Yes, you absolutely can use SOTW as a stand-alone program. But it can be so much more!! The AG is worth the maps alone - doing mapwork with every topic over the years builds an understanding of Geography that is naturally integrated with the history of those areas. I also appreciated her literature suggestions. Many families never get to the supplemental activities - but for us, they are key. They can be a lot to keep up with on your own, so I have chosen to turn SOTW into a class with other homeschooling families - it ensures that I follow through and actually make it happen. I have found that the hands-on experiences become an excellent memory aid. Years later we still remember Fort Necessity, because we built it and acted out the battle! I remember the Gordian Knot & Alexander the Great because we learned how to tie trick knots, we chopped down a British Flagpole when we were learning about New Zealand, we burried a heart under a tree when we were learning about Livingstone... many of these activities were things that I came up with myself, but the Activity Guide was a good starting point. We also have a themed snack and learn more about the culture of these areas with song, dance, games, etc. Now that we are heading through the cycle again, we will incorporate a lot more supplemental reading, and integrate it into our writing program. History was never very interesting to me as a subject in PS, it is now my son's favorite subject and I am passionate about it too! I will admit that I am Type A about this program, and not everyone wants to put that much energy into it... but it can be so much fun and very rewarding. I think that the Activity Book is a great product for parents that want more enrichment but may not have the energy to come up with it all themselves.

I did not let my ds9 read past book 4, when many of his peers zoomed on and read them all (a thought which horrifies me - they contain disturbing concepts - not to mention that they will not appreciate them fully at this age!). I think that the first two books are OK for younger ages if the child is not too sensitive. I am reading book 1 now to my ds5, wish that I had waited a year or two, he is enjoying it but he would appreciate it more if we had waited. We LOVE doing Hogwarts Summer Correspondence School every summer!! We use it as a fun way to work in some light academic work and mostly just have fun - botany, latin, chemistry, biology, can be easily disguised as Hogwarts lessons. Gosh, I should try substituting HP characters and elements into our Logic curriculum this summer!

Hardcover all the way for us! They last through multiple children (in my case, very active boys who destroy everything), and can be thrown in a bag with other books without worrying about the paper covers getting bent up. If you are a sit-at-home at-a-desk type homeschooling family that always puts books right back on the shelf when you are done, then you can get away with paperback. We are more of a read a chapter of history in the shade of a tree while younger brother gets pushed in the swing sort of family, so we love sturdy books!

Better Chinese looks great, so glad that you mentioned it! My 9yr old has been learning Mandarin for 4 years. My 5yr old just started this year. We have made the most progress with private tutors, but they are expensive. The most economical progress has been made by attending a Chinese School for children at our local University that meets on Sundays. We started out with Rosetta Stone but found that after a while the sentences were getting too long for a young child to repeat or follow. His Chinese School class first used a curriculum popular in China that introduces pinyin and character writing, but it was hard for those of us with no native speaker in the home. Last year he was placed in an intermediate CSL class, they used the level of Active Chinese designed for high schoolers -- including video sequences about picking up girls for a date and going out partying, ack!

Can anyone share their experiences with Genevieve Foster's World History books? http://fivejs.com/world-history-books-by-genevieve-foster/ I had a wonderful time using SOTW to teach a 4-year long history class at a homeschool coop. We would like to continue with SOTW through the middle school years, starting over next fall with the Ancient World. I am concerned that vol 1 and 2 of SOTW may be too simplistic for 5th & 6th grade use. My current strategy for dealing with this shortcoming is to compile good supplemental reading material. Genevieve Foster's books looked promising!

Duh, I obviously need to go to bed instead of posting on forums! I see that you have a deputy to clothe, not Robin Hood. Well, I'm afraid to say that this may not get him out of the tights-wearing! I'm pretty sure that all men wore tights in those days. If you ever want to geek out on the subject of medieval garb, visit an SCA site or event (Society for Creative Anachronism) they have a lot of support for people making their own medieval garb, including newbies that just want something quick.

To me, Robin Hood is all about dressing in green and & *having the iconic Robin Hood hat*! This type of hat is not hard to make, we actually all made them as a craft activity in our SOTW co-op out of felt, it only took about half an hour. Here are two links to free patterns, the first is very simple, the second is more accurate looking: http://home.clara.net/arianrhod/Aldebaran/DoItYourself/Hat03.html http://www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk/w%27s%20craft%20corner/acting%20props.htm You can cut the sleeves off of a long, overized green t-shirt and layer it over a tan or green longsleeved shirt, get some green tights and leather shoes, throw a leather belt on, throw a feather in your hat, and you're good to go!

I am not sure if this would work for your child, but if she is a visual learner, studying the sentence as others have suggested might really help. I consider myself to have some traits of a visual learner. I would often remember information in school by drawing on a memory of the appearance of the page that the information was on - I don't have a photographic memory, but it would help me to access the knowledge. Similarly, if I need to memorize something it helps *enormously* if I can read it rather than hear it. Now that my son and I are learning Mandarin chinese characters, this is a useful trait!

My vote is for the Lyra Super Ferbys!! They are super high quality and will last a long, long time...

Times Attack was perfect for my 9 yr old. Until we started this game, he completely refused to memorize his multiplication facts, preferring to work out the problems in his head. I tried other games, and none of them had the appeal of this one! The first level is free. Your children will most likely ask to buy the upgrades - especially lava level! I was concerned at first that there is quite a lot of game-play (running around, exploring) in-between the math questions, but there is no question that his skills advanced, and that he is quickly gaining mastery of his multiplication tables. http://www.bigbrainz.com/