Thank you! This is the same boy who enjoyed your recommendations on Chinese history I had asked on your blog. Here’s hoping he will enjoy these resources just as much!

wouldn’t you mind sharing what you have used for world history? If it’s a large list of resources, then perhaps the core books/teaching company courses/series?

I love this thread on literature

I appreciate the lazy! I have eight kids of my own - five I’m currently homeschooling and three kindergarten and under. I need things efficient! It would have never occurred for me to go down to initials, just numbers and just a word or two. It seems so obvious now that you have explained it! Also, what are your expectations when you write “Identify Archduke Ferdinand†in their lesson plans? Gosh! What an unexpected wealth of information regarding annotation! I feel like you have taken Adler’s approach and commonplace book which I took to be more copywork and took it up a notch. It reminds me of how my understanding of copy work/writing and grammar took a giant leap forward when I used TC. So to clarify, you have notes in your planners, annotated books, and spiral notebooks. Do you have a spiral notebook per child? Per book? How do you keep it organized? I’m trying to imagine keeping my notes for five students simple but effective. Truly, thank you for being so patient and generous.

Thought of another question, when you ask the student to annotate 20 000, I assume you are providing him with his own copy to mark. What about books like Journey through Bookland? My seventh grader and I love the series but they are too expensive for us to mark up. Do you use post-it notes like those in your history/science books? I appreciate you walking through the practical aspect of recording teaching notes. I can foresee even using the planner to record literature paper topics as they come up in our discussions instead of trying to guess what topics my children will be passionate about before reading. I’m hoping that by trying out some of your methods we will see a more purposeful yet organic discussions/lesson plan with my children.

Yes it does! I appreciate how you have different methods for attaching the various levels of detailed teaching notes to your planners. Do you mind sharing what your shorthand notes looks like?

I am re-reading your book Homeschooling at the Helm and I have a “technical†question. I believe you use the Catholic pfaum planners for your children. However in your book, the daily lesson plans are long. How do you manage to squeeze them into your planner? Do you have in two planning tools for your students to refer to? The pfaum planner and a detailed daily plans as written in your book? Also you mentioned buying your own copy and annotating Here be Dragons. Do you also buy your own copy of the history, science and literature books?

Laura, Thank you for reminding me of your list. I'm currently building a short course on ancient China for my sixth grader. I never thought to check out the more mature works. historymatters, THank you for another good suggestion. I just wanted to add that SIngapore had "insert number" child policy. The number varied according to the government's agenda. ANother cheery thought. Penguin, Definitely including Art of War. I'm toying with adding a few more philosophical books like Anatelects. KarenNC, Thank you for reminding me to check out Norton editions. I'm going to see whether they have good critical essays on CHinese literature. I also signed up for the COursea course and am taking notes now just in case it isn't offered again next year. Sebastian, Thank you for more science-fiction books. My son and I are toying about comparing CHinese sci-fi with Western ones. Are they different? Do they reflect different philosophical thought? He's right now devouring Lewis' Space trilogy. Farrar, I really appreciate you focusing my thoughts on this course- literature written by Chinese and their self-reflection of their culture and philosophy. That is why I"m leaning towards the MIT courseware. The syllabus has you reading Chinese poetry and excerpts from the Classics. Those Classics are long! As least the excerpts are taken through the books so you can see the progression of the novel as oppose only the first book. I'm toying with spending a quarter on Chinese poetry, another on the Classics, another on Philosophical works like Art of War and Analects, with the final quarter on science-fiction and modern novella that you and Sebastian recommended. It seems a lot. But then again, my son might just want a more narrow focus.

Sebastian, Thank you for your suggestions! My son would love some sci-fi and mystery novels thrown in the mix. Perhaps he could even read them in Chinese! HistoryMatters, Yes, I am founding a wealth of books based around the cultural revolution/communism. It is a horrific period in Chinese history but would be akin to studying World War II and the holocaust. I might include one or two books during that time period but won't want to dwell on it for too long. Thank you for reminding me about the missionaries in China as another angle to pursue. Lightening Literature also has the sample of A Thousand Pieces of Gold study for preview!

Thank you for the list! The books you mentioned are not on the list above. Most of them are Chinese classics like Monkey, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, some Chinese poetry like Mulan, philosophical works like Confucius etc. I'm have to refresh my memory of the other two great Chinese classics - Water Margin and Dream of the Red Chamber. Thank you for reminding me of Pearl Buck; I remember reading her Good Earth book which is appropriate. I'll have to check out Chinese Cinderella and Homesick. They seem less tragic/mature than Wild Swans etc.

