Listening

I loved this. Thank you for sharing.

Get him the book " 50 things every young gentleman should know" it is excellent (it is a bit more etiquette related). It also includes the why.

I remember going to the La Brea Tar Pitts for a school field trip (LA area). It is more prehistoric and Native American history. Also, if you are an outdoorsy family go to Yosemite and learn about John Muir. The preservation of the Yosemite Valley had a huge impact on the way the National Parks are operated today.

Thank you for your replies! I am trying to make a decision on one of these programs and unfortunately we love a bit to remotely to preview them.

Anyone tried both and care to share their preference?

Thank you for the links. I loved the very thorough explanation of what loving books both are and aren't.

Can someone explain the difference between living books and fiction. I am a novice in the homeschool world and I have read the phrase "living books" thrown around quite a bit. When I hear it I think of books that make a subject come alive. What I understand (and correct me if I have missed the mark) is that a living book is written by an author who is knowledgeable and passionate about their subject. As I have looked at different curriculum it seems that those with living books are predominately fiction. So what is the difference?

How the States Got Their Shapes I just saw this series on Netflix and thought I would pass it along. There are several episodes on how state shapes were influenced by things like water, weather, transportation, etc. I have seen three episodes so far and would say Logic stage kids would probably be the target audience. They seem like they would make a nice light supplement for anyone covering US history or geography.

Thanks for the replies. It is good to know that the later levels are less teacher intensive. Am really drawn to this program but I worry about time. I will look in at the yahoo group too.

Is it possible? I am looking for experience from anyone who has multiple levels of RightStart going in their homeschool. What does this realistically look like?

Bump

You used the phrases "serve one another" and "live in harmony" and they reminded me of a system that I have seen used. The family taught that when they do "X" (arguing with siblings, breaking things, speaking disrespectfully to parents, whatever) they take away peace/harmony/energy in the family. In other words, they are breaking down rather than building up. Family members have to spend energy (physical or emotional) dealing with the problem rather than the other things that bring peace to the family. The offending person needs to both apologize and make restitution to anyone they directly hurt and also work to raise the level of harmony in the home. How would they do that? Reading a book to a younger sibling shows service and love; sweeping up the kitchen floor makes less work for mom; washing the sliding glass door so the family can better see nature makes people feel peaceful; writing a note of appreciation can build up a family member. Rather than being punishments these things become ways for a child to bring harmony to the home. In real life this would play out with something along the lines of first getting the child to understand what they did wrong and why it was wrong. Then having the child give a sincere apology and make any necessary restitution. Then you might say something along the lines of "Your choice to do "X" has taken away some harmony in our family. You need to think of one (or two or three - depending on the infraction) ways to bring harmony back to our home." The other activities like listening to audio books or playing educational games are then put on hold until the child has done something to restore harmony to the family. Rather than taking something away you are simply prioritizing tasks. You can have a list of things they can choose from or allow them to come up with their own thing. Giving the child some control in choosing what they will do may help to remove the feeling of punishment and reenforce the idea of building up the family. If a child objects to the fact that they can't do other activities until they have worked to restore harmony you might point out that it is not that different than if they had spilled juice on the kitchen floor. You wouldn't allow them to just leave the mess all over the floor and come back after they finish playing outside. Cleaning up the juice would take priority over whatever they would rather do. I don't know if this philosophy works for you, but I thought I would share. I saw this very effectively used in a family we know. I haven't used this myself because my DD is only a toddler (yes, I read threads on a homeschool sight and impatiently count the days until my child is old enough to use any of the curriculum that I have become attached to...I even have a spread sheet of my curriculum choices in various subjects...for various grade levels...kind of pathetic but this is my chocolate).

So many books I have to read now! Thank you all!

Thanks for sharing. I figured that some of the resources would be hard to find because they were compiled so long ago. I am happy to know that you were able to find similar things that still worked with the basic system. For history I know a lot of people love SOTW. I am not necessarily opposed to SOTW but I prefer the style of the spine in the 1st edition. I am leaning towards SOTW as an audio supplement rather than the spine. I have heard that the Usborne/Kingfisher books may no longer have enough info in the paragraphs for narration - that they have simplified the main section and just left the little blurbs around the pictures. Has this been anyone's experience? For both history and science how did the spine/binder system work out? Did your kid find it monotonous or did the library book supplements provide enough variety?

Does anyone do history and/or science as outlined in the 1st edition of TWTM? What are your thoughts? I see lots of other science and history curriculum but always seem to cycle back to the 1st edition method. My daughter is young so I have a lot of time before I have to make a decision. I am just curious about the thoughts of experienced homeschoolers.

Two months ago I picked up The Secret Garden, and after a few chapters I as enchanted. I had to ask myself over and over "How did I never read this?" Now I just finished Little Men (sequel to Little Women) and am once again in shock that I never before read this book. Now I find myself wondering what else I missed. Has anyone else had this moment where they realized they missed some classic gem in their childhood? Please help me find the next youth classic that I should be reading. I know that there are many great book list out there and that is not what I am looking for. I am interested in your personal recommendation of those books that maybe you realized you missed out on in your own childhood but have since fallen in love with.

Does anyone know of a thread on MM? If you know of one please share the link. If there isn't one please share your experience with MM.

Is there anyone who likes some of the ideas presented in The Core but not necessarily as applied in CC? For example, I like the idea of memorizing a history timeline (and will admit I will definitely be buying the new CC timeline cards as well as the science cards), but would rather memorize them in context over a four year period. I also like the blob map and learning to draw a map freehand. Does anyone one have anything they like from The Core and how they used it in their homeschool? BTW I am NOT looking for your experiences positive or negative with CC. I just what thoughts on the book The Core (although I am aware that it was written by the founder of CC).

All of them! I was pointed in the direction of homeschooling just under a year ago. Both DH and I are on board, but there is just one major problem. DD is only 2. All of this glorious curriculum is still a few years down the road (or as in the case of the Latin programs I drool over, several years down the road). I have a whole list of programs to keep my eye on and examine more closely in the years to come. I look up something homeschool related at least once a day. It is pure torture, but I can't help myself

You might consider the outline from http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com It is a literature plan to accompany SOTW. She has lesson plans for SOTW for both grammar and logic stage students. Her grammar stage has two levels so could use the level 2 with your 4th grader. The program is free.

How did you do the picture?

I would love to know the answer to this as well.

Here is an example of loop scheduling. She randomizes but you can plan your loop if that works better for your family. http://eclectic-homeschool.com/a-flexible-loop-schedule-for-homeschooling/ She makes her list for the week but I have seen others who organize by day.

My dd is only two so obviously we are not starting any formal curriculum. But I am interested in slowly acquiring educational toys and good books to use over the next few years. So these are my questions: What educational toys do/did your kids love? (We already have blocks and I am looking into sandpaper letters) What books do your family love enough that you would recommend them for purchase?