This sounds like this might be a good fit for us, but we shall see. I guess history is hard to figure out because there are so many good choices! Thanks, again! Cynthia

This was suggested as an alternative to my previous question about using TOG only for its history component. Does anyone here use Biblioplan? How do you like it? Do you use it for three days per week as they suggest? How much time on each of those three days (not counting the read-aloud)? I was thinking perhaps of trying THIS next year. Goodness, it will be amazing if I ever figure out history for next year! :o I was thinking perhaps of doing Biblioplan for the three days as they schedule it, doing one day for writing about history, and one day for "fun" - either listening to Diana Waring CDs or doing a project. Is THIS the plan I am so desperately seeking???? :eek: Thanks again for putting up with my perpetual inability to make a history decision!

There are not solutions to the maps.

This program, for me, I fear is going to be a bit too loose, however. I cannot tell you how much we LOVE her audio-tapes, though!!!! No matter what I choose for history, we will use these. They are so engaging and so enthusiastic. I actually have her ancients book and we are "trying out" her unit on Greece. The program is basically a student book and a teacher book along with her audio CDs. There are 9 units in each book, so you spend four weeks per unit. Each week is designed to fit a different type of learning style...feeler, thinker, etc. You have to add in additional resources and she suggests many to go with her program. There is map work and timeline suggestions as well as many activity and writing suggestions. Basically, you spend the first week reading the text, listening to the CDs, and reading other books. The second week, the child selects a topic to focus on and does more in-depth research on it. The third week focuses on mapwork, timelines, architecture, art, music, etc. Honestly, I cannot recall the 4th week right now!! It is more "fun" stuff. To me it seems like all the "work" is in the first two weeks and all the "fun" is in the last two weeks. I would say it would work well for 5th grade and up. She does NOT include American History in her program. Like I said, we are trying out a unit right now, but I am already sensing that her whole she-bang isn't going to be quite right for us. For next year, I am leaning toward doing Biblioplan as scheduled for three days a week and then listening to her audios one day a week. As I previously stated, her audios cannot be beat! If you are fine with gathering a lot of your own materials and a program this is looser in structure, I think you will like it a lot. If you are more of a box-checker as I am, I am not so sure. HTH and YMMV!

I really liked the Guerber book on Ancient Civilization from Nothing New Press as well. One other one that comes to mind is a Landmark book entitled Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt. My best suggestion is to check the VP catalog. They do this time period in Grade 2, but have many, many book suggestions which are often well above grade level. The Landmark book is in there, I believe. Golden Goblet, Hittite Warrior, God King, Mara Daughter of the Nile (there are a couple of kisses and flirting in there, however), and Riddle of the Rosetta Stone are all available through VP. Tirzah is another title that is suggested which might really be nice for a girl. I don't think the reading level is all that high, but it is supposed to be quite good. The Victor Journey, as previously mentioned, is wonderful! Cynthia

nt

We did SOTW 1 - 3 in through grade 3. We then did a year of American history in grade 4 using VP 1815-Modern. This year we are covering ancients through MOH Volume 1. I really like MOH, but I wish the pace were a bit quicker (it is five year instead of four), and we would only be able to use the first three volumes anyway, since they are not out yet. Ds does do well with more fact-type stuff. We read historical fiction, but a whole-books approach doesn't seem to be "it" for us. I want him to read some historical fiction, but not everything he reads. I have heard WP is rather disjointed in its use of MOH 2, and he is not into notebooking. He has done all the pre-tests and exercises with MOH 1, and he likes doing those. I wonder if outlining Kingfisher in conjunction with Biblioplan might be a good fit. He needs to "do" something with the information, kwim? This is why I think the quizzes and exercises are good from MOH. He is just not THAT into history, though. So, I am considering (thanks to your suggestion!) perhaps doing Biblioplan M - W, a writing assignment on Th, and something "fun" on Friday such as listening to the Diana Waring tapes. HO seemed liked too much to me when I looked at it, as did Beautiful Feet. It would be one thing if he were "into" history. Sigh. Thanks for your suggestion. I have everything else figured out for next year, but planning history has been my nemesis! Cynthia

I had forgotten about this. If you use this program, for what ages do you use it, and do you schedule it as is with three days per week? How much time do you spend per day on this? TIA! Cynthia:)

that I don't want Trail Guide or the Evan Moor continent books. These are just more research-y than I would like. I want a lovely book with lots of pictures/photographs that my son can just read one day a week for a bit to get an overview of this topic. Cynthia

I am trying to find someting for geography that will cover peoples and cultures. We are doing the Evan Moor daily geography worksheetsw which are great for mapping skills. We are memorizing countries and capitals through Runkle which is also going well. I have been using the Runkle World Physical Geography book at a slow pace once a week as well. However, this just ain't it. I really want ds (age 10.5) to learn about cultures (food, traditional clothing, customs, etc.) of various countries. However, I do NOT want a full-blown program. Just something we can use once a week to complement the other things we are doing. I have the Usborne Internet-Linked book of geography, but I want something else. That one just isn't it either. Thanks. Cynthia