My rising 9th grade son expressed an interest in Chinese history and literature . I'm trying to put together a course based on the Teaching Company's lecture series From Yao to Mao and some recommendations from this board. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/497017-chinese-history/ However, I'm stumped on Chinese literature. Some of the classics would be too depressing for his relatively innocent mind. Also, my weakest subject is literary analysis. I found some suggestions from WTM board http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/382362-your-ideal-ancient-historyliteraturefine-arts-course-of-study/ Openware MIT https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/global-studies-and-languages/21g-044-classics-of-chinese-literature-fall-2011/index.htm But I'm unsure what to do with the books as we read through them. Great courses do have some isolated lectures on a few Chinese philosophical books. I would love to have some guide to go along with the guide or perhaps I can apply the WEM and the Windows to the World method to these books? Wikipedia helps a little as I pre-read the books. Appreciate any help given!

I think you need to decide how much time you are willing to commit to school and also how fast a student he is. Another dynamic is how often can you teach and correct. I say that because I school 7 currently and am pregnant. Life situations are all factors. Some people do one hour per grade as a guide. My middle schoolers spend 6-8 hours depending on grade but at the same time they built up to that stamina which might something else to consider. My bare minimum has been math, foreign language, writing and free reading. Then I build up from there. I add subjects, choose curriculum that meets my standard of rigor, appropriate repetition and self-study. The answer isn't specific because everything depends. For example, the kids read rod and Staff grammar and complete the corresponding worksheet not the written exercises but that's because it's too much writing and I don't have time to do things orally with them. They take the chapter test closed book and I can gauge from there whether we need to redo certain lessons. I don't worry about completing the book within a year and I've been known to skip a grade. I discuss the grammar in context in their writing - errors and copia arrangements. I discuss their grammar and the differences in Chinese. I've even diagrammed Chinese sentences In my situation, I spend less time teaching but much more on correcting. So my materials either have well-written text with very explicit instructions directed at student - very parts-to- whole since my holistic learners can adjust but my sequential learners can't. And I correct, correct, correct.

Forester Algebra 1 Chinese made easy 3 Writing with skill 2 Rod and staff grammar 7 OLVS spelling and handwriting Caesar English 2 OLVS religion 7. Mills's Book of Ancient Israel. Light to the nations 2 Teaching the classics with Windows to the World Continue our second year of using selected chapters from Hewitt, suchocki, tarbuck and Campbell according to interest.

Miquon Math. Rod and Staff math 3 Chinese Made Easy for Kids 2 Writing with ease 2 First language lesson 2 OLVS spelling and handwriting 2 OLVS religion 2 SOTW 2 Mater Amabilis Level 1B literature selections Science books from library with emphasis on increasing length and details on oral narrations

Rod and staff 5 with hands on equations Chinese made easy for kids 3 Treasured conversations second half. School composition by Maxwell. First language lessons 4 OLVS spelling and handwriting 4 OLVS religion 4 and Christian Studies 2 Story of the World 3-4 Narnia with ROAR and Family Guide. Mater Amabilis Literature 2 Science books from library according to interest but emphasis on taking notes and increasing reading levels.

Could someone explain to me the attraction towards these sets of books? Aren't they the same as reading the original full versions? Is it lack of time - better to read the best snippets of literature than whole works? Or convenience? I purchased the My Book House as my first set and we were not engaged. I'm hesistant to buy any more sets but wanted an enlightened view.

You are most welcome. Honestly, I'm just following the instructions on the first two pages of the TM. :001_smile: I tried to do just the TM but it took too much effort to figure out pacing. The workbook solved that part for me and since we copy onto handwriting paper/notebooks, it's very cheap. I really do like the way the rules are presented clearly and consolidates different ways to spell a sound or different ways to say a phonogram. The built-in review is very nice too. The sentences are not elegant but we memorize poetry and various passages from classic literature in addition to reading widely so I'm fine with that. Best of luck with finding what works!

Good for you! We don't go through the workbook as fast because we go through all the didictations before going to the next page. So if there are one hundred words to spell, then we are parked in that workbook page for 5 days. :001_smile:

I basically follow the recommendations of the TM and the workbooks. My children do one page per day. If the workbook say "learn this" we copy it to a flashcard to be memorized. I am willing to pause the workbooks to memorize the spelling rules. When the workbook says "refer to TM and dictate a few sentences for them to spell", I do that. The TM says to dictate 4-5 nonsense syllables, 4 spelling words, 3 phrases and 3 sentences. I skip the nonsense syllables but do the rest plus the last five trouble words from the previous dictations. I make sure to read the little subtitles and notations in the TM because they indicate appropriate grade levels. Lastly, I generally dictate all the appropriate words, phrases and sentences before moving onto the next page in the workbook because I prefer a slow but thorough treatment of spelling. I appreciate that later dictations review previously studied words.

