Congratulations to your daughter! It was a lovely story...really just beautiful. :)

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We read and lightly discussed as needed when the children were young. As they reached the grade 4-6 range, we read and discussed but usually chose one or two books to discuss with slightly more intention. Literary terms and story elements were brought up only as the book itself lent itself to it. By middle school, we use Figuaratively Speaking to introduce terms. Thereafter, we worked with terms and poetic devices only as they appeared in the books we were reading. Again, we usually chose one or two books per year to look at this. We never "tore" a book apart with analysis and we always had a large number of books that we read and discussed only. Also, narrations can be carefully crafted to give students an opportunity to "play" with literary terms or to incorporate them as they (the students themselves) connect to them in their writing. My girls also keep a commonplace book, which is a lovely keepsake for them of quotes, passages and poetry excerpts that they admired or were inspired by. This act encourages them to notice the way an author can beautifully express something and record it.

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Depending on the age/skill level, we follow reading with narrations. Younger children typically discuss, explain, retell or describe (composition but orally), sometimes draw, paint or create with modeling clay or reenact using their own bodies or small toys. Mid-elementary age children do the same, but now we add in creating lists and simple charts (at first together and later independently), writing letters, writing short research based narrations, writing from another character's perspective, etc. Middle school age children do some of what mid-elementary aged children do, but with more complexity. Their written narrations increase in length and in number per week, adding to the components needed for essays. A few formal, full-length essays are assigned per year in varying subjects and on varying topics. Response papers (to science journals, literature, etc.) can be added by late middle school and throughout high school. Of course, essays for high school. The beauty of oral narration is that it can be used to aid in balance. Too often textbooks and programs require output after every chapter in every subject. This could be writing out definitions for vocabulary words, answering basic comprehension questions, crossword puzzles based on vocabulary, writing assignments, outlining a chapter, etc. All of these outputs used this often creates overload. Narration allows me and my student to pick what fits us for that day in that subject. If my daughter has already chosen to draw a map for one book and to write a short research narration for another book, then the next book might mean she discusses or describes some aspect of that next book with me and moves on. This allows us to keep balance in the day and in the week. Busy days mean less written work or weeks with a larger, more formal essay in the works might mean less written work. Narration suggestions also allow her to chose what "speaks" to her, IOW, what aspect of what was read she felt inspired by or connected with. Because she has more say in what she writes or in what way she responds or reacts to what she has read, she is more likely to consider it positively and less like "busy" work. I do give my girls assignment sheets to keep track of regular work for the week. They have these to work on whenever I cannot be engaged with them. These include a regular rotation of books to read, narrations they've chosen, and other assignments. Also, I do assign some written work, so they don't get to chose everything. Many everyday narrations are chosen from a list of suggestions by them, though. This is why I've written the guides that I've written and why each chapter or reading selection is followed by a list of possible narration suggestions. The variety is there for many reasons, one of them being flexibility for what the needs of that day are. And narrations are not busy work, because they are always composition, communication or expression building in style.

I use Lulu for my guides, and for someone who is not tech-savvy (that's me :)), I found it easy to set up and use.

This is a great list! I just wanted to add that my older daughter really enjoyed: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller to pair with The Iliad.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear.... I'm hoping to really understand what a family really needs a muliti-age group guide to include. I'm hoping to write some myself in the near future. I've looked at many over the years and it seems that various guides rise and fall in popularity over the years. I'm hoping to get at what is really important to a homeschool teacher as far as what the guide includes, which layout works best, which aspects of a guide is the least confusing, how much of a book list can be shared realisticly as the age spread becomes wider, etc. Thanks so much already...I'll look at some of the recommended but published ones that were shared too.

For those of you who like to combine your children in as many subjects as possible, a family style approach rather than a separate path for each individual child, what are you hoping to find in a teaching guide set up this way? Would you find a guide which includes many subjects but not all useful? Subjects such as literature, history, art, music, geography might be included but skill subjects such as math, grammar, foreign languages are not included. How would you feel about science? Can this be included in a family style approach or should it be separated, since much of science can hinge on math level? Or perhaps science could be included up to a specific age range (perhaps stopping at the high school level) or only some aspects of science taught together....so some reading and demonstrations could be completed together but separation occurs with regard to age for depth and output? Would a guide which combines only for areas commonly thought of as extras...so art, music, poetry, Shakespeare and maybe one or two other areas be useful? How would you wish for multiple skill levels (as would be the result from combining varying ages) to be handled? Can the guide use different books for different levels? Would you be willing to read aloud from different books? Is it possible to find one book which will serve a wide range of age/level? Would a guide which combines as many books as reasonable but then makes some adjustments as the age range becomes too wide be the best compromise? How do most good family guides work? Is the main goal to keep everyone in the same time frame and to give the teacher one resource as the main guide for the family(vs. pulling from many teaching guides)? How open would you be to a guide which keeps everyone on the same topics, although not necessarily all subjects following one time period? For example, if the guide focused on the Middle Ages but while the literature component might include some books to coordinate with the medieval time period, some books included might work to build a good literary foundation (so myths, retellings, classics etc.). And geography might include travel books or a book by Holling C. Holling. So, the history section would include map work to coordinate with the Middle Ages being studied but the geography component might include the former suggestions. Art could be coordinated and some poetry, but music include more than just a study of medieval music. In the end, the guide would be designed to include the whole family but with a variety of topics, although the main focus would be a specific time period. Does that make sense? Thanks in advance for wading through this brainstorm of mine. :) I'm just trying to really narrow down what really matters for families with children of multiple ages/levels and what you might be looking for in a guide that combines them. Thank you!

