I see the OP has already decided to go with Quizlet. However, I wanted to put in a plug for Tinycards. I put it on my 3rd grader's iPad for Getting Started with Spanish flash cards and it's by the makers of Duolingo so it's both easy to do and visually appealing. There aren't any games but there is a spaced repetition system for cards they get wrong. I like it a lot. Edited for spelling. "Reputation"??? Really???

Have them make a sung Bardic tale about him?

You can google pictures of Winchester - both the cathedral and the statue are there. The cathedral might have a site of its own with more pics.

Found this poster bio: https://resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk/resources/54780

Color a map of the areas of England he united?

I'm considering it for my kids next year too. If I don't have a color printer (laser b&w) is it worth going off to a printing place to do it in color or will b&w be fine?

There are videos online of what English sounded like during that time.

What's "La Pata Pita Vuelve"? I'd love to know if there is an elementary Spanish curriculum that doesn't have the writing requirements of a middle school curriculum but assumes the student needs to learn more that greetings, colors, and food. It's weird. My husband is from Honduras and he has relatives where we live in the US. But my older daughter, going into 4th, is trudging through Spanish like I'm torturing her. My younger daughter, going into 2nd, loves it. She listens to gossip, tries to speak, happily watches tv in it. She's advancing much more quickly than my older daughter but more grammar intensive or writing intensive programs just won't work for her age/ability. We take a lot of fun classes on Outschool too.

I used Draw the World last fall with my 3rd grader and we've started Draw Asia book 1 last week. I'm hoping we'll continue on to book 2 after this because the Draw Asia books are complimenting our reading of Komroff's Marco Polo. We sit together, my daughter and I, and we each have our own map. I set a timer for ten minutes and we just stop when the time is up. We do ten minutes once a week. I read the instructions, though she could read them, I do it so I can give further explanation or so I can direct our pace. Sometimes we google pictures of places. This is separate of our other memory and map work where we are also working on learning the names and capitals and major geographic points of the half of Asia west of India and towards the Middle East, as well as mapping Polo's trip. I spend five to ten minutes on each of those once a week as well. I feel like with the drawing books she gets a better sense both of where places are and how they connect, and it's really helped with body of water recognition. I feel like this is more observation and drawing practice than actual geography. I do think she's too young to use it by herself and she isn't naturally artistic (and neither am I). We haven't done the USA book but maybe next year when we do more US history.

I'm not there yet but I'm curious about what to explore when a student finishes Kit 2 of ShillerMath. I'm going to share some background about my kids but I'd also like to know generally what others did. My first grade 7 year old is happy mid book 2 in Kit 1. She's mathy though and sometimes I supplement with Critical Thinking Co stuff and math games. When more of the BA2 books are out I think she'll like them too. She thinks Life of Fred is stupid. I have a 9 year old who struggled more with Math. About a year ago I posted a thread asking for help and you all gave me great advice about her issues and I feel like she is now pretty close to an average third grade math student. Shiller was really perfect for her. She never spends so long on stuff that gets frustrated though we always get back to things, there are multiple approaches to similar ideas, and it just helped her feel so much less pressure. She will finish book 3 of Kit 1 sometime in June or July. When she was behind still I did do Addition Facts that Stick and Subtraction Facts that Stick last summer and those both helped a lot. She also likes Life of Fred, I read a chapter a week and we are finishing Edgewood now. I don't know that it's actually teaching her much math but she likes the stories and has no trouble with "your turn to play" exercises. She likes math games too but it's about playing and not about math. Anyway, I ordered the Fractions Kit recently and I'm working that into the plan. And I'll be ordering Kit 2 as soon as conventions start near me because that's when the best deals are. But what will my 9 year old do when we finish Kit 2. Presumably she'd be ready for a pre-Algebra or Trig type program but I'm not sure what that means for her personality and learning type. Obviously, I can't know what she'll be dealing with in 3 years but at this point it would not do to switch her to a more normal type of math. I'd like to do some thinking and research. Is there any sort of mid-level Montessori style (or similar) Math programs? I'm less worried about the 7 year old. Thoughts or opinions?

I agree. Although I read that email to mean they were making BFSU the spine of their whole pre-high school curriculum so not just 6-8 but that the 6-8 portion is what they are close to releasing. I've said it on other threads on this forum that I don't get why others find BFSU so difficult to manage, but since so many others find it so then I'll be glad they are making it more accessible. It really is a quality science education. I used the whole K-2 book with my older daughter and she's doing 3-5 now, and my younger daughter is a year into the K-2 book.

