I'm planning on doing exactly what you described in scenario 1. I am doing Middle Ages with my 5th and 7th graders this year (2nd year home), and then next year I plan on doing intensive focus on American History for 8th grade, then back to World History. Of course, more experienced voices could convince me to change my mind!

Thanks, that was a great idea! I've never done it before, but it was easy. Let me know if it worked! https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BycDnUIb10nvVV9fdTdEZGkxNzg/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BycDnUIb10nvbmRKSVh5eHdqcEk/edit?usp=sharing

This weekend I went through all of our new MCT curricula and planned it our for the year. I was going to upload it here, but I get the message that says I'm not permitted to upload this kind of file (it is a Word doc). I have posted it to the MCT yahoo group files, so if you are a member of that, you can see it there. If anyone knows how I can upload the files here, please let me know. If you want me to email them to you, just message me and let me know. I know many people have expressed confusion about how to schedule MCT and these files show my take on it.

We bought Typing Instructor Deluxe for $1 at a thrift sale earlier this summer. My 5th grade and 7th grade daughters both really like it and their speed is improving. There are some annoying glitches in the games sometimes, but overall we are happy with it. Kristin

I have never used Math Mammoth, so this is not a recommendation or anything, but I figure I will try this out some with my 5th grader since they are offering it for free. It is about 65 pages long, Here is the link if anyone else is interested. Maria Miller of Math Mammoth is offering a free PDF of Math Mammoth Percent this week only! (through the 18th) Here's the link.... http://www.mathmammoth.com/download/percent.php Kristin

Greek N Stuff has some nice ones called "Alone With God" about Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Acts, and 1 Samuel. Very independent and just right for middle school, imo. www.greeknstuff.com

Has she read the Penderwicks books by Jeanne Birdsall? There are 3 of them and my girls loved them, and so did I. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Penderwicks

Check out Classical House of Learning's grammar stage literature lessons for the ancients. The lesson plans are free and you can choose from Level 1 (K-2) or Level 2 (2-4). She has done all the work for you! http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/grammar-stage-literature.html

I just wanted to thank everyone that warned about the wacky content of LOF Pre-algebra 2 with Economics. My daughter is just finishing the Pre-algebra 1 book and since she does her math so independently, I was just going to hand her the next book and not look at it. My kids have enjoyed Fractions, Decimals and Pre-algebra 1, but we have used the books as a fun way to review during the summer, not as our main curriculum. However, after reading these posts I went and read the Pre-algebra 2 book and I was appalled at the spin on some of the econ material. My history addict husband was incensed at the claims that the Civil War was about tariffs, not slavery. Of course, then my kids got an impromptu lesson from him on the causes of the civil war and looking at primary sources to understand history. They then poured over all of the Articles of Succession to see what they thought. It turned out to be a great lesson, but we will be skipping the LOF Pre-Algebra 2 book.

I haven't seen anyone list SOTW with Classical House of Learning Literature lesson plans. They are free and you can get the books needed at the library. They certainly help keep the costs down.

I have the Black Death unit and plan on doing it this coming year with my 5th and 7th grade girls. It is the part of the curriculum that they are most excited about. I hope that they enjoy it as much as they think they will. :closedeyes: I did read Problem Based Learning in Your Homeschool and I felt like I got enough out of it to feel confident implementing already created problems. Maybe after I have done a couple, then I will feel comfortable creating my own. I found some on-line (CASE, NASA, etc) that I will try, too. The references in the back of the book for PBLs was not that helpful, because most of them were from Kendall Hunt (Acid, Acid Everywhere and Electricity City were 2 that I wanted to try). Unfortunately, they only package their curriculum in packs of 10 and won't break them apart for homeschoolers, grrrr. The book and the units are not redundant, but you don't need the book to implement the units.

I second the suggestion to spend your money on good binoculars instead of a telescope. It is so much easier for the kids to find what they want to look at through the binoculars instead of through a telescope and there is still so much to see. An affordable telescope doesn't usually show you much more than high powered binoculars, and expensive telescopes tend to take so much time to set up something to view that the kids get bored before it is ready. A field trip to a planetarium or observatory would be well worth it. Also, I highly recommend the book "Astronomy Projects with an Observatory you can Build". Simple things that they can do and really see how the ancient astronomers learned all that they did with the limited resources they had. Plus there is real math in there as well as historical notes. I first checked it out from the library and then bought it used on amazon. Finally, a laser pointer is great for being able to point out the constellations to them when you are stargazing. Just teach them not to point it at planes!

I second the NASA recommendations, as well as the following 2 resources: Dr. Dave's Solar System Manual : http://www.rfwp.com/pages/dr-daves-teaching-manuals/#book-dr-daves-teaching-manuals-our-solar-system I also really like "Astronomy Projects with an Observatory you can Build" - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Astronomy+projects+with+an+observatory+you+can+build&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AAstronomy+projects+with+an+observatory+you+can+build

I second DuoLingo. Kids (d9, d12) love it, it is independent (no work for me) and free!

You could check out how Classical House of Learning does it - she uses SOTW as the spine: http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/grammar-stage-literature.html#MiddleAges

Maybe Guest Hollow's timeline schedule could help you. http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/history/awesomehistory/awesome_history.html

How about trying Mr. Q's Free Elementary Earth Science? It would be good for this age. http://www.eequalsmcq.com/CSEarthChapterDwnld.htm

I bought this to use with my 5th and 7th graders for next year. However, after looking at it, I decided to wait and use it after they get more roots of Latin and Greek under their belts. I decided to have my 5th grader do MCT CE 1&2 and 7th grader do MCT WWW1. I thought that EE looked more like a broader 9th grade curriculum (and I might just do it more myself first!). I'll have to look at it again if it wasn't a problem for an 8 year old though. I don't want them to be bored with it if I wait too long.

