Hi there, Well, I poked around on her website, and can't find the binder outside of the kit anymore! I'd e-mail her and ask if it can be purchased seperately. What I liked about it was the fact that even though we focus on one time period a year, if we happened to visit a pioneer village or read a book about Helen Keller, we could just add it to the history portfolio chronologically rather than it not being part of our history study. I liked the color coding of the continents too.... And, we have the 'Historical Fact Sheets" which made for a nice simple report format, and included the color coding of the continents. I think Calendar Quest/WECN make a great jumping off point, and will give you plenty to work with for a year. Her worldview primer might be worth checking out... I became interested in her products after having my daughter attend a group worldview class that she was presenting. It gave me some words for concepts that I know about but didn't always talk about with my daughter. It can be done in a day... I also admit, I think her 'lessons on time' are brilliant, but not necessary. It just offers a compact concreteness to the concept of time -days, years, decades, centuries, millennia... I think it takes about an hour... But, I know her materials can be used without it and I don't think my then 10 year old was as impressed by it as I was... She definately felt like she already understood time. :) History Portfolios was VERY western focused (which did end up bugging my daughter...) A small chapter at the end for other world history, when we like to keep our world history balanced. I never ended up using the maps through Brimwood Press, but I LOVE the Story of the World Mapwork, and was dissappointed in the History Portfolio maps. And, to try to get through the four history portfolios and feel like you have anything close to complete in a year would be a nightmare - we tackeled two portfolios this year (middle ages and renaissance - like SOTW), and have about half of each done. (Of course, you can always take pages out at the end so it feels more complete.) The binder concept (which I grew fond of with four years of SOTW) is great because it's 'complete' no matter how much material goes in there!! The author of the history portfolio's ideas for study and our ideas didn't usually match up, so we ended up just ignoring her reading suggestions. We worked our way through SOTW again, worked with Kingfisher, and did lots of extra reading. I also really let my daughter choose her areas of indepth study for the last two years (based on the period of history we are in) because she has had four years of world history, and wanted her to having a jumping off point, but to get deeper, not broader. That's my .02... Good luck and have fun!! Kris

I have used some and enjoyed them... I loved the Toothpicks/time activity (a lovely, concrete way to understand time), and Calendar Quest (A great story that studies world history through the creation of the calendar). I think the binder is great - I wish we'd used that instead of history portfolio, but my daughter liked history portfolio better. The Brimwood Press binder was a full world history cycle that we could have used for four years.... I also bought the "worksheets" (I forget what they're called) but haven't use them since we didn't end up using the binder. I also really liked the idea of the "hats" but I couldn't squeeze in one more homeschool thing!! Good luck, :) Kris

This is an unusual suggestion, butI just finished a GREAT book called Inside Family Therapy by Nichols. It goes beyond discipline, and looks at family dynamics. It uses a case study to look at one family's dynamics, with tons of easy to understand and engaging information about family systems. I also agree with ALL of Joanne's suggestions! :) Kris

5'2"

We are using the Biology/Earth Science components with a friend who did the Chemistry/Physics last year. She liked the Chemistry/Physics better, but the Biology is fine (we are just starting the Earth Science.) Pros: Everything (in theory) is included in the kit. The explainations are clear and simple. The readings are short enough for a 6th grader to read through, understand, not get bored, etc. Great color pictures in the text. The lab book gives good instructions. A thorough and logical coverage of biology for a 7th grader. Cons: Our kit was missing a few components, which meant you had to check everything before the morning of the experiment. The author is very cynical about a non-biblical explaination for everything, which as a person who adhere's to the theory of evolution, bothers me. My daughter enjoyed pointing it out everytime his worldview overtly affected the information. We did further research on biogenesis, because his explaination was not very good. Even if I did want a biblical explaination, I wouldn't think it would be right to make fun of the 'scientists' who think God didn't create everything - I know this because I also don't like reading scientific arguments that put down Biblical explainations. Just give us the facts from your point of view, and we can figure out your worldview. No need to be rude. (just venting a bit.) Not many "experiments." The labs were fun, and illustrated the point, but I'd have liked a bit more of the scientific method (I really liked Real Science for Kids) developing a hypothesis, procedure, recording results and coming to conclusions. It's pricey! We split it with my friend, so the labs weren't that expensive per person, but it's not cheap doing an all inclusive kit. +++ So, would I use it again? I think so. I'd love to do the Chemistry/Physics, as it is presented without the worldview issues (according to my friend.) We won't end up doing that because Casi is off to school next year, but I do tell people about the program, mentioning the caveats. It was easy enough to implement that we used it and for the most part liked it, and that is the sign of a decent curriculum to me. The other piece I am always looking for (of course) is did we learn, and I'd say yes. Even the parts that we didn't enjoy forced us to look for alternate explainations, forced us to read actively and critically instead of passively, and provided us with conversations about worldviews. :001_smile: Kris

Battle for Endor!!!! I love the Ewoks....

