We used it last year and were really happy with it.

We've been reading these monthly for a year. I might keep going and loop around again. We've all loved them. I've learned a lot too.

The Origami Yoda series

Great idea! I'm looking for a DVD to learn two step!

My son is working through the book. We had the tools, and a lot of parts from other projects,so I just have him make a parts list for the next couple projects and we go to radio shack. He hasn't done all of the projects, some he just reads about. He also loves Nick Collins Electronic Music.

We're doing it today and tomorrow so that's good to hear!

If you do some of the prep work ahead of time, cigar box diddley bows are an awesome project. W've made roughly 50 of these, and people love them, particularly kids! http://voices.yahoo.com/rare-musical-instruments-own-diddley-bow-8639387.html?cat=37 http://www.onestringwillie.com/index.html This is our blog post about them: http://easywaydown.blogspot.com/2012/11/diddley-bows-are-taking-over-our-house.html

Great idea! Watch out for those hexaflexagons. I suggested to DS9 one day when I had some unexpected work come in and wanted him to be occupied. He was OBSESSED for months. There were hexaflexagons everywhere! I'm still finding them. :) Good video .

Music Appreciation looks great too! Maybe we can do that one later. We're having a great time. Although I think we love the pre-rock and early rock best. I'm afraid we'll lose interest as it gets more current.

We've used it as a supplement to suzuki. Its a nice selection of songs, and I like the concept, but its not real fiddle. My oldest wasnt interested in the first 2 books because he'd rather learn the tunes from other fiddle players and recordings. My younger likes it a lot better. I'm sure if taught by a good teacher, who pulls in other resources as needed it would get you where you want to go. But if you want Bach, you'd get plenty in suzuki book 1. That said, I think the mark o'connor book 3 has an amazing selection and variety of songs and I can't wait to see what he follows it up with. His recording American Classics, all the songs in his book 3, will inspire any violin/fiddle learner and the supplemental information with each piece in the book has become an enjoyable part of our music learning.

What worked: Math - Beast academy and khan academy LA - mct island Science - snap circuits, make magazine, make electronics, seasons of the moon, lots of books History - audiobooks of history of us and sotw 4, cobblestone magazines Coursera - intro to music production! He loved this! Now history of rock! June 1st music electronics starts Cigar box diddley bow business. Made and sold 60 plus amps Mapping the world with art, although we're pretty far from actually finishing it Violin, fiddle, guitar, piano, cigar box guitar... Homeschool library book club following deconstructing penguins model - if I ask those questions I get eye rolls, but the discussions she got going in book club were awesome, and it got him reading some fiction What didn't work: Math - MEP, not sure why, but I've tried 3 times and its not going to do it for us AAS - spelling is our nemesis Science curriculum - structured science just isn't working for him. Loves the idea but not the linearity Time travelers civil war - lets face it, we don't like to cut and glue

We just finished ds9's math book and spent a week with Let's Play Math's conversational How to Conquer the multiplication tables. None of the concepts were new, but spending the time totally focused on them helped a lot. http://letsplaymath.net/2011/08/30/how-to-conquer-the-times-table-part-1/

Great! I'm so glad others are taking the class too! We did country and western today. We're big Bob Wills fans so that was fun. My son is also signed up for music electronics starting June 1st and super excited about it.

Great! Dd you find the grooveshark list ?http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Historock1+Week1/86458400 We're doing it together. My ds7 keeps asking when we're going to get to the Beatles.

There have been a lot of good posts, but I think the bottom line is that you need to do what you feel is right for your family and what your child is ready for. They let you know when it's too much. We had to set aside our study of the civil war at my ds's request when he started having nightmares after reading a book about the battle of Vicksburg. He's not overly sensitive, but a switch turned in his brain and he realized what war really meant, and he needed some time away from it. Now we're back to it, with less supplemental bedtime reading, and its going well. I'm in the "if I can't explain it honestly I'll save it for when I can" camp though. Most adults learned very little history in their school careers, so all of it can wait. A couple library books and liberty kids can get them enough info to withstand the quizzing kids usually get.

