Thanks everyone!

We've been enjoying the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series and the Little House books lately. What about Paddington for the little one?

Thanks for such detailed suggestions! Yeah, they had birthdays. I need to update my signature. I did like the Maestro books when I checked them out at the library, but I also felt they were a bit light for the older two. More for extra reading and enjoying the pictures than a spine. I'll have to take a look at the Memoria Press book. The Abeka one isn't going to work - we're Catholic and not politically conservative. We've listened to the audiobooks for SOTW 1 and 2 and really enjoyed them, but for some reason it's looked daunting to me to pull into a full curriculum. Plus I'd like to cover more American history that SOTW 3. I generally agree with SWB about studying American history in the context of what is happening around the world, but I think the founding of America is worth studying really in depth for American students. I guess my ideal for this coming year would be about half world history and half American. I really enjoyed the Landmark history last time I used it, but my son was just into middle school at the time. Maybe I should go with SOTW 3 and 4 next year and the year after, and then do a national history year before starting over with ancients. We're finishing up CHOW this year, and I really like that. Oh, they love the American girls. That's not a bad idea - it would certainly lead to a lot of reading practice.

If you use SOTW as your spine, do you do an entire chapter in one session, or do you do just a section at a time? I'm trying to figure out how to schedule in all the additional reading and projects. This would be for third and fourth grades.

I'm such a book addict: I own most of the books I'm thinking about already, from using with my oldest or secondhand sales. I just need to stop myself from assigning it all.

ðŸ‘â˜ï¸ I think there is a lot of truth in this analysis

I think this is the approach I need to take. I am so very bad at deciding. I've worked up my third set of rough plans for history next year, and I'm still not sure what I'm using. I went from Bookshark 3 to SOTW 3 with Betsy Maestro and Jean Fritz's American history books to a combination of some Genevieve Foster books with the first volume of The Landmark History of the American People.

How do you avoid overloading your kids (and yourselves) with too many things to do when there are so many good books to study? Any practical tips before I write next years schedule? My elementary girls are reading and writing well now, and I'm overwhelmed by all the great stuff we could've doing.

Mine probably were around 2 hours, depending on the kid and frustration level. I had one that could probably have handled another hour or so on top of that if I hadn't been busy with siblings.

Is that teacher intensive?

I'll second the suggestion of Jensen's Format Writing

Do you use anything for word study or advanced phonics at your house?

Anna Wang? (The Year of the Book series by Andrea Cheng)

Ivy and Bean? Oh, what about the Little House chapter books?

Thanks. I think I will start assembling a notebook. I was kind of hoping there would be a program similar to CC, but a little broader in appeal.

The memory work post made me wonder. Is anyone aware of a secular (or more ecumenical) memory work program?

As another lover of classic books, this bothers me too. Also, the way that most popular chapter books series for this age seem to have overwhelmingly white antagonists. (Magic Treehouse, A-Z mysteries, Ivy and Bean, it goes on and on.) Your best bet for challenging reads that handle these topics in an age appropriate and ethical way might be the picture book section on the library actually. Books that are intended for adults to read them out loud to kids your kids age.

And I think I've picked neither. But I've mapped out a set of plans for a bunch of American history unit studies, interspersed with some topics from world history with the Usborne encyclopedia. So I might finally be happy.

Does anyone use this for a spine text? What do you think of it?

I'd include him to whatever degree he can handle, if it that is just coloring and playing Legos during the lesson. He'll absorb enough to move on to the Middle Ages next year.

Roughly how many books would you expect a 3rd and 4th grader who are strong readers to work through in a year of reading and literature? I realize it's going to vary a lot, but I'm trying to get my plans into the right ballpark.

I like the idea of getting everyone working together on history and literature (I'll have a K, 3, and 4 next year).

We are finishing CHOW, and I was going to use Bookshark 3, but now I'm tempted by SOTW 3. Or Connecting with History. There are so many good books! It is causing me angst.

Do you want this to include web browsing access/parental controls/etc.?

What about Furlong's Old World and America or the suggestions from Mater Amabilis?