For me a classic is a book that has stood the test of time. One that people still consider a book worth reading, teaching, and learning from. I know there are defintely books written today, and within the last 50-years, that will one day be considered classics. We'll read those yes, but they aren't part of this list for me.

I'm always up for more book ;)

Thank you so much! Some of these I have never heard. He requested a list of 100 books and I thought I'd have a difficult time coming up with a good set of 100 books he has never read since he reads so, so much. Now I am finding it hard to narrow it down to only 100.

My 11-year-old is interested in getting started in Lego stop motion but we have no idea where to begin. Anything you can point us to would be awesome!!!

Thank you for this. He has read Don Quixote and loved it, and has requested to listen to at least one Dickens book (he loves to listen to tough books, but not read them himself). But I think I'll make a note to push the others off for a bit since there are still plenty of excellent choices for him listed that he hasn't read.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you so much! I will update the post above to add the additional titles just to make the list complete.

He has read the new books you mentioned for sure - just keeping them on a different list. I added the others to the above list - thank you!

Added these to the above list - Thanks! And yes, we do read Shakespeare - about 1-2 plays per year.

No worries - Not a year of books! The one with an * he has already read, the other he has not. But this is just a guide for me to have so I can make sure he gets to hear/listen to these books if he chooses. I will usually assign about 5 from a category like this, with the rest on the list be in optional :)

I am making a list of classics that I'd like to know my kids get a chance to read or listen to before they hit the great classics. I am aiming at using this list to guide book choices in this area through the end of 6th, or possibly even 7th & 8th depending on my children. If there is anything you would add (something I overlooked or probably don't know about) or delete (should save for high school years) from this list please feel free to post and I will adjust the list accordingly. Tom Sawyer Huckleberry Finn Mary Poppins Anne of Green Gables Heidi Old Yeller Robinson Crusoe The Secret Garden A Little Princess Swiss Family Robinson Treasure Island Kidnapped Pollyanna Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass Around the World in 80 Days 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Journey to the Center of the Earth Call of the Wild White Fang A Christmas Carol Oliver Twist Great Expectations A Tale of Two Cities The Jungle Book Just So Stories Little Women Little Men Robin Hood King Arthur Pinocchio Winnie the Pooh* (but not books of poems) Bambi Black Beauty Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court The Prince and the Pauper Wind in the Willows The Reluctant Dragon Little Lord Fauntleroy Pippi Longstocking LOTR The Hobbit Chronicles of Narnia Little House series Don Quixote Greek Myths The Odyssey Black Ships Before Troy The Little Prince Moby Dick The Three Musketeers The Count of Monte Cristo The Princess and the Goblin The Princess and Curdie The other George MacDonald books, which are mostly collections of novellas so they wind up with different names occasionally. The Light Princess, the Golden Key... Children of the New Forest The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales Gulliver's Travels Pilgrim's Progress Red Badge of Courage Sherlock Holmes Dr. Doolittle Peter Pan Nicholas Nickleby Peter Pan The Wizard of Oz Beatrix Potter Aesop's fables Men of Iron by Pyle G.A. Henty Marguerite Henry Five Children and It The Railway Children Andrew Lang Fairy books Shakespeare Tales from Arabian Nights

I am at the beginning of figuring out what I want 6th grade to look like. I always start with a good booklist so that is my focus at the moment. My 11-year-old and I have decided to make a list of 100 books we want to make sure not to miss - he is a huge reader and will probably more than double that amount in a year when he adds in his own free reading! Books on this list will either be read by him, listened to by him via audio, or read aloud to him. We don't follow history cycles so we read all over the place when it comes to history. I want to toss in a few classics of course. We will add some re-reads of old favorites, etc. I am browsing my favorite booklist checking for books he hasn't read yet. But, I always love to aks what you guys think are the best of the best for the age I am working on. So... If you could only choose TEN books to make sure your 6th grader reads this year what TEN would they be?

My 11-year-old (will be 6th grade) would like to venture into the world of online classes this year. I am trying to decide between the two. Any opinions? I was thinking of going with Athena this year, then moving over to G3 in the spring or even next fall. This will be his very first time taking an online class so I want to provide a good experience. For Athena I am eyeing the Mythology Exam class and World Geography. I haven't really looked at the class schedule for G3 yet. Any opinions?

