Our DSs did not *like* to do anything school-related, LOL. But below are some things they were *able* to do independently in the late-elementary and middle school grades. I didn't list Logic/Critical Thinking activities since you already had that covered, Mostly, the ideas below are supplements to flesh out a "spine" resource. Multiple Subjects (esp. History & Science) - 30-min. turn for an educational computer game or educational TV show - online educational short videos (current events, science, math, history, geography, foreign language, etc.) Reading *solo reading / assigned reading * listen to audiobooks Writing * solo projects of personal interest (our DSs did NOT like writing; this is a list for students who like writing) - blog article, journal entry, comic strip/comic book, invented story, family newspaper, book or movie reviews, etc. * programs that are largely independent (we used the first 2; the others are ideas from other threads): - Wordsmith Apprentice (gr. 4-6) - Jump In (gr. 6-9) - Cover Story (gr. 6-8) - Adventures in Fantasy + The Imaginary World of (gr. 6-9) - Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly (Levine) (gr. 5-8) - NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program materials Math SUPPLEMENTS * enjoyable books about math/mathematicians such as Penrose, Number Devil, etc. * do Art of Problemsolving Beast Academy as a supplement * multi-link cubes + Mathlink Cube Activity Book (gr. 3-6) -- or other book * geoboards + Working with Geoboards (gr. 5-8) -- or other book * Jousting Armadilloes * Zacarro math books * TOPS units (gr. 5-8) -- Probability; Metric Measuring; Graphing Grammar SUPPLEMENTS - Take 5 Minutes: A History Fact A Day for Editing - Comicstrip Grammar - Grammar Gorillas (online grammar games) - Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar -- videos and the computer game Geography SUPPLEMENTS - Complete Book of Maps and Geography (gr. 3-6) - Mark Twain Media: Discovering the World of Geography -- the grade 6-7 and grade 7-8 books - geography games online at Sheppard Software (they also have games for other subjects as well) Other - Art: Mark Kistler's Draw Squad - Music: Nine-Note Recorder Method by Penny Gardner - Typing What about hand-crafts?  - Learn to Solder kit -- DSs did this one and really enjoyed it; I needed to get them started, and do have them wear eye protection - basic learning to sew projects - knitting or crocheting projects - Calligraphy - whittling or wood-burning kit - duct tape crafts & projects - leather kits/crafts - baking

Professor Rant... Doesn't he share a classroom with Professor Rave? Oxford Latin - is located between Oxford cloth and Oxford shoes, with an Oxford comma between each.

Well, I always vote for saving a box of favorite books for when you have grandkids, and to keep a 3-ring binder of samples of work from elementary/middle school just in case it is ever needed, must mostly to hand to your DSs or their children for them to enjoy what "daddy did when he was a kid". (:D

