Math Singapore / In All Probability: Investigations in Probability & Statistics by Celia Cuomo History/Literature Revolution for Kids: A History with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl John, Paul, George & Ben by Lane Smith George vs. George: The Revolution from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Bulla The World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster Liberty! How the Revolutionary War Began by Lucille Penner Katie's Trunk by Ann Turner We the Kids: The Preamble of the Constitution by David Catrow Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch Marie Curie's Search for Radium by Beverly Birch The Pop-Up Book of Ships by David Hawcock Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss Geography A notebook study of all of the U.S. states (roughly one state per week) Science Elemental Science: Chemistry Isaac Newton & Physics for Kids: 21 Activities by Kerrie Hollihan(Choose 16 activities) Science Sleuths: 60 Activities to Develop Science Inquiry and Critical Thinking Skills by Pam Walker

We plan on schooling Monday through Friday, year-round during 46 weeks of the year (they get a week-long break every three months, plus an extra two week vacation that can be scheduled anytime during the year). Through fourth grade, schooling only takes two hours per day; for the logic and rhetoric stages, it takes four hours per day. This doesn't include any breaks they might take in between or independent reading assignments.

By Year 4 you mean the years 1850 to present day, right? We're using Joy Hakim's History of US volumes 5 through 9 as a spine, with these supplemental texts: Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert A Nation Torn: How the Civil War Began by Delia Ray Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George Watership Down by Richard Adams Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (illust. by Robert Ingpen) Theodosia and the Serpants of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan Mill by David Macaulay The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery These aren't in chronological order, for what it's worth. :)

Band instruments are extremely expensive (even renting them costs a pretty penny), so I'd be wary if she is already demonstrating a ho-hum attitude to practicing with the piano. I know what I would do, but I understand if you're not comfortable with our philosophy. She's getting old enough where she should be able to take on more responsibility that mimics what she will be experiencing once she's out on her own, so this could be a good opportunity to instill in her a sense of work ethic and goal setting. Explain to her that money is tight and that while you'll be more than happy to support her in playing a band instrument by driving her to and from the co-op, the instrument is going to be expensive. Let her know how much buying an instrument (or renting it for two years) is going to be, and say that while it wouldn't be feasible for you to purchase it for her, if she likes she could work toward earning it this year so that she can take the lessons next year. Arranging for her to babysit for other families would probably be the easiest way for her to accomplish this. Alternatively, she could mow lawns during the summer. Or you could even set up some "special" chores for her to do around the house that give her credits (so that she would need to earn X number of credits in order to be able to learn the instrument) -- however, I don't like this one because it'd be too easy for her to cheat a little bit and it wouldn't be REAL work since she wouldn't be working for money from other people. This would be an effective exercise because it would truly gauge just how much she wants to learn a band instrument and it would give her a tangible goal to reach (plus a little extra spending money or savings with whatever is left over). If you were simply to deny her being able to learn a band instrument, in the future she could look back and say, "Wow, I wish my mom had really listened to me because that's something I truly wanted to do," -- on the contrary, the worst she will be able to say is, "Wow, my mom gave me the chance to learn that in exchange for some babysitting on weekends, and I regret not taking her up on that deal now."

I'm not familiar with all the programs your daughter has been using, so I'm afraid I won't be the best of help in being able to spot the major gaps you're concerned with. Here are our major plans for eighth grade, using the WTM method of teaching the years 1850 - present day and physics: History/Literature Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert Volume 5: Liberty for All? by Joy Hakim Volume 6: War, Terrible War Volume 7: Reconstruction and Reform Volume 8: An Age of Extremes Volume 9: War, Peace, and All That Jazz Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Watership Down by Richard Adams Science Basic Physics: A Self-Teaching Guide by Karl Kuhn Physics, Fun, and Beyond by Valadares (fun projects) Great Physicists by William Cropper (biographies) Logic Discovery of Deduction: An Introduction to Formal Logic by Larsen

I'm interested to hear other what other people are doing, as well! Here is some of what we're doing by grade (excluding what has already been suggested): First Grade The five senses of the human body 8 systems of the human body (skeletal, immune, etc.) The parts of a plant and flower (phylem, stamen, etc.) Types of trees, types of clouds, types of animal habitats Characteristics of mammals, reptiles, fish, insects Second Grade The first paragraph of the Magna Carta The four cardinal virtues of Stoic philosophy (wisdom, courage, justice, temperance) Third Grade The beginning of the Declaration of Independence The Preamble of the Constitution The first group of elements from the Periodic Table Fourth Grade Excerpts from Robert E. Lee's letters (e.g. "If I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand.") The Gettysburg Address Excerpts from Charles Lindbergh's speeches 88 Words from Hitler's Mein Kampf

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that! RS4K was what we were initially planning on using, but one of my major concerns is the same as yours, that it's much too short. I didn't even think about how much it'd add up to when buying the lab book, teacher's manual, etc.

