Bump. Anyone? I'm batting 1 out of 4 on people responding to my threads lately. Surely someone has an opinion.

Build Your Library has a prehistory unit study you could look at. I think it's geared for elementary ages. Perhaps someone who has actually used it will chime in.

So I've now looked at a bunch of potential curriculum in real life, and I think I've settled on Bookshark as our best fit for history. I spent quite awhile at both the Bookshark and Sonlight booths, and decided Bookshark was my preference of the two for a variety of little reasons, the four day schedule among them. So now I'm trying to decide where to start with my 11 year old. I'm leaning toward 5, but 6 is of greater interest to me as a teacher and, if I start there, we could do American history in 8th, which DS loves. Any advice? Is it a six in one half dozen in the other choice, or would one really be better for this age?

I'm making a list of curriculum that will be at the convention in Cincinnati at the end of the week that I want to look at in person and, to my great surprise, this one has caught my eye. I perused the HOD website a few years ago when I first got interested in homeschooling, but the levels I looked at didn't appeal to me. For some reason, this level does. I'd only use bits and pieces of the science, at the most, because I want (and have already found, thanks to another thread) something OEC. The history, however, really appeals to me. I've decided we're doing world history next year for sure, so now I just have to pick from dozens of good programs :). DS has gotten bits and pieces of Ancient history from personal reading, but almost no medieval history, so starting at what's officially year 2 of a cycle doesn't bother me. I can always have him read or listen to some ancient history over the summer if I make this choice and feel like we need to "catch up." Anyone want to share pros or cons of this program? Did you use it and love it? Did you use it and hate it? Thanks for any information you can give me!

My younger brother is a composer. Unless you're really into experimental music, you've never heard his stuff. Even I have heard very little of his stuff. Anyway, my Mom just told me tonight that an interview he did last November is available online. I found it to be fascinating, and not just because the composer is my brother. I even learned some new things, like that one of his pieces is an homage to our aunt, who died of cancer 11 years ago. If you're bored, or you like experimental music, or for some reason you want to learn about the brother of someone you only know from here, click on the link :). http://www.anothertimbre.com/kudirka.html

We're Protestant, but I seriously considered joining the RCC once upon a time and I still have some Catholic sympathies :). I looked at the samples, and WOW, I really, really like both the writing style and what I see of the contents, especially ALL YE LANDS. It's so refreshing to read a decidedly Christian book that talks about prehistory and the evolution of Man. I may look at Notgrass or something else altogether and decide it's a better fit for us, but I've gotten the best first impression yet from these books, so thanks for the recommendation even if we don't use it. I'm glad they exist!

My five year old girl is a big fan of Ramona and also of the Fudge books by Judy Blume, even though they mainly focus on boys. If you haven't read those yet you might try them. Have you read any Boxcar Children books to her? That's another favorite around here. Even my 11 year old boy still likes them.

Thanks! I'm inclined against BJU because I'm not a fan of the university itself, but the text actually looks quite good. I'll add it to my list of things to look at in person next week.

Thanks! I'm planning to go up to Cincinnati next week just to visit the vendor hall at the Great Homeschool Convention and Notgrass is on my list of things to check out. I know they have three books at a middle school level. Any recommendations on the best order to do them in if we were go that direction and love the first one we did?

I know I just posted that I'm looking seriously at BookShark and Sonlight, and I am, but I want to consider lots of options before I make a decision. Squirrelboy has really enjoyed the 5th grade American History textbook his school is using this year, but he complains that it gives too little information. It's a pretty thin textbook. I'm wondering if he'd enjoy a high quality textbook with other books added in as we choose as opposed to a purely lit based program. So what are some good textbook based history options for middle school? He has expressed a preference for continuing with American history, but I'm not completely sold on the idea, so I'm open to other topics as well.

Lots of books make me cry, but I remember in a particular a stretch of about 2 years when Squirrelboy was obsessed with the Titanic but no a strong reader so I had to read every children's book about the Titanic we could find to him. I cried when I read about all those people dying every.single.time. Squirrelboy did not understand. He kept asking, "Why are you crying, Mom?" Don't get me wrong. He knew it was a tragedy. He thought it was sad. He just didn't think it was worth bawling over. Sure I know it happened over a hundred years ago and there have been much worse tragedies in the world, but so many things were done wrong in that particular disaster that could easily have been changed and saved so many people it makes me sad and angry every single time I read about it. Just thinking about Bridge to Terabithia can make me cry, and any book where the dog dies makes me cry. I cry over happy endings sometimes, too. ETA: How could I forget Matthew, Joyce, and Walter? I even cry sometimes when I read about Walter as a child, knowing what's going to happen to him.

As you read, I didn't react that way, but I can definitely see having that reaction. I'm the kind of person who gets really drawn into a movie and tends to forget about the director altogether, so that wouldn't have even occurred to me. It was only afterwards that I thought of the hip hop/jazz comparison.

I loved the book when I read it in high school. I went on the read more Fitzgerald and loved almost everything. I tried to reread it after seeing the movie in 2013 and I just couldn't get into it.The nihilism and hedonism really bothered me in a way the didn't when I was teenager. I did, however, love the 2013 movie. I was prepared to hate it. I usually hate movie adaptations of the books that I love (the exception being Anne of Green Gables, probably because I saw the movie well before I read any of the books. My husband did the opposite and doesn't like the movies). However, I found it to be faithful to the book while also taking it to a whole new level. I went with some 20 something friends, and one of them thought it was unfaithful for hip hop to be the main music in the soundtrack, but I thought it was a brilliant decision. I think hip hop is the jazz of the 21st century, in a way.