First, a quick side note: there are actually 3 very separate activities that go into writing: 1. thinking of what to say 2. the physical act of getting it from the head down the arm and through the pencil onto the paper 3. and then managing the spelling and grammar usage/mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, etc.) Each of those 3 activities is processed in a separate area of the brain -- and not all 3 areas mature/develop at the same rate -- so simultaneously juggling all 3 activities into fluid, well-thought-out, and largely proof-edited writing is just not something that most children can manage before about age 10 -- and for some it is not until much later. There are adults who never manage to simultaneously juggle all 3 activities. That's where teaching that writing is a multi-step *process* right from the beginning can be very helpful. Because trying to manage all of those activities simultaneously is such work, there is a tendency for kids to feel their writing is "sacred" (LOL), or to have extreme reluctance to go back and revise and then go back again and proof-edit. If you can start that process early on, and break each stage of writing into a separate "bite" done at a different time, it is less overwhelming, AND it allows time for the child to mentally shift gears to better engage the different part of the brain needed for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Just my bonus thought for the day. 😉 ______________________ Treasured Conversations might be a good fit -- it incorporates grammar basics with intro to writing, and is for grades 3-5. Another plus: it is a downloadable pdf, so no worries about shipping to Canada. You can see several samples at that link. You could do TC with DS daily, and then encourage him to pursue his own creative writing projects by providing him the time to do so, helping him "publish" by scanning and printing his works, possible set up a blog for him with limited access (only family members and close friends who have the password for access) -- etc. Wordsmith Apprentice is another option. It is more independent and more about creative writing -- but it is also less formal than WWE et.al. It teaches some basic grammar along with the writing in all 4 areas (Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Persuasive), through a goofy fun cub-reporter theme, where the student writes for the different newspaper departments. There is a suggested schedule, but the program is quite flexible and can be broken into as big or small of daily "bites" as your student needs or wants to do. Another idea is to do something a bit more formal, but alternate regularly with supplements that encourage creative writing with prompts and project ideas. Some creative writing supplement ideas: - Draw and Write Journal - Write Your Own Book - Story Starters (gr. 1-3) or Cliffhanger Writing Prompts (gr. 3-6) - Complete Writing Lessons, primary (gr. 1-3) or intermediate (gr. 4-6) -- both available used through Amazon, etc. Or just do internet searches for creative writing ideas or prompts -- things like: - making a poster about a book just read - writing a review of a movie or book, and assigning how many "stars" he thought it was worth - creating his own comic strip - giving an oral presentation or making a slideshow presentation on the current history or science topic - lots of cool ideas in this article - Scholastic Parents: "Writing Activities for Ages 8-10" - writing prompt ideas from Journal Buddies BEST of luck in finding what works best for this DS! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Ouch, that is a hard situation. And SO sad about him being mistreated at school. 😞 For the mild autism spectrum: Does he have struggles with social cues and understanding how to interact with others? A friend of mine with a DS who was high functioning, but struggled with social cues was able to find a free program (it was a community-based program, not through the school system) where her son would go 1-2 times a week for several hours to help him learn how to interact with others and develop social awareness. Perhaps there is something like that for your friend to take advantage of? And being on a fixed income might open doors to other special helps that would be free for her. For the homeschooling: To make this a possibility, could you and/or other homeschoolers be able to rally around and commit to take the boy for several hours a few times a week, to help oversee schoolwork and give him some positive peer interactions? Or a "retired" homeschool mom who could volunteer to come and help a few times a week? That way there would be direct help/instruction for learning, and no leaving the child alone during the day. Or would an extended family member or family friend be able to come in and help with DS's schooling? Or would DS's LDs make him eligible for home tutoring assistance through doing a public school charter (so, the school's materials done at home, with some assistance provided by the school)? I do strongly recommend getting thorough testing so the mom can understand exactly what the needs are, and from there, that would best help her learn what materials (or therapies) would best help her son catch up, or move forward with his schooling. From my own experience with a son with mild LDs, but no autism, it took me SOOOO much time to get his LDSs figured out, and then to research, research, research, to figure out what materials and ways of teaching might best help him catch up. Everything having to do with his weak/behind areas (math, reading, spelling, and writing) took so much extra time to teach, and it all had to be done with me at his elbow, up into high school. There was very little he could successfully do independently, and he would have been completely unable to complete any work on his own if left alone at home for several hours. Of course, your friend's DS and his LDs and temperament are different from my DS's -- just providing the perspective of personal experience with LDs, in case it helps. For being behind/made fun of at school: Can these issues be addressed with the public school and the situations improved by mom heavily advocating for DS? Some schools are beginning to implement zero-tolerance policies towards bullying, or are working on teaching positive/encouragement skills to students -- could the mom push for the school to get on board and get some of these programs going? Are there other schools that could be a better option? Is there the possibility of a parochial or private school, or a charter or hybrid school, that can "scholarship" a family with high needs -- both financial and the DS's LDs? Again, getting testing would help with finding resources within the school system or community to help DS. Also, Susan Wise-Bauer's most recent book, Rethinking School, has some helpful ideas for how to advocate for a child with special needs who is in a public/private/charter school. For the fixed income: Might it work better to remedy the overall situation by coming at it from the money side? Is it possible for the mom to advance at work, or find a better job with better pay and fewer hours, or get the needed training/education to move to a better job, or something that would allow her to work from home? From there, it might be more feasible to have the time and resources that homeschooling a child with special needs would require. Or have more financial means to move DS into a better school situation. BEST of luck to your friend in finding the best way to help address her DS's special needs. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Gently, with the child having special needs (being on the autism spectrum and "behind"), and the parent working more than full-time (50+ hours/week), and the family having limited funds (fixed income), I am very doubtful that homeschooling is the best fit for this situation. Special needs children usually require much MORE time for teaching than the average child; they need more supervision for longer, until they are older (rather than being able to stay home alone at age 9); and they often require specialized (expensive!) materials to help remediate their specific learning issues. JMO, but unless there will be a spouse, grandparent, aunt/uncle, or some other involved and caring adult at home full-time to oversee both the boy's schoolwork and everyday "living", perhaps she could instead look in to what special helps the public school system has to offer?