Is anyone else doing this class as a homeschooling family? It's the first week so there is still time to join. It looks like its going to be great. Not just exposure to the music history but also the technological development. I thought if there were others we could have a study group. https://class.coursera.org/historyofrock1-001/class/index We've added a personal challenge of learning to play a song mentioned each week. This week isn't Tennessee Waltz. Our first experience with a coursera course was intro to music production, which my son just loved and misses terribly now that its over. I just wanted to share what we think is an amazing resource.

Oh probably Make Electronics, Make Magazine, Handmade Electonic Music, the sweetwater catalog, and stuff like that. I'm enjoying other people's lists. Maybe I can get him to read some fiction :) although I'm told he'll be just fine reading only nonfiction.

This has been a great thread. I've really enjoyed all the responses. A couple weeks ago, I realized that ds9 was probably unschooling. It happened gradually. He's got very strong interests in music and electronics, and is taking a coursera music production class and working through the make electronics book. Recently I realized that I was trying to cram "school" into as short a time as possible in the morning so he could get back to his "learning." It was when his face brightened (from near comatose) during a spelling lesson, he jumped up, and exclaimed, "I've got it!" and ran off to build his circuit that I realized his mind is fully and productively consumed with the things that he's passionate about, and he needs me as a resource, not a teacher right now. I'm hoping to have some sunny outdoor reading times to finish MCT this year, and daily math is an established habit, but i'm willing to let most of it go until he slows down. I'm amazed at how fast he's learning and progressing, and how happy and enthusiastic he is. So, I don't know if we're really unschooling, but we've found something that's working for our family.

I also have a musician. Much of his accomplishment can be attributed to hard work and focus, and that is my reply each time someone asks if he is a prodigy. He has a remarkable ability to improvise and find just the right part when playing in a band. He also picks up new instruments easily and now plays violin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, piano, and cigar box guitar. He's in a rock and roll band that is finishing up recording a cd and has played shows in NJ, DC, and Saturday in Pittsburgh. It's been kind of crazy. I never imagined I'd be "touring" with a 9 yr old. He also loves, loves, loves electronics and has a real gift for circuit building. School-wise he's bright in most subjects, but generally not excited by them. Spelling is terribly challenging for him, and I haven't found a curriculum to help him. We've taken a couple weeks off everything but math while he tried the Berkeley coursera music production class, which he's loved and really thrived with. He didn't quite keep up, but since the certicificate is meaningless for a 9 yr old, I encouraged to not worry about it and keep working at his own pace. I'd love to talk with other parents of music kids, particularly about how others balance gigs, practices, schoolwork, and other activities. Donna, I wish our kids to meet and play music together. DS done some Celtic and enjoyed it, but aside from brushing up on the tunes for St Patricks day gigs each year, there isn't much Celtic music in central pa.

The highlight of our 2 day trip last summer was Air and Space Udvar Hazy at Dulles. I wouldn't miss it! http://airandspace.si.edu/visit/floorplans/uhcmap.cfm

We just did Indian in the Cupboard and loved it. We don't do theme activities but you could come up with some really fun ones. There is also a movie, which my 9 yr old won't watch because he's sure they've messed it up ;)

Both my wiggly boys play multiple instruments. Use games during practice and find the right teacher. My youngest still drives me crazy during his lessons, but he's thriving and making good progress.

I'll second Reptileland,which Is just south of Williamsport and the Little League museum.

DS9 got really interested in my Fine Cooking magazines, so I bought him several kids cookbooks, all of which I thought were excellent. He still prefers Fine Cooking. He picks a recipe, we talk through it, get the ingredients, and work together to prepare it. Over the last year, he's been able to tackle more on his own. So I guess the take away is that it probably doesn't matter which resource you use, as long as the enthusiasm and oversight are there.

Great suggestions! We're loving Elephant and Piggie here too!