I'm in the early stages of opening a homeschool hybrid school. We're trying to figure out 5-8 grade history. I would like it to follow classical principles. Do y'all have any suggestions?? Some things I've considered include: 1. Joint classrooms with the elementary grades; everyone uses SOTW but the middle schoolers do *more* with it all. 2. Basically follow SWB's suggestions, using the Kingfisher encyclopedia as a spine. The downside is that every student is doing individual work, and I worry that we won't be able to help them enough with things like finding additional books, outlining, and summarizing. My own child needed a lot of help when we started on that level! 3. Maybe something where they take turns teaching for the week? Any suggestions??

Hi there! I feel the need for a switch in our homeschool and maybe you can help me find what I need or we can chat about what you need! My ds11 is entering 6th grade and I need him to work more independently. I want a well rounded language arts plan but don't think I want to focus heavily on grammar. Have you used WWS level 1 somewhat independently? What did you pair it with to round out language arts? We haven't done many projects in our homeschool and I'm wondering if we are missing something. Can you reassure me and help me come up with a plan? What are you using for your 6th grader this school year?

For grammar and writing for my fifth-grader, I'm planning to use Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind and Killgallon's Middle School materials, and I'm trying to decide whether to use both Killgallon's "Sentence Composing" and "Paragraphs" or just "Paragraphs." Would Killgallon "Sentence Composing" be redundant if I'm using Grammar for the WTM? I think it might make sense to use both, but I can't tell for sure looking at the samples.

Hi all, "Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind," the follow-up to "First Language Lessons," will be available on PDF in just a couple of weeks and in physical form by late September or early October. But we know that many of you are eager to get started, so we're giving away the first six weeks of the curriculum here. This grammar curriculum was formerly known as "Advanced Language Lessons," and you may have heard about it under that title. It consists of a Core Instructor Text (used for all four years), yearly Student Workbooks (the first one is being released now, and #2 is in development), yearly Answer Keys to explain all answers for the Student Workbook, and a Comprehensive Handbook of Rules (a handy reference guide for grammar, useful for all writers of whatever age). The free PDF includes: The first 6 weeks of the Core Instructor Text The first 6 weeks of the Student Workbook for Year 1 The first 6 weeks of the Answer Key for Year 1 (which gives all answers AND thorough explanations) The first part of the Comprehensive Handbook of Rules I'll be available to answer questions in this thread. We will also be releasing explanatory videos in the coming weeks. Follow us on Facebook for updates on that. To answer some possible questions: --Yes, this is good for middle-grade students, but could also be used with high-school students --Yes, it can be pre-ordered on Amazon (but their release dates aren't always accurate) --Yes, some of the sentences in the exercises are drawn from "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and "The Princess Bride." --Yes, schools and co-ops can get bulk pricing. Contact us at 1.877.322.3445 or order@welltrainedmind.com Again, the first six weeks are available here. Here's a longer description of the curriculum: Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind takes middle-grade or high school students from basic definitions through advanced sentence structure and analysis—all the grammar skills needed to write and speak with eloquence and confidence. This innovative program, by experienced educator Susan Wise Bauer, combines the three essential elements of language learning: understanding and memorizing rules (prescriptive teaching), repeated exposure to examples of how those rules are used (descriptive instruction), and practice using those rules in exercises and in writing (practical experience). Scripted lessons make it possible for any parent or teacher to use the program effectively. Step-by-step instruction takes students from the most basic concepts through advanced grammatical concepts Extensive diagramming exercises reinforce the rules and help technical/visual learners to understand & use the English language effectively. All diagrams are thoroughly explained to the instructor/parent. Examples and exercises are drawn from great works of literature, as well as from well-written nonfiction texts. Regular review is built into each year of work. Core text is designed to be used effectively with students from fifth grade through high school, regardless of background. The program is easily customizable to each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Description of the Program Each year, parents and teachers go through the dialogue, rules, and examples in the Core Instructor Text; students follow along in the Student Workbook. This repetition solidifies the concepts, definitions, and examples in the student’s mind. The Core Instructor Text provides not only rules and examples, but scripted dialogue that makes it possible for any parent or teacher to use the program effectively, along with instructor notes that thoroughly explain ambiguities and difficulties. There will eventually be four Student Workbooks, one for each year (the Year 1 Workbook will be released first). Each Student Workbook contains the same rules and examples—but four completely different sets of exercises and assignments, allowing students to develop a wide-ranging knowledge of how the rules and examples are put to use in writing. Each Student Workbook has its own Key, providing not only answers, but also explanations for the parent/instructor, and guidance as to when the answers might be ambiguous (as, in English, they often are). All of the rules covered, along with the repeated examples for each, are assembled for ongoing reference in the Comprehensive Handbook of Rules. This will become the student’s indispensable guide to writing through high school, into college and beyond.

Hi all, Just wanted to let you know that "Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind," our follow-up to "First Language Lessons," is now available in PDF on our website. The physical books are AT THE PRINTER NOW and if you don't think we POPPED CORKS when we sent them out the door then you are WRONG. They should be on our shelves in just a few weeks (6? 5?) and we will announce it here and elsewhere. They can also be preordered from Amazon. Also, SWB filmed three videos explaining and demonstrating this new grammar curriculum. See them on our YouTube channel. Thanks for your patience!