Not formal scholarly papers/research, but here are some past threads with ideas for course resources. Perhaps some of the ideas in the threads for texts/books/films might also be of use? "College Intro Psychology for a 12yo" -- what topics might be inappropriate or too mature for this age? "Psychology starting in 9th grade?" "Need interesting material for Psychology class - books, videos" "I'm looking for Psychology recommendations" -- online classes and textbook ideas, some from Christian perspective "Semester Psychology course (0.5 credit)?" "AP Psychology" "Psychology movie" -- ideas for feature films about different Psychology/mental health topics to go along with a high school Psychology course "Has anyone used Sonlight Psychology?" Science Daily: Psychology News -- short articles on what's new in the field Accessible Science -- links to blog articles and videos on psychology topics

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm just brainstorming ideas -- sometimes an extreme idea can help open up realistic possibilities one hadn't thought of before. 😉 And -- no, I wouldn't move either unless their were a *number* of *other* factors/reasons/circumstances that made moving a good idea. Like you, my personal leaning would be to homeschool and work to add in a lot of opportunities to support the child's artistic interests and social needs. 😉

Oh my goodness, having a child who is looking FORWARD to homeschooling is getting you more than halfway there to having an enjoyable and successful transition. Remember to just take it slow as you get started, and don't try to "reproduce school at home". Be sure to regularly include fun field trips and activities in your schedule as part of your learning, read some great books together, and do some hands-on activities (in art, science, history, geography, or whatever), and you're going to have a fantastic year! Welcome to homeschooling! Warmest regards, Lori D.

And, totally just my opinion, but grades 3-6 seems quite young to start with literary devices (figurative language, etc.) and story elements in a full-on, formal literature study. For the average student, grades K-2 are spent in learning to read and becoming fluent with actual reading, while grades 3-6 are spent in developing reading stamina, exposure to vocabulary, and increasing ability to read complex works -- as well as enjoyment of reading through exposure to loads of good and great books. Typically, that move into a beginning more formal literature study that you are describing is not started until somewhere along in the grade 6-8 range, as analysis requires logic stage development skills, and abstract reasoning that doesn't even begin to start developing in the brain until along about age 12-14. Of course, if your students are advanced reader/thinker, or they are *wanting* to dig deeper, then that's a different matter and YMMV! And, with all ages of children, you can do very informal discussion of literature of all types (non-fiction, fiction, novels, short stories, poetry, essays, plays) and genres (realistic, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, western, horror, etc.), just by stopping occasionally to point out what you like and why -- like, beautiful language or images. Or have fun having everyone predict what might happen next. Or discuss character choices/consequences... etc. Consider having a weekly "poetry and tea" time to just read classic poems (or other pieces of classic literature) for *appreciation* and enjoyment, without formal analysis -- just discussion of enjoyment. The reason I caution about starting formal literary analysis so early is that many children at those younger ages still have very black-and-white/fact-based thinking, and there is a risk of turning Literature into a sort of checklist mentality and students stop there -- permanently: "I've found the setting, plot elements, symbolism, and a simile, check, check, check, check! My work here is done!" -- instead of continuing to mature and go deeper in their reading and understanding of a work in the high school and adult years, and ultimately finding personal meaning and application, and being able to engage in "The Great Conversation" of the classics that authors and readers have engaged in for centuries. These two resources can be helpful for keeping a balance: - Circe Institute, "On Teaching Literature Without Killing It" -- podcast -- linked directly here - SWB: "What is Literary Analysis (and When to Teach It)" -- article, and audio workshop I would also add that those elementary grades -- esp. grades 3-6 -- are such a sweet spot and "window of opportunity" for encouraging children to explore books and reading, to nurture a developing enjoyment of reading through discovering great books and books that 'speak' to the child, and to make some wonderful reading memories together. There will be lots of time in just a few years (middle school) to do more formal literature studies. That said, I'm sure you are already doing those things, and you know you children best! And if they are ready and wanting to start learning some literary devices and discussion story elements/do beginning analysis, then go for it, and wishing you all the BEST! Enjoy your Literature journey, whatever path that takes. Warmest regards, Lori D.

