:iagree: completely. I consider CP one of the most important books I've ever read in terms of forming my educational philosophy. I also like Who Killed Homer? and highly recommend that book, but if one is interested in piecing together a Latin-centered home education, CP can't be beat. Just my $.02. :001_smile:

The best place to answer questions on incorporating the classical languages into your homeschool is Drew Campbell's website: The Latin-Centered Curriculum. Check out his FAQs. Also in his book, The Latin-Centered Curriculum, Drew gives a complete apologetic for Latin AND Greek as well as a couple of reasons why families might choose to emphasize Greek over Latin: if a parent speaks Greek or if the family is Greek Orthodox, for example. And then I know a couple of families who are interested in Greek because it is the language of the New Testament; they're NOT particularly interested in Latin.

Y'all are makin' me jealous: I LOVE Exodus Books! I'll always have a soft spot for them because that's where I discovered TWTM. Wish I join you there, but I'm stuck out here in ol' Virginny.... :crying:

My kids have loved Tomie DePaola's Book of Poems for many moons. Also wonderful if you can track it down is the Oxford Book of Children's Verse, edited by the Opies. What's so cool about this book is that it's arranged chronologically rather than topically, as most kids' anthologies are. I love seeing how the themes and modes of expression change with the ages. My daughter (6.5yo) recently memorized a poem from the mid-1500s for recitation, so even pretty old verse is accessible to littles.

I had planned to start with cursive in K...and I'm sure you can figure out where this story is going. ;) No go with the cursive; it was an exercise in frustration and tears. Having said that, just one year later, she's ready and THRILLED to be learning cursive. So give it a try, but don't beat yourself up if the little muscles just can't handle it yet.

I'm not Methodist, but those are great ages to begin catechism, assuming that you have one. :001_smile:

Oh, that. is. so. COOL! Please help me, HiddenJewel, as I'm spatially challenged: If I print this in booklet form, are all the pages going to come out right side up? And double-sided? So then I...do what, exactly? Thank you! :001_smile:

I used SOTW1 this year with a 6yo (and her 4yo brother listened in). We did all of the mapping in the AG; very little is required for that. I'd say the mapwork took her all of 5 minutes at the MOST per map. And it was totally worth it: By the end of the year she could locate all of the rivers and most of the cities and empires that we'd discussed. Generally she colored any available coloring pages while I read the chapter. We added in a few really awesome supplements: D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, Black Ships Before Troy, The Wanderings of Odysseus, Theras and His Town, and The Orchard Book of Roman Myths. We didn't do any tests at all. I don't see the point of that for a 1st grader, but that's just me. I'm coming from the "Let the history just wash over them so that they learn to love it" school of thought. We didn't do many of the projects just because I'm not crafty. I'm COMMITTED to doing the SOTW2 projects, though! :001_smile:

Frankly, it would be easier for everyone if I listed the Latin curricula that I DON'T own. Note, please, that neither I nor my children (the oldest of whom is not yet 7, mind you) speak Latin. I'm so ashamed. :D

When asked this question, DH, medic for 25 years, responds, "Tell her that the joke at the fire station is that 'Kaiser' is German for 'veterinary medicine.''' :001_huh: :smilielol5: :001_huh: ETA: No offense intended to any Kaiser employees or happy Kaiser customers. Firefighters are equal opportunity slammers. ;)

Why not? If you've got a child who loves to read (and be read to--don't stop reading aloud, even though he can read for himself), feed the love now while you still can. ;) And when you've read until you're hoarse and blood's running out of his ears, send him outside to dig in the mud. Free science curriculum! A 5yo can't do better, IMHO. I really, really DO like to pretend that I'm a classical educator, but honestly, I believe that what a 5yo is "supposed to do" is play. Keep up the good work, Mom! :grouphug:

I did SOTW1 with my 6yo dd (1st grade) and 4yo ds this year. Did he get everything? Um, no. Did he listen in on virtually every chapter and do some coloring pages and participate eagerly in projects? Yes! He also listened in on all of the supplemental reading--Greek myths, Black Ships and Wanderings of Odysseus, Theras and His Town, Roman myths--and he frequently wants to play "Punic Wars" or "Peloponnesian Wars" or "Gallic Wars." (Why is it always the WARS with boys? Ah, well--that's another thread, eh? ;))

:lurk5:

Thanks, Bill: The bolded statements above spell out what I was trying to convey in my advocacy for the HIGs. Yes, I could lead my child to answer the questions and solve the problems accurately, but I'm certain that I would not be leading her in the Singapore way, if you know what I mean. This is NOT how I learned math, and it has nothing to do with the pretty pictures in the textbook. Singapore is a way of thinking about and communicating math concepts that was totally foreign to me. (Pardon the pun.;))

Another vote for the HIGs here. I'm not mathy, so take this with a grain of salt, but for me, the value of the HIG lies not even so much in "activity ideas" as it does in the way that it conveys conceptually the Asian math approach. I'd be lost without the HIGs because I was NOT taught math this way and don't naturally wrap my brain around numbers this way. They've been invaluable. On a side note: I've been using the US Ed rather than Standards (why do I hear "standards" and get a creepy crawly feeling on the back of my neck? :D). Now y'all have me rethinking.... Grrr! :glare:;)

Thank you, Rose! This is simply awesome. Anything similar for Secundus that you're aware of?

My very outdoorsy dd ATE UP Sign of the Beaver and My Side of the Mountain, which are usually considered "boy" books. :001_smile:

And sometimes it's Lingua Latina...:001_huh: :D

:iagree: Exactly. In this particular case, this is a character in Henty's book speaking--not Henty himself.

I love Memoria Press, but... ...I agree completely. My kids are 6 and 4; we just finished up Ancients. They LOVED it. LOVED it. They play Punic Wars in the backyard. ;) Drew Campbell (Plaid Dad/LCC author) does make a great point about history with littles, and katilac actually touches on it above: At this age, kids really connect well with history that focuses on individuals. As mentioned above, think Achilles and Hector and Odysseus and Aeneas and Hannibal and etc. (This is also, I think, why my kids have loved Marshall's Our Island Story and Scotland's Story: The spines of her storyline are actual people, usually kings, queens, and other leaders.)

Thank you to both mom2moon2 and Heather for responding so promptly and clarifying that point of disagreement. :001_smile:

I have followed this discussion with great interest. Thanks to all who have contributed; you've caused me to think! Can anyone clear up the disparity in the two quotes I've pasted below? I'd very much like to know what the "real story" is in Malaysia. I can't reconcile these two comments at all. What I'm particularly interested in is whether one or the other poster is simply misinformed, or whether what we're looking at here are two different perspectives on what "punishment" really means. I know that Islamic societies tend, by and large, to be more conservative than Western societies, and I'm trying to figure out if that contributes to a different perspective (among the general populace) on appropriate sanctions for behavior. Thank you. :001_smile:

If it makes you feel any better, Jmac, my sister says the book SHOULD be titled Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy and 80 Excruciatingly Painful Lessons. :D I hope it makes you feel MUCH better that she has taught 4 lightning-fast readers using this book. Hang in there!:grouphug:

Right Start / Singapore Phonics Pathways (I hope to start Prima Latina by the second half of the year) New American Cursive and the MP Cursive Copybook based on it FLL WWE AO Year 2 lit and SOTW2, blended chronologically where applicable ;) catechism

Ditto what others have said: My kids' fave is Midsummer Night's Dream. (Bruce Coville's picture book rocks.) They both like Macbeth and Julius Caesar as well, but both contain death. That's just the nature of a Shakespearean tragedy, I'm afraid. Though my ds4 couldn't follow them, my dd6 also enjoyed the Lambs' versions of The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It.