5th grader -- currently CW Poetry and will go back to Homer A later in the year. 3rd grader -- WT1

I'm looking forward to the revised LCC & your book on memory work. I'll try to wait patiently, but thanks for the bit of info. :)

I appreciate all of you taking the time to help! I'm realizing that it's time to start thinking more specifically about high school curriculum and considering that in planning for 6th - 8th grades (especially if there's a chance I'd want to use TOG for high school). What are you guys planning to use for high school history?

Yep, another history question from me today! :D Does anyone know how the history recommendations will be changing in the new LCC?

Wow! Thanks, Karen! That's very helpful!

I have a post at the K-8 Board on the topic of history also, but I'm realizing that part of the issue is that I need to make more specific decisions about high school now and then begin planning towards those choices. Any advice along those lines is welcome too! I'm thinking that I need to spend some time researching and wonder what you guys are using for high school history. Why did you choose what you did? Anyone want to compare a few choices, like Ominibus and TOG, for examples? :D

I still don't feel like I've found "the one" as far as history curricula/plans go! This year we are using MFW's CtG, and it's going well. However, I just realized that I don't use much of what's in the teacher's manual -- I've even added my own spine The Story of the Ancient World by Guerber/Miller, which is our favorite part of history! After a busy year last year (outside of school), I wanted the schedule that MFW would provide. I use MFW's scripture memory, weekly topics (but use the spine above), read alouds (but get ahead of their schedule), and some of their other history readings (Victor, which has gone in order; Ancient World & Ancient Egypt). We didn't like their main science text, so I've replaced it. The book basket idea of browsing books on the week's topic isn't working as well as I'd like -- the kids would rather read whole books. I think it would work better for me to assign history reading, and I'd like help with grade-appropriate suggestions. I'd like to try something with weekly reading assignments by grade level, or at least a narrowed down list by grade level. So...next year we'll be ready for 6th & 4th grade and year 2 of the history cycle. I'm wondering about: ~ Biblioplan since it lists reading assignments by grade ranges. ~ TOG, but it seems so expensive. Plus, I don't consider history one of our most important subjects -- important, yes, but I don't feel we have time to "major" in history. (Any thoughts on these TOG concerns?) We are also using and loving CW, so I'm not sure I'd use the TOG writing. ~ Sticking with MFW, and going to RtR, which would schedule SOTW & additional readings (or maybe I'd only need SOTW & the activity guide to accomplish something close?) ~ Or going more on my own by using something like the next Guerber book and the supplemental reading guide in the back (or maybe All Through the Ages for more ideas--haven't seen this in person). Can you guys help me sort through this a bit? My dc love to read other, non-history-related literature, so I want to make sure to leave reading time for this too. (So, not an overwhelming amount of history reading.) I like that TOG includes literature too. This is another area that I don't yet have a concrete plan. (I love the feeling of having a plan and hate feeling like I'm flying by the seat of my pants.) One of the things we enjoy most about using Story of the Ancient World is the continuous narrative it provides. Sorry so long!! Any suggestions?

R & S works well here, but spelling seems to come easy for my kids. I spent extra time researching spelling curricula last summer and chose one that takes more daily involvement from me. (Nothing was broken, but I wondered if I needed to put more emphasis on spelling since we're judged so much by our ability to spell as adults.) The new program wasn't getting done because of needing me to do it, and we ended up going back to R & S. I like having the kids do the pages (working with the week's words) independently and focusing my time on teaching on other subjects (math, writing, Greek, etc.) So, just a note to say to consider how much time you want to spend teaching spelling each day, especially if your dc don't struggle with spelling.

Erica, we used WP's American Story 1 as our main program at this point and only supplemented with the SOTW3 CDs. We really enjoyed the WP books, especially the read alouds. You could take a look for ideas. Another idea is to use Abeka's 4th grade history text as an additional read aloud. The focus is on American History and you could either line it up with SOTW3 or not worry and read it alongside. The only other Abeka we've used was a handwriting book, but this history text was given to me and wasn't too bad as textbooks go.

I love this kind of information too!

10 adults and 12 children! This is what she makes: Spaghetti (sauce made and frozen in advance), salad, and bread. Chili (made in advance and frozen) Grilled hamburgers & hot dogs (on the summer visit) Taco soup Lunch is mostly leftovers. Breakfast is mostly cereal, bagels, and English muffins with juice and coffee. Editing to add that taco salads made with beans instead of meat could be an easy option, if you cut vegetables in advance. I use a recipe based on one from Set for Life that begins layering with brown rice (I use broth and cummin in the rice steamer), then lettuce & veggies, beans, corn (which I wouldn't have considered, but it's very good!), cheese, crumbled chips on top, salsa and sour cream. (They call it Taco Sundae with the chips being the topping instead of the base.)

There are new Latin curricula since WTM was written, but we used PL in 3rd grade and liked it. It was gentle enough and using the DVDs helped me because I was a bit intimidated about teaching/learning Latin. This dd is now halfway through LC2.

We scheduled 3 roots a week most weeks. I used it with my dd, so I bought her colored index cards and pretty gel pens to use for making her cards. We also used a card file box with alphabet tabs and just used the program as written -- start with the first root and make a card. I also had her review her cards regularly and gave her oral quizzes. We used this last year and found it very effective. I noticed that she was able to figure out meanings for new words easily and asked her if it was because of her Latin studies. She answered that it was because of VV!

We've used SM from the beginning (currently in 5B), but you could also ask Jenny, the moderator at http://www.singaporemath.com, to help with placement. I think it's 3B (or 3A?) where the bar diagrams are introduced for word problems, and you don't want to miss these.

Just repeat (over and over if necessary): "I'm good enough; I'm smart enough; and doggone it, people like me!" ;) Especially the part about being smart enough -- you and all of us will be comfortable soon! :)

Thanks, Susan!

How about pictures, everyone! :D