:iagree: with it all except for the planning it all out at once. I do a month or two at a time. I use a plain notebook--left page is for my notes to myself and the right page is for the outline of the lesson. Usually I can fit one lesson per page (right now I am just doing the first book, maybe as I progress it will take more pages. . .). Oh, and I use the hardcopy of the books--it just made more sense to me to have a hard copy. I'm not big on using e-books. I also do not highlight, etc. in books--it's more my style to take notes. I think that the lessons are very wordy to get all the info across to the parent. Maybe in the second edition there will be "parent note pages" with the outline of each lesson AFTER the detailed explanation of the lesson. That would save a lot of work for everyone!

What a great post--a source of inspiration. I have something similar to a morning/afternoon basket but with the resources you listed I can certainly add and improve it. That schedule you listed works really well--we follow a very similar one except Friday is off for us and we intersperse the Friday activities throughout the week. Language arts doesn't take us quite as long. But I really like schooling that way--it works and everything gets done. If we have someplace we need to go Art/Music can be taken away and placed on Friday or history can be shortened (addn'l reading can take place another day and/or later in the day). So it works and my children (just a year off from your children's age) love the extra day off (Fridays). They think of it as their private day b/c Saturday and Sunday are more like family days since my husband is off. We work through the summer just taking a week or two off in spots for a camp or a break but we do have an element of "unschooling" in our education plans in that we often take days off throughout the year to ski, field trips, a planned break that gets everyone through the week and of course some travel. So we're starting next week. Narnia as a spine sounds wonderful. I will have to look into that in the future. I'll read your blog to see what you are doing with it. My son is going to do a big study on World War II this year and that may be a good jumping off point and touchstone. Hmmm. . .I will have to start reading some of the in depth analyses on the series and C.S. Lewis biographies. . .

A good horse resource is the game "Herd Your Horses". My daughter also loves horses (has her own pony) and she has been playing this game since she was 5. http://www.amazon.com/Herd-Your-Horses-Board-Game/dp/B00000ISVE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340817462&sr=8-1&keywords=herd+your+horses When she was younger we had to help with the reading of course. I even enjoyed playing the game. There are harder versions of the game that can be played and the cards have lots of good information on horse breeds. Older girls should really enjoy it too. I highly recommend it in addition to your equine studies.

Watership Down was our difficult read aloud. We all really enjoyed it but for some reason it was just had for me to get into the rhythm of reading that one aloud. I even tried to get them to switch over to the audio book--no go. They liked the way I read it. Even as I stumbled over all those crazy rabbit words???? No one told me before I started reading it that they had a different language! But what a wonderful book and I am so happy that we got to experience it together. So many things to talk about. We will definitely be revisiting this book later.

If you look in antique stores you can get a globe for under $15.00. The land masses will not have changed but of course the countries may have--but that might make it more interesting! I liked the ones that were almost three dimensional with the mountains, etc.

Thank you for all the replies! Your input made me sit down and really think about what I wanted to be able to do with my list. I realized I wanted the following features: 1. one list for everyone 2. I wanted to know whether the book read was a read aloud, read silently or an audio book. 3. I wanted this to be easy and efficient. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I thought long and hard about just doing a paper book list but I also wanted #4. 4. searchable list that can also easily be sorted (into a list of books that my son read for four months on ancient history or all our read alouds for the past two years, etc.) The google doc idea was a great one and it made me think about using Excel. Goodreads or the other online trackers weren't going to give me the kind of printout that I was looking for but they do seem great to get additional recommendations. I also didn't want to lose my database in the future in case something happened to one of these sites. So, I decided to do this (in case anyone else is wondering. . . ;) 1. Excel spreadsheet with the following columns: date (in the format yyyy/mm/dd so I can sort by year) title author 4 columns for who read/listened to the book that I will use as a check box (mom, dad, s, d) read aloud (as a check box) audio book (as a check box) subject comment I am considering adding a check box of whether the book is on our bookshelf or not but I'm not sure how useful that will be for us. I did this spreadsheet in a landscape format making sure everything fit. This document is now searchable by who ever read it, date, subject, audio book, etc. 2. Data entry via a form with excel so I don't have to tab through the spread sheet when entering the books--this is a nice time saver for me. 3. Keeping library receipts as suggested in one of the replies. This will be a good cross reference for me. 4. Also I like the idea of a book mark that the kids fill out and put on my desk so that I can record the books. I will be sticking on in each book that I want to make note of in the book list when they come home from the library. I will also put a comment space on it as well. For the book that I think both of the kids will read I will put two in the book. I have a spot where I'll put extra ones for the kids to grab when they need to. So a big thanks to everyone again for their input. Once I knew where I was heading with this I was able to put this together in under twenty minutes (minus the time it took me to search how to make a form for data entry in Excel 2007--it's not hard to do but it was hard to find the command for it!) Now I think I will do this for book list of books that we WANT to read. . .