I found a source for Physical Science experiments at my local library called "Experiments for Future Scientists - Physical Science Experiments". Contains 20 experiments geared toward middle school ages. I like that the expected finding are listed at the back, rather than right in or under the experiments so that students can do the tests without a preconceived idea of what "should" happen to influence them. There are 5 other books in the series as well; I want to get my hands on the one for Engineering Science experiments too. http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Science-Experiments-Future-Scientists/dp/1604138556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1369922905&sr=8-3&keywords=experiments+for+future+scientists Kristin

I have found that the CK-12 textbooks are all available free for Kindle as well, including Physical Science, 2 Physics books - one called Basic Physics and one called People's Physics, Chemistry, Algebra, Engineering. I have also found (at the library) some books called "Experiments for Future Scientists". One is Engineering Science Experiments and another is Physical Science Experiments (there are 4 others in the series as well). These look like excellent experiment books geared toward middle school. I think that I will be incorporating the CK books and these experiment books into whatever plan I come up with. Once I flesh things out a bit, I'll share more, and I'd love to hear what you decide to do. Kristin

I am struggling with the same thing and pretty much have decided that I need to create my own combination of things because there is nothing out there that is ready. There are several promising curricula that will be ready in a year or two, but nothing exactly what I need NOW. From what I can tell, 8th grade Physical Science is kind of an introduction to both Physics and Chemistry. Right now I plan to use Ellen McHenry's Elements and Carbon Chemistry, combined with books, kind of like what Guesthollow has done for Chemistry. I am also looking at her Physics and Physical Science outlines for inspiration for the Physics portion. I am also intrigued by Creek Edge Press Chemistry and Physics task cards and TOPS task cards for experiments. My husband and I both have engineering degrees, so this is the one area where I feel like we can pull together something fun and meaningful for our kids. I am looking at parts of the free Chemistry for Middle school that was referenced by an earlier post and had already planned on using LOF Physics as part of our prealgebra series (My 5th grader is actually going to be using that, my older daughter is finished with prealgebra.) I had been looking at Exploration Education for Physical Science, but was scared off by the comments I had read about the flimsy experiments and Guest Hollow's comments about how boring it was. I'd love other suggestions about how to put this all together.

We are starting ALEKS math because they can work at their own pace on whatever skills they need to. This is for my 9 yo who is starting pre-algebra and my 12 yo who is starting algebra. The computer analyzes whether they have mastered a topic and then moves them on. For fun we supplement with LOF. Our local science charter school uses it for all of their kids. Affordable and easy on me. www.aleks.com

Ok - here goes. It is over scheduled; she will be combined with her 7th grade sister on a lot of things, but with different expectations. She is above grade level on Math. I can only afford to overload like this because our school district will pay for some of it and we school year round. Bible Alone with God studies of Esther, Ruth & Jonah from Greek -n-stuff Math ALEKS and LOF Pre-algebra Language Arts – MCTLA Town We will supplement it with the following: Spelling –AVKO Sequential Spelling 4 & 5. Writing –WWS1 & The Creative Writer, Level 1 Grammar - First Whole Book of Diagrams Poetry –IEW curriculum Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization - Her favorite thing! Literature – Classical House of Learning Literature curriculum. Keyboarding – Individualized Keyboarding from AVKO will complement her Sequential Spelling work. Social Studies – will read SOTW2 this summer, then use Classical Historian Medieval History and some of “Medieval History†from BF Problem Based Learning – “Black Death†from Royal Fireworks Press Geography - Mainly Mapping the World with Art, supplemented with Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, and Tiner's Exploring Planet Earth. Current Events – CNN Student News, watch and discuss; New York Times on-line “Learning Network†resources at http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/ Science – Exploration Education Physical Science – Intermediate Standard level. We will continue with the “Medieval and Renaissance Science†section of the “A Literature Based History of Science†from BF Books. Nature Study - finish MP Birds Critical Thinking/Logic Red Herring Mysteries, Building Thinking Skills 3 Foreign Language – Spanish - Duolingo or Rosetta Stone, Latin – FFL from MP. Greek – FFG from MP or Hey Andrew 4 (But I keep changing my mind about all foreign language curriculum) Art & Music – “Medieval and Renaissance†from Harmony Fine Arts and “A Literature Approach to the History of Classical Music†from BF. The composers in BF are the same as the composers suggested to listen to in the HFA curriculum. Also local homeschool art, bells and choir groups, private Piano and Violin lessons, and church choir. Physical Education – homeschool PE class and Figure Skating Psychology - Psychology for Kids

I am using Dr. Dave's Science Manual for Astronomy from RFWP right now. It contains straight-forward lesson plans, with humor and hands-on demo ideas and a DVD with a slide show to accompany the lessons. There are also some worksheets in the back of the book. We are using the Memoria Press Astronomy Curriculum which is very effective, but can be a little dry. This manual was just what we needed to spice up the Memoria Press info. It is poorly bound and the spine broke right away, but I just 3 hole punched it and put it in a binder. Kristin

Hi, I also am in my first year of homeschooling my daughters, 9 & 11. I have been lurking, reading and learning from everyone all year and decided it was time to start participating, too.