Oh, thank you for all of the lovely suggestions! We have this Wind in the Willows by Foreman and it is so wonderful. I love how the whole book is in color and illustrated. I am very much in love with Tasha Tudor's books. I love them all but we have The Secret Garden and A Little Princess that are relevant to this thread and they are so lovely. I must say thought that I am highly tempted by the lovely one by Inga Moore. I will have to save up for them. I also really love the series "Scribner's Illustrated Classics" and most of those are illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. We have a few of the vintage ones and just love them.

I found this today and we made the soup can design as my oldest son has been interested in catapults/trebuchets. I thought this might be fun to share with you all. Does anyone have any other designs that are easy to make, especially for trebuchets? :001_smile: http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/easy-to-make-catapult-simple-soup-can-design/# P.S. I used the bigger Popsicle sticks and duck tape with soft pom pom balls as the ammunition. My kids loved this! Although you might here things like this: "Mom! Can we light our balls on fire?":lol: Boys!

Have you seen the book "Drawing with Children" by Mona Brooks? Several wonderful art classes here use this book to teach (with amazing results!) and I have been reading through it to prepare for teaching my kids. I have really liked it so far but have not used it with my kids yet. I don't know if this helps at all but thought I would mention it.

Thank you so much for this! Lauren

Recently at a used book store I found the first five volumes of "Pictorial History of Second World War", copyright 1944. My husband just loves these books and they are so interesting- living history at its finest! The whole set is just a sequential series of photos with some narrative displaying each aspect of WW2. You might want to be careful using these with younger children as there are some dead people in the pictures. You could still use them but just skip over the dead body pictures. They are not gruesome or anything but people are dead. These books really make history come alive. They kind of just suck you in because it is so interesting to see everything. I highly recommend them! I also found out that they are part of a 10 volume set. I only have Vol. 1-5. So, I will be on the lookout for Vol 6-10!

What a great question! I will be interested to hear what others say!

These books are loved in our household (not in any order)- Non-fiction: We use the North American Wildlife Guide to look up stuff all the time The Encyclopedia of Awesome Animals The Big Bug Book Books by Olive Earle All ABout _____ Books by Arnosky Small Creatures in My Garden by Reynolds A Nest of Wood Ducks (I can Read) Alphabet book animal series by Pallotta See How They Grow Series The Animals of Friendly Farm Books by Irene Brady Smithsonian Institute Backyard books Marguerite Henry's Album of Horses Animal Fact/Animal Fable by Simon Animals Do the Strangest Things The Beaver Pond by Tresselt The Golden Book "The Little Rabbit" and others Fiction: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (by far the most loved book in our home) It's the Bear by Alborough We're Going on a Bear Hunt Beatrix Potter Winnie the Pooh The Complete Brambly Hedge If You Give books by Numeroff Goodnight Gorilla Paddington (longer but they loved it!) Anatole series by Titus Eric Carle animal books Tasha Tudor Corgiville books The Margaret Tempest Picture Book Inspector Peckit by Freeman Swimmy Inch by Inch Billy and Blaze series The Biggest Bear by Ward Frog and Toad series Have you Seen My Duckling The Big Snow Free Books (Google): Little Busybodies In the Animal World by Serl I have a few more that I am thinking of but can't seem to find right now. I will look and update later. I think some of these books might be a little advanced for this age but my kids really like listening to the longer stories as read alouds. I have found that reading the fiction stories leads to more "research" into the animal utilizing the non-fiction books. It works out to be a nice balance.

The main book that you are asking about is the History and Geography Curriculum Guide. It is used for K-12. After looking at it more closely, I realized that my first answer was incorrect. They teach universal history primarily in grades 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11. The subjects for grades 5-7 are repeated again in grades 8-11 in much greater detail. Grade 12 is in depth study of economics and government. In the lower grades (K-4), American history is taught in conjunction with some universal history sequentially. For example, history of the Bible, Columbus/Spain and other explorers history along with New World, English and French history along with American Revolution, etc. They also have recommendations for both student and teacher resources like biographies and other living books that deal with the time period. I know their packages show some of the resources that can be used. They use the "red books" every year so perhaps this is what you were thinking Hope this helps!