Congratulations! :)

Hmmm, I may have to come back to this in the morning, but here are a few thoughts so far. I think we all tend to divide and categorize books differently, so what I might do might not be appealing to someone else. But, that's okay...we all have to do what works for our own families. You know your students far better than I do. :) For me, I prefer to scale back on the historical fiction books, allowing more time for books from other genres and subject areas. So, my girls would be reading classic fiction, fairy tales, myths, retellings, fantasy, science biographies and living books meant for school. Although at 4th and 5th grade the living books meant as our school books for history, literature, science, etc. would be carefully chosen and a number of books would be read together type books. I do include some historical fiction, because it is nice for them to see history through a character's eyes, and because they, frankly, do tend to make good reader style books or books that can be read independently. So, I tend to include them partially for the purpose of developing the reading skills of a mid-elementary student or one who needs a bit more practice in fluency before the expectations of middle school descends upon them. Reducing the number of books allows me to add books such as I mentioned above, giving them exposure to a greater variety of style, content and literary language. We are very CM too, and we also narrate a great deal. But, by this age, my girls were also writing narrations which might be written summaries, descriptions, comparison lists, letters, and other types. Following a reading with this type of narration (maybe 4 of these a week) means they need more time to respond to the reading. Because it takes more time, we can handle only so many books per term. Typically, we divided our books into three main categories: 1. books that the girls read themselves, chosen from a larger book list I gave them 2. books we read together, usually my choice, but sometimes we read ones that they requested 3. books that they read of their own choice, narration was not required But, if you have a great plan that works for you and your family, then you should keep with it. You have a of of great books on your lists! Sorry if this is a bit scattered...I'm trying to multi-task. :)

Well...these are just my thoughts, so please feel free to ignore what doesn't work for you. :) I agree with the Ondreeuh that many of the above books are a bit young, but you know your children's reading levels better than I, so including some my be beneficial. I would consider shortening that list, though. Could you just toss any books that you decide to remove from a main list into a basket. You could easily let the children read from the book basket on a once or twice per week basis, using it as an activity to fill in any gaps which sometimes pop up unexpectedly during the week. Here are the Readers I would keep: Pedro's Journal Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia (Landmark) A Week in the Woods (I haven't seen this but I see it's on the BYL list.) one of the books about George Washington George vs. George My Side of the Mountain Naya Nuki (I haven't seen this one.) How We Crossed the West Justin Morgan Had a Horse The Green Book (I see this is on the BYL list too.) By the Great Horn Spoon Brady (also on BYL list) I would choose either Tuck Everlasting or Bridge to Terabithia but maybe not both...they are both sad. :( But, I see both are included in BYL, so you may wish to do both after all...maybe spread them apart, if possible. It probably just depends on how sensitive your children are. For the Read Aloud List, I might choose these: Children of the Longhouse....but I really like Ondreeuh's suggestion of The Birchbark House too...if you wanted to add it Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 Witch of Blackbird Pond Sign of the Beaver Indian Captive: The story of Mary Jemison Johny Tremain My Brother Sam is Dead Carry on Mr. Bowditch One aspect of BYL that I do like is that her booklists do include books from other genres...not just historical fiction. So, I would definitely try to include some of these types of books too. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Little House on the Prairie Audiobooks The Hobbit I also like these from Ondreeuh's list to go along with the above different genre list: A Wrinkle in Time The Invention of Hugo Cabret We also really liked Amos Fortune, Free Man from her list too. This could be added to the historical fiction list, if you had room. I see that BYL includes poetry...so I would keep those too. Benjamin West is a great artist to study during this time period and this book is great to use along with it: Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin...also by Marguerite Henry. This would make a good addition to your reader list. Jean Fritz books such as And Then What Happened, Paul Revere and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution might also make good readers too. :)

I'm sorry. :( :grouphug:

We don't really do a morning basket in the full sense of the word, but here are some books we are reading together: Poetry: Idylls of the King-Tennyson Science: The Sea Around Us-Carson History: Confucius: The Golden Rule-Freedman Literature: Ivanhoe-Scott Natural History: Hungry Hollow-Dewdney Science: Parallel Worlds-Kaku Art Study-Audubon Music Study-Chopin We read from these as we can fit them into our schedule weekly, so all at least once per week. Next on the rotation will be these: Art Study-Benjamin West Composer Study-Tchaikovsky Shakespeare-The Merchant of Venice Poetry: Selected Narrative Poems-Longfellow Science: The Code of Life-Silverstein History: In the Land of Ur-Baumann Geography: The Book of Marvels Plutarch-Poplicola probably something else for science and/or history, but I'm not sure yet.... This is for an 8th grader.

