It's Gilgamesh the King by Ludmila Zeman.

We're doing lit guides for 5-6 books during the school year. For a few others, I may have her do a very simple notebook page. (This is all theory right now, because we haven't doen this yet.) I don't plan to have her write book reports or summaries.

We are just starting our second time through early modern history. I've used both books. I read aloud Guerber's SOGR and SO13C last time through and liked them enough to read them again this time. I agree with the others that Hakim might be a bit much for 3rd grade. On the other hand, I'm using it for fifth, so it might be okay if you are reading it aloud. Since you already have these books, you could pick and choose to read a few chapters and see how it goes.

Just out of curiosity, is she a visual-spatial learner? They can make weird leaps of logic that other people don't see. Ask me how I know. :glare:

We're using a few abridged versions: definitely Pilgrims Progress possibly 3 Musketeers & Frankenstein (These will be read-alouds.)

I don't know that Harvey's is harder than R&S, so you can relax there. ;) WEM is Well-Educated Mind.

We're not quite there, but this is what I have planned: Math: Singapore NEM and LOF Science: ??? History: VP Omnibus (with a history textbook) Grammar: Harveys Writing: Classical Writing Literature: Omnibus or Great Books using WEM Latin: ???

My absolute worst memory of elementary school was being part of this type of experiment. They put the advanced 5th graders in the same classroom with the low 4th graders. It was a disaster. We (the 5th graders) all knew we were smart and we weren't very kind to the younger kids. We had more free time because the teacher spent more time with the youngers--and it was chaos! I'm quite sure that I didn't learn anything in that grade. :glare: I have read that book and it totally cemented my plan to homeschool my dd.

Here's my list for this year--some we are doing as read-alouds, some are more literature and others are just for fun. Some of these are not specific to American History, but are from that time period. World of Columbus and Sons I, Juan de Pareja Hans Brinker Robinson Crusoe World of Captain John Smith Master Puppeteer Amos Fortune, Free Man Witch of Blackbird Pond Pilgrim's Progress Brothers Grimm World of William Penn Kidnapped Three Musketeers Calico Captive George Washington's World Johnny Tremain The Signers: the Fifty-Six Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence Autobiography of Ben Franklin The Founders: the 39 Stories Behind the US Constitution Frankenstein Carry on Mr. Bowditch Gathering of Days: a New England Girl's Journal Oliver Twist The Whale Rider By the Great Horn Spoon

I've been doing a lot of searching for free guides. I haven't used this one, but I think that Glencoe has the best free guides.

I have an all-purpose blazer that I can wear with nearly everything--even jeans. Find a color that you love or that will go with your clothes. Mine's a burnt-orange in velvet. I really like cotton sweaters--they wear well, are comfortable and look good too. Sorry, I'm not a big crocs fan--how about a nice pair of flats or sandals? ;) For bottoms, I have found a brand of jeans/pants that fit me and I just order different colors in that brand and style--I have denim, black and tan.

Thanks, Michele. It helps to know that you like it enough to buy more!

anyone?

I'm considering buying one or two of the Critical Thinking software programs to use as a fun supplement. We won't do logic formally until 7th grade. Can you tell me how you've liked the programs that I'm considering: Mindbenders B (I think that level A would be too easy.) Revenge of the Logic Spiders Science Detective Dr. Funster's Visual Mind Benders A1 Get Me Out Of Here Also, I'm considering Critical Thinking in US History Are these worth the money? :confused:

INTJ here. I majored in math with a masters in business. I worked in corporate strategy and marketing management (and loved it). In one of the companies I worked for, our president was an INTJ.

I have something that sounds quite similar. I had a doctor check it out--sorry I can't remember what it was called. Nothing serious, but, unfortunately, it doesn't go away.

We did full-blown history with my then 4-5 year old. We read tons of books on each subject. She did the maps, coloring pages and projects (with my help). We did oral narrations, so I know she really understood the subjects. I have a sensitive child, so there were a few times when I chose to reword more violent subjects. My dd loved it then and history is still her favorite subject. As far as future issues: We focused on inventions, scientists, artists, etc. for Modern History and had lots of fun with it. We still used SOTW4, but I skipped portions of it. We will finish up our second round of the 4-yr history cycle next year. Right now, I'm planning to move her right into Omnibus in 7th, so the timing worked out perfectly.

My dd devours the books by Mike Venezia. Our library carries them, so I don't have to buy them all. Also, this song is fun way to learn the presidents.

I think that your schedule looks just fine. I'm not a fan of Horizons or Saxon, but I tend to combine math programs too. Just be prepared to skip some of the problems so your kiddos don't get bored. :) I haven't done any writing outside of CW through 4th grade and it has been plenty. You could do some oral narrations--asking them what they've learned in history, book reading, etc. This year (5th), I'm adding in some history writing through notebooking and literature analysis.

It is a fun book isn't it? Just a heads up. I would preread the next few books. The kids age rapidly. If I remember right, there were some parts in the fourth book that I was uncomfortable with for a younger child and I put the fifth book away for later.

I just put my own program together using Hakim's History of US and Guerber's 13 Colonies/Story of the Great Republic. I used SOTW for the non-American history topics. I didn't see you mention Hakim, but you could do the whole series over 3 years. There are several study guides to go with them--Sonlight and Hewitt are two that I know--or you could use the lesson plans at PBS. They are free and I am incorporating them into our studies along with lots of other websites.

We do a co-op for enrichment only. I don't think that I could ever find one that would meet my academic requirements. However, sometimes the classes surprise me and are terrific! My dd has made most of her best friends at our co-ops. She's done two different ones with the same results--lasting friendships.

I know you said that you didn't want white, but I switched over to all white, big fluffy towels and I love them. They are so easy to keep clean! Once you move, you can always add some accent towels in the color you like.

Oddly, I just read about this 15 minutes ago while I was putting together our history plan for the fall. In "A History of Us, Sourcebook", it says "Best remembered as the man who founded Rhode Island, Roger Williams was also the founder of America's first Baptist church..."

I can help you with two of them. I put John Bunyan in with Chapter 12--the subjects are different, but the timeframe is right. Dickens fits in perfectly with Ch. 31, especially if you are reading Oliver Twist.