That sounds like a great plan! As previous posters mentioned uptrend, *many, many* children really aren't read for WWS1 until 7th/8th grades, so that is wise of you to hold off on WWS. Even if WWE2 is a little young/easy for him, that will give him a ton of confidence about Writing. And it will be nice to have something that is gentle and that he's having a lot of success with as you transition into homeschooling. That would allow you to do WW3 in 7th, and skip WW4 (which was designed with that option in mind -- skippable for students flying through the program, or as extra review/extra time for students not clicking as quickly with writing), and then start WWS1 in 8th grade. (Of course, all that is provided that the WWE/WWS series ends up being a good fit for your DS... (:D ) Also, if you find that DS is moving quickly through WWE2, you might consider supplementing or alternating with Wordsmith Apprentice, which is a very fun little program designed for the student to do mostly solo, with a goofy "cub reporter" theme, and the student writes for the different departments of a newspaper. I had 2 writing-phobic DSs, and both really enjoyed this little program. Actually, the levels of WWE are not so much about grade level, but to show increasing level of advancing concepts -- just like you would take Spanish 1 before going on to Spanish 2, and then Spanish 3 and Spanish 4. Children develop at very different rates, and some would not be ready for WWE1 until grade 3 or even grade 4. No big deal; start where the student's brain maturity level is, and move forward from there. BEST of luck with whatever you go with for Writing -- and especially: welcome to homeschooling! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Agree. I found this NPR interview with Irshad Manji (aired earlier this week) to be a very welcome step in the right direction -- her point: even if we disagree, we can still "make space to listen" and maintain relationship, even when we hold radically different opinions.

Silence is breathtakingly beautiful, and pulls no punches on a tough subject. It is based on Endu's novel, and the film does justice to the novel, even while diverging just a bit in interpretation. Both film and novel are very worthwhile. And a few more: The Hiding Place (1975) -- bio of Corrie ten Boom Seraphine (2007) -- bio of French female artist Seraphine Louis -- beautiful and sad film The Mill and the Cross (2011) -- film that brings to life Bruegel's painting and his musings about it; backdrop of Spanish oppression of the Flemish in the 1500s Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) -- fictional story about how Vermeer painting this famous work And another more recent film I enjoyed: Defiance, based on real people/events.

That's a good one -- and it also reminds me of The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) -- 3 veterans returning from WW1 and trying to figure out their lives, with one of the characters having lost both arms in the war. The filmmakers cast a real vet who really had lost his arms for that role, and the man was amazingly real and natural in his acting. He won best supporting actor for his role.

