As someone who was a strong natural speller myself, I would advise you not to go with a spelling curriculum for your daughter since she's already in middle school. Instead, I'd go with checking her compositions for the words she does misspell and working on those with her. You could also go through the lists of "most misspelled words" with her (there are several of these floating around the internet). Our Spelling Bee had lists to study--if you have any of those from last year, you could work through them orally "Spelling Bee style" and only have her practice writing out the ones she misses. Anyhow, I just wanted to say that I don't know that a formal spelling "program" will really help for a good natural speller in sixth grade, particularly if it's set for her grade level. Now, vocabulary--particularly one that traces the etymology of words to get a better understanding of why certain words are made the way they are--can be very useful. On the other hand, I've never actually taught a strong-at-spelling sixth grader, so I don't have any practical advice for you from the teacher's side of things. I just remember hating spelling (and vocabulary, too, actually) because not only was it boring but I'd learned all the words long ago.

I just want to point out that having read books set during a particular time period can lead to "Oh! This is when ____________ [book name] happened!" moments when you actually get around to studying that time period "for real." This can help cement that time period in their minds, maybe almost as much as reading books set in the time period they're studying. If your children are getting confused about a particular book set during a historical period you haven't covered yet, you could just answer any questions they have or direct them towards an appropriate resource (such as an encyclopedia or atlas or the local library's version of these things) as a way to instill some research skills.

The resource that I found to be most helpful getting started (and clearing up in my mind what I wanted to do) was Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. In the first few chapters, before she gets into her actual reviews, she lays out: what kinds of teaching approaches are available (e.g., classical, unit studies, unschooling); what kind of learning styles your children may have (more than just visual/auditory/kinesthetic); and how to determine what you want your child to learn. THEN she gives you a chart of her top 100 picks, detailing such things as: how it scores for each teaching approach, how much it will appeal to each different learning style, how much time it should take per day, how much of the teacher's time it should take per day, etc. Then the remainder of the book (which is the bulk of it) is taken up with her actual reviews of her top 100 picks. I would really recommend that you see if this book is available at your local library. It may help you as much as it did me.

:iagree: This is exactly how I feel about Tapestries of Grace.

Have you checked out Biblioplan? It may be just what you were looking for... or not. It fits the criteria of four cycles combining children at different levels, though. (That's why I'm planning on getting it next year.) And it can be loads cheaper than Tapestries of Grace, since the coloring pages, craft ideas, map work, etc., are all offered a la carte (pick what you like and drop what you don't). Only the Guide is really essential, and it's only $30 (e-book) to $40 (print-out: apparently this is cheap three-hole punched print-out, though, that also costs shipping to get). A major weakness, apparently, is that it isn't quite as strong as Tapestries of Grace at updating when works are going out of print. (Of course, as long as it's at my local library, I don't care whether it's out of print or not except for the spines, right?) That's why I got All Through the Ages, to offer myself some more alternatives. (It's also to help make sure that I can find something at the local library.) I hope having another option helps, even if just so you can say, "Nah, I still want Tapestries of Grace!"

Homeschool Skedtrack works by allowing you to enter a whole bunch of lessons and then scheduling the "next one up" for your child(ren). You have to check off each day what's actually gotten accomplished, so that the new lessons print off for the next day. This is different from how Homeschool Tracker works, and different from how it sounds like you do it manually. You can check out the "Today - Daily Schedule Page" tutorial to see what I mean. This is actually one of the features that attracted me to Homeschool Skedtrack.

I will add that, according to the front matter, a purchase of All Through the Ages from Nothing New Press will entitle you to any future updates of the book for free. (Of course, if the updates don't really add anything, that isn't terribly exciting news, so we're back where you started. Sorry.)

Oooh, and then there's No One Noticed the Cat, by Anne McCaffrey, which is a fairy tale very loosely based on "Puss in Boots." This is definitely one to check out from the library, though. It's pretty short. Note: In case you've run across her Pern stuff, let me tell you that I find her juveniles to actually be somewhere in the range of fairly to very good. Some of them are even set on Pern, and they're still good. I know, amazing, right? Maybe it's because she knows kids won't let her get away with as much as adults will.

And then, on the other side of things, there's The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man, by Lloyd Alexander. The sorcerer who owns him--and who grants his request for a little period of time--doesn't think much of men, and prefers him as a cat. But, as it turns out, the cat thinks differently, despite the fact that he is a fish out of water. She may still enjoy the story. As I recall (although I read this book in high school myself), Alexander does a good job presenting the world of men as seen with the eyes of a newly changed cat.