Paige, how would you compare Elemental Science to the Real Science 4 Kids series? I think I saw on your blog at one point that you didn't like RS4K, I'm interested to hear your critique.

If you're feeling burnt out, no matter what curriculum you try, it's going to seem like it's not working for your family. Take a deep breath and introspect about what the real problem here might be. We have a saying that no science is better than bad science. If you're feeling impatient, frustrated or just plain too tired to do science in an engaging way but you try to do it anyway, your energy is just going to rub off on your kids. It will make them more likely to misbehave and cause you to become even more irritable. They probably won't retain much of what you're desperately trying to teach them, and it may even cause them to lose their love of science in the long run. How often do you teach science? Maybe you should relegate it to just twice a week, or even once a week. You may even want to take a little break altogether and come back to science in a few weeks. Once you've rested up a bit and recharged your batteries, you will be looking forward to those hands-on projects as much as your kids and you will be able to find the solutions you need to make it something everyone can enjoy. Just my two cents. Good luck!

The Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson is a fantastic series that begins in the Dark Ages and moves up to Victorian times. You can watch it on YouTube. :)

For early grades, we're mostly using direct or indirect re-tellings of classics for children. :) First Grade: Psyche and Cupid by Charlotte Craft (and Craft's other books); Pesephone and the Pomegranate by Kris Waldherr; other illustrated myths and legends for children Second Grade: The Lady and the Lion by Jacqueline Ogburn (and Ogburn's other books); Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault (illustrated by Fred Marcillino); The Viking Tales by Jennie Hall; Midsummer Night's Dream retold by Bruce Coville (and Coville's other Shakespearian stories) Third Grade: We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution by David Catrow; Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss; Treasure Island by Stevenson Fourth Grade: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George; Watership Down by Richard Adams; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (illust. by Robert Ingpen) Fifth Grade: In Search of a Homeland: The Story of the Aeneid by Penelope Lively; Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff; The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff; Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster; Alexander the Great by John Gunther Sixth Grade: The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White; The Magna Carta by James Daugherty; Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett; The Age of Charlemagne by David Nicolle Seventh Grade: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy; The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas; The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas; Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe; Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift; The Last of the Mohicans by J.F. Cooper (abridged version); The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving Eighth Grade: Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle; The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein

We're planning on using Elemental Science: Biology for first grade and supplementing with these books and projects: Human Body: Hidden World by Claude Delafosse Predators: A Pop-Up Book by Lucio Santoro Grow-A-Frog Live Bug Garden Transparent Ant Farm Grow A Lily Pad Eye Like Stickers: Animals (and other sets) My First Weather Kit My First Science Kit: The Science of Color Solar Print Kit

Our rule of thumb is to spend three weeks per book. Some books are going to take longer, other books are more akin to long essays and could take as little as a week, but three weeks appears to be a good estimate. The average number of total books we're planning for high schoolers per year hovers around 18. Around four of those will be of purely literary value (fiction without historical overtones), four of those will be science focused (e.g. The Age of Wonder or The Story of Science), and the rest will consist of literature that is historical.

Up until high school, we're not forcing them to finish a book they truly dislike. We want to foster a love of reading in those early years without associating unsavory experiences with books. For high school, however, things become a little more regimented because they are so close to becoming adults. What sets adults apart from children is that adults exert the willpower to do things that might not be particularly fun or which they might not most want to do at that moment. If they go to college or get a job without having regularly been challenged before to do things they dislike, they are going to have a really hard time adjusting to the real world. There's more to reading a book than just doing it because it's fun and engaging -- sometimes you read something that is difficult to understand, whose characters are unsympathetic, the themes of which you virulently disagree with, etc. not because reading is a simply entertaining diversion, but because the toil of reading a challenging book ultimately improves your mind. At least, that's the prepared speech I give myself when I'm wading through a particularly difficult book. ;) My top five classic selections are: Meditations, Marcus Aurelius The Prince, Machiavelli Les Miserables, Victor Hugo Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Walden, Thoreau