I would recommend Watership Down. We read that this year and it was amazing. I will admit I found it hard to read aloud in the beginning and I even tried to get my children to listen to it as an audio book (something they love to do) but they insisted that they preferred the way that I read it. It was well worth it. We really enjoyed it and there were so many interesting things to discuss. I wouldn't necessarily worry about reading things above her reading level. I know my children love read alouds because it gives them a chance to ask questions. Also consider books that she might not be interested in reading--not necessarily above her grade level. The fact that you are reading aloud to her might make it that much more interesting and appealing. Would she read the Shiloh series on her own? How about books by Gary Paulson? Would she pick up Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer?

:iagree: except I use Singapore with MM added as supplement for one child. Miquon works great for my daughter who was having issues with the pace of Singapore. So, can you use what you have now until you can figure out which direction you need to go in for your children? And just be aware that it may be in two different directions!

We read A LOT of books at our house. We use the library so we can't go and look on the book shelves to see what books have been read recently. Unfortunately our library has switched to a new system so we cannot see any books we have checked out after we returned them (maybe this is good for people who are up to no good but it makes it difficult for a homeschooling mom!). Anyways, is there an efficient, easy way to keep tracks of the books read? I know that the WTM encourages the student to make the book list which is fine. . .but I do not think that they want to write down EVERY book they read (but I would like to keep track. . .). I also want to keep track for myself since I am always reading as well. Ideally I want some space to write a quick comment about the book. Do people use preprinted sheets kept in a binder? Is there a good journal for this? Do we need one for each person? Or do I use an excel sheet? Smart phone apps won't work for me b/c I do not have one. Thanks in advance!

I love these lists! My children really prefer the narrative style too. I have found an inexpensive copy of Stories of Rocks and Minerals and have placed the order (after a quick look at a free copy online). What a wonderful way to write about rocks and minerals! I have been forever trying to find a good book on rocks and minerals for my son. All of them have been field guides but they don't answer his questions. This one should fit the bill. A big thank you to everyone who posted!

I like to use the "Painless Placemat" maps. There is a detailed, labeled map on one side and an unlabeled, black outline map on the other. I first bought them because we didn't have a good place to hang a large world map and these were small, handy and durable. I think they were $3.00 a piece. I also put them on the kitchen table (to use as placemats!) and my kids took it upon themselves to learn the state capitals and country capitals at lunch time. We all talked about the longest river, the mountain ranges, etc. We talk about where we have been, where we would like to go, etc. My kids are not super motivated but this ended up being interesting to them. It was also a great way to "review" history at dinner time with Dad. He would ask, "So what did you do in history today?" They would point places out on the map and talk about it in a very conversational way. These placemats are inexpensive, easy way to provide a lot of geography exposure, without much effort. And after a week or so I mix up the maps. I also plan to do the Trail Guide to World Geography next year, more because of my kids' interest and I like how they are going to have to search out answers to different questions.

