Take a look at the Gareth Hinds graphic novels. The Odyssey is great and The Iliad is coming out in March:

I just logged on to the forum to look for forensic science resources! I'm trying to put something together for my 13yo ds either for the rest of this year or for next year (8th), depending on what I find and how into it he gets. So maybe a mini unit for the end of this year, through the end of June. Then if he's enthusiastic, we can go deeper next year. I am looking into a lot of the great resources on this thread. The activity books look good but seem to be 10-20 years old. I wonder if anyone has found something newer. Or are there newer editions I'm not finding? My hunch would be that CSI technology has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Here's what I have in my notes so far: http://forensicsciencesimplified.org http://projects.nfstc.org/otc/ This youtube link is supposed to be to a playlist not just one video. Not sure if it came through as the playlist since I am on my phone. Also I was thinking we would watch some CSI episodes to get our head in the game. It looks like you can watch season 9 on usanetwork.com. I've never actually watched it, though. Is it too gruesome? eta: fixing links

(Trying to double quote for the first time: fingers crossed that it works) What kind of grip do you encourage in a 3 yo? I have always subscribed to the theory that there are developmental stages of pencil grip. Here's an OT's description: https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/pencil-grasp-development.html#FistedGrasp Interesting! I can see how that would make sense since we use lowercase so much more frequently. I've never looked at WRTR. I'll take a look, thanks for the recommendation.

Interesting! I've never suspected dysgraphia, but good info to have.

I might try again with cursive with my ten-year-old. That's a good idea. Thanks for the etc/pentime recs. I'll tuck them in my back pocket for down the road with my little one. I lovd progressive phonics so much, I never even looked at etc.

This is encouraging, thank you! Maybe I can let go of some of my guilt about the handwriting and, like many things, chalk it up to natural bent and interest. My teen has pretty much moved on to typing at this point. Ok, I'll just keep on showing her myself for now. And cross my fingers this time, lol.

I have a very letter-interested 3-year-old. For now, I'm just showing her how to form each letter the way I do myself, when she asks me, so she can write her name or make cards or that kind of thing. I'm not in any hurry to get her to write. Just following her interest. However. She has two homeschooling older brothers who used Handwriting Without Tears and their handwriting is atrocious. So I'd like to do better this time around. What's your favorite handwriting program? How early did you start to use it? I'm looking for a method that will result in nicer, more fluid handwriting in the long run - I'm not in any hurry to 'school' such a little person. Honestly, I love those crooked little letters with all my heart (but slightly less when it's my ten-year-old still writing that way, lol.)

Thank you, Lori D.! That is very good information about different forms of epic poetry. I'm glad I have a month to read about all of this myself before he begins studying. I have to say, he loves Lord of the Rings and Greek myths, and did do the National Mythology Exam this year, so you definitely have him pegged! I even saw him reading Children of Hurin yesterday, though I don't know that one myself. Interesting! I had dactylic hexameter in mind (since he's Greek obsessed) after a smidge of reading about it, but he may get more out of dipping his toes into different meters and forms before deciding on one for a final project. I love the idea of starting with some heroic couplets! Thanks for the heads up! This is great! I can definitely see DS sinking his teeth into this one. "Far to left and far to right/ In broken gleams of dark-blue light, / The long array of helmets bright, / The long array of spears." Thank you, Katilac! I like that approach of having an easier prose translation on hand. Have you seen the Gareth Hinds Odyssey graphic novel? I have skimmed it and it seems pretty faithful to the original. I may start with that and see if it's enough. We are willing to explore all eras. Well, ok, I am--not sure what DS's intentions are. But I am getting really excited about this the potential of this study, especially if we can fit in Paradise Lost. DS liked "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Raven", so I am adding The Charge of the Light Brigade and Annabel Lee to my tentative plans. But I think it will be a great year--or however long this study lasts. I will be consolidating all of these great ideas into a plan and doing a lot of pre-reading though the rest of the summer. Like so many topics, I am seeing that we will only be touching on a bit of what is out there, but I think it will be enough to whet DS's appetite and maybe lay the groundwork for later studies. Thanks, all!

Thank you for these excellent recommendations! And thank you to Jayne and Targhee for seconding them. I am remembering how much he loved the brief story of Gilgamesh in Story of the World Ancients years ago, so that should be exciting. I am putting that and Rime of the Ancient Mariner in the plans. I really appreciate the specific translation advice. The Book of Job translation sounds fascinating. I will have to check that out. Good question. I'm guessing it's partly because he's fascinated with ancient Greece. This year he began a curriculum for learning classical Greek. But the reason he gave me yesterday was that epics seem heroic and "fantasy-ish," meaning like the fantasy novels he reads. (Can you guess what popular fantasy series inspired him to study Greek?) Also, he likes poetry. Not really to pick up and read in his free time, but he is enthusiastic about our Poetry Teas, when they happen, even writing poems for them on occasion.

Hi all, My rising 6th grader has requested that we study epic poetry this year. His goals are to read the Odyssey, the Iliad, and Beowulf, and to attempt to write an epic poem. He is motivated, so that may happen! Last year we got a free copy (thanks, Little Free Library!) of the same translation of the Odyssey I studied in college (Robert Fitzgerald), and I read him a bit of it, which we enjoyed, but it was clearly exhausting for him. So I had thought to start off with some "lighter" epic poems to ease him into the meter, structure, and language he will encounter. I am planning to read the poetry out loud together, maybe taking turns. I did a search on the forums and found suggestions for "Song of Hiawatha" and "Evangeline"--but when I glance over excerpts of them, they seem only slightly clearer to the modern ear than my Fitzgerald Odyssey. Also, I'm a little squeamish about reading "Hiawatha," not sure I want to spend that much time going deep into the noble savage stereotype. But maybe those are the best places to start? Any ideas, opinions, comments welcome. He has read Black Ships Before Troy, The Wanderings of Odysseus, and a version of Beowulf for kids, so I think he is well prepared plot-wise. Thanks.

I haven't finished the thread, I will go back and read now, but I had to say that I love this idea! I am definitely stealing this, if that's ok. I kept a record in a nice hardbound journal for a couple years, and I tried to get my kids to take over when their speed of reading outpaced my noticing what books they were carrying around, but they never followed through. Edited to take out an accidental cut and paste.

Thank you all so much! So helpful! I see now that there are several paths to painlessly accelerating IEW. Also, Lost Tools of Writing looks excellent. I hadn't looked at that one before--it might be just perfect.

Next year my DS will be in 6th grade, and I am going in circles trying to find a good writing curriculum for him. Up to this point he has done Writing Tales and some Bravewriter Arrows, a lot of creative writing and written narration, and a few report-like projects. The writing he produces is of pretty good quality, especially with using rich vocabulary, varied sentence structure, and interesting tone, but he definitely needs some work on organizing thoughts. Also, I think it's time for bigger projects. He won't write more than a paragraph unless I require him to (except for stories he writes on his own time). He is a kid who likes and needs very explicit and incremental instruction, but picks things up quickly, so I end up having to accelerate curricula most of the time. Any brilliant ideas out there for something as specific and incremental as IEW, but... quicker? TIA!

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloane. Incredible book, really sad in the beginning (sudden death of parents, girl becomes essentially homeless for a while) although it ends on a more positive note. The main character is wonderful, a quirky amateur botonist, and she creates a pseudo family out of other outcasts or loners she encounters.