Did you know about the downloadable wikipedia for schools? Here's a link: http://schools-wikipedia.org/

For a fun book, how about Swiss Family Robinson. My boy is re-reading it right now and laughs every now and then about how magical the island is. It would drive me crazy because it's so impossible but my boy loves it.

Both my older two struggled to learn to read but for different reasons. 100 EZ lessons wasn't our first attempt at reading. We tried alphaphonics, McGuffey primer and Abeka readers first. My ds just couldn't sit still and concentrate long enough to bother reading until he was about 7. We used 100 EZ lessons and he was doing quite well before the end of the book. He just adored the silly stories so we kept reading them. I'm not sure at what point we could have dropped it but it was definitely before the end of the book. My dd at age 7 worked her way through the book but when the lessons dropped the mark-up (somewhere around lesson 80) she floundered miserably. She was so sad. She had felt like she was reading but then she couldn't keep it up. It just didn't click. About six months later we started Spell to Read and Write and that did the trick for her. I think that she really needed it spelled out for her that letters and phonograms can make different sounds and that reading could be approached in a systematic manner.

How about The Mother Tongue by George Kittredge and Sarah Arnold? I've been using book two with my older children and it is working out quite nicely. These people have produced a hardcopy of at least book 2: https://blueskydaisies.wordpress.com/ . You can also get a scanned hardcopy on amazon.

I wanted to suggest a good world history text. I haven't used it with my youngsters but I've read through about 1/4 of it so far and will probably use it with them when they're a bit older, barring any surprises in the last 3/4 of the book. It's not overtly Christian or secular. Here's the link: https://archive.org/details/andersonhistory00anderich When I was trying to find the link I realized that the same author also produced a text for a younger audience. It even has review questions at the end of each chapter. It does look a little more overtly Christian but I suppose you're not going to find much different in 120 year old books. Here's a link: https://archive.org/details/amanualgeneralh00andegoog

Thank you all!

My 11yo daughter thinks all science is boring. She would much rather read any book that involves a real live person. We still do learn pure science but I was thinking that it might be nice to try to inspire her a bit by trying to find some engaging biographies of scientists that dive a little into the science behind their work. She has appreciated in the past a book about Marie Curie and another about George Washington Carver. More along those lines would be helpful.

I'm looking for a site that I can print some interesting preschool worksheets from. My 3yo needs some sit down work to do while his older siblings are doing school work. So many colouring pages are really boring. For example, a big apple takes about 1 minute to colour. He needs something that will take him around 10 minutes of focused activity. Detailed colouring pages would work or some cut and paste and then colour pages would be fine as well. Thanks!

Little house in the big woods?

Thanks. I knew I was missing something. That looks like great reading.

I've been recently really enjoying the thread on teaching children to read textbooks found here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/467812-developing-advanced-reading-skills/ . A number of posters mentioned having saved or bookmarked other similar threads. Since I've only been watching these boards for a short time I'm sure I've missed many great discussions. I was thinking that it might be helpful to myself and others to start a best of the WTM forums thread. If you've got some particularly valuable or deep conversations on broad topics related directly to education would you care to share them here? Thanks!

I'm looking into my options for teaching my children how to read music. My children are both 11 but I wouldn't mind using the same resource for my littles when they're younger than the two older ones are at the moment. In other words, a curriculum suited to 8 year olds would be best but I'm flexible. :) We're not learning any instruments but we sing together as a family every morning during family devotions so something that's not tied to an instrument would be my preference. Suggestions?

I'm considering using The Creative Writer for my 11yo dd. I read Cathy Duffy's review and it sounds decent but I'm wondering what some of you who have actually used the program thought about it. How much time per day did it consume? Did your children like it? Did you like it? I'm NOT a creative writer. I'm much more on the analytical side of the spectrum. Do you think that this will cause a problem in assistting my daughter? What else can you tell me about it?

Does anyone have any suggestions for resources for teaching upper elementary students biblical Greek?

Yes I was talking about our church. You're right. I didn't mean to imply that doctor's couldn't live fulfilling lives or that less educated church members always do. It's just been our experience that my dh's colleague are mostly unhappy and unfulfilled. There are some exceptions though. I was trying to point out that education doesn't bring about fulfillment or success in and of itself and was therefore not a path we feel compelled to encourage our children to go down.

I meant as opposed to giving up medicine altogether he's going to continue to be a doctor It depends on what you find fulfilling. Way too many my dh's colleagues are not living fulfilling lives. Many our workaholics with broken marriages and heaps of debt. From our experience, the brothers and sisters in our fellowhip are leading more fulfilling and successful lives than my dh's colleagues.

I think that this is getting a bit too tangental. If you're sincerely interested in going that direction maybe you could pm me.

