Thanks! I am just trying to figure out which references to get to build my curriculum around. But I put a few on hold from the library so I can see them first. I hate ordering stuff without making friends with it first. :-)

As a Marine Biologist, I agree that the important thing to teach kids is that this is how humans view the world and they have to classify things in order to make some sense out of it (it is clearly our nature to categorize, a matter of survival really). And yes it is always changing. And that there are many ways of categorizing the same things differently. Like by shape or color or genetics or body type or whatever. It's also (eventually) important to teach them that mathematicians and scientists develop theories as to why and how things happen. There are always alternate theories. And sometimes later people discover that alternate theories are closer to the truth than widely accepted ones for a variety of reasons. We're just mere humans here trying to make sense out of a vast changing beautiful exciting world. And it's hard to do! :-)

Is there a sticky somewhere with a list of abbreviations? I can't keep them all straight. WWE, IEW, SOTW, etc. I'm getting some of them down but I'm continually stumped. Especially on the For Sale Board where I want to know what stuff is so I know whether I'm interested in it or not! :-) Natasha

Ok I am new to this whole curriculum thing. What are the best Human Body and Animal books for a First Grader? WTM says to get DK First Animal Encyclopedia and Kingfisher First Human Body Book. I also have a very interested and eager 4 yo so I was thinking about getting the Everybody has a Body book but there were conflicting reviews on Amazon. I also checked out a copy of Mudpies to Magnets from the library and I wasn't really thrilled. My 6yo loves doing "experiments" so things that outline them would be great. Thanks, Natasha

In the DC Metro area we have Ancestral Knowlege. www.ancestralknowldege.org They have wilderness survival and naturalist programs from age 8 and up. (They are trying to start a 5-8 yr old one as well.) They have copy of their homeschool naturalist curriculum here: https://www.ancestralknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/Homeschool-naturalist-program.pdf Maybe you could use that to develop something.... :-) Natasha