I have heard that you can order tests to administer at home that would meet the requirement. Maybe that would work better if you can't find what you need or if you need to create certain conditions? I don't know the website where you order them, maybe someone else will chime in? I have also been told that you can get your child tested at many of those tutoring places one on one.

Galore Park's So You Really Want to Learn History books 1 & 2 have several battle plans each, but it is only British history and it is probably too much for independent reading for a 7 year old, though you could read it to him. I wouldn't get these just for that unless you can find some used copies somewhere; it wouldn't be cost-effective. But, for US history, there is the United States History Atlas. It has other maps besides battle plans, too. You can read to him while he copies it: http://www.maps.com/map.aspx?cid=2,622&pid=11030 You would be surprised at how many children's library books have battle plans in them. I never even noticed them before, but they are there. Hope that sparks some interest for him!

Okay, somehow that seems really funny to me! I guess I needed a good laugh!

What is that thread that looks like Chinese? Spam? Or am I missing something?

:lol: My sons are like that too. I finally decided to go with it. I tried teaching history from the standpoint of what it was like for people, etc., but all they remember is the fighting! I finally found a history book that includes a lot of battle plans and have had them copy the battle plans and summarize the battles and that seems to stick more than anything!

:iagree: And I forgot to mention order! I am a bit opinionated about that. I think they should be read in the order in which they were first published, I think they are more interesting that way. So that would be: 1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 2. Prince Caspian 3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 4. The Silver Chair 5. The Horse and His Boy 6. The Magician's Nephew 7. The Last Battle PC continues the story with the same children, so I think it flows naturally from LWW, because you want to know if they ever get back to Narnia. Then in VDT you have some of the same characters, then in Silver Chair there are a couple of the same ones, too. HHB also has the original children in it (though they aren't the main characters) so I would go to that next. Then MN has to come before LB. It doesn't really matter in the great scheme of the universe :) but I just think they make more sense that way. The most important thing is to read LWW first and LB last, though.

Is this the 7 year old? I wouldn't worry about beginning every sentence with "he" for a child that age. That is the natural way we talk when talking about a person. And it's okay to give him some leading questions to get him started. If he continues to need prompts for everything as he gets older and you think he either isn't reading carefully or is dawdling, you can always say, "Maybe you should go read this again more carefully this time." That worked for my oldest, he would suddenly remember all about the person! But my second son doesn't do well with that kind of pressure, so I just try to draw him out with questions.

These are my favorite books! If you are reading along with her, chapter by chapter, you won't miss the Christian themes, they are very obvious to an adult. That's honestly probably all you need. You can ask her how this is like that, etc. That's what I do with my kids. You will need to keep her away from the movies until she has read them all, though. They are very different in theme. The actions looks much the same, but a lot of the themes behind them are different. If you still want a book to give you more information, there are several out there. Companion to Narnia is a sort of encyclopedia of Narnia; you can look up any name or place and read about it, and it has the added benefit of referencing C.S. Lewis's letters in it to explain things. It also (if memory serves me right) has specific literary references as well. And it describes the mythological references behind many of the creatures and names. I have had that book for probably 25 years, and it is good. You can probably find it used somewhere pretty cheaply. Hope you and your child enjoy it!

Yes, narrations are longer than summaries. In a narration you re-tell the story in your own words, putting everything in the right order, not adding anything and not leaving anything important out. Basically paraphrasing, I guess. For CW, yes, the re-tellings are basically narrations. Imagine that someone read your child a story for the first time, say Rapunzel, and she loved it. So she comes home and is telling you all about it. The idea behind it is separating the steps to writing so that the child does only one step at a time. When they narrate (or re-tell) a story in their own words, they are coming up with what to say and how to say it, which is easier done orally. For younger ones, you can write down their narration and then they can draw a picture, or copy part of it, or all of it when they are ready. Then you can dictate their narration back to them, then they will narrate to you and then write it down on their own (they might need to make a simple outline to remember what they have said, this is part of CW also), then eventually they will be able to skip the oral part and just write it down on their own. This helps with learning composition skills because they are learning step by step how to figure out what to say, translate that into words, then get it on paper. And every narration does NOT have to be written down. It is good practice and it also helps you to know that they have understood what they have read. I have 4 children and I still have my oldest (12 1/2) narrate things to me orally so I know he read them! It's one less thing and it simplifies my life. I don't have to quiz him on reading comprehension because if he didn't understand what he read, he would not be able to re-tell it in his own words. You have to understand something to re-word it. It might be helpful for you to check out this website: www.CharlotteMasonHelp.com It is not a curriculum provider, it is a home school mom who has older kids and wrote down what she has done. Click on the page for narration and there are a bunch of links there describing it more thoroughly than I have done! If you are doing CW, you are most likely doing all of these steps anyway, just maybe you don't realize it. That is my favorite writing program! Hope this helps.

Are you doing Latin? I have found that using a grammar-heavy Latin program along with math and writing is enough for my middle schooler to work on logic. It is amazing how much logic goes into translating one Latin sentence. And requiring them to write out the steps in math in an orderly manner (a tough skill but one that pays off in upper level math) also helps them slow down and think things through. Outlining and organizing their writing also works on logic skills. Not that you never have to do a logic program, but I think if your child is doing these other types of things, it is enough for middle grades.

Not all of E Nesbit's books are magic-related. The Treasure Seekers is one that all of my kids have loved, and there is no magic in it at all. And it has a sequel - I forget off the top of my head what it is called. And The Railway Children, no magic in that one either. These are about "real-world" adventures of children. (Meaning, no magic involved.)

I don't know how to quote someone else yet, but I second the person who said anything by E. Nesbit!

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I noticed Classical Writing has some webinars that might be helpful. www.classicalwriting.com

This may be unorthodox, but you might want to ask yourself if you really need a spelling program for a 9 year old who is a great speller. If she is really a natural speller, she might not need that. I use only daily dictation with one of my children who is a natural speller. We go over the passage first, she reads it through, we talk about words that might be tricky or have homophones, then we sit down and I read while she writes. Once a week or so I will do unstudied dictation, where she doesn't see it ahead of time, but I stand over her and watch for mistakes so she doesn't write anything wrong. If she starts to write something wrong I will stop her and say "What is the rule for that" or whatever is appropriate. (I think making mistakes like that only reinforces the bad spelling.) It takes just 10-15 minutes a day. But this is a kid who once she has written a word correctly will never misspell it again. My others are not that way!

But I would really suggest you read Charlotte Mason's original series -- there are 6 volumes. You can actually read them online (is that at Ambleside? I forgot) if you don't want to buy them. You don't have to read every word (they are pretty wordy) but you can get great ideas from her. I really see CM as a more traditional, pre-Dorothy Sayers Trivium kind of classical education. I didn't read them until I had been homeschooling for several years (we're going on year 8 now), but I found them to be a treasure!

This is my favorite Charlotte Mason website ever: http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/ Good luck!