The Archaeological Institute of America has free lesson plans for setting up simulated digs, archaeological research methods, etc. http://www.archaeological.org/education/lessonplans

Oh, this is such a lovely idea! It makes me want to start some collaborative writing myself :)

I'd LOVE a homeschool room with a huge table, wall-to-wall bookcases, room for collaborative projects for up to 20 people, and lots of light. And maybe a dedicated space for a science lab so we could have people over to do science projects.

I used this ebook from School Sparks which has printable flashcards and games for the Dolch site words. Stepping Stones for Early Readers: http://www.schoolsparks.com/assets/ebooks/stepping-stones-for-early-readers.pdf

I think Violet would be lovely with the other names (although it's my daughter's name, so I am partial!) :)

I really like Dr. Wright's Kitchen Table Math series (books 1, 2, and 3) for a list of topics to cover in elementary math and some guidance about how and when to approach the topics. It's not a full curriculum on it's own, but it could be great as a spine for planning your own living math course. For your own math studies, I'd recomment Liping Ma's Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics or Young Mathematicians at Work. They can help you with the why behind all of the math and give you insights into how to approach the topics with your kids.

School Sparks has fun and colorful worksheets to print for free. There's also a printed workbook you can order from Amazon. http://www.schoolsparks.com/kindergarten-worksheets

We've bought laminated maps from the online National Geographic Store. They have all sorts of maps with lots of options (size, lamination, colors, etc.).

My kids love the Disney Imagineering DVD's. They cover various topics in science and engineering. It would be pricey to buy them all, but we check them out from the library.

Good questions! As a scientist, I see science as a way of seeking out truth about the natural world. How and why do things happen? How can we convince ourselves that we have the right answer? How certain are we of the answers we do have? This shapes how we approach science, because I want my kids to not only learn the content of science, but to learn how to be scientists (or engineers or historians or mathematicians-they all use similar types of thinking). Now, how to actually do that in our homeschool, is another question. :) I'm still working through that myself. One thing we've done is start an "I Wonder" board, where we keep track of questions that come up in everyday life. We're going to use these questions to lead future investigations because we actually want to know the answers. Then then "scientific method" will be introduced as a tool to help us answer the questions we're interested in. I hope that eventually my kids will start to use this type of thinking on their own. We will see how it works!

If you use OneNote, you can download the OneNote app on the Ipad and set the notebook to automatically sync over all your devices using Microsoft's cloud (I think it's called OneDrive now). Then your kids just need to open up the app to see the schedule, links, etc.

Engineering Adventures is a free curriculum from the Museum of Science in Boston. I haven't used them myself but they look good! http://www.eie.org/engineering-adventures

We've enjoyed (well mostly DH and I, lol) using the Roadside Geology series. I think there are books for most (all?) states. They can be a little dry, but are great for knowing where to travel within your state to see geological features up close. It seems like most states also have geology departments with links to local resources.

Oh, me too! I didn't mean to minimize the importance of content at all. That's originally what drew me to science too, and I still love the content of science. :)

One reason the Fordham Institute gave the NGSS a low review is the reviewers thought that it focused too much on scientific practices and not enough on the traditional content areas of science (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.). Personally, I think focusing more on scientific practices (asking questions, making models, etc.) is GREAT, and teaching our kids to think scientifically is a priority for me and my husband (we both have PhD's in science fields). One of the downsides of NGGS for us is that the scientific practices are tied to specific content areas, so kids would mostly learn the practices only in one or two contexts instead of them being integrated into the entire curriculum.