Love the previous posters' suggestions! This Wikipedia article lists Films Based on Actual Events by the year each movie was *made/released*. For more recent releases, here's the list from 2010 to present. There are some great ideas in this imdb list: "100 Best History Movies". A few history-based films that are more recent releases that I've really enjoyed -- ETA -- J-rap, in looking back at your original post, I see a strong theme of "inspiration" and "perseverance through hardship" sort of theme (and with a positive outcome ending) -- so I'm adding ** next to films that fit along with those ideas: ** Queen of Katwe (2016) ** Selma (2014) Silence (2016) Dunkirk (2017) ** Hotel Rwanda (2004) ** Lincoln (2012) ** Invictus (2009) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) ** Master and Commander: Far Side of the World (2003) And a few older history-based films - the last 3 are lovely in the cinematography and editing: A Night to Remember (1958) -- sinking of the Titanic ** Pride of the Yankees (1942) -- life of Lou Gehrig ** Apollo 13 (1995) -- events of that space flight Ed Wood (1994) -- life of B- movie maker Ed Wood Quiz Show (1994) -- 1950s TV show scandal Lawrence of Arabia (1962) -- military service of T.E. Lawrence in pre-WW1 Middle East Spartacus (1960) -- life of the ancient Roman slave who led a rebellion Grapes of Wrath (1940) -- 1930s US Depression (based on the novel, so fictitious characters, but real-life types of events) Powerful/harder older history-based films: Das Boot (1981) Gallipoli (1985) Apocalypse Now (1979) The Last Emperor (1987) And just plain fun older history-based films: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) The Great Escape (1963) The Sound of Music (1965) I still haven't had a chance to see 12 Years a Slave (2013), but it's on my "really want to watch" list.😉 Also not seen by me, but I heard that Argo (2012) was pretty good.

PS -- I'm sure you've already been researching and seen some of these, but here are some websites about vacationing/traveling in Alaska: We Are Travel Girls: "The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Alaska" and Alaska.org. The Smarter Travel website lists the different regions/areas of Alaska and what the main attractions are in each, so if you have limited time for travel, you might look over those areas and focus on just one area to maximize your 4-5 days of being in Alaska. Just a thought! Another side note: From those websites, it looks like the prime time to see the Northern Lights (Aurora) is actually Sept. - April, so if the main reason you wanted to travel to Prudhoe Bay/Arctic Circle is for the Aurora, then you may want to re-think that side trip. Also from those websites, it looks like mid-June through mid-August is the most expensive time to travel; if you can travel between mid-May to mid-June or mid-Aug to mid-September, you can reduce costs by as much as 25%. Our cruise was in mid-September, so we got a great deal.

