Hi Laura, I follow the recommendations in TWTM fairly closely and I can share what I did for literary analysis during the logic stage with my oldest. I used notes I took form listening to the SWB talk on "Writing in the Middle Grades", notes I took from TWTM, as well as points taught in Writing With Skill Level 1. I plan to change things up a little once my next child hits the logic stage but here is an example of what my oldest did. I'm also including rubric I used as a guide. I made the rubric by using one that was included in WWS and adding some details to it. Let me know if you need me to clarify anything in the attachments. Hope this helps. Literary Essay Example - Logic Stage.docx Literary Criticism Essay Rubric.docx

If Christian curriculum is o.k. with you, I highly recommend Rod & Staff's English curriculum. It covers both grammar and writing, it's very affordable, and the texts are hardback so they will hold together very well if you plan to use them with other children. The first level they offer is Englsh 2 (2nd Grade) but you do not have to start there. You can jump right into English 3. They do a lot of review and it's very thorough so it will do a great job of filling in any gaps. A couple of things to know, 1) They offer a lot of practice meaning, if the student is learning to identify the subject or predicate of a sentence, for example, they'll be given 10-15 sentences to copy and then they'll be asked to underline the subject once and the predicate twice. This is waaaay too much writing for a young child. These books are written for classroom use that's why they offer so much practice. What I have my kids do is, depending on what the point of the exercise is, I have them either write only the answer (not the complete sentence) or if it's important for them to write the whole sentence down, I'll have them do just a few: 2-5 sentences, again depending on the point of the lesson. You can see samples here: https://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-123--/?list=Building_Christian_English_Series Hope this helps.

I don't have a list but I have a few suggestions of where/how you can get some book ideas. If you own the SOTW Activities book, you'll see that for every chapter there is a list of recommended Additional History Reading & Corresponding Literature Suggestions. Most of these books are for elementary level students but sometimes there will be some that are IR 3-5 or IR 6-8, IR meaning Independent Reading. Another thing I've done in the past is search the topics being covered in a particular chapter, in my libraries catalog. Then I sort by by reading level. I also use the reading list provided in TWTM. There is enough there for an entire school year (for most kids:). Finally, there are a few lists already made that I have found on Pinterest. Here's an example: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/139400550952942941/ Hope this helps.

If you haven't listened to them yet, I highly recommend listening to SWB's audio seminars. There are three I recommend that relate to your questions: What is Literary Analysis? When, Why, and How Should I Teach It? ($ 3.39) https://welltrainedmind.com/p/what-is-literary-analysis-when-why-and-how-should-i-teach-it-mp3/ A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the High School Years ($2.39) https://welltrainedmind.com/p/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-high-school-years-mp3/ Great Books: History as Literature ($3.39) https://welltrainedmind.com/p/great-books-history-as-literature/ You're already doing a lot of what she recommends but she does give a good idea of what the output should look like. I've listened to these over and over and have taken notes. There are basically 4 components to the Great Books study in high school, according to SWB: 1) (Output 1 - this counts for history and lit.) - The History Foundation - The student reads from the chosen history text (i.e. The History of the Ancient World by SWB, The Penguin History of the World, etc.) and the student takes notes listing important/major events, people, dates. This set the foundation for the great book they are going t read. 2) (Output 2) - Book Context Page - This context page should be a one –page summary of historical information that includes: information about the author (birth date, death date, country of origin, etc. ), when the work was written, and major events occurring at the time. 3) (Output 3) - The Book's Genre - The first time a student encounters a genre, in each year of study, the student should 1) Read about the genre, its history, and the instructions on how to read that genre. 2) Take notes on this reading about a genre. This page is essentially a summary of the definition/description of the genre and the "tips" (from "How to Read a Book" by Adler, for example) for how to read that particular genre. 4) (Output 4) - Book Notes - Read through the text, pencil in hand, and note down the major events in the book. Mark passages that seem significant, troubling, or puzzling. Write a summary of the Notes. These should be brief, 2-3 pages of notes for the entire book should be plenty. 5) (Output 5 - Final Assignment) - Compositions - She recommends two types: 1) Response Paper which is a "personal engagement with the book. The student has to have an opinion about the book. The student can discuss an element, scene, plot, or character that is either interesting or annoying to them personally, they have to explain why, defend it, and include quote(s)." The second type is 2) Analytical Literature Essay and there are 3 kinds: A) Formal - The student takes a literary term, for example, a metaphor, and writes about how the term is used and what it means. B) Biographical - The student draws a parallel between something that happened in the writer's life and something that happened in the literary work. The example she gives is Jane Austen had a mean mother so all of the mothers in her books are mean. C) Historical - The student draws a parallel between something that happened in the writer's lifetime and something that happens in the literary work. The example she gives is Oliver Twist reflecting the condition of orphans during Dicken's day. I'm still very new at homeschooling high school. It has been challenging and scary. We'll be starting our second year of homeschooling high school, next Tuesday, and I don't yet feel confident. The above is a condensed version of the information SWB has put out that I've listened to and read. You are your children's teacher. Use the information you get here or not. It's up to you how you design your homeschool and what your want for your children. Hope this helps.