It might be a good idea to specify what kind of political theme you're looking for. The Handmaid's Tale was required reading in public school when I was 14, and I found it to be very sexually graphic, contain a lot of foul language, and it conveys extremely anti-religious and anti-conservative messages. I'm an atheist and even I think it's way over the top. Of course, if you know what you're getting into before you start reading it with your kids and you make it known that it's more of a "case study" of ideas, it could be useful. I think it's important to discuss political fiction with your kids so that they don't just swallow whatever pill the author is prescribing, but actually ask important questions like, "What was the author was trying to say about our society today? Who are the antagonists supposed to represent? In what ways might the author's opinions about human nature or opposing ideologies be flawed?" Whether we read something that is in some way supportive of our worldview or opposed to it, we always try to approach it from as careful and studied analysis as we can. For what it's worth, this kind of dialogue was completely absent in public school; when we read The Handmaid's Tale, the ideas presented in the book were taken for granted as absolutely true, and the analysis was limited to talking about the technical aspects of writing (foreshadowing, imagery, etc.). One of my favorite political novels is V for Vendetta. Other similar titles you might want to look into are A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, and Watchmen. All of these have explicit violence or sex to varying degrees, so be sure to look into them for yourself first to make sure they don't conflict with what you think is appropriate for your age group. Personally, I think it's not as much about the amount of graphic violence or sex in a book that's harmful -- it's the combination of graphic themes with not talking to your kid about how those themes should be dealt with. Hope this helps. EDIT: Although it's not science fiction, I'd recommend this book with subtle political undertones: Watership Down by Richard Adams. It's fantastic.

We're going to be using The Geography Book by Caroline Arnold. :)

We're thinking about using The Geography Book: Activities for Exploring, Mapping and Enjoying Your World by Caroline Arnold.

We're going to be doing Elemental Science with these additional books and projects: Predators: A Pop-Up Book by Lucio Santoro Human Body: Hidden World by Claude Delafosse Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up by Sabuda My First Weather Kit My First Science Kit: The Science of Color Grow-A-Frog Live Bug Garden Transparent Ant Farm Grow A Lily Pad Solar Print Kit

History/Literature: A Nation Torn: How the Civil War Began by Delia Ray The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George Watership Down by Richard Adams (read-aloud) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (illust. by Robert Ingpen) Theodosia and the Serpants of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan Mill by David Macaulay Science (Physics): Real Science-4-Kids Physics Level 1 Darwin & Evolution for Kids: 21 Activities by Kristan Lawson Thomas Edison for Kids: 21 Activities by Laurie Carlson Wright Brothers for Kids: 21 Activities by Mary Kay Carson Gizmos and Gadgets by Jill Frankel Hauser

My husband had a somewhat similar experience. His parents' homeschooling was more like unschooling, and because math is by its nature more difficult than history or science, they just didn't take the time to make sure he was up to snuff. They got a little bit back on the ball when he was in high school, but the highest math he learned was algebra by the time he graduated. That said, he went on graduate first in his class with a degree in astrophysics (very math intensive), and then graduate with honors in a master's degree in mathematics. Now, would he have benefited had his parents been more rigorous? Yes. But did it screw him up for life? No. Even in the worst of circumstances, only learning the very basics of math made him on par with his peers who went to public school. Just remember that even when you feel like you're failing, your kid is getting ten times the education of 90% of the population who go to public school! And what makes you different than my husband's parents is that you realize this early what the reality is -- their strong points and weak points and what you might want to do to change things up. Never forget that no matter how bad things were yesterday or how much you might feel things have gotten out of control, tomorrow is a new day. You can always choose to do things differently and start fresh. :)

I recently discovered that Harvard has an extension school which admits students no matter what their academic background and has no prerequisites. It doesn't matter what you scored on the SAT (or if you've even taken the SAT). No transcripts are required whatsoever. The extension school was created as a kind of experimental program, one where any person can enroll and earn a degree as long as they work hard. All the courses can be completed online, with the caveat that one semester must be spent at the physical college (most people just rent an apartment over the summer to finish up). Most undergraduate courses there cost less than $1000, so a full 32 course undergraduate degree costs considerably less than one year of school in many prestigious traditional 4 year colleges. And once completed, your son or daughter will be able to say they have a degree from Harvard (it doesn't matter that they used the extension school, the degree will be the same as if they enrolled in the usual way). Courses are offered on both weekdays and weeknights, so it's easy to schedule school around work. Many courses are available online, and for the undergrad degree, only 16 credits (4 courses) are required to be taken on campus. All courses are transferable, so if your teenager just wanted to take a few courses for college credit and have them transferred to a local college, you could do that, too. The classes will be more difficult than the typical undergraduate fair at other colleges, but that's not surprising since, well, it is Harvard. To be honest, most college courses are much less rigorous than the homeschooling high school curricula of The Well-Trained Mind, anyway. I think what we're going to do is start with trying one of the basic courses in the fall of the ninth grade year; if it's too advanced, we'll know the specifics of the course difficulty and will delay it according to our child's ability. If our child excels, we'll build our "high school" curriculum around taking two to four college classes per semester (focusing on the courses they're taking and reserving homeschooling study of other subjects for the summer months). In theory, they could graduate at the age of 18. :auto: Of course, that's probably too optimistic, but at the very least our child will have earned some college credit, and it's a great alternative the typical college life (we have many objections to how removed from reality the university experience usually is).

