I dropped gluten and it is now manageable

We just finished Amanda Bennett's Unit Study on Dolphin's and my kids LOVED it!

My 7 year old boy LOVES the original TinTin books...I found them at Barnes and Noble...the font on what we have is kind of small though...but maybe bc it isn't a crazy amount of words, he doesn't get overwhelmed? I do know he loves them!

We LOVED it! It was open and go and the schedule meant we got it done! My daughter retained a TON of information bc of that notebook!!

Sorry I didn't get back sooner...I do think it will keep the interest of my 5th grader bc the way it is written. I will expect her notebook to be more detailed, more thoughtful, but it is open ended so this is easy for her to do...PLUS...in Volume II, there is a space in the back for written narrations. This was not in Volume I...so I really liked this addition as well. I may have my older do some "research" as we go along...we had started this in HOD and I would like to continue on that a bit. There are projects that Angela has them do throughout the year as well...and again with these, I will just expect a bit more with my 5th grader. And my 5th grader is my child who LOVES LOVES LOVES history...she listened in on all of Volume I bc she just loves it and begged to do Volume II all together this year. I have both Volume I and II notebooks here...if you have specific questions, I'd be happy to look through them.

I used Volume I last year with my 2nd grade daughter...she LOVED it...she made the journal all hers and really retained a LOT! This year I will be doing Volume II with my 5th, 3rd, and 1st grader. I like it bc it gets done! My kids really enjoy it (everyone ended up listening to it last year). I can add if I want to, but if I don't add anything...it's okay and they are still learning...there's plenty there.

We did this last year/this year...my older daughter had 2 4th grade years...she barely made the cut off as well and as we looked ahead it just wasn't what we wanted for her future. But we didn't do anything at half pace...I don't think she would have gone for that...we just did different things...or added in some grammar/math etc when we needed...she's ahead in some things...but that takes the pressure off me...I'm very happy we did it. It was absolutely the right decisions for that daughter!

I really think you have to start at the beginning...you can go through the first few levels quickly...but you have to get all the rules along the way. FWIW...I did start my fourth grader in level 1 earlier this year...the rules are helping her a TON...she was able to both level 1 and 2 very quickly...I chose to slow down a bit for level 3.

We LOVE A Living History of Our World

We used the astronomy notebook this year and it was AWESOME! I never had to think (this is a big bonus to me!)...it was well laid out on what she needed to do each day. She really enjoyed it and was able to remember a TON!!! I have never looked at the free ones so I can't compare....but I highly recommend the notebooks!!

I know you are giving HOD a run and you do need to give it a go to be fair to yourself...but this is just from someone who LOVES HOD...on paper....but implementing it in my house didn't fit my family....they wanted sit down on the couch cuddle up with me time and I couldn't be in 3 guides in 3 different time periods...I lost what mind I had left :lol:....we dropped it earlier this year and we are just settling in to what works now...which has to include...what I like, but what I am also capable of doing...you could check out Queens A Living History of Our World...I did Volume I this year with my 2nd dd and everyone is doing Volume II next year...it is simple when it needs to be and I can throw in extra books on a day I have time or we are interested... But FWIW...I totally feel your pain and frustration...you want to do what's right...that's why you have them home, but reality meets you square in the face every time you wake up! We live in a small town where the school is just down the road...I mentioned to my children....several times this year...to put on your shoes and get walking....;)

This was a new find for me...so I thought I would share...I just got the K-2 US geography to play around with this summer...but this is a link to the Grades 3-5 one... http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_28_30&products_id=70

We have used LHTH, Little Hearts, Beyond, Bigger and my oldest daughter started Preparing this year...for her...she HATED being "excluded" from what the other kids were doing as Preparing starts to lead them to independent work...I like HOD...but it isn't what I want for my family...I had 3 school aged kids this year...three different history periods...my head was spinning and I didn't feel like I had time to get deeper in something when there was interest...it works or it doesn't...I'm glad there is so much out there to choose from!

Thanks...hope I get one...

I did Volume I with my 2nd grade daughter this year and she fell in love with the journal part of it (who knew??) I also realized that when I was working with my older daughter or younger son about something in history, she could add to it if we had studied it in A Living History. She REALLY knew the information. And for this child....that's amazing! So as I looked to this year and really wanted everyone back on the same page of history (we had been doing HOD), I decided A Living History was the way to go. It was the one thing I felt we always got done and that she had TRULY learned something from. So I picked up Volume II at the Cincinnati conference. It was MORE amazing than Volume I...I will be using it with a 1st, 3rd, and 5th grader next year. So really, yes I think it is enough for your 4/5 grader. In Volume II there are pages in back for written narrations for each chapter (you could just add this for Volume I). I also plan on adding a bit of research for each chapter that she is responsible, as well as some extra books. There are planned review weeks as well where Angela gives ideas of fun ways to review. Again, this is a place where I can have my older daughter go just a little deeper. You can make the journals fit your need bc it is so open ended. So if I had my older daughter doing Volume I...I just have asked her to be more "thoughtful" in what she was writing....which she tends to do anyway bc she loves history. Volume I covers a great amount of time so Angela doesn't go far into each topic, I would probably have gone farther with my older child or if I wasn't trying to pull off 3 different history periods :banghead: I hope this helps, if you have more specific questions, I have Volume I and II sitting right here....;)