I'm due to have a baby girl sometime in the next two weeks and I cannot for the life of me decide on a name. I thought naming a girl after two boys would be easy, but nope! Right now I am considering these two names: Lila Brooke Brooke ??? (leaning towards Abigail or Eleanor - If I go this way I know I want a three syllable middle name, preferably beginning with a vowel, but not Elizabeth) My issue with Lila is that I feel it might be a tad too popular, and I prefer not to go that direction. I personally do not know anybody with that name, so this is based on my research only. I've only ever heard the name in public once, and have seen it surface online twice, so I'm not sure how popular it really is. I wonder if it is more that names similar too Lila are popular (Lily, example). However, I keep circling back to this name for some reason. I do really like Brooke as well. It was on our list of girl names before we found out our first two were boys. My preference has always been for one syllable first names to avoid nicknames, but I think we'd be safe from a nickname with Lila, even with two syllables. I'll probably leave both on the table, but I'd love some opinions on these two names.

Thanks for the replies so far - lots for us to check out. Really, anything goes! He wants science & history & biographies & anything in between. I'll let him browse and choose, but I'm looking to make a list for him to start from.

I'm looking to make a list of non-fiction titles for my 5th grader. Any ideas???

We are nearing the end of SOTW2 and gearing up to begin SOTW3. I found the last few months that I like to have a book list & a pile of books ready to go in order by chapter so I can just pick up the next book and read. Usually I read a chapter from SOTW, then whatever books I have to go with it over the next several days (or weeks even since I add in chapter books and we like to read and enjoy them before moving on). It has taken us a long time to get through this volume because of our hefty book pile, but we have really enjoyed ever second. I'd like to get setup with something similar for SOTW3 over the next few weeks before the new babe makes her appearance on the scene. Reading aloud is the only thing I plan to stick with for the first few months so I want to make it as simple as possible to keep chugging through the list. I will be adding Hakim's Story of Us books as well. I am curious if there are any book lists out there that coordinate with either of these by chapter. If not, toss me your best book suggestions to go along with our spines! My main focus will be my 5th grader, but I'll be adding in some super simple books for my preschooler because he absolutely loves when there is something for him that lines up with what big brother is studying ;)

My son just finished The Hound of Baskervilles and is asking for more. Can someone point some out to me? TIA :)

My son is looking to do an in depth study on Birds of Prey. I am having trouble brainstorming ideas that are for this level, and everything I find in a search is for the younger folks. He has said he does not want to dissect another owl pellet ;) He wants to dig deep. Any ideas? I'm looking for books, documentaries, etc. Oh, and any literature that might have a bird of prey as the focus - all I've come up with is My Side of the Mountain & the two sequels.

I am stocking up my preschool shelf and would like to put some new things on my 3-year-old 'school' shelf. I am trying to have things that he can only use during school time. Any ideas?

Posting to find again :)

I'll be referring to this thread...thank you!

Thank you. I've seen the list and between his own reading, read alouds, and audiobooks we have read almost everything on the 4-6 list if you can believe it :)

I'm not particularly concerned with reading levels - he is an excellent reader and reads pretty much anything so long as it is age appropriate - really looking to just avoid mature adult content. Like I mentioned, he likes books across all genres, so anything goes. The obvious books have been read and enjoyed (Percy Jackson, Mysterious Benedict, Harry Potter, Half Magic, Peter and the Starcatchers, Nick of Time, etc.). I've searched through many of the threads with recommendations here and nothing new is jumping out at me.

My son needs a new stock of books on the shelf. He has read just about everything I can think of, multiple times even, so I am looking for some new ideas. He loves books across all genres, so really anything goes. Any ideas of books I might not have thought to toss his way!?!?

My son would like me to pick up another King Arthur book. He has pulled all our picture books versions of the shelf and has decided he just needs more! I was eyeing these for him. I've never read them, nor do I have the time, but assume the are appropriate for age 10? The Squire's Tale series by Gerald Morris (he read his younger versions and enjoyed them) The Sword and the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliffe (I think she also has a couple more?) I'll probably snag Michael Morpurgo's version just because I have all his others and they are favorites here I was also considering Green's version, or maybe Pyle? TIA :)

Great topic. I look forward to spending some time reading everything!