I thought I would want to use a computer program for my planning but after using different free trials I found: 1. I didn't like having my computer on and at the table/couch/coffee table while we were doing school (too much of a distraction and took up too much space) 2. the printouts for the day/week didn't always fit on one page or look good. (I really wanted all my subjects to fit on one page for both my children. If they couldn't fit on one page I wanted it to be easy to have them fit on one page, double sided BUT break at the right spot between subjects. I couldn't manage to get that to work. . .) So I went back to pen and paper on pre-printed sheets. It's low tech. I never have to worry about the wireless network in my house or the internet going down. I plan out the subjects by the quarter or the year and then fill in a week's work at a time. That way if the unexpected comes up I don't have to rewrite a whole bunch of plans.

I would check out your local library. Our library has a great children's magazine section and unlike the adult section, we can take out the latest issue (with the adult magazines the latest two issue can't be taken out). That way you and your children can look at a bunch of them for yourselves and see which ones you like. And you might find that you would prefer to devote some time each month to the library to read the magazines there (no magazines to buy or lose that way!).

A low, old bureau may work well for you. I picked up an antique oak bureau (only four drawers--two large below and two thinner ones above) for about $50.00 a few years ago. It's in our living room and I store my curriculum in there along with other things (like bill paying stuff in one of the small drawers). The things I like about it are: 1. it's small 2. it's low enough so that the top can be used to organize things or be used as a display table, etc. 3. it's very attractive 4. everything is out of sight. You could put wood dividers in the drawers (we did that in my children's bureaus to organize their clothes--it works great!) but I just use them as is. Antique prices are so low right now that you should be able to find something for less than what you would pay at Ikea but with a little thought, it could be just as functional AND more durable. We also have a antique library table in our living room that has a bottom shelf where I store smaller games in baskets, the microscope and all of its accessories. Baskets that store curriculum could also be placed under it too. It has two very deep drawers--perfect for keeping two laptops in one with their cords. The other drawer is (wow!) empty. I like that table because one of the children can work at it when they want to be away from the group but it looks so nice in the living room because it is in front of a double window with only a lamp on it. One of these days I will get a piece of glass to put on top of it to protect it better. . .Again, this is a lovely piece that is so useful! Here's a link to a blog that illustrates what I'm talking about. This kind of cabinet can hold so much and yet it is very attractive. And if you look at consignment stores, junk stores, even antique stores you will be surprised at what you can find for not a whole lot of money. http://smallnotebook.org/2012/02/06/create-a-good-first-impression/ At our house we homeschool in the living room and the kitchen so our stuff has to fit into the rest of the house seamlessly. That's why I use furniture pieces that work with the rest of the house.

I like the organization system suggested in the WTM but I didn't like using the three-ring binders. We started out with binders this year and I didn't like them because I was not good about filing. . .also handwriting paper didn't work well for language arts. AND they took up so much space on the bookshelves, both in height and width. So we switched to composition books for spelling (we do our own spelling) and for copywork (no need to file then. . .) Our local college supply store had Filexec presentation books that has plastic pages that you put the paper into. They come in 12-pages, 24-pages up to 60 pages. Each page can hold two pieces of paper (one in front, one in back). I love them because they are much smaller than the binders and pages aren't accidentally ripped out of them (and I can't mis-punch the paper). I find that I file daily now and they are small enough to put in the organizers that I hang on the wall for each kid. The 24 page ones work great for science. I tend to use the 12 page ones for music and art. The larger ones are great for the yearly portfolio and history. Obviously you can reuse them. Oh, and they come in different colors too! The black ones are the only ones that have a slot on the spine and the cover for customizing.

We bought two of these this year (one for each child) since they were so inexpensive. http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Magnetic-Erase-Inches-1763773/dp/B0044R1NBU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338478516&sr=8-2 They are still in great shape after a year's worth of use. One advantage to these is that I can place one in the center of the table so that each child has some "privacy" when working. I use them to display info and the kids can use them to do figure out math, etc. After having these I'm glad that I didn't go with a larger easel that would have been in the way more. The size was not a problem either and I loved that they were magnetic too. They fold up neatly and I just tuck them beside the bookcase.