We do weekly tea times her. Love them. When we started we went out and each bought a special mug/teacup, small fancy plate, & a fancy tablecloth that is used for just our weekly tea time. That is the most special piece to the whole thing. I try and bake each week with my 4-year-old. We bake enough to freeze our treats so on the weeks we don't feel up to baking, or time isn't on our side, we can choose something from the freezer. But really, the special mug/teacup, plate, and tablecloth is what takes it up a notch for us. I can server broccoli and water and they'd be thrilled :)

My son wrote and illustrated a picture book a couple years back. We uploaded it and had a hardback book printed through Shutterfly and it came out great. I waited for a good coupon before I ordered. It is on our shelf and read aloud often to my 4-year-old.

I finally got my hands on a set of the Faraway Tree series audios read by Kate Winslet only to discover they are abridged, which wasn't noted when I purchased them. Grrr! I find it odd that in some places these are listed as abridged, yet others they are listed as unabridged. The runtime for both is exactly the same. Anyway...Has anybody listened to them? I'm curious how abridged they are.

My son is in 5th grade now, moving to 6th in the fall. We loop everything but math. Math is done first thing, then we move onto the loop. The loop schedule gets a refrest every 6-weeks (we school 6 on, 1 off). I try to keep 5 things in the loop. Two stay constant - Latin & writing. The other three fluctuate a bit over the course of a year - artist/composer studies, science topics, logic, geography, art, documentary series, projecs, etc. We love it because no two days look the same. Our routine is the same, but it feels different all the time.

Here it is the 60-90 minutes after lunch. I use the baby as our guide so when her nap rolls around, so does rest time for everyone else. My two boys (11 & 4) head off to their rooms and listen to audiobooks and play. The baby sleeps. I do whatever I need to do. With the ages of your kids I'd suggest something like this. It might take a week or so for them to get in a groover, but eventually I bet they come to enjoy that time.

We travel a lot. The one vacation that has been requested as a repeat was our Yellowstone / mt. Rushmore trip. After that our tour through Utah National Parks. The other super awesome trip we did was drive down the Mississippi River over 17 days. We started in Minneapolis and ended in New Orleans. We've done the cruise thing, talk about doing it again, but when it comes time to plan the next trip we always pass on the cruise.

I'm thinking I'd like to make some changes to math around here. We do a big portion of schooling over the summer (when the pools & beach our too crowded!!!) so I am trying to figure things out for a June 1st start, and with a 2-week vacation at the end of May I need to make decisions and place orders. Over the years we have dabbled in all kinds of things, with Life of Fred being our primary and most consistent thing. He is about through with Fractions and I plan to do Decimals of the the summer. I won't give up LOF since he loves it so much, but I am wanting to make it more of a supplement at this point in time. We've gone slow, but his skills are solid. I'm not really sure where to start looking. Math curriculum has never been my thing, but with more advanced math topics and a couple of littles around, I want something to hold my hand and help me guide him from here to the end of HS. I am available to help, but math isn't my strength either. Dad is around and can help some. So...any ideas on where I can look into going from here? Do you think I should have him finish LOF Decimals over the summer, then start something new in the fall? EDIT - I was just remembering possibly moving on to AoPS pre-algebra. What exactly do I need to make sure he is solid in / familiar with before we start this? Do you have any suggestions on what he can work through to make a successful transition? EDIT - I had him work through the Saxon placement today. He worked through the first 40 problems, which test for 5/4 and 6/5, and missed one, but this was a decimal question and since he hasn't done decimals I can understand that. I'll have him do the rest tomorrow. He glanced through the 7/6 test and said all the problems but two looked familiar. I think he'll stumble here. So what I am seeing is that Life of Fred alone has done a great job. Would you agree? Should I bother adding to it, or just keep moving through the LOF pre-Algebra series?