Sidenote: Yes, Juneau is small, and only accessible by boat or plane. It is crammed onto the shoreline and surrounded by high mountains with no road/pass. However, JMO, but being limited to 4-5 days for the sightseeing of Alaska (plus 2 days on either end for getting there/back), sounds like a lot of expense and travel, travel, travel, and not really getting to see much. Just me, but if wanting to go that far away to visit such a big and interesting place as a special family vacation, I'd carve out the time (10-14 days of actually *being* there), and splurge and spend the $$ (if possible) to have a very special once-in-a-lifetime trip as a family. I would highly recommend working with a travel agent who knows Alaska well, and who can help you maximize your time, find you deals, and line up flights and accommodations that match up well so that you're not spending loads of time waiting around for flights or spending hours and hours driving. Or, you might consider getting a land tour package, rather than doing it all yourself or through a travel agent. Here's an 11-day "coast to coast" (Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay and back). And here are other land tours, of different lengths and to different sites. One possibility you haven't mentioned is an Alaskan cruise. A cruise can sometimes be cheaper than you think, because it is including your transportation, food, and lodging, all in one. And it goes at a leisurely pace, so you quickly recover from travel to *get* to the launch site, it goes at a gentle pace, and you have a leisurely opportunity to really take in the location. And there are options of add-on of an excursions into the interior, which go to Denali National Park, and/or to Fairbanks. That would take care of all of your hotel/food/travel -- you would just need to get to Seattle. (Or if going out of Vancouver BC, then you would need to get passports.) Our Alaskan cruise took us in to see Glacier Bay, which has multiple glaciers, and can't be accessed any other way than by cruise ship. It was amazing! The landscape was fantastic; from the ship, looking at the shore, we saw loads of bald eagles, a brown bear, mountain goats. And in the water we saw otters, a pod of orca, a pod of baluga whales. And a humpback whale come right up the boat and literally looked DH and I in the eye before rolling over and going under the boat. We also had stops in Juneau, Skagway, and Seward, with a train back from Seward to Anchorage and flying home out of Anchorage. We did an add-on excursion in Skagway, the "gateway" to the gold fields during the 1899 Gold Rush, of taking the train up the pass, seeing the mining history, and back again. Other people on the cruise were doing the 1 week excursions to Denali and to Fairbanks and back again. We made that trip almost 17 years ago, and it is a treasured memory. Anyways, just a thought! Wishing you a fantastic Alaskan vacation, however you decide to do it! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Perhaps consider moving much closer to the private school that she likes? The hassle of uprooting and selling/buying may really pay-off if you can get within 10 minutes of the school -- possibly walking distance! -- and save gas/time/wear & tear for commuting, since there would additional activities to attend there. Perhaps you could switch part-time jobs and work at the private school, which also usually provides a tuition break for students whose parents work for the school. Another thought: perhaps sit down with DD and show her the family finances vs. the cost of the school, and as a family, try brainstorming ideas. Not just how you all might work to make the private school happen, but also discuss what is really important to her (you mentioned social/friendships and art classes), and see if there are community teen organizations, after school clubs, and other ways of making that happen. (And that might even lead to DD deciding that homeschooling high school might better help her more easily pursue her overall goals and dreams.) That's a tough spot, and wishing you all some productive conversations and research to find the BEST solution for you all. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Ug. I am SO sorry. I did not understand this about your DS before suggesting MUS, because the video lessons are the whole point of it and the program hinges on the videos of teacher explanation and demo. (Which is why MUS worked for my DS#2 with stealth dyslexia -- he could WATCH rather than READ, which allowed him to HEAR the instruction and SEE a concrete reason why the math worked, rather than trying to read and understand abstract math concepts.) Similar to Perkybunch, we rarely needed the teacher book, but instead, watched the video lesson and then did the student work pages. I do remember that the first week or two is about learning terminology, so there were more fill-in-the-blanks in those early lessons... I apologize -- I feel I contributed to an expensive fail for your family. 😥

Read (And Write) All About It! (as a spin on the newsboy slogan ("Read all about it!") to catch people's attention to purchase a newspaper)

