I planned on literature, too. Finding good whole-world literature made the load just too heavy with dd's outsourced English class in the mix...and her other classes :lol: She definitely prefers the nonfiction, and she still gets the flavor of each civilization through it. I figure she'll probably get a lot of the Greek and Roman lit in future English classes (if she goes with the Lukeion options).

We are not integrating literature but nonfiction instead, using diaries, letters, government documents, writings of historians who wrote at the time period we're studying, religious and philosophical pieces, and so on. We started with The Human Record: Sources of Global History http://www.amazon.com/Human-Record-Sources-Global-History/dp/0495913073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424197217&sr=8-1&keywords=the+human+record+sources+of+global+history (volume 1 to 1500; there are newer and older editions of each volume). For China we are using Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Civilization-Sourcebook-2nd-Ed/dp/002908752X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424197379&sr=1-2&keywords=patricia+ebrey

Wow, thanks for those suggestions! I think she might just want to stick to North Africa instead of the whole continent, but I will keep that in mind (side note---I found an interesting college textbook also called The African Experience on Amazon). Our library actually has the African Experience series. I found it by searching the title instead of 'Great Courses' or 'Teaching Company'. The Barbarians one sounds fascinating. I wonder if I could flesh it out with primary sources. This kid does not like reading the literature. She prefers to read nonfiction, like government papers, writings of historians like Sima Qian, religious and philosophical pieces, letters, and diaries. Huh, I just realized that the book sitting right next to me, The Human Record: Sources of Global History to 1500,would give me a good starting point :D

Thanks! Yeah, we'd be eliminating the religion portion---I figured I'd have to do some editing of the syllabus if we use Kolbe. The tests seem a bit busy-work-y with matching and fill-ins...but I wouldn't have to write them so that's a big plus! I want to use the macaw edition so that we can use the ipad version :lol: $15 is very attractive!

I'm still loosely following the 52/365 calendar (I skip around in the month). Almost all of February is done; I just need to declutter the cookbooks!

Icing and stretching today. Yay. Going down steps hurts. :( Maybe I'll get to shovel if we get significant accumulation this morning. Dh is out with the snowblower now.

It's still snowing lazily :) Dh is out with the snowblower---if he didn't have an appointment w a client, he would work from home today. Poor dh. So up ahead: --school (I do chem, math, history, AP Human Geography w dd) --gentle stretching/exercise because my left Achilles is sore; icing --house things as usual --make a fun dessert for Fat Tuesday :D --edit dd's scholarship essay if she wishes; have her edit for a second draft --some emails --research for next school year --no ballet tonight because the school district is closed (the studio follows that closing schedule just for simplicity's sake--kids come from a wide radius) :grouphug: Jean :grouphug: Tammy, wow, four already!

Since dd has distinct interests, we're going with those! Ancient history of the entire world and AP Human Geography for ninth grade History of ???? (last night she suggested the history of North Africa or Arabic-speaking lands) and AP Psych for tenth grade Eleventh and twelfth are up in the air! She'll need US History on her transcript for college. Her eighth grade course was excellent. We may do a quick run-through of US history again (as a semester, compacted as above) and have her follow that with the SAT subject test (thus covering those schools who want to see SAT II scores). Dd has interest in working for the government in some capacity. If so, I want her to be exposed to US government in high school before a college poli sci course. Last night she came across the description of AP Comparative Government---her entire face lit up :lol:

:lol: Yes, I need help with planning next year! (I have to have a transcript done soon. Yikes.)

Yeah, with her proposed schedule not year, the honors-level from Kolbe would be the maximum. Campbell is just out (older dd used it). I really want something that comes with tests for that class. I'll be busy with psychology, history, environmental science, and potentially calculus. I know my limits!

Color me green with envy! This is the only weakness in our otherwise-fantastic library system. For history we get Foundations of Western Civilizations (snooze), the pyramids one, Emperors of Rome, Great Battles of something classical, Famous Greeks, and all the Daileader Middle Ages series. Not much for a student interested in the whole world!

But not everyone takes all three flavors of the science APs. (Here I am speaking about kids I know) Students going into nursing and pre-med take AP Bio and AP Chem. Prospective engineering kids take (at a minimum) AP physics, with most also taking AP Chem. My son took both Physics C courses (he's a comp sci major) without taking a plain old physics class. My older daughter took AP Bio (she's an English-French major) after taking biology. Ds doubled up on science his senior year (dd doubled up on English her senior year). Ds: bio, chem, Physics C Mechanics (full year), Physics C Electricity & Magnetism (full year, senior), AP Environmental Science (full year, senior) Dd: bio, chem, physics (her school didn't offer Physics B, the old algebra-based physics, now split into Physics 1 and 2), AP Bio

I did something to my left Achilles while w the trainer this morning ;( Totally out of the blue. So he adjusted, finished my session with some killer core work (and compliments for my strength :D), and had me stretch for half an hour. Ice for me, yay.

