A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky by Michael Driscoll is fabulous Angela- it's a gorgeous book and wonderful spine with biographies and vocabulary. It has a Star Wheel guide for the constellations and stickers of the solar system Also The Space Book by Marc McCutcheon (Amazon allows you to look inside) - text - experiments - vocabulary with glossary in back We're going to use The Space Book more extensively because of the narrative, "Pack a big lunch. Put on your spacesuit and helmet...." Our lesson plans are linked in the signature- I made Astronomy plans too-if you want to take a look.

When were using it for handwriting practice (after HW instruction) it was everyday in either poetry or history. Now we have copywork 1x a week in history because we have enough handwriting in our other subjects. It's an individual decision.

This old post has Sue's pros/cons of the curriculum. I found it very helpful. The lesson plans I created for us (we're using this year) are in my signature, feel free to use them however you'd like- my dd7 loves science too. It contains grade level spines, living books to read (biographies, non-fiction and fiction), websites to explore, United Streaming videos to watch and the projects are engaging and easy on the parent (the come from the spines). http://wtmboards.com/K8currApr262007/messages/1663.html I will be using LLB Chemistry next year b/c it is the closest curriculum I could find that would be similar to what I would create myself- even if I have to beef it up.

Explorer's Bible Study, Discovery: In the Beginning Writing Tales 1 Spelling Workout C and/or D Horizons Math 3 Tapestry Redesign Yr3 Living Learning Chemistry Building Critical Thinking Skills 1 Drawing with Children Private piano lessons Other nuances: - Teaching the Classics, for me to learn and possibly start applying - Discovering the Great Artists to use with TOG - Continue with Explode the Code books 5-8 (we're on book 5 now) - Poetry Memorization from The Harp & Laurel Wreath - Memory work to include: VP history songs, Themes to Remember songs, grammar, french vocabulary, math songs, chemistry songs, poetry, scriptures - Other LA: book reports

I'm on a Mac but I'll try, I've exported my files as excel files and you can download them here On the screen that the link takes you to, you have to scroll down to see the download buttons for Household Cleaning schedule, Dinner Menu and the Master Grocery List. I don't know if it will work, and it more than likely won't work for everyone.

Since you offered...:o 1. Is this an extension of what you have already recommended for writing? 2. Does "The Complete Writer" cover modern writing exclusively or will this be something that will be useful to those who wish to use the progymnasmata? 3. How would it be useful for those wishing to use the progymnasmata? 4. When will samples be available of the book and workbook? 5. Will this replace your curriculum suggestions in The Well-Trained Mind for writing? 6. Will the workbook provide all that is needed to complete the objectives in "The Complete Writer"? 7. Will there be another updated edition of The Well-Trained Mind in the near future (2-3 years)? Thank you for your amazing work, Jessica

"so c'mon and bring your Jukebox money.....At the Love Shack" Old-Timey? Oh, she would have been GROUNDED! (lol, j/k) I'll take Old Timey music any day though, when I was her age I enjoyed listening to music from the 50s, 60s and 70s. I don't think I ever complained about Old-Timey music but I have to say my parents' old timey music is MUCH better the 80s & 90s, there was only one way I was going to be exposed to Neil Diamond, the Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger, Allman Brothers, Carly Simon, etc. - through my parents' stereo.

Try Hybrid mode, that way you see the thread and the actual posts below- it's how I cruise through the board. The only thing is that the conversations are as fluid- I feel so disjointed from the General board, it seems to be on another planet but I think it's just b/c I have to put more effort in looking through the posts than I did at the old board where I could just skim quickly and jump in and out where I wanted. At these type of boards I feel like an old lady jumping than a vibrant young woman. lol!

You have to hit the QUick reply under the person you're responding to. I just hit yours on your post that says "Bet this won't work, either." :)

You're welcome, have fun with dinosaurs- it's a great thing to study at this age!

Yeah I had to stop seeking so much input and just go with what I feel led by God to do and what seems right for my kids- I'm sort of head-strong. Lol. You made me laugh about the big audience, I'm a google search blog. Search for something about classical education and my blog shows up somewhere in the mix. No need to apologize for not reading my blog, not a biggie- I just wanted to see if it was aesthetically pleasing to Percy with her discriminating tastes.

I love the colors Lisa, it's just the black background with white text is hard to read, my eyes have to get accustomed. I think the colors show your vibrancy! :D

I had special help, I begged the creator of the 3 column code to help me with it- he was gracious enough to do it. Awww, you just made my night! :) Especially in light of these fabulous custom-made by a web designer blogs out there, I've just piece-mealed mine together with what I thought looked nice. BiG GRiNS!

