They are a continuation of The First Language Lessons series on grammar. These will be the middle school books 5th through 8th. The teacher's edition covers all four years. Then there is a student workbook and a student key for each year. There is also an additional reference book with all the grammar rules and info which is useful, but I don't think necessary to do the curriculum.

https://smile.amazon.com/Core-Instructor-Text-Years-1-4/dp/1945841028/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1497236045&sr=8-8&keywords=grammar+for+the+well+trained+mind https://smile.amazon.com/Student-Workbook-Rhetoricians-Understand-Well-Trained/dp/1945841044/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497236072&sr=8-3&keywords=grammar+for+the+well+trained+mind+student+workbook https://smile.amazon.com/Key-Student-Workbook-Rhetoricians-Well-Trained/dp/1945841060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497236093&sr=8-1&keywords=grammar+for+the+well+trained+mind+student+workbook+key https://smile.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Handbook-Rules-Rhetoricians-Well-Trained/dp/1945841125/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1497236120&sr=8-11&keywords=grammar+for+the+well+trained+mind

I had to scroll down through the First Language Lessons to find it after searching "Grammar for the Well Trained Mind."

So exciting! We've been waiting years for this. Only a few more months. Thanks, Susan. And there are 4 books! Teachers/Student/Student Key/Compendium of Grammar Rules.

Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace James illustrated by Warwick Gobel https://smile.amazon.com/Green-Willow-Other-Japanese-Fairy/dp/1606600737/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497129743&sr=8-1&keywords=Green+willow+and+other+japanese+fairy+tales+grace+james+calla+edition The other (less expensive) editions on amazon seem to be from those cheap reprint publishers. I have the Calla edition and it is beautiful and worth the money, but still... expensive.

Think about using writing as the angle to grammar. The Killgallon Books (well, half of them, as you want the newer ones that label the "adverb clauses" and "appositives" rather than the older ones that just mention "sentence tools" or some such thing). You can even start with Sentence Composing for Elementary School if you get rid of the cover if she "elementary school" part insulting. Sentence Composing for Elementary School Don and Jenny Killgallon Grammar for Middle School (Killgallon) There is a high school one, but I haven't used it. I think the following book would be better after completing these two: Noden's Image Grammar second edition follows this same writing to grammar (whole to parts) pattern as well.

My longest continuous (meaning contact at least once a month) friendship has lasted 35 years and is still going strong despite living far apart for 27 of those years. Handwritten letters and phone calls have kept the connection strong between visits.

In Maine you can register part of your property with the registry of deeds as a family burial ground and bury whichever family members (or friends) you want there. You can also get handmade pine caskets (even ones that begin "life" as bookcases) and it is legal to have home funerals here. So if you want to die cheap, die in Maine! http://bangordailynews.com/2009/04/11/news/woodworker-crafts-furniture-to-die-for/

Science Living Books: Wild Season Allan W. Eckert (narrative on the food chain) Summer World by Bernd Heinrich (ecology) Winter World by Bernd Heinrich (ecology) Trees in My Forest by Bernd Heinrich (ecology) The Frog Book by Mary K. Dickerson (herpetology) Adventures in Nature by Edwin Way Teale (mostly insects) According to Season by Mrs. William Starr Dana (wildflowers, vintage) Life in the Soil by James B. Nardi (ecology/soil science) Discovering Amphibians by John Himmelman Discovering Moths by John Himmelman The Living Year by Richard Headstrom Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy (plants and insect ecology) Swampwalker’s Journal by David M. Carroll The Year of the Turtle by David M. Carroll (herpetology) Following the Water by David M. Carroll (herpetology) The Edge of the Sea Rachel Carson Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein (native plants) Planting Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein (native plants) Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer (moss) Broadsides from Other Orders by Sue Hubbell (insects) Waiting for Aphrodite by Sue Hubbell (invertebrate sea life) Chasing Monarchs Robert Michael Pyle The Thunder Tree Robert Michael Pyle (butterflies and childhood experiences in nature) Walking the High Ridge Robert Michael Pyle (butterflies) Suburban Safari by Hannah Holmes (backyard nature) The Life of an Oak by Glenn Keator Near Horizons Edwin Way Teale (insects) Whisper in the Pines by Joanna Burger (pine barrens ecology) Annals of the Former World by John McPhee (geology) Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin (evolution) Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey (geology: plate tectonics) Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth by Marcia Bjornerud (geology, evolutionary bio) Trilobite by Richard Fortey (paleontology) The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey into the Land of the Chemical Elements by P. W. Atkins (chemistry) * A Guide to Night Sounds CD by Lang Elliot

"Sugar: The Bitter Truth" produced by the University of California's Osher Center for Integrated Medicine.

