue_smilie: HOD's Bigger incorporates questions relating to Bible, history, and character as well as extension projects in geography and notebooking. The science is also loosely tied to the history. It is very homeschool friendly and truly Christ-centered as are all of the HOD programs. Their Preparing may be a good fit for your oldest two dc. No matter what you use, if you choose to combine it'll definitely require tweaking to fit your personal needs. I have not used TOG, but considered it at one time. It was just so overwhelming to me. Many on the WTM boards have used it successfully though. ETA: We tried Truthquest for a few weeks and while I loved her Christian worldview commentary, I found like I was drowning in a sea of choices with respect to the books suggested. I personally couldn't decide what to use. If your decisive, TQ may be a great option for you, but for me it was too much sugar for a nickel. ;-) Hope you can find a good fit for you and yours,

I'm so sorry to hear that, abbeyej. :confused: My experiences with them have only been positive. In fact, an item was broken in one of their history kits we received and they promptly replaced it.

For those who don't already know, the Hands & Hearts History Kits are back! They were unable to offer them for quite some time due to tight small business constraints, but they are available again. I received an email notification about it and wanted to let everyone know not only because they offer a unique and quality product, but also because of a need they have. Many of you know their youngest ds has had serious health problems and have been hit hard financially for some time. Read more about that here. Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!