I think you post needs more info ;) Trail Guide to World Geography? Or U.S? For what age kids? But really you can't go wrong for the first two level of questions. They are simple questions that should be in any atlas. If you have an atlas that you like and is age appropriate, then it will work. Have you looked at jr and children's atlas'. Is there one you like? Is there one your kids like? The younger the kid the more simple the better. I do think the 3rd level of questions can be hard. And while I haven't tried to find them in a different atlas, I do think they are probably easier to do if you use the recomended atlas (Answer Atlas for World History).

How do you use it? :lol:

It would depend on the grade. Sure in the early years Reading or Writing as a subject would be important, but in later years you could do your reading and writing through another subject.

You need a certain number of 10's (the rice plates) that equal some 8's (the salad plates). By playing with the numbers, or looking for common multiples you end up with 4 plates of rice 5 plates of salad 9 plates = 40 kids Am I right?

Here are some other threads- http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261788&highlight=revised+sotw http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239752&highlight=revised+sotw http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215392&highlight=revised+sotw http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72336&highlight=revised I used the old AG with the new student sheets, except for a few differences in maps it worked fine. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207837

I don't know for sure how long it took me as I have been working on it on and off all summer. But I have purposly planned a starter week of two or three days so we can go through the subjects and look at books and supplies and so on. And I can catch anything I've missed!

One way is SOTW 3 next year, getting picture books on the same topics for the younger one, espcially focusing on American History. I'd do the same thing for SOTW4 the following year. Then when everyone is ready for the next cycle, I'd do SOTW with the younger from grades 3-6 and something else with the olders (maybe HO). I happen to think those are perfect ages for SOTW.

I think by 4th grade they should probably be using them once a week (or every other week), if not every chapter. You don't need all of them, pick the one you (or your kids) like the best. Since they are such short little snippets I think they work great for the kids to read aloud (especially as they get older and I am not as good about making sure I hear them read aloud). By the time we've all read a section or two we have finished a 2 page spread. I also start heading towards outlining by having them pick out the main idea of the section they just read.

I really don't hold any faith in test scores. I am a very good tester I rarely got below the 8th stanine on any large multiple test I've ever taken (including ACT/SAT kinds of tests). My kids seem to be heading the same way. We have to test once a year from 3rd to 9th grade, it is done through the state using the ITBS. That said, school has always come easily. Even in college if I had a class I knew was going to be graded on 4 big mosly multiple choice tests, that was the end of me learning anything there. I had large college classes I only showed up for the 4 evening tests, a couple I didn't even buy the books for and still could pass (with A's or B's not C's and D's). Multiple choice tests are easy (at least those written for a large amount of students to take, I have had individual teachers in smaller classes that could make a tricky multiple choice test). But I really missed out on learning to persevere when things got tough, actually finishing assignments I didn't like (I've skipped many papers in my educational career, especially if I could tell I could still get an A or B without doing them, give me cheesy extra credit any day). And just being a good worker in general. Those kinds of things never show up in any stanine!

I think Doing Art Together would be great for this! It is Based on the methods taught in parent-child workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I love how it walks you through even setting up each station and was a big help for a very non arty person like myself. I also like that it isn't crafty, but painting, sculpting, and collage. The book is cheap at amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Doing-Art-Together-Muriel-Silberstein-Storfer/dp/0810926679 But after a quick google search it also looks like there are you tube videos and other sites about it. I didn't use those, but I bet there is lots of good info!

Okay, I thought I was going with sculpey, but you may have convinced me to use something else. I've remembered that my last midwife does/did some pottery, I think she even has a kiln, and she just lives a couple miles away (really saying alot since I live 6 miles away from a town of about 2,000 ;), and 30 miles away from a town of any size). No classes nearby, so I have been looking for books. I just got the Incredible Clay book off of Paper Back Swap! But I don't really think it is quite right. Mompotter do you have any beginning sculpting book/handbuilding recomendations? OhElizabeth, I haven't given up on your links, I just have a really slow dial up at home (comes with living in the middle of nowhere- no DSL), so I'll have to look at them at the library (tomorrow I hope)

Thanks, I'll check these out.

Have you looked at the samples? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/resource-roundup/writing-with-skill-the-full-table-of-contents-and-first-seven-weeks/

Weren't you just complaining about too many activities? Seems like this would be an easy one to cut.

