[PSA: The History of Ancient Egypt course]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

[Wall Timelines...homemade!]

I'm planning to use the same images to make a timeline like this:

 

http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/our-historical-wall-timeline.html

[If you supplement WWE....]

What's WWW?

[Pros and Cons of designing own history curriculum]

I like the idea of doing different strands of history. I plan to continue with American history. I also don't like a ton of projects--and I don't find my kids really need them. They're pretty happy with the books we've read and good discussions.

 

I'm kind of thinking something like this:

 

Story of the Ancient World (for OT/Bible)

Child's History of World (for broad overview)

And then American history books

[Pros and Cons of designing own history curriculum]

This is what I'm struggling with:

 

1. I really want/ed to do OT as history. I want my kiddos to know that Biblical events actually happened in history. So I decided to use The Story of the Ancient World by Guerber/Miller (along with a few other books). I like how she combines other civilizations with the OT history.

 

2. I am not someone who minds planning stuff like this out, but I find myself thinking long-term. Am I going to want to do this every year? I also have 2 more kids, hence, more planning as the years go on. I've also noticed that all the time I *thought* I would have to plan this Summer simply gets so easily derailed. So, then I find myself thinking how nice it would be if I could be happy with a curriculum that is already put together.

 

3. The two I am drawn to are AO and CMH. I used AO 1 (pretty much all but their history) and I could get caught up pretty quickly by just doing two readings a week from Our Island Story. Or--the same with CMH, which starts with Ancients and ties the Bible readings to history. I'm realizing I could still treat OT as history simply by adding OT events to a historical timeline.

 

Anyway, I'm really feeling like I need "homeschool mom curriculum therapy" right now!!

[Pros and Cons of designing own history curriculum]

Have any of you designed your own history curriculum and glad you did it? I'm in the process of doing this, but it is a lot of work and I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth it.

 

Thoughts?

["Getting Started with Latin"- what age?]

Do you think a 2nd grade child who has completed Prima Latina could do this? Thoughts?

[We just finished a FABULOUS read aloud.]

I had to share. We just finished Despereaux. It was awesome. (I've never seen the movie; although my kids say it's good.) My kids even applauded as the last line was read.

 

Can we start a GREAT read aloud thread? Share what you're absolutely LOVING this month!

 

And thanks!!

 

Alley

 

We read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by the same author and loved it. I had a hard time keeping back the tears during some chapters.

[singapore math - which version????]

The standards version has the same content as the U.S. Editions, but rearranged to reflect California State math standards. I've heard the standards version is preferable because the Home Instructor's Guides are better.

[Using only biographies for first grade american history...your favorites???]

Don't forget the D'Aulaire biographies. My DS fell in love with Benjamin Franklin after reading it.

[California History with literature]

I went to Rea Berg's presentation on this guide a couple of years ago, and I don't remember any of it being religious. In fact, I learned a lot from it. You learn what's going on on the West Coast while the Europe was colonizing the East Coast. Like I didn't know that the Russians were trying to colonize California!!

 

The one book from the series that I would say is not-to-miss is The Cruise of the Arctic Star. You could use the guide to at least know what order to read the books in and at least have an idea of the point of each book--don't feel like you need to be legalistic about it.

[Professor B is this the best kep secret]

I prefer the books to the online version, but if I hadn't of seen the online, I wouldn't have known how good the books are. There is much more to the books than there first appears to be.

 

I think the program needs to be started at the very beginning. RightStart (the cheap purple book), Professor B and the free vintage teacher's Manual for Ray's Eclectic Arithmetic all focus on visually recognizing numbers instead of counting. I've become a die hard fan of this method. Rightstart uses the abacus, Professor B the fingers, Ray's uses objects.

 

 

So, are you using these three together. Where/when do find the RightStart book helpful?

 

(I remember you asking about the RightStart book a while back.)

[Pros and Cons of Ancient History in the Primary Grades]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You have all put me at ease.:)

[Pros and Cons of Ancient History in the Primary Grades]

(I have tried finding threads on this, but just can't seem to. Most likely I'm just not using the right search terms because I would be surprised if it hasn't been discussed already.)