Nadine from the Up Above the Rowan Tree blog just posted about this new secular CM resource in one of the FB CM groups and I'm impressed and wanted to share over here. It's called Ursa Minor Learning and it's for kids who need a bigger STEM emphasis in high school than some of the other CM guides provide. It seems like it's very creative about tying its upper level science living books in with the MIT open courseware programs. https://ursaminorlearning.com/ One thing that bugs me about a lot of CM programs is a lack of inclusion of people of color, as if nothing ever written by a POC could be considered a classic or a living book, but this curriculum has much more diversity while still adhering to both what I think counts as classic and living. The literature section itself isn't diverse but scroll down to the free reads to find it. It seems to still be a work in progress, they have grades 9-12 posted and are working on their middle years stuff now. I'll be interested to see how things go.

This isn't cheap but the money I used on the Yesterday's Classics e-books bundle has been money well spent. My kids are asking for the second bundle from the grandparents for the holidays. Get on the email list for sale notices. I got the first bundle for $69 so the sale prices tend to be pretty good. http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/treasuries/index.php Does your library participate in overdrive? Checking out e-books would be completely free.

I have a few questions. I know it's October but I'm thinking of switching. Is there an option for a January start? Do they just use the Science program from Nicole at A Sabbath Mood in form 2 and up? I love her work. How does the community respond to people who swap things out? I don't mean make significant changes. More like "we've read that free read (or history bio or whatever) 100 times" kind of swaps? Are they ok with changes related to doctrine? For example, we are Jewish, we aren't going to use J. Paterson Smyth, we'd use something appropriate to our tradition. What are the free read lists like? In years 1 and 2 my older daughter did read the whole AO free read lists. My younger daughter though really isn't getting into some of them though. Thanks for the input.

Now that it's October, how's it going for you and your family?

Thanks for sharing these. Super helpful.

I'm finding that (for various reasons) I need to do (even a little bit) better with housekeeping. We have realized we have a mouse problem and we're taking care of it with an exterminator. He found they were nesting in a heating grate that connects to a room we don't use much (guest bedroom/some storage) but were traveling from there into other rooms. As a result I've been much more fastidious than normal, but I really feel like I'm not all that efficient, especially with routine cleaning. I do it but it takes a lot of time and I'm not all that satisfied with my results. I do a lot of swiffering and 409/paper towel cleaning normally. I'd really love it if you guys could share maybe one or two of the tips that have worked really well for you or given you a feeling of accomplishment or well being. I'd like to be a happier homemaker and not feel like chores are the end of the world. I'm in particular having trouble keeping on top of the laundry but frankly, I have a lot of areas that need work. The kitchen I keep in great shape but I could do with more order there and everywhere. Housekeeping has never come intuitively to me and the fact that I'm a stay at home homeschooling mom amuses everyone who knew me in my youth where I constantly had my head in a book. I have two kids, ages 6 and 8, both girls. The 6 year old is naturally tidy, is in charge of the majority of her personal hygiene, and helps me a lot (I suspect she likes the time together). The 8 year old is more like me. Think "stuff is off the floor but on the shelf unfolded so it's ok". Stuff that's important to her like books or her video games she takes care of but the pile of unfolded clothes is low on the list of priorities (for us both). We don't have problems with food trash and they never have any in their rooms. Neither give me a hassle when I ask them to take out the trash or unload the dishwasher. They don't have a chore chart or anything so things happen for the 8 year old when I tell her to do them and the 6 year old just does it with me. My husband and I both have s lot of clutter, sentimental, hobby related, and clothes. He's daily chore helpful, picking up after meals, doing food prep, wiping stuff down. We make the house run together. I just feel like it could be easier and maybe if I had a system it wouldn't seem overwhelming. I'd welcome blogs or articles too. But advice for the journey would be most appreciated.

Is this progymnasmata thing from CAP or Memoria Press or someplace else?

I just wanted to update this story. I started this thread almost a year ago. I did end up buying Shiller but it took until the VA Homeschoolers convention again this year. The homeschool store by my mom in NC never got one, and I missed most of the big PA conventions by me during the last year. So I bought it almost a year after I first saw it and around 6 months after we discussed it here. I love it. Luuuuuuuurve it. I'm so happy both with my purchase and with how the Math is going for my kids. I only wish I'd bought it sooner but you never know for sure, right? It could have been an expensive flop. I'm not sure if I'm any wiser about spending money on expensive curricula. As it is I'm dragging my feet on MCT grammar, LOL, unlike Shiller though I haven't seen it, I just have a hunch. But I do appreciate all the wisdom you guys shared upthread. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of my financial and schooling priorities and I've returned to this thread several times to remind myself of my thought process. Thank you.

