I agree. I was careful to never teach multiple hard concepts on the same day. If I was teaching something new in reading, I was reviewing in math, and vice versus. History wasn't an issue with teaching new things, since it was just progressing to the next level of the story, but sometimes I had to space out difficult topics in science too. You may be thinking longer gaps than that...but it reminded me of this.

So, I never read that book (sounds like a good one), but due to my son's dyslexia I've let him dictate a lot, and it did lead to better writing (even when he wasn't dictating). I would guide him when he was saying something that sounded fine conversationally, but didn't work on paper. For example, if he started going into chain of consciousness type of narration, I'd stop him and say "That's too much to write...we need to stop and make these into shorter sentences." He had a habit of staring sentence with because. For example, if he answered "Why did Andrew get mad?" with "Because his parents weren't listening to him." I would explain that he could either say "Andrew got mad because his parents weren't listening to him" or just say "His parents weren't listening to him." You can't start a written sentence with because, because you need to include what caused the thing that comes after because first." (We also talked some about rewording the question, though I didn't always require that.) "Now say that in a way I can write it," became a common refrain.

Don't know if I have an answer, but man I can say I can relate. My son, who I later learned had dyslexia and ADHD, had this issue. Incorporating imaginative play (his main motivator), helped with essential things. But it wasn't just obvious things like reading... everything from sports to music to art projects got rejected as soon as they got hard (or not even tried because they MIGHT be hard). Good news is, it changed around age 10. I don't know if it was just his executive function catching up to where most kids are when they start school (executive function issues aren't "cured" but executive function does increase with age just as it does with other kids, even if it will always lag behind). He started both being interested in stuff and being willing to try them. Lots of things were short lived but at least he was starting. And with some interests he stuck with it for a long time. Once he got to middle school, he did a 180 on his effort for nearly everything. He still wanted to quit some optional things early, but he became very self motivated on others. So, my advice is push on what's necessary...but don't push too hard on the rest. For reading, specifically, which I knew was more of an issue than just "lack of will" even before we got our diagnosis, it was a very tentative balancing act on how far to push. Reading lessons were essential and I wasn't going to allow him to get out of them. Pace was where he needed it to me (and I would stop when he was tired...I learned that pushing past a certain point was lots of pain for not much gain. But we always had to start. I encouraged reading outside of lessons. Some of it was thanks to video games. He got Zelda, and it's all reading. I would stay and help him (but not read it for him except for stuff that was just flashed up on screen to fast for him to read it), and I would let him play as long as he was willing to read the prompts. When he finally attempted reading books (His first was a graphic novel his brother gave him...thank you big brother! He totally asked me to get the graphic novel from his favorite series, and as soon as he got it, took it down the hall and gave it to his little brother and said "This is for you." I still get choked up thinking about that, cause it made him want to read it). We took parts at first, and I only asked him to take one part (I probably would have let him let me read all of it if he had resisted that, but he agreed and picked the main character). He soon was asking to read more characters parts. But he would backtrack too and ask to go back to just one or have me read all of it to him and I'd let him. That's the kind of dance we did with this...and it's necessary, cause I wanted him to know if he tried something he wouldn't be stuck always doing it. I wanted him not to feel forced...to want to do this.

Did you mean just movies, or videos too? I started to make up a list of youtube videos and where they would allign to SOTW II chapters, but I didn't finish it (my son ended up going back to school for a while and we were only half way through Vol II then). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EHRuh40M4ieLSzPWJnRG3igNEWBoa7gvGqy3mLqyTeM/edit?usp=sharing

OK, this study on learning phonics/phonemic awareness through Pokemon is WONDERFUL. I mean, in one way it's not that significant since it's small (3 participants), and one of the participants was intentionally fudging the results because he thought it would mean he would get to play the game more times with the researcher. But it had positive results in the other two AND it sounds like a fun method that could be easily done by a parent at home to insert phonics practice into play (I think the child would need to understand that this would be part of it though.). I could see implementing a "Pokemon for Phonics Friday" or something, where you did this in stead of a regular lesson. The most useful part I think is their description of what they did (page 11-13): The Procedure and Decoding Strategies sections...especially the Decoding Strategies section. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4788&context=open_etd If any of you have used Pokemon as a teaching tool, I'd love to hear what you did. I've also used it for math (subtraction...every time a player loses points ).

Also, if you have any power to do this, I've long thought it would be wonderful if Libraries carried curriculum that could be lended out for longer periods (however long the curriculum was intended for...6 months to a year, etc.).

