I know that both CHOW and The Story of Mankind have been updated at one point or another to remove some of this "outdated" language, but previewing is a good idea with any.

I own BFSU but haven't implemented it yet. However, on the BFSU yahoo group Dr. Nebel has said that the current book has the basics of many ideas that older children should grasp before moving on to the upper books when they come out. I can't seem to find the exact post at the moment, but, he's stated that they are skills that build on each other and the child needs to get the foundation first, though if they are older than probably can go through it faster. You could also use supplementing books from the library on different levels for your children. HTH, Amanda

I've been using Singapore (mostly) with my dd9 and completed through 4B. (We tried Saxon K first and we had a year or so of Upton-Strayer in there too.) I've recently discovered, that she just isn't getting some concepts that I thought she knew. Plus, the minimal explanations of things in the text book isn't enough. I know there is additional helps in the HIG, but, juggling the txt, workbk, CWP, extra practices and the HIG is just too much for me. (I have 3 children and that would be 21 math books each year!) So, getting more to the point, I need to find a different curriculum with more explanation than Singapore that isn't a spiral approach and isn't terribly expensive. MEP, CSMP, and MM all sound interesting, but, I don't have personal experience with any of them. Is there somewhere that might have a comparison of them, or would anyone care to post one, or offer any suggestions? Thanks! Amanda

Thanks for such a thorough review!

These are only for the ancients, and I couldn't tell what age range your children are from the wide range of books you have listed, but, we enjoyed reading Boy of the Pyramids from SCM and Theras and His Town. HTH, Amanda

I'm not sure if you would get every image you need for MOH here, but, there is a set of over 1000 free timeline figures here at Westvon Publishing. Also, a good place for a whole bunch of free history books is Heritage History.

Thanks for sharing! I've been looking for something like this. Amanda

My thought would be to start with the D'Aulaire book. Nice pictures, shorter stories, pronunciation guide. Then your children would be familiar with the stories (and you with the pronunciation) and you could do the Colum book which doesn't have the pictures and is more in depth.

Maybe "The Story of Mankind" by Van Loon would be a better fit? It has a similar narrative style as CHOW, but, meant for older children.

Where could I see these books? Thanks! Amanda

I don't have any experience with their modules, but, I wanted to chime in and say that my kids really enjoyed their book: Boy of the Pyramids. They were sad when we finished it because they liked it so much!

I think that we will be using The Elements and Carbon Chemistry this coming year. I emailed Ellen and she said that the hard copies of both come with the CD. That way you have the book for reading out of and the CD for printing off student pages. Also, she said that you could do each of them in a semester or could speed it up if you wanted to. HTH, Amanda

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I second the D'Aulaire biographies. Also, Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston. You can read it free online at the Baldwin Project, buy a paperback from Yesterday's Classics, or a hardback from Lost Classics. HTH, Amanda

My dd9 uses Latin for Children with the DVDs. I have no prior knowledge of latin and this has been very helpful. At first I was reluctant to use a DVD-based curriculum (you can use LFC without the DVDs as well), but, having someone who knows what the words should sound like teaching her is a good thing for us. She enjoys watching each lesson a few times to help with review, and sometimes her younger brothers like to watch as well, just for fun. I haven't seen GSWL or Latin's Not So Tough (though that one seems to have mixed reviews too). I haven't seen Lively Latin since it was the beta-version, so I can't compare them for you unfortunately. HTH, Amanda

One book that seems to be suggested for drawing instruction all the time is Mona Brook's Drawing With Children. I didn't find that book practical or doable for my children and I. My daughter is currently working through Draw Squad by Mark Kistler (Amazon link) and has enjoyed that. Her drawing has improved greatly. She has already mentioned that she would like to work through some of his other books after she finishes this one. HTH, Amanda

We read Boy of the Pyramids and my kids absolutely loved it! They were sad when we finished because then it was all over. I would absolutely recommend it! We haven't read The Golden Goblet though. -Amanda

Latin for Children has history readers for each level. They say that they can be used with other programs as well, not just with Latin for Children.

While we haven't read the Pyle version yet (we'll get to it later this year) my daughter really likes the Roger Lancelyn Green version. It's one of her favorite books.

Thank you so much Rose!!! The three tiers of reading is pure genius!

http://www.heritage-history.com has a ton of free ebooks. They are color-coded by level too, which is helpful.

One thought is Teaching the Classics. There's a 97 page seminar syllabus and 4 DVD set. Here's the link: http://www.centerforlit.com/

I would suggest teaching hand sewing first. I taught/am teaching my dd using the Winky Cherry series. It's designed so that it can be used with young children like your dd. Each book comes with a kit that has the materials for a couple of projects and patterns to make additional projects. There are clear, informative graphics and the text is written in rhyme, which my dd enjoyed. The series starts with hand sewing, progresses to simple embroidery, then making simple felt dolls with clothes, machine sewing, patchwork and then quilting. Link to publisher's page Link to Amazon page HTH, Amanda

Definitely try it! Be sure to oil the machine and it will be so much easier and smoother! Amanda

Me too!!! I love my old Singer treadle! (Model 66 Redeye) I have an electric machine downstairs, but, I like the way my old Singer sews. It's also much quieter which is a benefit when any children are sleeping. Plus, there are all sorts of attachments to collect! :D My dd8 sews on an old Singer model 99 that I converted to handcrank. For those that would prefer a newer model, I agree with some of the other posters to perhaps get a machine that doesn't do embroidery and costs a bit less to start out on. Many of those expensive embroidery machines wind up collecting dust in a closet. Also, many sewing shops that repair machines will often times have a sale once a year selling machines people brought in for repair and never picked up. You can sometimes get a good machine for just the cost of the repair. ~Amanda