The Noah Plan teaches American history in Grades 1-5 and World History in Grades 6-12. :)

We have the "On the Farm" book and my boys really love it. I received it as a hand-me-down from my MIL. It looks like you might be able to find it at R.O.C.K. Solid Home School Books but their website looks like it is down. But, they are on Facebook. The number that is in the book I have is 1-800-705-3452. You can buy it for sure on Amazon from them. You could also try and make something like this on your own. The whole book is just pictures made out of cuisenaire rods like the ones in the free rod books. The only difference is that in the "On the Farm" book the numbers are written inside of the little boxes. So, in the box where a #5 rod would go the number 5 is written in. I really like the book a lot but you could just get creative too! Hope this helps!

Rosie, Thank you so much for these! For some reason I hadn't thought of using Base Ten Blocks with Cuisenaire. Now, I feel like a complete idiot! Of course you use them together! Thanks for this! I appreciate it! Lauren

We have five of them- the Boys of Grit series, The Captive, and Shipwrecked but Not Lost. We really love the Boys of Grit series but have not read the other two yet. I also purchase all of my books used and these were purchased used. I found one at a thrift store, the Boys of Grit series here, and the other one on eBay. Some of the stories are also published by other publishers but not as nicely. I probably would not buy them new just because they are so expensive.

I would like to know too. Should I report it or something? Mine was just a bunch of links.

Here is a wonderful resource.

For those of you who keep the worms in your house...does it smell? I have been contemplating doing a worm farm. Do you have any suggestions about how to start for a beginner?

I am sorry. I should have been more clear. I am taking about the Miss Pickerell book series- Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter, Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars, etc.

Does anyone like these? What did you think about them? Thanks!

We have the Mott Media set and I love them. They are beautiful and have been easy to use. But, we are only on the first two books. According to the preface, they are reprints of the original readers and their authenticity researched by the Special Collections Library- Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. The date in the Pictorial Eclectic Primer is 1849. In the preface, they also discuss how this original edition is Christ centered. I am a Christian and believe in the Lord Jesus and the truth found in the Bible so this is wonderful for me. But, if you are looking for something more secular, they might not be for you even if they are historically authentic. I don't know if this helps any but we like them very much!

at the same time? I have one B4FIAR age and one FIAR age and was wondering what would be best. Do you think that they both could be done at the same time? (By time, I mean doing one with one child and the other with the other child) Suggestions?

Does anyone know anything about these? Could you share? Are they an Anthology? An encyclopedia?

I think I am a little confused about what you are looking for. But, I think that you might like the "Gospel Story Book" by Machowski . Here is a link that will allow you to preview a lot of the text. It is the best Christ Centered Bible that I have found. Like I said, the illustrations are not my cup of tea, but the text is what is most important. I also have his "Long Story Short" book and like it as well, although it is a little old for my children. Are you interested in other materials besides a children's Bible? I have recommendations for other materials I like a lot but are not a Bible. I am not sure what I said in the other post but the two volume set here on Hudson Taylor is just completely wonderful. I think I will have to read it every year! If you have opportunity to read it seize it! I am sorry but I am not familiar with the Green Letters. I will have to look at it!

What book(s) that you read as a child really influenced who you are today? Why?

Thank you so much for these! I love all the things that you recommend!

My two oldest (4 and 2) do this. It is so cute and always surprises me. I wish my memory was that good!

