My 5th grader is using Mosdos Press Coral and my 7th grader will be using Jade. I've searched the forums (using Google, which seems to always work better), and I've only found a couple of threads with scheduling ideas. Have you used either of these? What did a typical week look like? I'd love a few more ideas in how to schedule and use these amazing lit resources with my kiddos! For anyone else that is trying to plan this curriculum, here's a few more threads that I found to help with scheduling: -- Mosdos Press Jade Schedule -- Mosdos Discussion for Fans and Current Users - there's a few ideas here

My 12 year old son (just started 7th grade) is a super creative kid. He's very interested in poetry right now - writing it and reading it. He is working through WWS 1 this year for his writing curriculum, however, I'd like to feed this love of poetry. While I will research different poets for him to read and ponder, I'd like to find him a writing curriculum to help him understand the basics. In fact, he asked if I had "any books that could help him understand and write poetry better." In my googling, I've found a few curricula that help with poetry memorization, but we already do that. And that's really not what he's looking for. Any suggestions?

I'm trying to decide between Mosdos and BJU Literature/reading for my 7th grader, 5th grader, and 3rd grader. Do you think one is superior over the other? Does one do a better job of encouraging deeper critical thinking? For either curriculum, do you use the reading book, Teacher's Guide, and workbook? Are the workbooks necessary? I'd love to hear your thoughts, comparisons, and experiences with either of these curricula. FWIW, while we've always read and discussed ample amounts of great literature in our homeschool, we've never used a formal program. I'm not able to teach the elements of literature without a lot of hand-holding help and need a laid-out-for-me curriculum. I'm currently listening to the Teaching the Classics DVDs, but am also looking for something structured for these grades. One more question - Is this too much for me to take on with these separate grade levels? Am I biting off more than I can chew time-wise? What are your estimates for time commitment from mom for this type of lit analysis and discussion with each kiddo? Thank you for any and all insight! :)

Ok! I'm officially overwhelmed. I would really value your input and advice! Our kids had been attending a private classical school up until December (7th grade, 5th grade, and 1st grade, plus a toddler at home). Our financial situation is not good right now, so we had no choice but to pull them out. We decided to homeschool the rest of the year with as similar a curriculum as we could to give some consistency. I have no idea what next year will look like. I'm just trying to do the best I can to finish this school year. I'm reading The Well-Trained Mind right now, which is helpful. I have been able to gather a bunch of curriculum through friends who have given it to me or allowed me to borrow things. But I still have some gaps, especially in 7th grade. I had my older 2 kids doing a free trial of the Monarch Online Curriculum for the last month so that they would have some work to do while I figured things out. Monarch was definitely helpful, but it's not really right for us. So here's what I have for 7th grade. I would really love input and ideas especially if they don't involve a lot of money and aren't terribly teacher intensive. (I know that is asking a lot!). My 7th grader is a strong student and works diligently, I just need to know what work to give her! Literature: She read Gilgamesh earlier in the school year and they had started The Iliad. I have a few books from the library to help and I think we can listen to the Vandiver lectures free online. I feel like I should be giving her more assignments along with the reading, but feeling a little lost. Composition: Not sure! Thinking about getting Writing With Skill 2? Or is there something else that would tie in well with The Iliad? Grammar/Spelling: The school just integrates this into Literature and Composition after 6th grade. She had Shurley Grammer 1st-6th grade as well as the school's own spelling curriculum. She is strong in these areas. I do have Rod and Staff Progressing with Courage English 6. Should I use that or focus my efforts elsewhere? Math: Pre-Algebra, An Accelerated Course (McDougal Little/Houghton Mifflin) - This is the textbook she was using at school. I don't have the teacher's manual, but I think I can get through it with the answer key in the back of the book helping and with Khan Academy online. History: Ancient History/Egyptian Civilization - Not sure! I was looking at The Book of the Ancient World Set from Memoria Press. Do you think that could be enough to get us through the rest of the year? If we could swing it, I would love to do the Veritas Press Omnibus and have that cover history, Literature, and Bible. Good idea if we can do it? Something else? Science: Not sure! She was doing Earth Science at school. I have several science textbooks, but I'm not sure that any of them is quite right. Some that I have: Apologia Astronomy (I think more for elementary, but I like their books), Scott Foresman Science 6th grade (Maybe I should use this for both my 5th grader and 7th grader?), and I have Archimedes and the Door of Science to supplement (Just lacking assignment ideas for this). Latin: I have Wheelocks Latin, which is what she was doing at school. Bible: They were doing Old Testament at school. Not sure what I am doing with this. Someone from school recommended the book Christ of the Covenants by Robertson. Art: Books from the library? Free online classes on You Tube? Anything else? Typing: She wasn't doing this at school, but I am throwing it in - we started with Dance Mat Typing (BBC) free online, good lessons but too kiddie. Need to look for something else. Home Economics: Also not from school, but we'll focus on cooking and I think we can pull this together pretty easily. Thankful for any input you have!