History/Literature (400 - 1600): The Greenleaf Guide to Famous Men of the Middle Ages by R. Shearer The Greenleaf Guide of the Renaissance & Reformation by Shearer The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer The Lady & the Lion by Jacqueline K. Ogburn The Nesting Doll by Jacqueline K. Ogburn Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault and illust. by Fred Marcellino Cinderella by K.Y. Craft Sleeping Beauty by K.Y. Craft Red Wall Series by Brian Jacques Knights by Rachel Firth Castles by Stephanie Turnbull Knights & Castles: 50 Activities by Avery Hart The Viking Tales by Jennie Hall The Norman Conquest by Cyril Walter Richard the Lionheart and the Crusades by Chris Gibb Marco Polo by Demi A Medieval Feast by Aliki The Real Vikings: Craftsmen, Traders, and Fearsome Raiders by Gilda Berger Midsummer Night's Dream by Bruce Coville The Tempest by Bruce Coville Romeo & Juliet by Bruce Coville Hamlet by Bruce Coville A Coloring Book of the Middle Ages by Bellerophon Renaissance Coloring Book by Bellerophoron Science (Earth Science & Astronomy): The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space Spotter's Guide: The Night Sky by Nigel Henbest More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children by Sherwood Glowing the Dark Constellations by C.E. Thompson What is the World Made Of? Solids, Liquids and Gases by Weidner Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros Clouds by Anne Rockwell Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen Rocks and Minerals by T.D. Burns Make a Volcano Pet Tornado Cosmic Rocket Kit 3D Solar System Kit

History/Literature: The Greenleaf Guide to Famous Men of Rome by Cyndy Shearer Gilgamesh the King by Ludmila Zeman (trilogy) The Story of the Greeks by H.A. Guerber The Story of the Romans by H.A. Guerber The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfield Bodies from Ash: Life & Death in Ancient Pompeii by James Deem Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick In Search of a Homeland: The Story of the Aeneid by Penelope Lively Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster Alexander the Great by John Gunther The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff How Do You Know It's True? Science & Superstition by Hyman Ruchlis Ancient Greece! 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience... by Avery Hart Science: Science of Life: Projects for Beginning Biologists by Frank G. Bottone Born with a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Story by Jennifer Morgan It's Elementary! by Robert Winston Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Nature Journal Genes & DNA by Richard Walker and Steve Jones

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke The Social Contract by Rousseau The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (anything by Paine, actually -- his work was largely meant for farmers and is therefore extremely accessible to today's high school student) The War of Independence by Albert Marrin The American Revolution by Joseph Morton The History of US by Joy Hakim

Many of the concepts that make American history meaningful will not be really accessible to a child under the age of eight or so, in my opinion, so the fact that classical education waits until the third grade to teach American history works out pretty well. You can teach kids younger than that about American history, but beyond the very basics, the won't be able to apply the concepts very well. Aside from that, there's the issue of context. Imagine that there is an adult with amnesia who has no idea of history whatever, and the first thing you tried to teach that person about was American history. The thought process would go something like this (abbreviating 1 for the person telling the story of history, and 2 for the person with amnesia): 1: The pilgrims came from Europe and settled America... 2: Europe? What is that exactly? Why did they leave Europe? 1: Shhh! Let me explain. Where was I? Oh, yes. After a while, colonial Americans decided they wanted to declare their independence from King George -- 2: King George? 1: The King of England. 2: England? 1: That's a country in Europe. 2: *mutters something along the lines of, "Wherever that is..."* So in a way, you almost have to teach pre-American history (if only in an incomplete, poor manner) just to give America basic context. Even if you ignore these pragmatic concerns, it cannot be overlooked that America was greatly influenced by neo-classical government, literature, architecture and culture. Our national motto that was inscribed onto the seal of the United States is a quotation from Virgil's Eclogue. It really is that omnipresent in the philosophy of American sovereignty. Ancient history is directly related to the founding of our nation. Public schools do not teach American history in elementary school because they've found it to be the best method of grasping key concepts in history. They teach it because they want to create an unhealthy, underhanded sense of nationalism in young children that develops a collectivist sense of allegiance to the State. This attitude of jingoism is not born out of a sense of real national pride, but a rather hollow substitute for real scholarship and objectiveness. They further inculcate children by introducing as little world history as possible in subsequent grades. For more information about this, read the works of John Dewey and his fellow disciples on public education. Will your child be less patriotic for having not been taught American history before all else? On the contrary, it's very likely he will be more patriotic because he will have realized the greatness of our nation within a greater context of all the tyranny and confict that have come before. Your child will not be one of John Dewey's collectivist pawns; he wil be an individualist, the embodiment of the true American spirit. Denying a child the opportunity to understand context is like trying to teach someone to swim by throwing them in the Great Barrier Reef. Sure, the reef is one of the most dazzling underwater sights, but someone who cannot swim will drown in their own confusion and ineptitude before being able to enjoy it.