I've moved quite a bit so I know where you are coming from. In fact, I'm in a middle of a move myself. This is what I've done. I have to accept my limitations. How much can I mentally focus on homeschooling because when I pack, I can only pack. So since you don't want to pack last minute, pretend that you don't have to school. When would you start packing then? How much will you pack? Everything or most and live on basic kitchen supplies, clothes in luggages and a box of toys. Next you have to be accepting on how your kids are going to react and you pack up and get ready for the move. Are they independent or do they need you to motivate and teach them? If the former, then lesson plan for those and trust they will continue to do their school diligently with your occasional check-up. If it's more a later, then there's nothing wrong with doing very little. One to two months won't be too bad and you can catch up in the summer next year. There are online games that are educational like bbc kids games, thatquiz.org. My kids don't mind doing that math drills online 10 min a day. Also, my kids usually don't mind tv- school. Documentaries, Liberal Kids, Horrible Histories, Magic School Bus, Salsa, Cyberchase, Word World and the like. Have them read on anything they are interested in from the library. Think kid-directed projects like fort building in the backyard. Or buy them a science/art kit and have the big kids teach the young ones. Or have them read-aloud half an hour to the younger from AO's booklist. Or even have the older kids take over meals. They will learn to manage projects and also other people's expectations and desires, not forgetting patience. :p It's all good. Really.

So very true. The longer I homeschool, the more concerned I am about how to be consistent, to balance introduction of new material and review, scheduling etc. It's more about logistics than about the material itself. I'm also concerned on working on myself and my family as a person - prudence, moderation, restraint, fortitude, joy, curiousity. Life skills and study skills. The list goes on but these are the intangibles that makes a successful student and adult. But then again, I think that's because I've pondered long and hard about what I want to accomplish in a subject matter. Take grammar for example. How in depth do I believe is useful? Do I believe in diagramming, parsing, both or neither? Implicit or explicit? Yearly review or once in a few years? Teach till 8th grade or through high school? And really most importantly which applies to all subjects, how must the material be presented that I can understand and make it workable for my different kids just because I know where the program is heading and also its strengths and weakness. Once I can think of a subject philosophically, it's easier to be convinced that my chosen material is good enough and to truly master the content and its application. Then it's just a matter of putting on selective blinders. I really don't want to be tempted by another program. Most often the incremental return is not worth the effort of introducing a new program.

I think the grade level for Light of the Nation is about right but not so for HO. I've got a copy of K12 History Odyssey 1 and printed out the sample chapters from Light of the Nation to compare. In my opinion, Light of the Nation is a denser read and covers more material. When I read HO, I would breeze through and follow along fairly easily. However, for Light of the Nation, I needed to actually outline the chapter with paper and pen to follow along. I would recommend you to print out a sample chapter or two from Light of the Nation to test it out, particularly any chapter other than the one on the birth of Jesus Christ. That was the easiest of all the sample chapters. Just my humble opinion.:)

GSWL might. Like 8 said, there are different approaches to any language. Immersion, vocab-based and grammar-based. Generally speaking the higher-level language studies are grammar-based. So LC is loosely more vocab orientated than GSWL but I think that's because they are assuming the kids have less grammar knowledge. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that GSWL is more confusing. I actually find it less confusing but for my younger children (3rd grade and under), I've had to elaborate on some of the grammatical terms. Sometimes consulting a more comprehensive grammar text/resource helps resolve my confusion in Latin. The reason why *I* like GSWL is it explains one concept at a time. So when I first started learning Latin, it was hard to figure out how to break up a lesson especially if there was too much information. Now that I'm more familiar with various foreign language resources, I am better able to take a high school level text and break it up to suit my younger students and myself. After GSWL, we've moved to a high school level language text, but modified to suit the pace that my kids can handle. This is generally the approach I've taken for Latin, Spanish & Chinese. As with any grammar-intensive text, I've always combined it with a more immersion-based program to help develop their vocab in a relaxed manner.

Depends on who I am speaking to. If it's someone who only understood English, I converse in English. If it's who speaks Chinese and English, we usually mix it up - phrases or just single words. Now, mixing up Chinese, English and Spanish.... *laughs* Now that's fun! But I don't ranslate in my brain. It's almost as if all these languages are one and the same in my brain but the way I express my thoughts depends on which language comes faster out of my mouth. ;)

We are and we are doing well. I am semi-fluent in Mandarin and can read, write and speak. We are using Chinese Made Easy series with the CCTV Learn Chinese videos. So far it's going well enough. The kids aren't fluent but I see progress and for that I'm appreciative since we aren't in a predominately Chinese environment. I admit Chinese takes as much time as Math and English so we have put less emphasis on History and Science but we are a strong believer of being multi-lingual and fluent in Chinese and Spanish. Time will only tell. :) Edited to add that we doing four exercises per foreign language that focuses on four different skill sets : reading, writing, listening & speaking. And I found it vital to review a previous lesson every day even from a few years back. *laughs*