That's so great that your library is doing that. Here are classes I would have loved... Any Language classes but especially ASL. Science classes. Science fair. Geography/culture day. Art classes. Learning game day and regular game day. Book clubs or writing club (where you can share your writing) for older kids. History Potluck and Play Day. Pick a historical time and place (Ancient Egypt, France in the middle age, Edo era Japan, Ming Dysnasty China, wherever). Pin historic recipes on a pinterest board. Invite families to bring a dish from the board for people to try (have them write ingredients on a notecard so people with allergies could know if they could eat it). Encourage those who want to dress in a period costume. Provide a craft or other activiy related to the time period and do a read aloud of a story from the time period (or watch a short video). Since a lot of families go on a 4 year history schedule, if you did this weekly you could pick something from each level (ancient, middle ages, Renaisance to early modern, late modern) each week. Or you could do this once a month and pick from a different level each month so all families have something related to where they are in history. Geography day. Similar to history day but in stead pick a country. Geography fair. The Girl Scouts in our area used to do something like this (just swap troop for "homeschool family" and it works for homeschoolers. Homeschool families could also team up to pick a country). Every troop would pick a country and set up a table about it. Each troupe was required to make a dish from that country, and to make a stamp for people's "passports" (which were just folded up paper stapled in the middle...I think maybe with a printed cover), and to make a souvenir related to the country (some things I remember were toothpick flags, woven bracelets, bookmarks with animals from the country, etc.), and decorate the table with information/visuals related to the country. Half of the troop would stay at their tables while the other half would visit others and pick up the souvenir and stamps. The food was served in a potluck later--or maybe it was first (with someone from the troop explaining the dish and where it was from as they gave you a sample). Each troupe also did a performance (a dance, a short skit, played music, that sort of thing) which people watched while they ate (this I think might not work for homeschool families...but it could be an optional thing).

Science in the Ancient World by Jay Wile is a Christian curriculum that combines history and science that would work really well for all those ages. It has different workbooks for different age levels starting at grade 2 (older student and oldest student workbooks). I haven't used the workbooks personally but I love the textbook and experiments. For your oldest, if you wanted to add in more reading you could add reading from The Story of Science by Joy Hakim (secular curriculum combining history and science...that's respectful of religion). I think Science in the Ancient world is actually better for explaining the science, but The Story of Science does a better job at telling the story of the scientists and how they and their ideas fit into and changed history. --- This free unit study is another one combining history and science (something we loved to do in our family) and is great for those ages (I did sections of this with an 12 year old and 7 year old. It does not have a workbook componant though (it has a story you read about a Viking man and his family, and experiments/activities you do to learn about science topics related to Viking life/times. https://edu.rsc.org/resources/experiment-with-the-vikings/1940.article Another free unit study that I think would work for both these ages is The Good and the Beautiful's Marine Biology Unit Study. They have different workbooks for different ages. https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/pre-k-8-marine-biology/

I hate the short/long terminology. I'm a reading tutor now, and I only use it if I know they are using it in school. I use "common sound" and "name sound." Common sound is the sound it usually makes, and the other sound is the same as it's name. Makes more sense to me and they understand it too. When I have needed to use it, I make up a little guide that shows examples of words with short and long sound and I write it so they vowels in one look short and in the other look tall. I don't worry if kids don't know terminology though (well, I do try to get them to understand noun and verb and adjective...cause those come in handy later when working on writing). But short sound, long sound, schwa, digraph, blend...I may use that terminology to explain things initially, but if they can read and don't remember that, I don't care.

Another suggested one that looks good....Science Geek Sam. "When a meteorite crashes into Sam's school bike shed, his class have a LOT of questions about space, the universe, and life on earth. But can they believe in God AND the Big Bang? They make some cool discoveries that show them that, surprisingly, the answer is a clear yes. A fact-filled and thought-provoking story that will make you chuckle." https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/science-geek-sam-and-his-secret-logbook-cees-dekker/1128217764

Haven't read all the replies but assuming you don't want "iphone stuff" a physical map...can be printed out from google, covering the length of the trip. This solves "how far do we still have to go ?" questions for teens even better than kids. "Look for the next city sign we pass and look it up on the map." Also, and if you can get wildlife guides (like those foldable ones meant to be portable) for the states you pass through, trying to spot plants and animals through the window and then use that to identify them is nice. And I agree with others on the spot bingo. You can even make one with things from the state (including restaurants that may not be in your state...I've found some of those already made for some states, like Texas). A good neck pillow isn't a toy but it will allow them to better sleep through some of the trip, so it's good to have.