As far as I understand Calvinism/Arminianism are sotieriological positions (dealing with theological positions on salvation). Dispensational/Covenant views are hermeneutical positions (dealing with understandings of biblical interpretation- ie. Israel and the church in end times). I am also quite picky about my Bible selection and have yet to find one that I am completely satisfied with. It could be that I still have smaller children and am looking for one with lots of pictures. I have about thirteen different children's Bibles and thought perhaps you might find this useful. I do hold to a dispensational veiw but I have yet to see this really come out in a children's Bible. Are you looking for one that specifically mentions dispensational views on Israel/church? It seems like a lot of children's bibles just tell stories straight up and don't really go into the meaning or theological issues. I think that the distinction that is more important to me is how the children's Bible shows salvation and views God (or Calvinism/Arminianism). I believe in a moderate (not extreme) Calvinist veiw so this might make my opinions useless to you. I have also included information on illustrations because I am quite opinionated on that as well.:D Some Bible publishers make a children's Bible that is the actual text with pictures. We have the ESV Children's Bible and love it (the older one with white cover and picture of Jesus and the children). It is the actual text of the Bible with pictures. I personally feel like this is the best option when the child is a little older. We have one for my oldest son (4 yrs old) and he loves it. He likes to look at the pictures and pick out stories for us to read to him. I think that this will be even better as he gets older. But, the real Bible is special to him. I made him a case and he loves to take it to church and read it when Daddy does in the service. Below are Children's bibles that are not actual text: My favorite right now: I really like the text of "The Gospel Story Bible" by Marty Machowski. We just got this as a birthday gift and are about half way through it. I love the text so far. The illustrations on the other hand are not my cup of tea. (I think that they are awful). But the text is wonderful bringing everything back to Christ and his saving work on the cross so it is worth it. He uses actual phrases from the Bible and includes references within the text. He also cross references other section in the Bible with the narrative of whatever story he is telling at the moment. I think that this is the most doctrinally sound book I have for my kids. My kids like the bright colors. These are longer stories so in using this right now we are stretching the kids a little. There is another gospel centered children's bible called "The Jesus Storybook Bible". We have it and the CD. I don't like this one as much because it is all narrative and seems less Biblically accurate. The illustrations in this one are better than the above but I still don't like them. We also have both Egermeirs and Vos Children's Bibles. I like them both a lot but there is a high amount of text with less pictures (i.e. not a picture for every story). I think that these two and Hurlburt's below will be our favorite later on but right now it is hard with my little ones. My four year old almost has the attention span to get through a story but my two year old does not. We tend to loose the four year old too when there is a long story with no picture. I would also place Hurlburt's Story of the Bible in this category. It has a few full color picture plates and some black and white and red drawing in the text. We have not used these three too much but I have read through them myself briefly. I like all of these so far. They all seem to be Biblically accurate and tell of the stories in the Bible without added narrative, which I like. Hurlburts has pronouciation marks over all of the proper names. All of these are older books but I am excited to be using all of them. I do like "The Rhyme Bible Storybook" for little ones. It is basic, simple, and they remember it very well. "The Beginner's Bible" is also a favorite. I use these as the first Bible my children have and we read to them- infant to probably around 3. Once they have a greater attention span then we graduate them to the next one up. We used "A Family Treasury of Classic Bible Stores" by Caldwell and liked it a lot. It has lovely realistic illustrations. (I secretly wish that we had the text from "The Gospel Story Book" and the illustrations from "A Family Treasury". Then we move to something like "The Gospel Story Book". I also have "The Word and Song Bible Story Book" with the CDs. We like this but use it more as a fun thing for my son to do as it has the CDs and a book to go with it. We use it a lot in the car. I have "The Early Readers Bible" and have not really used it with my son too much. I have read through it myself briefly and hope to use it more with teaching my son to read. I like it a lot so hopefully it will work out well for him. I also have "The Children's Bible" by Golden Press. We do not use this one really at all. I don't like the text but the pictures are nice. I have "Bible Stories for Children" by Horn and Cavanaugh. I got it at the thrift store and haven't used it much. I like the text. I do find it a little odd that it ends at Jesus going back to heaven. It has lovely illustrations and seems to be purely a straight telling of the stories so far. I do like others better than this. Well, I hope this helps!:D