I just cannot find the "fit" for history next year. I don't want to do *all* of TOG as I know it will be *too* much. I feel like MOH is too sparse and moves at too slow of a pace (even though I love it). I feel like Diana Waring is a bit too *loose* for me (even though I love the audio tapes). We have already done SOTW 1 - 3 and ds does not want to use those again. I know it is expensive, but I was just wondering if anyone used TOG for history and geopgraphy only. TIA! Cynthia

This is just a workbook which defines the terms and gives concrete examples of them from classic literature. It would certainly NOT be sufficient on its own, but I think it is a great tool to work through prior to doing a more in-depth literary analysis course. Because the terms are isolated there isn't the need of digging out several of them within a larger literary work. From there I would move on to something else, but we aren't there yet ourselves! I will probably use Lightning Lit 7 next year for my ds. HTH. Cynthia

we are planning on using the Life Science from BJU for next year. I believe they have a dissection DVD for about $50 where you can just watch the dissections. We won't be doing a bug collection, either! Cynthia

Prior to Grade 4 we did do the writing assignments in the R&S grammar books. We tried Wordsmith Apprentice at the beginning of the year, but it was a bust. My ds thought it "babyish." We picked up IEW the last 9 weeks of school in grade 4 and spread out the 15 weeks of assignments over the last quarter of grade 4 and the first half of grade 5. We are now working on SICC-B. Loving IEW here! Cynthia

nt

We did not read the Henty book during our Civil War studies, but ds did read Across Five Aprils, Behind Rebel Lines, and Rifles for Watie. He did not care much for Across Five Aprils, but really enjoyed the other two. Cynthia

Someone else mentioned The Mysterious Benedict Society...he LOVED that one, too. I think the Hobbit is also a good suggestion. Cynthia

I bought mine at Wal-mart (dh works for them), but they didn't have the TI-84. I don't think it would make much difference. Prof. Mosely suggested the TI-84 Plus, but I was just chicken. For *me* I wanted it to match the screen. Not that it matters...ds doesn't have the fear of technology that I have. I got the Dummies book, too (separately), but we haven't used it. Also, even though there are GOBS of buttons on it, he tells you early on that they will be introduced on a "need-to-know" basis. HTH! Cynthia! Yea! I made it go away!:)

nt

For Pre-algebra, (and I did use Chalkdust and am still using it for Algebra) I generally looked over solutions and allowed ds to ONLY use a calculator if the arithmetic "got in the way" of the concept. And, sometimes, I would make him do the arithmetic anyway. So, I would look at the solutions to the problems I assigned and would write "C" in pencil next to the problems on which I allowed a calculator. So, basically, on some big ol' % or decimal-type problems where the division would carry on forever, etc. I bought a TI-83 Plus graphing calculator to use this year, but you wouldn't need it for Pre-Algebra. Prof. Mosely suggests this one or the TI-84. The higher number is newer/fancier, but on the DVDs we have for Algebra I, the 83 model is the one that is shown on-screen. I don't think there are too many differences between them, but I thought it would be easier if the one shown on the DVDs was exactlylike the one my ds would be using. HTH. Cynthia

I will lighten up and just let him read the books. I think I kind of knew this as I was typing up my frustrations. :o I appreciate you all so much! Cynthia

I am so frustrated. We recently started Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. He does not want to stop at the end of every chapter and do the discussion questions/read the notes. He just wants to read the book without interruption! I don't want to kill his joy of reading, but at some point in his life (perhaps not today) he HAS to do this! I have tried working with him on scheduling it differently. It isn't just the fill in the blank stuff (we have been doing it all orally) or just the notes, or just the discussion questions. I thought I could "cut" some of it. He says he "hates it all." As far as the notes go (the best part IMO) he says, "I already know all that stuff." This is NOT true, though he has done Figuratively Speaking and half of the Walch Prose & Poetry (the prose part) Toolbox. I have tried to explain that he has to make the move to getting those elements (theme, conflict, etc.) within the context of a larger work. Should I just let him read and forget it? He is 10.5, BTW. I just thought this would be a good place to start. Can someone please tell me what to do? I have this dread fear that he is NEVER going to want to talk about literature with me!!! :eek: He is a math-y guy, but still! What say you, wise hive? Cynthia

Even if you didn't use all of her curricula, her audio CDs are extremely engaging. In themselves, they would not be complete (she also has a text that has LOTS of additional assignments as well as suggested additional books). However, they would be a great supplement if you chose not to use all of her materials. I am trying to decide how *much* of her stuff I want to use next year, but we will definitely use the audios. Just a thought!:) Cynthia

This year I have decided that, rather than giving something up for Lent, I will DO something every day during Lent. For me, this is going to be praying for my fil, and, believe me, I will struggle to get on my knees every day for this man! Cynthia

My son has loved all of these. Cynthia