Maybe you're thinking of Lives of Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and what they're neighbors thought) by Kathleen Krull.

Thanks for reporting this. I have heard of a lot of people going to office stores to have spines of books removed and spiral bound. I never thought of what might happen if something goes wrong! We live in a small college town and I just noticed that our local printer will print and bind theses (is that the right plural form?). Even if they are a little more, I will definitely go to them for any work. Again, thank you for the warning. And yes, you do have a right to be upset. I am always shocked at how people can do things so mechanically and not actually look and evaluate how they are doing the particular job at hand. I mean, laminating a post-it onto a front cover????? Cutting the spine too close? If you do that, stop and call the customer and ask them how they want you to proceed. Geeez. . . Good luck!

I would go for the MP3 downloads b/c then you won't have any scratches. Also it is easy to transfer from car to home without losing your place. If you do not have an MP3 plug in for your car (we don't), but you do have a tape player then you can get a special cassette (Radioshack or Best Buy carries them) that will allow you to play the MP3 through your tape deck. They cost about $15.00 and I think they're worth it. We still get CD's through the library but I wouldn't buy them b/c then I would have to store them and deal with them in the car. Oh, and you will probably want a car charger for the MP3 player for your car too. If your MP3 player doesn't match your cell phone charger, often you can buy an adapter for about $5.00 to change the plug type. Check that out before you buy a whole new car charger.

What program did you use to create your planner? I really like your concept and would like to do one of my one. You inspired me!

It's great to know that I am not the only one butchering names!

Thanks for the connection. It looks like a lot of fun. I'm just worried I will have to come up with something equally as good for the NEXT book.

I think your son will really like Singapore Math. I agree with the posts about buying Standards edition, Text Book, Work Books, HIG and Challenging Word Problems. I do not have my children write in the text books because I will resell those with the HIGs, but the CWP and WB are meant to be consumable. I did not buy any manipulatives. My daughter was doing fine with Singapore but I saw that she was starting to lose her confidence because I think she wasn't truly understanding some of the concepts. After switching to Miquon she is thriving. So with her I will continue with Singapore topics after she has explored them with Miquon. My son, on the other hand, thrives with Singapore. He is also the type who likes to solve things in his head and he just understands how to do things. I like the support of the HIGs even with him because I can see that while he may not be solving the problems traditionally he is using the strategies from the HIGs (often before they are introduced). I can now see first hand while people are saying that Miquon and Singapore are a stellar combination.

At our library a "tech table" was set up with i pads and kindles so people could "experience" e-books. In no time all the kids figured out how to put Angry Birds and then other games on the i pad. After that I dreaded going to the library because all my son wanted to do was play the games on the i pad. He had no experience with it but figured it out pretty quickly. I finally told him that we would find a place where he could play video games (real ones--like an arcade) so that he could go to a place where it was appropriate to play them and when he goes to the library he can do what's appropriate there--find books, read books, etc. At our house I made a rule early on: when my son feels that he can monitor the amount of time he spends playing the wii, etc. and limit that time appropriately, then we will consider getting one. He knows he cannot do it so it doesn't come up any more. He had a tough time limiting his reading time at night (choosing when to turn off his light). I am sure I am going to have to reconsider my strategy as he gets older but for right now it's working.

A good one would be Look to the Mountains by LeGrand Cannon. I read it several years ago so you might want to peruse it for appropriateness for an 11 y.o. but from what I remember it should be fine. It is a beautiful story about a couple from Bedford NH (I think it was called Kettleford in the book) and they have to go up the Merrimack River to settle on unclaimed land. It's really a pioneer book about the settling of NH and there is a lot in it about town life, pioneering, and yes, the husband even participates in the Revolutionary War. I think he went to VT and describes walking there, the battle, etc so it wasn't just a passing mention of the war. It described this time period so well. I highly recommend it and I looked--it is available through Amazon. We will definitely be reading this aloud when we get to the Revolutionary War.