 

I thought this would be a good place to ask this question since I know a lot of families on this board do ancient history in the early years. There are several homeschooling speakers I've heard who advocate waiting on Ancient History until later--the reasons range from being careful of exposing kids to mythology before they are well-grounded in scripture to the fact that there are a lot better books available to younger kids in other time periods, especially american history. One of my personal concerns is just a lack of appreciation for the ancient world.

 

Have any of you noticed any downsides? What are the upsides to starting early?

 

(I did spend first grade doing primarily American history. We plan on continuing our American history studies, but I want to add in something else with it. I'm debating starting with Ancient history or medieval like Ambleside. We already follow Ambleside lit pretty closely.)

[Books not to miss for Ancient Egypt (and what to leave behind)]

My younger dd and I recently read this:

 

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford

 

and then followed it with this kit:

 

Fun With Hieroglyphics stamp kit

 

We also read and enjoyed this:

 

The Great Pyramid by Elizabeth Mann

 

These look great. The whole "Wonders of the World" series looks like it might be good.

 

I love your blogs, too, by the way. Do you use a modified Ambleside?

 

 

 

There's an extra http in this link above. Here's the fixed link:

http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Treasures-Galileo-Stargazers-Weiss/dp/1882513479

 

We love Jim Weiss, so this one is on my wishlist now. Thanks!

 

This looks good. I'm going to pick this up.

[Books not to miss for Ancient Egypt (and what to leave behind)]

Thanks for all the great recommendations. There were some I had heard of and some I hadn't (like the Riordan series). I will have to check those out!

[Books not to miss for Ancient Egypt (and what to leave behind)]

What books were worth including in this amazing time period and which ones do you wish you hadn't? My DS will be in 2nd and is what I would call an eager learner. There's so many resources. I want to know what's worth using and what isn't??

 

Thanks!!!

[Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt for a 7 yo?]

Anyone? :bigear:

[Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt for a 7 yo?]

I'm excited about our history next year, but I realize that I have to be careful not to overdo it. I have Guerber's Story of the Ancient World as our "spine" and I plan to use other books like Pyramid and Tales from Ancient Egypt by Green. I'm trying to decided if I really need Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt in addition or does that all sound like enough? Are there other books that are "not to miss"?

 

I'm open to any input anyone may have. Thanks!!!

[AL Abacus worksheets really helpful/necessary?]

I have the worksheet book and it says:

 

"The publisher hereby grants permission to reproduce these worksheets for a single homeschooling family or a single teacher's class use only."

[Singapore Standards v. Math in Focus?]

Thanks! I think I'll just stick with SM Standards. I would only switch if it were significantly better, but, for the price, I'm just not sure it's worth it.

[Vos vs Ergermeir's]

I have both. The stories in Ergermeier's are shorter and there are more illustrations. When my DS was 5, I started reading Vos, but the passages were almost too long for his attention span at the time. We then switched to Ergermeir's and it was much better. Now that he's seven, I can see switching to Vos again.

[Singapore Standards v. Math in Focus?]

I'm looking at both of these and want to know if one is really better than the other? I'm especially interested if you've used both. Thanks!!

[minimus latin for what kind of learner?]

I think if your son is 9, I would go with Latina Christiana instead of Prima Latina. You can start using Minimus as a reader about part way through, because I do not think that LC has enough reading. But LC is a lot better than PL. Plus LC includes all the vocabulary that is PL and more. And it actually introduces some grammar. And the teacher's manual is actually helpful. It's not a perfect program, but none of them are.

 

(I spend the last year teaching PL and LC at my local co-op.)

[If you abandoned your homeschool room, why?]

I find that it's just easier to be where everything is more accessible. It also began because I had a baby and didn't want to do school up right near where he was sleeping. I should say though, that we don't do it at the kitchen table, but at the dining room table that rarely gets used for anything but school. I hate having to clear the kitchen table every time we needed to eat.