What are your favorite books? Clays? I don't even know where to start. Has anyone used the Fine Art Studio recomended in TWTM? After many drawing attempts, we finally found Draw Squad. The boys really enjoyed that last year. Maybe they would like something more "cartoony" then Fine Art Studio? Is anyone else doing sculpture?

I did SOTW 1 when my boys were 5 and 6, and so on through the whole series. I didn't feel like it was inappropriate, and it is easy to just do things on thier level. There are lots of picture book suggestions, I read the text, we do narrations orally, lots of fun crafts, and little writing. It isn't a workbook, it is an activity book. My boys also loved mummifing the chicken and gladiators. Those were probably some of thier favorite parts. But in retrospect, we were right on the edge of understanding it for 1 and 2 but 3 and 4 passed over their heads. Those years did not work very well for us (especially 4). I think 3rd grade is a perfect age to start it. Then you wouldn't get to 3 and 4 until 5th and 6th grade. They are great books for starting logic aged writing with (outlines). My next two won't be starting formal history at all until 3rd grade.

I piece things together. Here is a thread where I explained how I make sure I am covering what I need to- http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245775&highlight=lit+terms Of course you can never cover it all, no matter how good of a job you do there will still be pieces missing. Hopefully you end up with a kid able to fill in thier own pieces!

I explained my early math program here- http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289314

We do sometimes just do them orally. But I have found that old blank checks make those problems go much faster ;)

When my kids were little there were lots of days we didn't do the spine, especially if I felt we had covered it good enough with other, living books. It was supposed to be about enjoying learning about things that happened long ago, and picture books worked so well. While our spine (SOTW) was child friendly, it wasn't as friendly as a picture book, and there were many sections that our picture books did a better job then the spine anyway. Now that they are older, they often work with the spines themselves and we do a fun read aloud together.

I'd love to get our carport finished into a separate apartment space. If it was we would do school out there. First of all, we could really use the space we have our school things in now for a bedroom for one of the kids, and secondly dh works nights. So he is here trying to sleep all day and if we were out in the carport it would be quieter in here. It would also make it so that the two littles aren't tearing up the whole house while I focus on the big boys. It would also have an open kitchen and that sink would be useful for school quite often! I can dream, right? :D But I don't know if I would if my oldest were only in 1st (and I only had 2 kids). It sounds more like you think you should have a special school area then that it will really work for you now. I think you should probably keep going as you are now, and maybe in the future use one of those other spaces.

Yeah, but that is still pretty hypothetical. I mean what we are currently working on is clear- a half done math book, spelling book, or vocab book, science expiraments, and history projects scattered around around and so on. Has anyone actually been helped out by having old workbooks or papers sitting in a box somewhere? I am not going to clutter up my closets or attics (or my children's future closets and attics) because of this unfounded fear.

:iagree: I don't keep anything, I don't live in a state that requires anything, and I can't even imagine why I might need anything. Has anyone really had legal problems, enrolling kids in school issues, custody problems, what ever that were solved because they were saving boxes of old school work???? (I am not talking about current year samples if you are required to show something to follow laws, I am talking older papers and moving.) I did consider putting my kids in school about a year ago, and let me tell you, no one there cared what I thought about what my kids had done or where they should be placed. I can't imagine how they would have acted if I had brought in old tests or worksheets. I also feel strongly about keeping our life simple, in fact it is one of the reasons we homeschool and boxes of old papers are keeping a mess (but then I hate when I get old things of mine, I mean a spelling test from last week is trash, a spelling test from 25 years ago suddenly takes on a whole life of its own, couldn't someone have just thrown it away then?).

I did SOTW 3 with a 2nd and 3rd grader and then SOTW4 with a 3rd or 4th grader. If I had it to do over again, I would have skipped SOTW 3 and 4 for a more age appropriate u.s. history. We enjoyed 1 and 2, but somewhere along 3 or 4 they passed by my kids. 4 especially was over thier heads. I realize you aren't in u.s. but you could AUS history from 1600 on, right? Probably there are plenty of 2nd grade curriculums that both kids would enjoy.

I happen to think the IP is one of the best parts of Singapore. I would use it before CWP and probably even before the text for a kid that picks things up easily. IP's have problems similar to CWP, but also have so many different kinds of problems and they get much harder then CWP (and start off easier). My boys are officially using the text, CWP, and IP, but we rarely use much of the text. But you also have plenty of time to drag things out a little bit, so use whatever parts you like.