I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird today and put Go Set a Watchman on hold. It's funny I think I read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school but re-reading it, it felt like yesterday. It's interesting that when a book really speaks to you, the characters feel like family to you no matter how long it's been. I also watched a lecture from Tracy Lee Simmons (Author of Climbing Parnassus) about education in humanities and he said that you should read books that change you and when we read we are developing self and morals. I really liked that. My kids have asked me why it is so important to me that they read quality literature and that sort of summed it up for me. Ok so for the name challenge I am going to use the Mensa list since I'm trying to check off some more boxes. A - Animal Farm M - Madame Bovary B - Beowulf (any suggestions on a translation?) E - Emma (not on the list but it should be) R - Rabbit, Run

It's just the high school list from this site http://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/I checked off the books I read in high school (was not very many at all) and I am reading the rest of them. My girls are in the k-3 and 4-6th grade list so I told them I would finish the high school list at the same time.

I just finished Candide. I picked it up since it was on the Mensa list. It's funny my original goal for reading through the list was to encourage my girls as they read through the list for their age range but I am just loving these books. Candide was a book I really had no knowlege of prior to picking it up. It's short and a very easy read. The book is a satire about optimism but even more it is about the philosophical belief that everything on this earth is for the greater good. It was funny, sad and a little shocking at points. My plan was to start to Kill a Mockingbird but I started reading Candide and couldn't put it down.

I'm halfway through Soul of discipline and I have real hope the ideas presented in the book will solve some of the issues I'm having with my 10 year old daughter. I've been feeling like there has been a disconnect with us lately and I am hoping trying some of the idea's will help. In fact I'm taking notes. I also decided to reread To Kill a Mockingbird since I want to read the book Harper Lee just released and compare them. Has anyone read the new book? Reviews seem to be mixed since apparently it was written and rejected before she rewrote it as To Kill a Mockingbird.

Thank you for this. I watched the teaching the classic's dvd's and in the examples they gave they pretty much would write every answer people came up with even if it was from a totally different view. I really liked that and the idea of just discussing books with my kids. Decunstructing Penguins sort of brought me back to high school days and the way the teachers taught literature. Interestingly enough I'm working my way down a list of books I had on my wish list on amazon and the next book, The Knowledge Deficit, actually talked about how we (the US) currently teach language arts. The author talked about how we teach comprehension as a subject in language arts but it isn't really something that can be taught and only by reading more and a wider variety can we actually comprehend books better. So by spending time on reading comprehension you are taking away time from the very thing that can actually help them to comprehend books better. He was referring to school removing history and science or taking time away to devote to language arts but it did convince me that I don't really need to worry about that part of school. I guess I've come full circle with this but I am glad I read the two books.

I started assigning books last year (3rd and 4th) to my girls. Before that I would just let them read what they wanted when they wanted. I started assigning books to add classic literature, on their own they would usually choose modern books. I let them choose from a list and they read 20 pages a day. If I wasn't pushing the classics I don't know that I would require reading time because they are pretty good about reading as it is. My concern is that they are reading at least some quality books as opposed to all the Emily Windsnap, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Ever After High type that they want to read.

I fell off the book reading wagon last week. It was a busy week but I finished deconstructing penguins today. I felt like it didn't give me the tools I really need to open up any book and deconstruct it which is what I was looking for. I think the book recommended to me on the last thread (How to Read Literature Like a Professor) is more along the lines of what I was looking for. I do think I will buy deconstructing penguins though (It was a library book) to keep for future reference. It has a good list of books to use with different grades and give a brief synopsis along with explaining how they deconstructed that particular book. I guess I feel like I need an answer key so to speak. What if I start deconstructing a book and tell my kids the protagonist and antagonist and get it wrong? The author started a book club and mentions many of the parents pick the wrong person or get underlying themes wrong. I moved on to The Knowledge Deficit and it seems ok so far. I disagree with the author stating that education today is based on idea's from the 19th century (romance education is what he calls it).

I've done this the past two years. It's a commitment even if it's only one other family. Our biggest struggle is we both have littles so keeping them entertained while the older kids do work is hard. Next year we are adding another family. I like the intimacy of it and how informal it is. We can have discussions and really enjoy the crafts. ETA: I started off doing both science experiments and history crafts but it was a lot of work doing both so we switched to every other week doing only one each week. I have a friend that also does a small co-op but divides the work. They have 4 families and 3 moms take a subject, the last mom takes the littles. It works great for them because the work is divided and each parent only focuses on the subject they are in charge of.

I am thinking I'll just order the rod and staff workbooks. They are so cheap its probably less to buy those than to print random worksheets. They are the two min and done type though.

Thanks! I'll get that book, I really would rather stick to classic literature for literature analysis.

I'm a little more than halfway through deconstructing penguins and it has sort of solidified my decision to go with mosdos press to teach basic literature analysis to my 5th grader. I love the discussions presented but I didn't see the underlying themes in the books presented so far until the author pointed them out. I still don't feel confident enough to read a book and deconstructed it on my own without researching it first. I feel like I have a heavy teacher load next year as is. I'll finish the book though and see if I change my mind.

I thought I would jump in to this group, I have decided to read 1 book a week to encourage my girls reading and to push myself to cut down my never ending list of books to read. This week I'm reading Deconstructing Penguins and Science Matters. I have The Knowledge Deficit and The Soul of Discipline checked out from the library also so those two will be next. I'm thinking of taking a break from Non-Fiction after this. I need more time between some of these books to mule over the idea's.