Yes, I agree, this distinction can be a bit blurry, especially for new homeschool teachers. It doesn't help when these providers include the word curriculum in their title or main descriptions. For example, I just looked up many of those providers you've listed above and they identify themselves as being a curriculum. Or at the very least, many are resources which make up a curriculum, while not necessarily being the entirety of the curriculum itself. So, I think many providers might want to work on their preciseness of words, otherwise we might tend to be a bit more loose with the word. :)

Here are some resources that I have saved: Cornell Bird Coloring Book (we use this along with a coloring book published by Dover-Audubon's Birds of America) Cornell's Bird Guide (we use this to listen to bird calls and watch videos) We also read a biography of John J. Audubon. I haven't seen the Peterson Field guide for birds, so I can't say if it lines up well. The linked coloring book has worked well for us. The Dover coloring book just adds different choices and goes along well with the biography. :)

I'm curious to know what is most important to homeschool teachers with regard to curricula. If you have a minute and could share with me a couple of thoughts, I'd really appreciate it. Do you look for curricula to transfer a body of knowledge in the most effective and thoughtful a way as possible to your student? (short term tool) Or Are you looking for curricula to build up your student into a specific type of learner? (long term tool) What I'm wondering is whether you see curricula as a tool to master a body of knowledge or as a path on which to travel towards a goal further away. I'm thinking that the former is one with a short term goal in mind and the latter is one that is part of a longer goal. Does one have to come at the expense of the other? How important would it be to be careful if we lean too far one way over the other? For example, if we use it for short term goals, should be sure that we have a framework in which to fit it? IOW, should we be careful not to stay too focused on checking boxes but instead are working towards our own specific path for the student? Or if we use it for long term goals, should we be careful not to forget flexibility in meeting our student's needs? IOW, should we be careful not to let the goals of the designer of the curriculum take over our student's needs? Just curious and love reading the experiences and thoughts of others as I'm sorting through my own thoughts. :) I'm guessing that for some curricula is used for short term goals, because they fold it into their own personal homeschooling approach. This would be the beauty of this purpose because you can use it to fit inside your own specific way of teaching. And for others the curricula serves as a framework for creating a specific type of student, which, of course, if also a meaningful purpose.

Here are some biographies and autobiographies that my older daughter has read: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne by Catherine Reef The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin Charles Dickens by Michael Slater Richard the Third by Paul Kendall Players: The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare by Bertram Fields She also be reading these: Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas

We also used the Vandiver lectures (DVD version) for both the Iliad and the Odyssey. I tend to agree that taking notes might actually take away from the lecture rather than enhance it. As an aside, the courses come with the companion guide (course guidebook) and each lecture is outlined in the guide. In a sense, the note-taking is already done but in outline form. I had my dd choose one of the questions which followed each lecture and write a response to it. We also discussed anything we found interesting or confusing. :)

I agree with all of Bluegoat's questions and statements. :) I can relate to your experience with your older vs. younger daughter. We had a simliar situation at our house when my younger daughter was that age. Her older sister, also very verbose (:)), would, along with her Dad, dominate most conversations. I even had to pull my husband aside when younger daughter was around 4 and point out to him that she had actually said nothing during the course of one of our evening meals. I made a concerted effort at these meals to steer the conversations back to her, asking her opinions and inviting her to share her experiences of the day. Over time, she learned to find her own "voice". :) I share all of this so that you know that I can understand. On the points of narration, I would ask the same questions as Bluegoat's in the previous post... I would add these too: How much is being read before she is being asked to narrate? You might consider reducing this amount greatly until she is more practiced. Are you allowing her a variety of options for narration? Retelling and summarizing are not the only ways to narrate. Could she draw a picture of a scene and tell you about it? Or have her turn her paper sideways and divide it into sections (quarters or thirds) and then draw quick pictures in each box in chronological order of the main events, letting her share her picture with you when its finished. There are many, many different ways to approach this. I wrote a short book on narrations that is free at my website with additional ideas about narration. You're welcome to download and save or print it. (See A Mind in the Light, link in my signature, and then click Bookstore once there. The PDF file can be found here.) Also, be careful with the book's comprehension questions (such as the one you illustrated: What would you have done in this situation?). She may just need more guidance in how to answer that. For example, you might follow that question with "Hmmm, if I had been ___​whatever the problem is___, then I might have __how you would have solved it______." You might follow with "Can you pretend that you are ______​whatever the problem is___? What will you do now? " Basically, just change and expand on the wording of those questions to make them more relatable to her. Just some thoughts...hope that helps some.

Also, one more question... Is the order that that the books are listed in on the website the order in which they should be completed? so... Intro. to Algebra Intro. to Counting and Probability Intro. to Geometry Intro. to Number Theory... etc. ?