You might also consider looking at the one Apologia recommends on their site. It seems to be a good quality microscope.

Yes! Saxon is known for being academically rigorous. A lot of people don't like it because it's time consuming. It is a solid math program and many of the private schools in my area use Saxon as their math program. I've also heard of school using a different program for the lower grades and then switching to Saxon beginning with book 5/4. Susan Wise Bauer used it with her kids, I believe. She has recommended it in all four edition of The Well Trained Mind. The strengths of the program is that it is incremental and students practice, practice, practice the skills learned throughout the entire book. Many math programs take a mastery approach when teaching skills. Students work out problems until they master the concept and then they move on. My experience has been that, even if test show you've mastered a concept or anything, but you don't use it again for a while, you tend to forget it. I think Saxon has worked in our home because my kids don't have a chance to forget the new concepts. I also like that Saxon teaches the concepts and has the student apply them across different situations/scenarios. This give the student an understanding of when they're likely to encounter and use their newly acquired math skills. As you can tell, I'm a huge fan, however, the truth is that every child is different and every teacher/parent is different. You'll have to find a program that works well for your child(ren) and that you're comfortable teaching.

Taking transcripts and course descriptions to college fairs is a great idea!

The Robert Fagles translation is the one recommended in TWTM. A homeschool academy in my town uses the Robert Fitzgerald translation. My daughter read the Fagles translations of both The Iliad and the Odyssey. She said the sections that listed names (similar to the geneology sections in the bible) were a little hard (boring) to read but other than that they were fine. She did say she found the Odyssey a little more interesting than the Iliad. Hope this helps.

Hi Roy. I read the article you wrote on annotating books and it was EXCELLENT! I also read the other two related articles: Annotations, part 1 and the one on Close Reading. Very helpful. Thank you so much for sharing.

I'm not familiar with Jensen's grammar but we've been using Rod and Staff English for almost 7 years and, let me tell you, it is rock solid. It does an amazing job of teaching the grammar rules, their application, sentence diagramming, and writing. I love that the books have a hard cover so they hold up very well. It is also very inexpensive. When you purchase a set, you can also order a thin workbook that has extra practice exercises but my kids haven't used them. They learn the material very well by simply completing the lessons. The books offer more practice exercises than you will need. My kids really like it too. It's one of their favorite subjects.

I found this guide to be very helpful. https://www.covcath.org/uploaded/06_Students/Annotation_Guide_AP_Language.pdf

Thanks Lori. I have this exact passage highlighted in my copy of TWTM 🙂 And you're absolutely right, if writing book notes was killing the love of reading in my daughter, I totally wouldn't be doing it. I was looking for an example of what others type up and stick in the notebook. I'm a very visual person so templates and examples help. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

Thank you. Yes, I totally agree that's it's the process not the product. I was looking for formatting ideas. I come across an example that I like and I'll look into the ones you mentioned. Thanks for your response.