Oo! Oo! I'll play! Agreeing with previous posters -- not a specific set of works/authors that you need to cover, and also, there are SO many authors/works to choose from, that perhaps a "theme" would help you narrow it down: - British Christian authors (George MacDonald; GK Chesteron; CS Lewis; JRR Tolkien; Charles Williams; Dorothy Sayers) - 19th century British classics - female British authors - classic highlights through history of British Lit. (pick a novel or play, a short story, and a poet for each of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and fill in with a few choices from the 21st century, and pre-17th century early centuries) - British Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative Fiction ("The Golden Key" (George MacDonald); Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll); Peter Pan (JM Barrie); The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien); Watership Down (Richard Adams); something by HG Wells; Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde); Nineteen-Eighty-Four (George Orwell); Brave New World (Aldus Huxley); Out of the Silent Planet (CS Lewis); Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams; The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)) British works/authors I've done in various homeschool co-op classes that went over well: - Beowulf - Macbeth (Shakespeare) - The Invisible Man (HG Wells) -- and to a lesser degree, The Time Machine - Animal Farm (Orwell) - The Hobbit (Tolkien) -- also his longish short story "Farmer Giles of Ham" (humorous; mock epic); and to a lesser degree, his short story "Smith of Wooten Major - "The Monkey's Paw" (Jacobs) -- short story British Lit. done at home over the years that my own DSs enjoyed: - "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (Coleridge) -- poem - everything by JRR Tolkien -- The Hobbit; Lord of the Rings trilogy; and his 3 short stories - Watership Down (Richard Adams) - Wooster and Jeeves short stories by P.G. Wodehouse -- but also other short story collections by Wodehouse - Sherlock Holmes short mysteries (Doyle) - And Then There Were None; Murder on the Orient Express; Hercule Poirot short mysteries (Christie) - Father Brown short mysteries (Chesterton) - The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesterton) - Till We Have Faces; Screwtape Letters (Lewis) - Lord of the Flies (Golding) - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Adams) - A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -- they also enjoyed Tale of Two Cities, but were really lost until they got over the hump of the first 10 chapters - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- Tolkien translation - All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) - My Family and Other Animals (Durrell) - The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson) - Macbeth; Hamlet (Shakespeare) - Brave New World (Huxley) - Animal Farm; Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell) British Lit. DSs did NOT like: - Wuthering Heights (Bronte) -- although, I *really* got into it (lol) British Lit that DSs were so-so about: - Canterbury Tales (Chaucer) - Ivanhoe (Scott) - Peter Pan (Barrie) - Frankenstein (Shelley) -- they got bogged down with the verrrryyyyy lennngggthyyy character monologues, and travelogue descriptions Other thoughts... If you do something by Charles Dickens, here are my suggestions, from shortest to longest: - A Christmas Carol (28,912 words) - Tale of Two Cities (137,000 words) - Oliver Twist (158,631 words) - Great Expectations (186,339 words) - David Copperfield (357,489 words) Some short stories could be nice: - The Monkey's Paw (Jacobs) - The Open Window (Saki) - A Scandal in Bohemia - Sherlock Holmes (Doyle) - Lamb to Slaughter (Dahl) - The Golden Key (MacDonald) - Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien) - The Rocket -- or other short story (Wilde) You might also consider including a few short units on UK poetry/poets (these ideas are all pre-20th century): Shakespeare's sonnets John Donne William Blake William Wordsworth "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge... Lord Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats Lord Alfred Tennyson Christina Rossetti Elizabeth Barret Browning While I personally *really* enjoyed Never Let Me Go, I have a hard time picturing most teens getting into this slow moving / not much happens novel (until you figure out the "twist" -- which I don't want to spoil -- but even after that it is still slow and sad because you realize there is no hope of change or a future for the main character and her former classmates). It's a dystopia -- but written like a slow-moving relationship novel, lol. Also, I think the following authors would be a bit of a slog or lower on the interest level for a majority of teens: Daniel Dafoe; Thomas Hardy; William Makepeace Thackery; Henry James; E.M. Forster; Virginia Woolf; Evelyn Waugh; DH Lawrence...

Quick update: DS#2 started his new wildland firefighting season just a few weeks ago, and -- a sort-of good-new/bad-news -- he has already had the opportunity to put his new EMT skills to use on a crew member who dehydrated and got heat exhaustion (thankfully fine now). I'm guessing DS#2 will have all-new types of stories to share at the end of this season...

Thanks for letting us all "come along for the ride" (lol). What colors will it be? And -- photos when you finish, please!

SWB's advice for this age is that they usually need one of the following, if not all three: "Shower. Snack. Nap."

When I was in 9th grade (3-4 grades further along than you 5th/6th grader), my public high school English teacher had us pull 10 words a WEEK for vocabulary. (I just kept a notebook handy whenever I was reading and would jot down words, and then pull from that at a very separate time to do the vocabulary assignment of write the list of words, write the definitions, and write a short sentence using each word in context (so, a total of 10 sentences + 10 definitions). All that to say: that would come out to 2 words per DAY, for a total of 10 words per WEEK, which is a manageable amount to "find" in the reading, but more importantly, is plenty of words to actually study and dig into. If you do that for 30 weeks of your school year, that's 300 words -- plus a lot of of practice in working with words, so she'll really start to see patterns in the roots/prefixes/endings even in words NOT being studied. However, as HomeAgain suggests, I would do Vocabulary pulled from reading as a separate study at a separate time, rather than disrupting the flow of reading comprehension. Or perhaps consider considering coming at vocabulary from the opposite end -- do a Vocabulary root words study, and let that separate study naturally flow over into her reading and inform her comprehension -- something like Vocabulary From Classical Roots, or English From The Roots Up, or other. Just my 2 cents worth! BEST of luck in your reading and vocabulary adventures, whatever you decide on using. Warmest regards, Lori D.