I had jokingly made fun of my cousin for not being able to read a map on our road trip. He was astounded that his eyes just seemingly tanked like that. Then exactly one year later, I was trying to read a medicine bottle and Oh No! I was old too. Luckily the drugstore has reading glasses and medicine bottles in one place so you can really give them a run to see which prescription is right. Go ahead and get a pair or two from the drugstore and then go to the eye doctor. You can get prescription glasses if you like, but I found myself buying a whole bunch of drugstore reading glasses as the prescription ones I chose were $250. I always hesitate to use them as I am clumsy and I fear they might break. I don't care about the $20 ones as much and tend to gravitate toward them.

When I arrived in Sydney in college and was walking around a park or botanic gardens there, I stopped by a pond. Two swans appeared. I was gobsmacked, "Black swans! Why are the swans black?" Later I would say, "Why are the ants green?" And "Why are the crows black and white?" (Um, because they were magpies...) I was like a toddler on her first trip to the zoo.

I love Australia, and it was difficult, but did come up with one negative. Of course, it is luckily, rare. On a tour of the rainforest on the mainland near the Whitsunday Islands in Australia, we saw a plant that, if you touch it, can incapacitate, even kill you, from pain. http://io9.gizmodo.com/if-you-touch-this-plant-it-will-make-you-vomit-in-pure-1693770289

Could you smother the lawn with black plastic and then reseed?

When I was homeschooling I spent $2000 per kid, that included all curriculum, literature, and living books (crappy library so we bought all our literature and living books, this really upped the cost), outside classes (art, pottery, archeology, swimming etc.), memberships to museums & cultural institutions (several at close to $100 a pop but less than paying the entrance fee each time), and tickets to many performances.

This is what I meant by "modernized". Authors make choices in creating their works of art. I personally prefer the author's vision come through if a movie or a remake is to be made.

New content added that wasn't in the book modern, not baby making modern.

Thanks for the heads up. I will say I am a extremely liberal person and not impressed when classic stories are "modernized" to appeal to contemporary audiences, especially when the original stories were for children. I think it bastardizes the author's creation when radical shifts are made. And there are plenty of modern creative works for contemporary audiences to relate to. I was also supremely disappointed with the remake of My Family and Other Animals. The original by Masterpiece Theater is wonderful and sticks closely to the book. The new series, The Durrells, focuses mainly on the mother's romantic troubles like any other interchangeable contemporary drama. It was dark, and I tired of it quickly and did not finish the series nor did I bother letting my kids watch it. It lacked beauty. Luckily the earlier version of Anne of Green Gables and the Masterpiece Theater version of My Family and Other Animals are available for the subset of the population that likes their movies closely adapted to the books.