This is what we are looking at for 5th grade. Really, much of this we are doing now and will continue doing next year too. Math: LOF Intermediate (finishing now) then Fractions and Decimals & Percents, he'll also continue to work through Beast Academy as it becomes available. Language: Bravewriter Lifestyle has been working wonderfully so we'll stick with it. This year we started BW The Arrow and have found a good routine for working through the issues. I'd like to tackle adding in the writing projects in BWs Partnership Writing to our routine next. We've also just begun CAP's Fable book which my son loves so we will probably follow that up with Narrative Book 1 & 2. We tried, and greatly disliked, MCT so I am not sure if we will add a grammar component or not, or just stick with this lineup. He loves to write so he wants to learn to type so he can write faster so I've got to find something for that. Latin: My son begged for Latin several months back and is still loving Visual Latin so we'll keep plugging away with that. I'd guess partway through 5th he'll finish up and then he wants to move onto another language. Science: He wants to do some kind of earth science. We've been looking at different things and he really likes the look of Elemental Science, but would like to add more than just one science project because he loves that kind of thing. History: We've always listened to all volumes of SOTW each year and pulled out topics of interest to study in depth as something sparks an interest (be that from SOTW or a book I read aloud or a random tidbit of info he picks up). This has worked very well for him so we will do it again. I might add The Story of Us before we cycle back through because he seems pretty interested in American history right now. Art: A big focus to our day is art. My son wants to be an author & illustrator one day so I feed this with plenty of time for polishing up his technique. We are doing an illustrator study this year, and will continue to work through a few books we have around here that will explore different techniques & mediums. Geography: He seemed interested in Mapping Geography with Art so we might add that to our lineup too. Logic: I'd love something here - any suggestions???

Nope, not one bit. They have never been to school. I feel incredibly blessed that I am able to keep my kids home and nurture & teach them. It is hard at times yes, but no regrets!

We are Wednesday off folks here too. I kind of like two days of great work, break. Two days of great work, break again. I don't track days or anything at all, but we seem to have no issues finishing getting everything I want done in one year done, even with random full weeks off here and there, on this 4-day work schedule. Someone also pointed out the 4-days of planned activities. I'd take a look at that and reevaluate if it were me, especially at age 7...

My 10yo and I will be embarking on an earth science adventure and I'd like to pick up some good living books to read aloud. Thought I'd check in here and see if there are any that I should be aware of. I'd also like to reach down to my preschooler a bit too because he loves to be included with his own book or two when we read aloud. TIA

I keep saying I'm going to this and I think I will once we wrap our home improvement projects in a few weeks. I think the memories that can be made far outweigh the downside IMO.

I've never heard of this - thanks for the link. My closet it on my list tomorrow. I've been hanging onto a LOT of clothes for 'one day when I finally lose this weight' and it is making me hate stepping in my closet. I need to either get on losing the weight, or donate the clothes and buy new when I do.

Let's see... for the almost 10yo *bow and arrow (super huge hit and completely random last minute present that I almost didn't even get) *Clue - he LOVES it and we have already played at least a dozen times *Mindstorms, of course! *Legos, of course! for the 2.5yo *PBK excavator & construction workers - such a hit he sleeps with them! *the book Ah Ha! - we've read it at least a hundred times already and I love to listen to him read it to himself *pedaless bike - he's been asking for this for weeks and loves it

Yep, yep, yep! We are changing our schedule up a bit - dropping one activity for another. January will be a bit crazy as we finish one class up (that I am so glad to drop!) and also start the next (which he is really excited for!). Then also adding one other late morning class that may or may not stay after our trial month (it is PE and should help everyone out - if we can get what we need to get done, done with it as part of the schedule). Once I figure this out I will move onto figuring exactly what my plan is for school itself. Bit of blahness going on and I want to shake it up a bit and make sure we work in those things that seem to get pushed aside. Hopefully it will all come together in the next few days and we can get it all started with much success come January 6th!!!

I've got a 2.5 year old tong lover too! It is his tool for fixes his cars & bikes. My MIL gifted him tools for Christmas thinking he'd love to use them instead of the tongs. Nope! The tongs have come out every single day and the tools have sat unused. Other hits here: Mine has played nonstop with his excavator from PBK - he even takes it to bed at night! Also huge was the big set of Duplos, wooden play food, and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TGURIQ/ref=oh_details_o08_s06_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Not gifts, but things that occupy him very well - box of lentils/rice with scoops and small dump trucks, play dough with just about anything (he loves his small trucks, scissors, plastic knife, rollers, toothpicks, pebbles, etc. - really anything), simple puzzles, a cheap watercolor set and a cup of water with paper and a paintbrush, dot markers.

Hugs! I second the coupon book idea. I gifted this to my then 8-year-old one year and it was his favorite gift. We actually did it for 1-on-1 time so he got a coupon for something with mom on the odd months, something with dad on the even months. I kept it simple at the start - movie night, bake something together, go for ice cream, etc. We left one TBD coupon for each of us so that if we could make it work we could do something extra special. I'm actually gifting this to him again this year too.

Will do :)