The Aquitaine Academy

I think we've done this before (and if I missed a thread going already, my apologies) but I'd love to see pics of everyone's learning areas/school rooms and just have one big thread of them to go through with a big cup of coffee.

Thanks! This looks fun. Its on the wish list.

The early Betsy-Tacy books would probably be a good pick. You've gotten a lot of great suggestions.

Kysha, I haven't read the stories yet here but I just want to tell you that I understand how you feel. I'm biracial (Asian/Caucasian) and not being identified as part of the dominant culture I frequently find yourselves in situations where I get blindsided by blatant racism from unexpected sources and don't even realize I've been marginalized until its a second too late to say anything. Or worse, I just keep it in because I don't want to make someone else feel uncomfortable. Then I just stew about it until it goes away. Like a friend talking about how we can't meet with our kids at a certain park "because the Third World likes to congregate there". And then there are times (infrequent ones) when I overreact to something that was completely benign but got my dander up for some reason. Embarrassing for everyone. I can totally see reading something like that and not really knowing how to react. And if it made my kids uncomfortable I'd be doubly confused. I hope you found a resolution. I think the important thing is that you didn't have a knee-jerk reaction. You really wanted to consider it from all perspectives and the more everyone does that the better for everyone.

I have a child with SP issues and this sounds similar. Might check out, "The Out-of-Sync Child", and see if any of it applies to you. Best.

I'm going to cover King Arthur when we do the chapter on knights. I struggled with that one a bit too but decided that with the emphasis of chivalry and courtly love that it would tie in suitably. I would deal with Henry VIII in its proper chronology.

I haven't seen FLL4 yet so I can't say but I don't think that FLL3 would be too repetitive with the possible exception of the very beginning.

So helpful! Thanks!

Depends on the kid, I guess, but its a lot more fun when the child is fully engaged in the subject. My 5-year old could take it or leave it but my 7-year old loved it. I eventually dropped it with the younger child.

Fantastic! Thank you very much!

Would anyone be willing to share a list of recommended reading for SOTW2 the 6 - 9 yo crowd that you may have compiled? Any "can't miss" books? Any guidance is appreciated. Cheers!

Oops! I didn't read that carefully (don't tell my daughter). Yes, as everyone has said, you MUST have the teacher's book.

It will simplify your life. I've read that others have used it without but I don't think I could have managed it.

We are finishing up FLL3 and my daughter and I were delighted with it. We are looking forward to FLL4 next year. We use Classical Writing Aesop A but Susan Wise Bauer has a new writing program that would correspond with FLL3.

CHOW is also written from a Christian perspective although not overtly religious. That is, it is written by a Christian with the idea that it would be read by Christian children. Bible stories are woven into the chronology. That said, I have not found it to be disrespectful to other religions (I have the revised edition). I prefer secular materials and find this one acceptably neutral but not that much different in terms of perspective than SOTW which we also use.

It took some time to get comfortable with the program. The Instructor's Guide and Student Workbook helped a lot. I actually feel comfortable enough now that I won't be using the SW for Aesop B. Its not the easiest program to implement but I stick with it b/c my daughter's writing has improved by leaps and bounds even though I stumbled through the early lessons. For me the proof was in the pudding.

I started the year doing 2 chapters a week with my oldest b/c I was trying to get her closer to working at "grade level". As topics started to get more interesting and the additional reading more involved I slowed us down to one chapter a week. I purchased the Usborne World History and the Usborne Internet Linked History Encyclopedia AND the Kingfisher. I use the first two every week but the Kingfisher I'll save for the second go round . Its a bit more involved. Better for an older child.

In FLL3 the lessons are so brief that I don't think it would be overkill even if there is some overlap. We're doing CW Aesop and where there was overlap I tended to drop it from the writing program.

Hmmm...in this case I think its worth the investment. I think you could do it but it would save you SO much work.

My dd used to read these when she went to school. I'm not a fan.

that are predictable through the various online retailers? I'm trying to plan my purchases and I'm just wondering if there are annual percentages off or sales about which I should know. Thanks for any help.

So far behind on everything but we're up.

I can't compare them b/c I'm not familiar with R&S. I can only say that we used FLL3 this year and have nearly completed it and my dd really enjoyed it and it was easy to teach. We liked it well enough to use FLL4 next year and I hope to use FLL3 with younger children when they are ready.

Our current read-aloud is "Black Beauty" which I think would appeal to a boy and a girl. The vocabulary is not insanely challenging but is not at all dumbed down. There are many moral lessons about kindness to both animals and people that have had a big impact on my dd8. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as we are. Despereaux is also a fantastic book.