I think I might have found the unicorn! This site is about Christianity and science, and talks about evolution (and is not anti-evolution). Here's their main page... https://faradaykids.com/ And their page on evolution https://faradaykids.com/evolution While this book is not from a Christian perspective specifically, and I haven't yet read it, it was suggested by two different people on a forum I'm on for Christians who accept evolution: When Whales Walked

The Story of Science (secular curriculum) is a really great read aloud. It tells how science changed through history. My only issue is that it seemed to focus less on the "how" of science (though it does address it...just maybe it's not the main focus). I supplemented with "Science in the Ancient World" (a Christian curriculum...but written by a nuclear chemist, so as far as chemistry goes, it's solid. Pretty good on physics too. He's a creationist, so if that's not your view you might want to skip the biology). Anyways, they have great experiments and really solid, easy to understand explanations of the science. I would read the story of different scientists and how they affected history in Story of Science, and then when we got to the Greeks (where "Science in the Ancient World" starts, I would supplement by doing the experiments and reading his explanation of them. Before that, I used Dr. Dave's "Science of Ancient Egypt" unit studies...another one I like the writing on, though it's not at the level of Story of Science. Another really good one for middle school science is Ellen McHenry's unit studies (the writing is great--plus there's humor).

Usually anywhere from 4th to 8th grade is when "idea" is taught as being a noun. At least in the past they usually didn't teach "idea" until later grades because it's a harder concept. But the parts of speech have always been about how a word is used. For instance, if I have "red" hair...red is an adjective. But in the last part of the sentence where I talked about how "red is an adjective"...there red is a noun because it's the subject of the sentence. I can spray something (and spray is a verb there). But if I am talking about how the "spray" hit me, then it's a noun. And in the phrase "spray bottle," spray is an adjective because it's describing bottle (a noun). Ideas could always be nouns. You can love someone, or talk about love and what love means. Parts of speech have more to do with how the word is used in a sentence than what "type" of word it is. If it's the subject, it's a noun. If it's what the subject is doing (or being), it's a verb. If it's describing the subject, it's an adjective.

I love San Diego. It has a huge homeschool community, with a lot of secular homeschoolers (it's almost too huge...like you could go to a different homeschool event every day of the week but you might not see the same people). Weather is beautiful. Close to the ocean. Lots of hiking trails in the hills and near the ocean too. The only issue is cost. At $150 K though I think you can afford it, especially since you can be anyplace in San Diego and don't have go where the good schools are. Finding a house is also a challenge as there is a housing shortage. Gas prices are high but since you work from home that should be less of a problem for you. If you homeschool through a homeschool affidavit you have pretty broad freedom to do what you want (there's some required subjects to teach and you have to keep attendance and some other records, but generally no one is checking in on you). You also have the option of homeschooling through an "independent study" charter...there are several in the area. Most provide help with buying curriculum, and often with other things like tutoring, sports, classes, etc. All require meeting with a teacher periodically, and some have other restrictions. But that's also a cost factor to consider, if you're willing to give away some freedom for that. Because of this, there are less homeschool co-ops here (and those that are are often religious)--because so many homeschool through a charter, and most charters cover the sort of things co-ops usually do. But there is lots of homeschool meet-ups, field trips, classes, and activities that don't require charter attendance. Like I mentioned, you could do a homeschool activity nearly every day if you wanted to...though I don't suggest that. Oh, and I noticed you said earlier that you are fairly liberal, but were worried that California was TOO liberal. California is one of the few politically mixed counties in the state (it's a swing county...healthy mix of red and blue and independent/3rd party). There's lots of moderates here, though there's also people on all ends of the spectrum.

How is she for fantasy? I read The Ordinary Princess at 14 and loved it. It's got a romance but it's very clean (and starts in friendship, which I love). It's sort of a spoof on fairy tales.