Well, Homeschool Share is always a good place for free lapbooking materials. Check out Levels 4 and 5. (Level 5 is the chapter books.) I personally own and like All Through the Ages, a resource that collates books from several major homeschooling publishers, Newbery winners, and loads of other books, and separates them out by recommended reading age within time periods and geographical locations. Most of the books are given a brief annotation. (You can see what this is like by checking out the free samples at the link above.) This is more useful for supplementing studies in history or geography, but I thought I'd mention it here. There are also several lists floating around out there. Check out the ones at Paula's Archives, for example. (Go all the way down the page to "More Lists.")

Do you have a local (or even not-so-local) consignment or used book store that caters to or is meant for the homeschooling crowd? It might be worth checking out their policies. You'll still have to cart all those books, but you probably won't have to cart as many back. Plus, you'll get to visit the store while you're there! I have never sold used curriculum, since I've only taught for two years so far. I have never consigned items. I have, however, sold (normal) books to used book stores for store credit, and thought it was more than worth it.

Remembering that shipping prices can more than double the cost of cheap used curriculum, have you looked locally for resources? I discovered that a book I had been willing to pay $8.00 + shipping for was only $2.00 at the local used homeschool store. One thing I'd save up for, for instance, would be the state homeschool association conference, but then again, I live in Virginia. We have two such associations (and therefore two such conventions), one of which is much larger; vendor hall only prices are considerably cheaper for me than the normal passes that allow me to attend conference sessions, but still allow me to go to buy from a used curriculum sale. However, you live in Indiana. While Indiana's convention is one of the largest homeschooling conventions in the country, it doesn't seem to have a used curriculum portion in the same way. It does still have at least one vendor selling used, however. How far away are you from Muncie? IHEN (which seems like an awesome resource, by the way; if you don't already know about it, check it out and see if it has any local information for you) has a list of suppliers that includes "Muncie Burris School Shared Information Services - A lending library open to all IN. parents and educators. You may check out free math, writing, history and science materials; videos, magazines, curriculum, and manipulatives. Simply provide your name, phone number, and address and you may check items out for one month." If you'd like a little longer checkout time, (and I wouldn't blame you,) then there's also the Lamplighter Resource Room, where Ginny Zeller "[m]ay have textbooks to check out free for one year." (Where exactly this may be isn't listed, although the number given is an Indianapolis number.) Plus, there are several used book stores in Muncie that have sections for homeschool supplies. Or, are you near New Paris? Check out Care Books. Haubstadt has Homeschool Value Store, I think--their information all appears to be on a Facebook page. Ouch! Of course, if everything is a million miles away from you, you quickly eat up in gas what you'd save in postage. Ah, well. I tried!

My son is rather like you described yourself to be: very visual, very rules-oriented, so I'm considering Getting Started with Spanish. The big complaint about it (surprise, surprise) is that some people found it slow and boring. If I use this, I'll probably supplement with more of a fancy "immersion" approach (videos from the library?) to keep things a little more interesting.

Addall is pretty nice, particularly their used section. They troll through lots of online booksellers to get prices.

McCloskey, McCloskey, McCloskey. I also loved The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree as a kid, as did all my younger siblings. My older sister got awful tired of it, though. My children really enjoy it--although I may be starting to see my older sister's point. :p

Tell me about it. I've been occasionally attracted to this as well, but there's just nada. (Actually, it was Suffer Little Children that caught my interest.) Christian Book Distributors has some of her stuff, with a table of contents and 1-page samples available, but there don't seem to be any reviews there, either. Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Ireland has a little more information (where you learn that Mary Pride likes it, apparently). But that's pretty much all I can find. It's frustrating! Oh, wait, there's a pretty substantial sample (in .pdf) available at Covenant Home Curriculum. Does that help at all? And, anyone who's used this, let me add my requests to know more. I've gone with God's Great Covenant for next year (and probably third grade as well), but I still am interested in this resource.

Well, Sonlight suggests two programs for teaching kids when you yourself are ignorant or unmusical: Piano Wizard Academy (which has a keyboard you hook up to your computer, and so doesn't even require a piano!) and Bastien Piano Basics, which is a lot cheaper until you factor in the cost of a piano or keyboard. :p (Neither of the links given is actually to Sonlight, by the way.) I will say that my son loves Piano Adventures (Faber). He's working on the Pink Panther lately, so I've been humming it all over the house. If you want fun songs, and challenging theory, that's definitely the place to go, but it's probably better with a tutor.