Activities Set up at light trap and attract moths and other insects at night, either by leaving your outdoor lights on for a period of time or by hanging a sheet and directing regular light and even black light at the sheet (do not look directly at black lights). Using a Blacklight to attract beetles and moths (skip the mercury vapor light) : Petersons has a great new field guide to the moths: https://smile.amazon.com/Peterson-Field-Northeastern-America-Guides/dp/0547238487/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575781&sr=8-2&keywords=petersons+moths Buy a sweep net from acorn naturalists and use it to sweep tree branches or field grasses. Insect Collecting: Sweep Nets: http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/FIELD-INSECT-NET-15-SWEEP-P2271C0.aspx Buy an aquatic net from acorn naturalists and learn your aquatic insects. http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/VERTEBRATE-MEDIUM-MESH-EXTENDABLE-ALUMINUM-HANDLE-AQUATIC-NET-P401C0.aspx Plant an insect garden https://smile.amazon.com/Attracting-Native-Pollinators-Conserving-Butterflies-ebook/dp/B004YXQLTS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491576146&sr=8-3&keywords=xerces+society+books Turn over rocks and logs to find insects (remember to put them back as you found them) Trip to an Insectarium or natural history museum with an insect collection Join your state entomological society. They often have field trips. The following might not be a complete list. http://www.entsoc.org/resources/links/state_orgs A stereo microscope is a special addition to insect study, but a magnifying glass will also do you well. DVDs and YouTube (also you can search for just about any specific insect on you tube) Bugs of the Underworld (aquatic insects) DVD https://smile.amazon.com/Bugs-Underworld-Ralph-Lisa-Cutter/dp/B001MXZ61M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575940&sr=8-1&keywords=bugs+of+the+underworld David Attenborough's DVD Life in the Undergrowth (highly recommended) https://smile.amazon.com/Life-Undergrowth-David-Attenborough/dp/B000EBD9W6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491574974&sr=8-1&keywords=Life+in+the+undergrowth Microcosmos DVD (highly recommended) https://smile.amazon.com/Microcosmos-Kristin-Scott-Thomas/dp/B06X1BY1XM/ref=sr_1_1_twi_dvd_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575007&sr=8-1&keywords=Microcosmos National Geographic Wild City of Ants Ants Nature's Secret Power https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-gIx7LXcQM Books: The Practical Entomologist https://smile.amazon.com/Practical-Entomologist-Rick-Imes/dp/0671746952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575193&sr=8-1&keywords=the+practical+entomologist Adventures with Insects by Richard Headstrom (highly recommended) https://smile.amazon.com/Adventures-Insects-Richard-Headstrom/dp/0486219550/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575350&sr=8-2&keywords=adventures+with+insects+headstrom Grassroot Jungles and/or Near Horizons by Edwin Way Teale (highly recommended) https://smile.amazon.com/Grassroots-Jungles-Edwin-Way-Teale/dp/B00RDCPOT0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575416&sr=8-1&keywords=grassroot+jungles https://smile.amazon.com/Near-Horizons-Story-Insect-Garden/dp/B0007EB24C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575441&sr=8-1&keywords=near+horizons The section on Insects in The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock https://smile.amazon.com/Handbook-Nature-Study-Botsford-Comstock/dp/0801493846/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491575646&sr=8-1&keywords=the+handbook+of+nature+study+by+anna+botsford+comstock The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliot and Wil Hershberger Book/CD combo OR John Himmelman and Michael DiGeorgio's Guide to Night Singing Insects of the Northeast (if you are in the northeast) Book/CD combo https://smile.amazon.com/Songs-Insects-Wil-Hershberger/dp/0618663975/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491576310&sr=8-1&keywords=the+songs+of+insects https://smile.amazon.com/Night-Singing-Insects-Northeast-Michael-DiGiorgio/dp/0811735486/ref=la_B001HCXOI0_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491576372&sr=1-13&refinements=p_82%3AB001HCXOI0 Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard https://smile.amazon.com/Discovering-Moths-Nighttime-Jewels-Backyard/dp/0892725281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491576517&sr=1-1&keywords=Moths+jewels+in+your+backyard+by+himmelman Blogs and Websites Piotr Naskrecki (Harvard entomologist) The Smaller Majority blog (there is also a book). Includes other invertebrates as well as insects. https://thesmallermajority.com/ What' That Bug Website (they rarely respond to requests for IDs, just so you don't waste your time) https://www.whatsthatbug.com/ BugGuide website (they rarely respond to requests for IDs, just so you don't waste your time) http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

As a stalwart milk lover, well aware of her own confirmation bias, I perk up at the newer studies that whole milk reduces the risk of diabetes: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/18/474403311/the-full-fat-paradox-dairy-fat-linked-to-lower-diabetes-risk

First one two years and the second one three years, but the last year was only first thing in the morning and right before bed.

Here is a link to a science journal that published peer reviewed science articles (re)written for kids and teens. It focuses on nature, climate, biology, and environment. http://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/

Percale. Try 100% cotton percale sheets. And if you are looking for something old fashioned you must check Vermont Country Store. They try to replicate old favorites. Here are their sheets, including percale varieties: https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/home/category/sheets

# 1 Swimming. It's a life skill # 2 Art Studio. Art lessons with an artist who actually taught technique and had high expectations # 3 Do the Dig: simulated archeological digs with Dr. "Big Dog" Purcell of The Archeological Perspective. Went right along with our classical history lessons. Was truly "immersive", my son came home covered in dirt every day.

You could buy a crayola classpack. There are 16 of each color. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002T3WLS/ref=asc_df_B0002T3WLS4911996/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B0002T3WLS&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167105309002&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2389714635055515550&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002437&hvtargid=pla-275495672817 Or a Prang Classpack which has 25 of eight colors. https://www.amazon.com/DIX80614-Dixon-Washable-Classpack-Markers/dp/B005OYCYSI/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1490635429&sr=1-1&keywords=prang+markers+classpack