My kids are 11, 4, and infant. Here is how things go around here. Me Maintain the kitchen by making sure things get done. We all work together in the kitchen. If the dishwasher needs to be emptied somebody empties it. All dishes need to find there way in the dishwasher when you are done. Clean as you go is the motto we live by. It only takes a few minutes if you do it right then. If you wait until it is a disaster it will take quite some time to get it all cleaned up. I go to bed with a clean kitchen. Because we stay on top of it all day long this takes all of 5-minutes or so and makes my mornings so much better. I do laundry as needed, make sure it gets folded and put away. Some weeks I'm on top of it daily. Others I let it go and we have a laundry marathon on the weekends. I just stopped stressing about it and it seems to help my mood over Mt. Laundry that seems to always exist with five people living here. I sweep at least every other day, but I prefer to sweep daily. I try and do this during full house pickup at the end of the day. Once we have completed full house pickup the kids can only take out things that they can clean up in 5-minutes or less. Usually I make them go outside! Every Sunday I clean out the car, restock diapers & wipes in there, vacuum if it isn't a car wash week, make sure we have sunscreen in there, fill up the gas tank, etc. I want my car ready to go on Monday. I also check the calendar and get a feel for what is happening and make sure there won't be any sudden surprises. 11 year old has daily chores. Monday & Thursday he empties the bathroom trash and swishes the toilets while there. He also empties the laundry room trash. Tuesday & Friday he works on his dusting loop. Basically I typed a list of all the places to dust, he dusts for 30-minutes, checks what he did, then starts there the next time he dusts. I'd say it takes him two weeks to get through the house before he starts over. Wednesday he cleans his bathroom. Over the weekend he needs to make his room mom clean - vacuumed, dusted, picked up nicely, sheets washed if needed, etc. Thursday evening he takes out the trashcans to the curb, Friday he brings them back in. Daily - wipes his bathroom sink/counter, folds his laundry as needed, empties kitchen trash, empties recycle bin in garage, helps in kitchen as needed, wipes the table/island after meals, and helps with full house pickup at the end of the day. Almost 4-year-old Helps set the table for dinner - placemats & silverware are his jobs Clears the table after meals to the counter Sweeps up under the table/island after meals Helps put away his laundry Cleans up his room every evening Helps with full house pickup at the end of the day Infant smiles, looks cute, and I'm sure is gearing up to follow us around and undo our work :)Nitty Gritty Cleaning I only do this once every six weeks. Basically, I scrub my house super duper clean, clean out cabinets, clear off counters, make sure books are shelved nicely, clean out the fridge/pantry. Really anything I can to make my house look sparkling in all areas I do over the course of a week. I make a run to Target and stock up on anything we will need over the next 6-weeks (only going to Target once every six weeks saves me SO MUCH MONEY!!!), stock up on non-perishables in the kitchen, etc. I rotate/donate toys so we don't collect too much junk. Clean and resupply the art closet. Then we hit the books and school for five-six weeks. Once I feel the house needs a reboot we take a week off and do just that.

I'm curious if anyone has actually read the young adult version? It is listed for 12 and up and the reviewers who have read both say the violence was toned down quite a bit.

Thank you. My second had sleep issues way worse than this one. He didn't sleep through until 3 1/2 years old, which was just a few months ago. My husband and I were both walking zombies with him. Right now I'm very thankful I at least get enough sleep, even if my evenings are long and rough.

I don't think she is a light sleeper. My second, yes definitely a light sleeper. He'd be asleep upstairs and we'd open a bag of chips downstairs and he'd start screaming. But she seems to sleep just find with all kinds of brother noise going on, doesn't even flinch if I get in the shower while she is asleep, etc. I've read No Cry (and a few others) and I've been trying the techniques but not really seeing any improvements. I'll wait her out, I'm just hoping to maybe stumble upon something that works. I'm not tired at all since once I go to bed she sleeps all night, pretty much in her own space, feeds quickly at 4:30/5 and then sleeps until 6:30/7. It is just the evenings that I can't seem to figure out.

Naps might be tricky for her, but I am totally willing to put her in the crib at night. She just screams bloody murder if I do. She'll happily play in there during the day for chunks of 10-15 minutes, but sleeping in there just hasn't worked. She started out in a bassinet beside our bed and would sleep there until for about 5 hours before waking up around 11/12. Then I'd just bring her to bed with me at that point. She starting rolling over and waking up every single time because she'd roll right into the side and wake up so I moved her to the crib instead. It worked for about two weeks, and then this whole waking up issue started. I've actually only been laying down with her for about a week or so just to try something different. If this worked I'd have just put her mattress on the floor and called it good (that is what worked with my second).

During the day she eats about every 3-hours or so, and she eats well. I don't think she is cluster feeding - she doesn't seem to be eating, just pacifying. I've tried keeping her up but she'll just start fussing and crying if we go past 7ish. The only thing she'll let me do is either let her comfort nurse, or walk around with her, neither of them helping me with my older two needing to get some mama time.