I agree with knitgirl about the Evan-Moor book. Get that and an Usborne or Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. We got both but used the Usborne more at BFSU book 1 age because the Internet links are super useful. I'm lucky to have a good library but we also looked in this a lot: Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0761160957/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_p1BNzb9HDZD9T

This is such an awesome idea. Sort of a cross between just adding it to circle time and informal lesson. I've personally been pondering how I'd like my daughter to go deeper as she starts Book 2, so I wanted to let her pick longer and more in depth readings from the recommendations to narrate or notebook. However, I was trying to balance time because I don't want school taking up her whole day in third grade. If I moved her lesson time to small chunks over breakfast that would free her up for a reading chunk. Sooooooo, helpful! I don't personally know if you can share it but I've seen it too and I believe it was in a thread somewhere here on the forum. So if we can find that then it wouldn't be wrong to link to the forum post and people can click through.

I've used and liked BYL in the past. We did grades 1 and 2 in mashup with History Odyssey and we've done several unit studies (sharks was our favorite). I'm doing BYL 1 again with my next first grader while I'm switching to solely History Odyssey with Mosdos lit for my older daughter. I do hope to use years 7 & 8 since I always see such good teviews of them. The lit is really the star of the show in BYL in my opinion. I like that history has good support but the lit is really the best part.

I understand and agree with you. I didn't plan it out. I do bullet journal and I'd just make a note in my weekly spread, "watch out for ...". So I guess I just saw the reminder frequently enough that I was able to remember when the opportunities came. That tension, of sort of meta "watching for" insight isn't an easy skill, I admit. However, I don't think it's something only a sufficiently science oriented person can develop. My degrees are in religion and Jewish studies. I think maybe I'm just over analytical. I hear moms able to make these connections in history and lit all the time, which, despite my degree, and surprisingly I don't do those as often as I should. I actually think BFSU helped me in this regard since it straight out told me to do it, lol.

Sorry I missed this post before! I do like and use/have used Pio Peep and De Colores. My husband is from Honduras and he says that most of the tunes in De Colores are how he remembers them so he really approved of it. We also have a lot of Spanish children's books. I'm in a weird spot with Spanish. I didn't talk about this in the third grade thread where I also posted, however my kids have a lot of Spanish already. They're not native speakers but they are approaching speech fluency pretty quickly. We did the one parent one language approach and their Abuelita lives here as well and has poor English. So they are too advanced for most programs their age but not reading and writing well enough (in Spanish for my older child but in both English and Spanish for my younger) to be doing advanced programs unless they're oral. My younger daughter is going to do work with a lady on Outschool. My older daughter is doing Outschool and I planned on Galore Park SYRWTLS but now that I have a copy, the only part of it that would be useful is verb conjugation. I'm looking at doing Spanish phonics with her now instead from another thread I found here on the boards, and I've decided to start Lively Latin with her, which will introduced grammar. It's tricky! As far as Hebrew goes, we're Jewish, and I have a minor in Hebrew. I just chose Berman House books for the early years to supplement what they're doing in their classes at the synagogue. I didn't need a "program" to do Hebrew alphabet and say their first 500 words or so, just a workbook I could guide them through myself. They're getting other exposure. I have seen Bright Beginnings but it would duplicate their Hebrew School work too much. I think if we weren't doing synagogue work I might consider it. As it is, I personally want them to do more modern Hebrew also, they'll get plenty of Biblical and prayer book Hebrew just through life, so I'm considering switching my older daughter over to something in the Shalom Ivrit series in fourth grade after I see how she adjusts to Latin. We read Israeli children's lit and she's picked up on differences already. I forgot to say this in the third grade thread but she's working on switching to Hebrew script using the Kitav B'kalut book from Handwriting Without Tears. If I were advising you or any homeschool mom who wasn't Jewish but still interested in Hebrew, I'd suggest starting with yourself, learn the aleph-bet and vowels with a good primer like Learn Hebrew Today or Ivrit Ulpan (also Berman House). At that point you'd be ahead of your kids enough to do Shalom U'vrachah with them and at the same time do the follow up books in the Ivrit series, Shalev 1, etc. or if it's too textbook-y for you, then I like the vintage Hebrew at Your Ease or Basic Hebrew by Feinstein. That could get you ready to work through Biblical and prayerbook Hebrew with your kids or move on to Modern Hebrew. At that point you'll know enough to decide what's next or you'll come ask for more suggestions.

I just wanted to update since my plans have changed some. My younger daughter has matured a lot and neither of my kids really want to work together at all. Plus I've learned more about other curricula and adjusted for their changing needs. Daily: Math - Shiller, 1/2 book 1 then start book 2 Writing/Phonics - ETC 2-4 Spanish - Outschool classes; Pimsleur; stories; songs Hebrew - Shalom U'vracha pre-primer; various readers; songs Whole Person - Yoga and Meditate Weekly or on Loop: BYL 1 for history, lit, and science BFSU book 1 Tennis; Lollipop Logic; LoL fine arts Circle Time with sister: Music appreciation, artist study, poetry, Shakespeare, folksongs all done the CM way; readings of a Jewish studies nature; mapwork and timeline entries, Mystery Science, Draw the World by Draper with Evan Moor Daily Geography