Can I bother to ask you if you feel the same about my 3 column blog? I've tried to make it visually appealing but also welcoming and easy to use. Just curious...

http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/dinosaurUnit.html http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=homeschooling&cdn=education&tm=12&f=21&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/Dinosaurs.htm http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2203.html http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Dinosaurs/index.shtml http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/units/dino.htm http://www.homeschoolshare.com/dinosaurs.php (Free Creation based) We did this the summer in-between 1st and 2nd and had a blast but ours was evolution based. http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/01/one-month-of-dinosaurs.html

What are your goals for literature study? To teach him HOW to do? To do it with him? Or will you be the administrator of his literature studies? I'm asking because if this isn't your forte & you don't have a desire (yes, desire) to read with him or teach him to do it- there are other ways to administer his literature studies: THe Well-Educated Mind by SWB Invitation to the Classics by Os Guinness and co. http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/readingguides/greatbooks.html If you want to teach him HOW to do it, I have two suggestions that I know about: 1. Teaching the Classics http://www.writing-edu.com/literature/ 2. How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren (I read this and took extensive notes) You can also outsource this: http://www.onlinehumanities.com/ http://www.schola-tutorials.com/greatbks.htm http://www.thegreatbooks.com/ (this is curriculum) also the Great Books Academy - http://www.greatbooksacademy.org/ Just something to consider. How to Read A Book is not the easiest book to read, it can be dreadfully boring but I got a lot out of it. I read The Well-Educated Mind afterwards (which I recommend) and SWB gives similar advice but different helps, anyone would gain a lot from reading both books. VP's Omnibus and Tapestry of Grace both handle the Great Books within their curriculums as well.

It's only available the the Core Knowledge store new, but another good source is the Core Knowledge Sequence K-8 book. Core Knowledge is the only place to get it new, you might want to check your library for it. I use it mostly for LA but it has all the subjects.

I've done both for the last two years' I've created our science lessons, I'm looking forward (yet dreading) to using Living Learning Books Chemistry next year. Science in the grammar years is the worst area for me to be dependent on someone else, the curriculums are either too hard, too easy, have expensive experiments or the something else that would make me want to run for the hills. This year I also realized that TOG has done what I do (to an extent) for me, which is including church history, world religions, missionary study, into our history lessons and selecting wonderful books. I'm really in love with TOG because it truly FITS us and the long range plan is what I had in mind before I even understood what TOG was. I'm satisfied with what we have now, finally. I see math and science in the higher grades areas that will be frustrating too but what can you do?

I have the same thing but most of it is sequential- Horizons 1, Horizons 2, etc. and it was more inspired by Wisdom and Eloquence than WTM, although we are based some of our subjects on WTM's suggestions. We're in 2nd grade now and I have chosen up to 5th grade material already based on what I know about my oldest child and academic goals. But the nitty-gritty planning of each year, that's different and it IS scheduling it all out in a manageable way for the year. First, I get familiar with the curriculum, figure out how many weeks it will take to finish it and look for areas that may need to be spread out or condensed. Then I make a Year at a Glance This is done on the computer because it is MUCH easier to change it, I put dates on it for the rest of this year b/c I do want to stick to the dates as much as possible. I did have it as Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc. At a glance I can see where we should be and how ahead or far behind we are from our goal of being done on a particular date. I've toyed with a weekly schedule with books & page #s but in reality, it's busywork for me only hsling one child, when my son joins us with curriculum that needs to be put on the yearly overview- it'll change. With multiple children, having a weekly schedule would be best. Okay, now I have my overview for the year, I have 4 quarters (using TOG's Unit #) which last 9 weeks long- and b/c I like to plan and prepare, I'll tackle one quarter a year. Pretty much, I'll do anything I CAN do to make the quarter a "do the next thing" which can involve collecting items for projects, figuring which books should be read-alouds, prepare memory items, etc. Then for that quarter, we just DO it. We take a week off in-between quarters, this is to allow me to prepare the next quarter but in reality, I do a little at a time beforehand. What needs to be planned and coordinated is completely dependent on the curriculum and resources you have but you know that. :) I hope some of this helps, I've streamlined planning as much as I can without taking the fun out of it for myself.

Share reading helps here, I have dd7 read and then I read the end and we talk about the chapter. It's technically narration but it's just us sharing the experience of reading the book. Dd7 also likes the TOG comprehension worksheets and we're using Comprehension Quickies which is a paragraph about 4-5 sentences long and there are questions underneath, my dd is to answer the questions in complete sentences (a skill I need her to work on). Hope this helps,

Email me or private message me and I can mail you our Alfred's Theory Flashcards that we're not using.

Oh you're both very welcome, I wanted to see it too! :) I love his books, we have Mother Wind, The Children's Book of Birds and Children's Book of Animals. For my youngest, I think we're going to read The Children's Book of Animals for 1st grade animal study and branch off that instead of branching off an encyclopedia. My oldest will be doing Prentice Hall Science Explorer and I think it will be nice to have a read aloud for both of them. Of course this is WAY more than anyone wanted to know but really...who else will listen? Lol!

See I posted right under you and this post will be right under my first post to you.

You can put your post under the person you want by pushing the last button in their post, the Letter with the Feather which says "Quick Reply" when you move your mouse over it. When the Quick Reply box appears, you can choose to "Go Advanced" which will allow you to title your post. I suggest putting the person's name if you want to address them.

Me too! I actually go through a cycle for a while, changing it out as I discover something else or learn more about what should be next in the learning journey.