Personally, our family doesn't go the route of avoiding certain topics because they don't match our beliefs. My children are well aware of evolutionary theory, for example. Not all our associations go this route. I tend to teach my children what I think is right and what I think is wrong. Truth should hold up to scrutiny. Some of our friends believe in just teaching what they think is right. While I don't think that this is best I don't think that it's as simple as you're stating it. From my perspective it's like saying that I'm stepping on my children's rights to learn what is evil. My dh wishes that he didn't spend so much time and money on his education. He's going to use it for good now but he feels like there was so much more good that he could have done with his 9 years that he spent doing post-secondary education.

nm

I appreciate what Tolstoy has to say on Shakespeare (see here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27726). I try to prepare my daughter for outside work by educating her like I do my son (most my children are too young still to be formally educating). My daughter says that she wants to be a midwife if she doesn't marry. I'll try to help her keep that possibility open. We had her witness my last birth (just 2 weeks ago!) and I'll have her continue with biology and some other science and math. I said in my original post that I hope that my daughter never work outside the home but I will prepare them for the possibility that they may have to at some point.

My two older children stumbled upon a "manual" under the bed in a house that we were housesitting in when they were six. It was full of photographs but wasn't exactly porn. That sure made for an interesting discussion. The interesting thing was that it forever cleared up a problem that my dd was having. She was adopted and had become obsessed with finding a husband because we had told her that part of the reason she needed to be adopted was because she needed a mommy and a daddy. The poor thing was afraid that she would accidentally have a baby before she was married. Once we had the official talk all was cleared up. :) I found out as a girl when my mom gave me a book to read while she made dinner. I remember clearly the page with the important details. I was so shocked I cried out, "YOU DID THAT 3 TIMES!!!" My poor mom could hardly stop herself from laughing out loud.

I have a slightly unusual perspective to offer. I grew up in a disfunctional, secular home but as adult my husband and I joined a group of conservative, fringe anabaptists (I don't take the term fundementalist but I'd probably get lumped in there). When I was growing up my mother pulled me out of school for most of a year due to bullying. We barely got through the distance-ed curriculum that the province (BC, CA) sent to us. My mother later pulled my much younger brother out for a year because he was having "too many conflicts" with the administration. Really he was just a mouthy brat and my parents couldn't control him. They really accomplished nothing that year and eventually the provincial authorities (Manitoba, CA) caused too much trouble and he was sent back to school. About a year later he dropped out. When I was a teenager I knew one family that "homeschooled" after the mother died and the father spiralled into depression. The children were completely ferral. A friend of mine tried to report them (she was a teenager at the time) but was brushed off and told that nothing could be done because they were "registered". I met one family through a homeschool play group that was homeschooling because the mother didn't think that she should ever tell her children what to do nor did she want others to do so. Basically, she didn't believe in authority over children. I witnessed her six year cuss her out without any reprucussions. I can only imagine how much education was done! Jump forward to where I am now... We're now "quiverful", "conservative", "fundementalist" "anabaptists". I'm not gearing my children for college (even though my dh is a medical doctor); I hope that my daughters never work outside the home; I'd be terribly sad if my children left our faith. I believe that a lot secular classics, like Shakespeare, are drivel. These stem from our sincere beliefs about separation from the world, a worldview that is diametrically opposed to a secular worldview and what we believe to be a woman's role. Most of the people that we would fellowship with would believe about the same way as us in these areas. Does framing our children's education around our religious beliefs constitute educational neglect? I believe my primary goal as a parent is to pass on my faith to my children. The goals that I have for my children's education are based around this. My choices are intentional and I really don't want the state (or in our case, the province) to impose their worldview on us. I guess this comes down to a question about just how important education really is. I personally value my children's education. I want them to be aware of the world around them and to not be easily deceived. I want them to be able to read and write well and to be able to frame a good argument. I want them to be able to teach themselves if they feel like what I've given them is inadequate. I want my daughters to be employable if they have to find work outside of the home. Many people that I'm in fellowship with though do not place as much attention on their children's education. Sometimes I can feel a little self-righteous about how we're doing a better job than they are but then I think about it and quesion just how important education really is. Many of those in our fellowship can't handle reading higher level writing, some can't read music when we sing, some struggle to understand complex arguments, one didn't know that W Viginia was a state (he's American), several didn't know where BC was and when they did a few didn't relise that it was in the same time zone as WA and OR (more Americans). They're all employed. They love their families, they're not stupid or ignorant. For the record, all these brothers and sisters joined our group from typical American upbringings. Are my dh and I more valuable members of our fellowhship because we're more educated? I really don't think so. Education isn't what makes a good person. It's simply a tool that helps people accomplish their greater goals, either good or evil ones. It can help accomplish employability but we all know that there are highly educated, unemployable people out there as well. Should parents be held accountable to provide this tool for their children? I suppose to some extent but I think a bare minimum is about as far as the state should go. Education is just not that important that it's worth stepping on people's liberty or freedom to pass on their worldview/religion to their children. Editted to add: Please notice that I did say that I plan to educate my daughters. I just hope that they never need to work outside of the home.

I've used homeschoolclassifieds.com but what are some other good sources that you've appreciated?

I'm using a grammar book that I really like with my 2 grade 6 children. The only downside is that it doesn't include diagramming, which I think my children would really benefit from. So I'm on the hunt for a diagramming supplement but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a whole new grammar curriculum. Any ideas?

Upper elementary. My children are both 11yo but one of them in particular is seriously lacking in geography knowledge.