The library didn't have Philosophy of Tolkien but DD did get The Hobbit. I came home with Deconstructing Penguins, The Soul of Discipline, Science Matters and The Knowlege Deficit. I need to take a break after this and do some fun reading. My brain is about to explode with information overload. To many idea's at one time.

I just finished reading Climbing Parnassus which has, for the first time, convinced me to teach my kids Latin. I would love for them to get to the point of being able to read original works of Cicero, Horace, Vergil and Ovid. We will see how my romanticized idea of what our homeschool will be pans out... I would highly recommend reading that book to inspire you to push forward with Latin. The arguments for Latin presented by the author were not the normal learn logic, learn grammar arguments. Understanding Latin opens you up to the original works that our society is based on. Translations are changed by what the translator saw when translating the original work. The author believed Latin (and Greek) cultivated your mind beyond a student studying for to be a technician in a field. Honestly I'm not doing the book justice you really have to read it but you will be inspired to continue. I was sold on everything Classical except latin. That being said, I'm a firm believer in doing what works best for your family as a homeschooler. I've had to realize a lot of MY wants for my children and idea's I think are exceptional don't always fit my kids. The biggest thing I love about homeschooling is I don't have to fit my kids into a mold. We are going to do two years of spanish then start latin when my girls are in 6th and 7th grade.

I pulled my kids out of public school also and my oldest complained the entire first year. This last year was our second year and the complaints were a little less. I've read the unschooling or deschooling idea's but I didn't try it. Part of the reasoning for me was the stuff they hate is math and english. They really like history and science so I didn't see a reason to cut them. I let them pick our science course. For history I created a curriculum based on the American Girl books. I did crafts, cooking, field trips. If you ask my kids history is now their favorite subject. What do your kids enjoy? There are history programs based on minecraft, konos sells some unit studies in a bag that have lots of hands on stuff that you could do with them. I also agree with cutting screens. You might already be doing this but I wasn't and when I finally cut them it made a world of difference. Now I allow 1 hr during school days and 2 hours during weekends. We do a lot of library trips and I've started reading the mensa reading list for high school while they work on the list for elementary. I think it helps them to see I am reading through a list just like them. Another thing I tell my kids is part of school is disciplining yourself to push through when it's hard. The times when you don't want to work, hate what's in front of you and find it very tough you are building necessary skills. Intelligence is something you gain through hard work and mental discipline. We talk about the things they would like to do as adults and then I explain the skills they have to acquire to get there. I don't want to sugar coat things or make them think that all learning is going to be fun. It isn't and that's ok. I want them to understand though that there is so much value in the ability to push through and they are making strides in their character, intellect and gains towards their future by their struggles.

Re-paper my cabinets Paint the laundry area redo a wall in the living room I'm starting to lose hope I'm going to get it done :( I have finished most of my school stuff and I went through most of the closets and de-cluttered. I just have two small closets left.

I looking for poetry also. What I really would like to find is ancient Roman or Greek poetry that is readable with kids.

I'm doing the same. I finished Anna Karenina about a month ago. Since then I've taken a break from the list and I've read The Core, Why Students Don't Like School and I have 20 pages left in Climbing Parnassus (LOVE this book). I think realizing my daughter is going into 5th grade spurred me to rapidly educate myself as much as possible. I have dabled in classical education for a while but now I really want to solidify my teaching methods and figure out a path towards high school. After summer I will get back to the mensa reading list.

I was thinking about this thread today when DD picked out Tom Sawyer as her next book to read. Talk about bad examples! I love the book though and I'm hoping my daughter enjoys her journey with Tom :)

My 4 kids have the chairs set up as a mini van and are playing mom and dad right now. My 9 and 10yo are taking turns reading to my 3yo twins while the other "parent" drives. I love homeschooling and the bond it has created with my kids.

We are in a really big county and our library system allows us to find a book at any library in the county and have it shipped to our local branch. I love this since it gives us much bigger selection. I also like that we have access to audiobooks online. I would love that selection to be bigger. There are quite a few popular homeschool help books that we don't have stocked. I think actually TWTM wasn't at our libary (although I'm glad since that pushed me to buy it).

I allow them to read them. There are some books I'm not ok with but for the most part their free reading books are whatever they want to read. The only rule is it has to be at their reading level. I do have them read 20 pages a day of an assigned reading book. Funny enough we are going through the mensa reading list and Ramona Quimbly is on one of the list.

If you ask me I'd say we are comfortable, if you ask dh he would say we are tight. We do a couple of vacations a year but they are driving distance. Its funny because dh makes 2x what he made when we first decided I would stay home but our standard of living has gone up so I don't really feel like we have extra money. We eat out way to much and have made our house the gathering spot for ufc, holidays and pretty much any event. I guess we are eating all of our money :/

I'm considering doing a wall like number 20 on this post http://www.buzzfeed.com/morganshanahan/27-clever-ideas-for-creating-the-perfect-homeschool-classroo#.mw2r6GzE8g. I love maps and my twins would love the chalkboard on the bottom.

I just finished the book Why Don't Students Like School and it outlines exactly what sadie said. Telling kids they are smart is actually detrimental to them. Kids need to be praised for the effort they put forward rather than being told they did well because they are smart. All of the people we consider experts and intelligent people had to study and work for their intelligence and treating kids like they move forward because they are smart rather than because they worked to learn the information sends the wrong message. It's a really good book and I highly recommend it. The author is a cognitive scientist and gives great advice on how the mind works.