I think I sent out an SOS already on this. I know that I did on the Facebook site. And I posted on the General board. But here goes again... If you have used this curriculum (text and study guide), I'd love to hear from you. There are 85 lessons! I'm trying to make it work for a 7-8 grade once/week co-op next year. We only meet 32 times, so my plan to cover one chapter/week is not a good one. Two lessons/week means I'd have to cut 21 lessons; I can live with that. Help! Thanks, Becky

I think I sent out an SOS already on this. I know that I did on the Facebook site. But here goes again... If you have used this curriculum (text and study guide), I'd love to hear from you. There are 85 lessons! I'm trying to make it work for a 7-8 grade once/week co-op next year. We only meet 32 times, so my plan to cover one chapter/week is not a good one. Two lessons/week means I'd have to cut 21 lessons; I can live with that. Help! Thanks, Becky

I'm going to be teaching 7/8 grade History next year in our weekly co-op. I'll be using The History of the Ancient World, and I'm looking to hear from anyone else who's taught it in a co-op/group setting. I'm also looking for supplemental ideas to make the class a little less-the-same each week. The activities in SOTW 1 are too juvenile for this age group (for the most part). I can find some video clips online (but one can only watch so much Crash Course). I'm not one for reinventing something that's been proven, so if you have ideas to supplement this text, please share them! Thanks, Becky

Hi All, I'm using TSOTW Volume 4 as the spine for teaching middle school History at a co-op. We're about to hit Chapter 22, where SWB and Co. introduce Write from the Outline. I am kind of at a loss as to how to teach this in a group setting...or how to teach it at all, actually. When I was using this book with my kids several years ago, they were also using WWS; teaching outlining/writing from outlines instruction in History seemed like overkill. I have an overhead projector at my disposal, so I can put the outline on that. I thought of asking the kids to volunteer sentences so that we can write a composition together (me using the whiteboard and them copying it). But I would feel much more comfortable with a rubric or a sample of an answer (I love that SWB's Writing curriculum has sample answers!). Has anyone had success teaching this to their own kids or to a group? If so, would you mind sharing your results with me (us)? Thanks! Becky

But at least you're trying. And I'll bet that your kids could at least have located the United States.

E. All of the above. But I had to act like it was no big deal. Good thing I can act. I held it together until after the class was over, and then I started shaking. These kids are going to get a healthy dose of geography from their history teacher this year, that's for sure. And another thing: one mom has thanked me for inspiring a new love of history in her daughter, who has always "hated" history. It's not me; it's all TSOTW and the Logic Stage of history instruction from TWTM.

Just watched that for the first time. Couldn't actually watch the whole thing, even though it's less than 1 minute long. I can't even... BTW, I adore Benedict Cumberbatch., He is a flawless actor and a seemingly decent human being. And he reminds us of our handsome son when he's playing Sherlock (it's the hair, facial expressions, and pithy, witty dialogue.)

I am in my 7th year of homeschooling (having started when my sons were in 1st, 4th, and 6th grades) and have used TSOTW exclusively for history. I currently teach JHS History at a co-op, and I use the text, maps, and review questions from Level 4 as the spine for the course. On the first day, we went over the map of The Sun Never Set on the British Empire. The students had to identify Great Britain, Australia, India, South Africa, and Canada. There are 14 students in my class (1 6th grader; the rest in 7th & 8th). Fully HALF of them could not locate ANY of those countries on the map. Critical thinking skills should have kicked in at some point, because the countries are already lightly lined on the map. But no. Even when I said that Canada is north of the US (where we live), they looked at me as if I were speaking Latin. For the love, people. If you are not using TSOTW, please teach your children basic geography. Middle schoolers should - at the very least - know their continents and how to locate their own country on a map. Thank you, Susan Wise Bauer, for writing such a thorough curriculum.

Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for my 7th grader for grammar. In the past, we've used First Language Lessons, then Michael Clay Thompson, then Rod and Staff. He'll take writing at our co-op, so I just need something to reinforce his current knowledge of grammar. I'm using Easy Grammar for my 10th grader. I don't love it, but I had to make a quick decision for him last year. I'd prefer something that doesn't have to involve me much (he really does know what to do...applying that knowledge consistently is another matter :angry:). And if you have a suggestion for my 10th grader, too, I'm all ears. :bigear: Thanks! Becky

Singapore Math, which you did mention - but make sure you recommend the Standards Edition. It's more rigorousr than the US Edition. Latin for Children is good, as is Latin Alive. More than the actual curriculum and literature book lists (which are essential and to which I still refer regularly), TWTM reassured me that I *can* homeschool. Don't change any of that. But people who are newbies and are literal learners think they have to do it EXACTLY like the curriculum is written - let them know that they need to relax. Their kids will go to college even if Mom has to dictate the passage 5 times instead of 3, as the curriculum instructs. You have helped me learn this in the many in-person and online seminars you've conducted (my eldest is going into his senior year, so I'm still trudging behind on all the trails you've blazed).

Hello - I might be teaching a 1 semester, high school civics course at our co-op next year. I'm looking for curriculum recommendations. Thanks, Becky

I don't know if this counts as what you're looking for, but here's our story. I homeschooled my eldest only through middle school; he was in a classical Christian school before that. Additionally, he took an Omnibus class from Veritas press in 7th grade. We put him in a (different) school for high school for myriad reasons. He's our future engineer and is receiving a quality STEM education, but I'm not entirely pleased with the humanities program at his school. (It was very hard for me to let go of that when he left homeschooling, because I'm a humanities girl. Let me focus on history, writing, and literature, and I'll be happy for eternity. But I know he won't ever write a paper or study history in his future unless he has to; hopefully he'll continue to read quality literature.) His school is a fairly rigorous, private, college-prep school, where an 85 is a C. So you'd expect that the level of education would be excellent across the board...at least *I* did. The required reading during the school year at this school is not bad...not what I would choose, not enough classics, but not horrible. He had already read some of the books required during his freshman year. But the summer reading books were rubbish - three years now, and they're rubbish. Pop culture or so tragic that we both felt mildly depressed after reading them. I finally spoke up this summer, contacting his teacher (Junior year), who is also the department head, because one of the required books this past summer was so full of profanity and filth that I could not, in good conscience, pay thousands of dollars for him to read it. She understood and suggested an alternative: Huck Finn. Which he read in 7th grade. So she and I got into a conversation about that book ("Huck Finn should be required reading for eveyone in the world," I said. "It's too hard for my Juniors," she replied. SERIOUSLY?!?!?). During his freshman year, I took on the History teacher, too. Everyone said, "She's a right of passage. You just have to get through the class." I don't think so. Especially not when I'm paying tuition. (Not that it should be OK in public schools, but when parents pay tuition, you're working for them, not the government.) She made things harder for him after I spoke to her (always a risk), but she was forced to give him praise when he earned the highest grade in the entire freshman class on the Candide term paper at the end of the year. The previously homeschooled kids we know who attend/attended this school have excelled for the most part, so the school is understanding that there just might be something to homeschooling after all. My son consistently receives the highest marks for grammar (when kids who've been educated from preschool at this school are failing). I was trained as a teacher in college and have never been afraid to speak truth to power. But in spite of that, I think it's been homeschooling that has empowered me by teaching me that *I* (OK, my husband and I) am in charge of my child's education. Not the school. Not the teachers. The other parents at the school don't seem to grasp that. I don't expect to change that school. In fact, we pulled his younger brother from it after one year and will not send his youngest there at all. But I will keep pushing through the next 5 marking periods until he graduates, fighting for the best education he can receive there (and doing my best to not embarrass him in the process).

Hi - I'm looking for a good biography of Willam Penn for 5th-6th graders. I would like something written along the lines of The World of Wm. Penn, but I want a bio of him, not a book about his world. There are a lot out there, and I don't have time to research each one. Any suggestions (of what you like *and* what you don't) are appreciated. Thanks! Becky

Has anyone used this? Opinions? I've never heard of it, but the co-op class I'm considering for my rising 9th grader will use it. Thanks!

Can anyone recommend a European history curriculum (would prefer a Christian worldview but not absolutely necessary) for the high school level – particularly 9th grade? Thanks!