Training for Triumph's Meaningful Composition takes you through writing step-by-step to produce essays. You can see how they have your student write an "Original Informative Report" in their sixth grade curriculum, and a "Persuasive Essay in 1-3-1 Format" in eighth grade, for example. (Both links are to free samples in .pdf on the publisher's website.) I am really leaning towards switching to this curriculum when my son is done with WWE (or maybe even just WWE 3). I'm not sure how quick it is, but it does seem very thorough and step-by-step, so that you as a teacher don't have to get "bogged down in the details." The "Original Informative Report" is five or six paragraphs long (depending upon the age of your student), although it doesn't have an opening paragraph. Obviously, the "Original Informative Research Report" given in seventh grade would be a little more involved and difficult, etc. I don't know if you'd be interested in purchasing this curriculum, or in just checking out its free samples, but it seems like it might be a place to start. One caveat: this curriculum is extremely evangelical Christian in its outlook and assignments. For example, in the "Original Informative Report" instructions linked to above, the report topic is meant to be "an animal (or thing) that is compared to Satan in the Bible" (it gives a list of 6 possibilities) and the concluding paragraph is supposed to talk about "how the Bible says your subject is like Satan." While this makes the program more attractive to me, I can see how others might find the topic choices objectionable or odd. Plus, I was really only linking it so you could see how someone else approaches the same issue.

Well, while I'm waiting for someone who actually has experience to answer, I'll chime in with a couple that look nice: United States of America State-by-State Guide by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson Usborne's Eyewitness Books: Presidents by James David Barber. A couple more that are supposedly in the 4th to 8th grade range: Presidents (A Library of Congress book) by Martin W. Sandler The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents by Wyatt Blassingame These were all found via All Through the Ages (3rd edition), a resource I highly recommend.

You're very welcome! (I felt a little guilty about that post, since it was getting very off-topic, so that makes me feel a little better.)

Martial arts lessons twice a week for my oldest son. His brother may be going to gymnastics camp once a week this summer.

This is the approach I'm going to try in a couple years, when my middle son starts first. (Actually, I'm going to start Biblioplan the year after next, so that I'm comfortable with it for the next year.) Biblioplan also has crafts for older kids and coloring sheets for younger. I don't know if I'll actually get those, but they do sound neat!

I got stumped by "FM of Modern Times" today. Turns out "FM" was short for "Famous Men," which I may have been able to put together if it had been "FM of Rome" (one of the original John Haaren titles). I have no idea who you would call the publisher for this series, since the original books have long been in public domain and are reprinted by loads of people. Greenleaf Guides and Memoria Press (at the least) each put out their own versions of newer "Famous Men" titles. It's kind of a mess. But you may still want to add this, since I know it's a fairly popular resource.

Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning" is, as far as I am aware, the primary source for the whole trivium (grammar/logic/rhetoric stages) setup of classical education. Here's one thing she has to say about the logic stage: "The pupils should be encouraged to go and forage for their own information, and so guided towards the proper use of libraries and books for reference, and shown how to tell which sources are authoritative and which are not." (I copied this from this lovely site.) So, to your list (reading comprehension, logic, and writing) I would definitely add information literacy (the current term for "guid[ing] towards the proper use of libraries and books for reference, and show[ing] how to tell which sources are authoritative and which are not"). And, of course, the students are presumably doing this to argue a point they are eager to make, preferably to prove someone else (such as you) wrong, so they are much more motivated than they would be by a "Write about Whale Biology" assignment. So I would make the research paper more resemble the "real world," according to your second paragraph. In other words, tell your kids to prove it with a Works Cited list attached when they disagree with something. Honestly, the term "research paper" to describe a junior high composition rather frightens me, because I associate it with a composition at least ten pages in length, and better twenty. A persuasive essay is more what I would aim for in middle school, although I understand that I may be caviling about slight denotative differences. (Wow, when I get tired, my vocabulary suddenly grows, apparently. Or maybe it's just the inspiration of reading good writing, a la Dorothy Sayers. In any case, it's bedtime. G'night!)

Oh, I always think of those as Greenleaf Guides! (Despite the fact that the Greenleaf versions are slightly different from the MP versions.) How funny. Well, Biblioplan lines up the older Famous Men of ________ books with Story of the World--if you're willing to pay for their schedule. However, it doesn't look like Modern Times is necessarily included, according to their list of spines. They also don't recommend you use them until 6th grade. So anyhow, I somehow missed the second part of your post earlier. A few weeks ago I bought the e-book version of All Through the Ages, a resource that lists loads of sources (many from the lists of popular curriculum publishers, along with many more that are not) to supplement or create a living book approach to history and geography. I think it's wonderful, although I also think it's wonderful that I actually received the e-book, since I discovered after ordering it that the publisher can sometimes "lose" orders, particularly of e-books. If you want to get this, I'd recommend using a credit card, so you can cancel the charge if you never receive the item. (My e-book was sent to the e-mail associated with the Paypal account I received by the next morning, so my experience with them was positive, but caveat emptor!)