My focus has always been history.... in the early years, we integrated all of our language arts, geography and science into history. (And we always do math. :001_smile: ) I think our focus has shifted slightly, with a triadic emphasis on history, math, and language arts as it's own subject. We do geography, logic and science as their own seperate subjects, but with less time devoted. Whenever we can integrate, we do, but in the middle grades, this does not happen as often. Of COURSE you can do this without history being your focus. :) I'd say pick the subject you are most enthuiastic about that you kids also like, and make it your focus. For most people I know, this is the most successful strategy. Good luck! Kris

All time favorites: Les Miserables and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Slightly more beach oriented favorites: The Eyre Affair series The Time Traveler's Wife Life of Pi Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood Anne of Green Gables Series Candide Lying on the Couch Have fun!!!

Hi there, I think teaching the classics can be used with any age. The DVD was helpful, but the majority of what he says is straight out of the book, so if you read that, you should be good. The most important thing to remember (in my opinion) is to not try to do too much. My 6th grade daughter and I started with stories like Make Way for Ducklings and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and I filled out the story chart. Then, I had her do one orally while I wrote. (Another simple story - I don't remember which one.) We very slowly worked our way to her doing it independently (I was using it for my book group, so she was really just 'helping' me at first.) Once she was comfortable with that, we started doing some of the questions. It's been great - she uses the story chart for essays, and the questions are great for discussion. Good luck and have fun! Kris

I wish you lived here - I know a great teacher! My daughter takes fiddle from him... ;) Good luck and have FUN!! Kris

It's only rated PG? We watched it when my daughter was 9 or 10 I think, in the context of studying WWII and not making that the only Genocide... I definately would say it's meant for older teens - adults, but that said, it depends on the family and the reasons for watching... like reading a piece of literature at different levels and getting different things out of it, movies can be watched multiple times for the same lessons.... this movie is like classic literature. I just thought the ending was very intense (and I assumed it was rated at least pg-13.) But it is beautiful. Kris

Well, I really like her.... She's an excellent writer, but it isn't immediately obvious from the first book in the series - in that one she's just getting warmed up. I'd say her writing goes past NC-17 ratings.... Subtle - well, it starts out that way - a bite here, a kiss there... But one of the recent ones I finished I remember saying "I miss the plot." Luckily, the next book remedied that, or I'd have quit reading the series.... As it ends up, I can't wait until the next one comes out. I suppose I can; swamped in reading for grad school and all.... she's got a fairy series I want to start when I have time, but I can be a compulsive reader - unable to put it down, and I need to keep my priorities in order right now. Either she's that good or I just like her that much. :) Kris

For good quick fun reading, I like Janet Evanovich.... her books have a bit of steam, but don't take me much more than an hour or two to read, which these days is all the time I have for 'braing candy.' I also really liked Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner (and the sequels....) who hangs out here I think! A Greek God in the Ladies Club was cute. If you like things that are a bit darker, Laurell K. Hamilton wrote a vampire series starting with "Guilty Pleasures" that is rather steamy.... but they get progressively darker, and while it doesn't bother me, I like to forwarn people. Her writing is quite amazing - lots of literary references and great vocab and sentence structure; something I won't claim for Janet Evanovich. (though Evanovich's characters are so creative and colorful, they're fantastic.) If you want some fun 'how to's' I love Lou Paget - there is a book for him and a book for her that are both a treat. I think I've said too much. ;) Enjoy! Kris

I say "YES" on Fallacy Detective. It's phenomenonal. We loved it. Besides a few mindbenders, I haven't done much else. Good luck and have fun! Kris

I'm having my daughter work on an essay for a contest - the topic is what can we learn from Holocaust survivors. It's going slowly - a lot more challenging than a typical animal report, country report, history narration, or book report for some reason. But I'm glad she's doing it. Kris