We own this one :D but haven't used it yet. Dd was the one who asked me to purchase it. As it is only 12 hours long (24 lectures), it will be used as part of a larger course at some time in the next three years.

EasyWDW is the best planning site. Start with the crowd calendar(s), move on to the Cheat Sheets for each park. The blog is definitely snarky and full of great photography. The discussion forums are populated by genuinely nice people who may be a little obsessive ;) And everything is free :D http://www.easywdw.com

I don't want to jinx anything re snow so I'm keeping my mouth (uh, fingers) quiet. :lol: Sort of a hybrid-ish day today. Normally it would be a day off for dd because dh is off (Pres Day is one of the days the stock and bond markets are closed), but because she was sick last week she has stuff to do. She'll have to work on this week's English, have an AP Human Geography study session w her cousin, and write the scholarship essay for Concordia Language Villages (dh is having her do the application even though we doubt we'd get any money (though Arabic does have its own special scholarship monies)). My things --plan week --grocery run for produce --prep for the study session --training at the gym 11am --request library books for next week --usual daily things and Monday chores, including laundry Have a good day :) Jean, I hope you get to see a doctor today!

:eek:

I may have to spend quality time with gardening websites tomorrow. My exercise---walking up and down stairs periodically to check on space heaters and the frozen master bath pipes (cold--sink and shower, which are in separate little rooms and are not back-to-back). The shower resolved at 2 pm and the sink, finally, at 7:30 :eek We forgot to drip the faucet last night---it likes to freeze under 10F. And I did my core Pilates stuff :) Training tomorrow!

Making some changes already! Sure wish I could change text color on the ipad---that would be easier! I thought this was the definite :lol: Dd will now be spending four weeks at Concordia Language Villages this summer, earning another credit in Arabic. She will start taking Arabic at the university in the fall, but we won't know which level until after the camp finishes in mid-August. Same In order to do the Arabic, she has given up on the university calculus this year. She'll do AP Calc with me or Derek Owens, not AoPS. It's both! Thinking Miller-Levine 'macaw' ipad edition with the Kolbe syllabus (if the new version is out by then) for first semester, and AP Envi Sci for the second. (Both in January because she won't have Arabic during the university's winter session.) English and history are still under consideration. I forgot to list Science Olympiad as another extracurricular. And next year she wants to try NACLO (North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad)---she had a conflict on the prelim day for this year.

Thanks for that! The LanguagePod101.com has a nice variety of unusual languages, perfect for dd :)

Yeah, we did Gilgamesh with those Annenberg resources---excellent! We're up to the series of lectures comparing the Romans and Han China. This should be good for dd since she had the intensive and hands-on history o' China last summer while we were there :lol:

Thanks to Lisa's guidance :D we are have a whole-world focus for ancient history this year. The course is structured around the Great Courses "History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective". We are using these books over multiple lectures (plus other books used for just one lecture each): The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Andrea Overfield The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The Ancient World, Beginnings-100 CE The Great Empires of the Ancient World, Thomas Harrison (ed.) Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile, Bob Brier The Ancient Greek World: People and Places, Nigel Rodgers Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Patricia Buckley Ebrey Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, Patricia Buckley Ebrey (ed.) The Ancient Roman World: People and Places, Nigel Rodgers The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome, Nigel Rodgers I bought the first two books; all others are from our library system. The Chinese books are used in several undergraduate Chinese history classes (I read lots of syllabi in planning) and are excellent in combination.

Jane, we give board books for baby gifts, too :) I think combining it with a gc to Target and Panera (or similar, depending on where they live) would be a lovely gift for the parents. I greatly appreciated the food gift certificates we were given when we were really struggling. My grandmother used to send us a check at our anniversary marked to be spent on a restaurant date :)

I have some questions about the Kolbe syllabus (not the online course). I looked at the sample available which helped a bit. 1. Are the projects all papers? 2. What do you do about a midterm or final? 3. What do you think of the online components? Useful? Busy work? 4. Has anyone yet used the syllabus with the ipad version of the newer Macaw book? (I read that Kolbe is working on the syllabus for Macaw but right now only Dragonfly is available.) We are going to need a fully-planned biology for next year as dd's schedule may be crazy heavy with other subjects. Biology is her least-liked science. Something attractive (like the ipad version w a Macaw Kolbe syllabus) would be more likely to "get done" with a minimum of complaining. Thanks :)

Dh went to mass w/o me (he has to lector). I get to babysit the pipes. Yay. Dd just wandered down, wondering why we didn't wake her up lol Yesterday we pre-ordered bagels from Panera for pickup today. They're always out of everything bagels by the time we get there after the 10am. I predict another pot of decaf in the (extremely near) future ;)