So I'm currently supervising my son's 5th grade "history fair" project on the Panama Canal. We read a book about it together and he printed out lots of information from websites, but he had absolutely no idea how to pick out the important information and synthesize it into a presentation board and a paper that will make a two minute oral presentation. I had to hold him by the hand the whole way, and I probably did a little more than the teacher envisioned a parent would do, but I decided it didn't matter. I didn't go against any of the official guidelines. Anyway, this has made me realize that, while Squirrelboy has been assigned at least one "research project" a year from second grade on, he has never been systematically taught research skills. I'm leaning toward using either Sonlight or Bookshark for history/geography, so now I'm wondering if the F/5 programs actually teach research skills as they claim to do. He actually expressed a preference for American history, but I figure we can always do some free reading about American History to cover his interest. Personally, I feel like I've already studied enough American history and would rather learn about the eastern hemisphere anyway. So, if you've used either of these programs, did your child learn to do research during the year? Did it carry over into future years? Thanks for your help!

My 5 year old loves Uno, Catan Jr., Rush Hour, and Qwirkle. She also loves Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, but the rest of don't really enjoy them.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm leaning towards not jumping into it our first year, but I'll probably visit one of the local groups to get a feel for it.

I've looked at them and, thought, wow, that would stress me out, not help me relax. I have friends who swear by them, but I've never been tempted to try one. I was never much into coloring as a kid, either.

My situation is different because I was in a B&M school, but I was the first student in the history of my high school (maybe the only one ever) to take French, Spanish, and Latin (all the languages they offered) at the same time. I started with Spanish and Latin my freshman year and added French as a sophomore. I got confused every once in awhile, but languages are my thing so mostly it was a lot of fun. I did, however, have to play with my schedule to make it work. I took some classes in summer school so I'd have time to fit in all three languages during the school year. I then went on to be an exchange student in Sweden my senior year (where I studied Latin, Spanish, and French while simultaneously learning Swedish). In college I majored in Spanish but also continued French for awhile and dabbled in German (which isn't too hard if you already know Swedish). I also did Koine Greek for a year because I thought I wanted to go to seminary. All this to say, if your children are gifted in languages and/or really interested, go ahead and let them play with multiple languages. They're unlikely to get confused. However, consider very carefully whether to go past a basic level in more than one. They are definitely a time sucker.

Thanks for this! I should probably visit a group just to confirm my thoughts, but, yes, though there are a lot of things we like about the elementary school Squirrelboy is currently at, there are also a lot of things about a traditional school setting that are just a bad fit for him. That's precisely why we've decided to pull away from that environment for a few years. I think CC sounds like a lovely idea if you start with it early on and your goal is to give your typical learner a classical Christian homeschool education and be part of a regular community. I don't think it sounds like a great idea for an atypical learner who is just going to be homeschooled for a few years. The article she shared with me did make me think it might have some positives, however. Here's the link in case anyone would like to read it. http://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com/classical-conversations-dyslexia/

So now that I've gone public about our plans to homeschool Squirrelboy for 6th grade, a good friend of mine, who is in her 3rd year of homeschooling her kids, is doing her utmost to try to convince me that we want to do Classical Conversations. Their first year they used MFW and didn't really like it. Their second year they used Classical Conversations materials but didn't belong to a group. This year they're in a CC group and apparently it's the best thing ever. She even posted an article to my timeline today about how great CC is for dyslexic students (my son is dyslexic). I'm not super excited about the idea. I do know there are two groups nearby, though I don't know if either group has space. It sounds like a good program, just not what I think I'm looking for. A major attraction of homeschooling for me is that I get to be the main decision maker regarding what my son learns and I can individualize it to his needs and preferences. I feel like a program like CC would take that away from me. However, I'd still like to hear about other peoples' experiences. If you love CC, why do you love it? If you tried it and didn't like it, what didn't you like about it? Thanks for your help! Oh, and they live in another state, so it's not an issue of her wanting me to join their group. It's purely about the program.

I had to do it once. It was annoying, but it's not unusual.

I only skimmed the website, but this may be just what I'm looking for - a book with a Christian perspective that's actually close to my own. Thanks for chiming in!

I think the idea is that the orphan gets a fun vacation (usually summer, but sometimes over the winter holidays) and sometimes it results in an adoption down the road. As I understand it, some families go into the experience planning to adopt and others go into it planning to just give the kid a fun experience. I have a friend from college whose family hosted an orphan from Eastern Europe over winter break and they're now in the process of adopting her. We're not close, however, so I don't know any details about her experience. I only know what I do because we're Facebook friends.

I appreciate the views from people who don't like Apologia, since it gets so many glowing reviews. DS has little tolerance for wordy informational texts, so it sounds like it would probably be a bad fit even without the YEC. Now I just need to figure out where else to look. I do really like the looks of RSO Biology 2, but I'm concerned that there's their only middle school level text. If we love it and they don't have anything else at that level out by his 7th grade year I'd be back at square one. On the other hand, my foremost concern right now should be for this year, so I should probably give it another look.

Thanks for the advice so far. I LOVE OhElizabeth's idea of playing a strategy game every day. It could both help with executive function and be a fun thing for us to do together to build our relationship. He enjoys playing games like that, but we rarely have time right now, largely because his little sister is always around during his free time and she always wants my attention.