It's out of print in the format I like it in (more a board game than a puzzle), but the Sillly Sentences gamehas been great with my dyslexic son for learning parts of speech. It has three lengths of sentence, and has nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, and prepositions. The longest sentence, the last half is a prepositional phrase. It's not a replacement for a curriculum, but it's a good supplement to one. Here are some extra ways I used it... If you fold one or more of the game boards so you just see the prepositional phrase, you can add extra prepositional phrases to a sentence. It doesn't have conjunctions, but we made cards with and, but, so, because and or on them and then joined different sentence together with them. Words better for the shorter sentences because since these are "silly" sentences (think mad libs, but you fill in ALL the words), it's hard to find sentences that work with anything but "and." At some point, I have kids try putting the wrong word type in a spot and see what happens to the sentence (just in one place, not in all the places). Also, we try adding extras of different words (they learn extra articles don't work, verbs and nouns don't work unless you also add an and, but you can add as many adjectives as you want.

My son went to school in Kinder (cried every day, came home with a lot of fears about learning). He made very little progress. Years later we learned he had dyslexia, and ADHD. 40 minutes to an hour our first year, which was sort of repeating Kinder at home. By our 4th year we were doing 2 hours a day (though sometimes 3, sometimes one) and working through the summer. I felt like we needed to be doing 3 hours a day but it was hard to manage. Very little of what he was doing was independent because reading was still not there yet. He went to school the next year (sent him in at 4th, for various reasons). In 6th we were home due to the pandemic. I homeschooled through a district program so it would allign well with what he would be doing next year. We were doing 4-5 hours a day. The next year we went back to school.

May I share what you wrote with other people...it's just such a great comparison?

Quick pronunciation survey - what state (or country if not in the US) are you in, and how do you pronounce milk? Is it with short i sound (rhyming with silk), or with short e sound like melk (rhyming with elk). Thanks.

I'm in California too, but started homeschooling in Texas (a no help, no interference homeschool state). I could see some of the affects of of charters on the traditional homeschool community here, like you mentioned (the conventions aren't a big issue to me as I've never attended one, but lack of homeschool groups were...though in my area it was partially because the homeschool group specifically excluded members who were part of a charter. I was homeschooling privately, so I could have joined, but I didn't know if that would always be the case, so I avoided it because I didn't want my son to build relationships and then essentially get "kicked out" if I joined a charter later. I've also seen the other side of that. I've known what it was like to know what type of curriculum/help my child needs and not be able to afford to get it. Having a little help would have made a world of difference early on in our homeschooling journey.

If you're reading aloud, you can just cross out what you want to skip (or pencil in things you want to add...I've done both). We skipped the cyclops in Ancient times for similar reasons. My son was 6 and not ready for it.

Imaginative play can work well for this... Write to an imaginary character (here's what I did with that with my son, who also has ADHD: https://imaginativehomeschool.blogspot.com/2016/11/an-alien-helps-with-reading-and-writing.html A little boy (also with ADHD) would write if I incorporated into the imaginative play he was doing. Like, we wrote out wanted signs for different bad guys we were hunting one day, and another day he wrote out rules for this army base he created, and another day we left secret orders for our spy allies. I let him write the words he could, and helped him with hard words since he was choosing the wording. If you just need them to practice writing spelling words, what I did with another little girl might work. She liked to play teacher. Me and some stuffed animals (voiced by me) played student. She would write a word and I (and the other "characters") would have to sound it out. Not along the imaginative play lines, but with the little boy I mentioned earlier, I got him to write out simple animal words (to practice CVC words) by asking him to list them from his favorite to least favorite animals (cat, dog, bat, rat, pig).

My son, who has dyslexia, loved the Dragonbook books at age 10-12. They sort of focus on monster stories but in a very non-scary way (humorous, and some of the monsters turn out to be benign). The only one I thought was truly scary was the one about a haunted house, which comes pretty late in the series. My son didn't read them completely independently. At first he only read the "cartoon sections" which are scattered throughout. Then he might read a paragraph or two and I would finish the rest (but he WANTED to read that paragraph so that was something). He had not read ANY chapter books independently at that point, and had only let me read a few other chapter books to him (he also has ADHD so maintaining attention through a chapter book was hard). If you want to try a more serious book, Holes has low level vocab (easy to read) but a complex plot, and it includes that history aspect. If you are a Christian, Imagination Station is like Magic Treehouse but includes that spiritual aspect and sometimes focuses on Christian characters and their faith.

I am working on a unit study focusing on Spanish Colonization in the middle ages. If you did a study of South America it could be a good start for it. Since this is for next year there's a chance I might finish it by then. Would you like me to put you on my list of people to send it to (it would be free). If so, please send me a PM so I can remember to do that. (No guarantees that I finish it though...stuff comes up).