I need to figure out what "grade" to consider my middle schooler, and am grateful for help in figuring this out! I am thinking: 6th or7th? There is -- of course -- a long story about where we are now, but the shorter story is that I have homeschooled this child since PreK. He is precocious/accelerated, sensitive, not 2E, and is difficult to teach; and he grew up in our household with my husband's parents living upstairs from us. About two years ago his grandfather died, and shortly after that my son's academic abilities sort of just melted down. He went from being able to do AoPS algebra to having trouble with multi-digit arithmetic; he couldn't write grammatically correct answers to questions; his reading comprehension from IRs was about nil; and so on. I did not make the association with his grandfather's death, which was an incredibly stressful event for the family for many reasons, at the time. In response, and also in order to make sure that I could provide educational growth during a time when my husband's mother needed a good deal of attention and support, I moved him to Memoria Press as a rigorous educational option. I had to put him into their 2nd grade materials in order to avoid stressing him out; for math he began in 3rd-grade equivalent work. We've worked at our own pace and tried a lot of things, and this June saw him finish their 6th grade (corresponds to the work done in their 5th grade at the brick-and-mortar school). Here's where we are now: Reading: is a skimmer. He reads well above grade level and tests high, but does not read classics on his own. He can do, without stress, the reading that corresponds to MP's brick-and-mortar 7th grade. I would have to make him read their literature (at the level of Treasure Island) out loud to get him to read it carefully. Grammar: fine. We've done FLL, Grammar Island, MP's grammar, and are dabbling in Grammar Town. I am liking the looks of ALL!!!!! Spelling: Still remediating: we're in All About Spelling 5, having started in 2 or 3 at the beginning of the year. He is moving quickly and easily through AAS. Math: Nearly finished with Math U See Algebra. Please be kind about MUS :). Also drills; this year read Mathematicians are People Too. Science: been backburnered, can do Novare's middle school books (Physical Science, Earth Science) without stress. Strong knowledge base. History: we've done the Famous Men of Rome and Middle Ages, and we need a better balanced history. I trialed him on WTM methods and he can do decent summaries and 2-level outlines, he'd need a bit more practice before doing 3-level. Latin: finished 2nd Form Latin with online class, will do Third Form this year, summer work is some Familia Romana + review. Greek: finished Greek Alphabet, doing First Form Greek 1 page per day. Penmanship: totally legible, neat cursive. whoo-hoo!!!!!! ETA Composition: largely informal this year. He can write across the curriculum WTM-style at 6th grade level, and can do the writing in Classical Writing Maxim -- this is what we're doing, at a very light pace, over the summer. He is 11yo, turns 12yo on August 30 of this year. I started him in 1st grade at 6yo, which would put him in 7th, but I am unsure about his maturity. Well, I know he is "immature" -- he still carries his favorite stuffy around and in the car (but only around family members, not friends). But I am at a place where the work I plan will depend on how I think of his grade level, and if we are 2 or 3 years from high school, and so on. Especially if we move further from MP and closer to WTM methods and/or materials. He doesn't care what grade he is "in". thanks so much for your help!

I could use a little help here. We started out unschooling and when I realized that that was going to takes to a dead end I turned our ship and we've been trying to catch up since then. Both my 13yos are neuro-typical kids. What I've been doing is I've been assigning them about a weeks worth of work and then when they finish it they get a day of free time (plus regular chores). The next day is then a chore day and then we're back to another week of work. Because they're motivated to get their free-time day this usually gets done in about 4 days. They're managing to do school work 3-4 hours per day. We don't do M-F because dh's work is all over the place and so this has been a more accommodating schedule. Here's what we've been doing per "week" (this is embarrassing - go easy on me please :blushing: ): *Bible devotions and memory work with singing (including voice training) and some light music theory daily *WWS1 - 4 lessons (we're currently on wk 15) *MEP Y5 for one and Y6 for the other - about 5 pages each, sometimes I skip stuff depending on the child so then we get through more pages. (MEP is a little accelerated so this is more like grade 6 and 7) *A chapter or so of Science reading from a 1950's public school text - no labs or any feed-back besides me asking some comprehension questions. I've been reading Crucibles out loud to them and I've assigned them some living books like Uncle Tungsten and Napoleon’s Buttons in the last few months. This isn't weekly though. *Geography country study - one country per week, fill in a generic worksheet *Typing- 1 hour per week *R&S Grammar Y4 at a very accelerated pace - like 15-20 lessons/wk *They read plenty of lit at about their expected reading level so I don't assign any. We talk through what they've read *History- they have a pretty good knowledge base from read-alouds but I feel like we need to get into a little more meat *Some weeks dh does a few hours of electronics and electrical physics with ds and I spend some time with dd teaching her to sew. Unfortunately this tends to eat into our other school time. Obviously we're behind but I don't know exactly know how to move on from here. Just this week I wanted to have them write a summary of the history of Korea because they both floundered on the history of Korea on last week's worksheet. I realized though that they are just not able to do this yet. I reassigned them to doing an outline of the World Book encyclopedia’s history of Korea article. This was do-able. This frustrates me because I know that they're able understand the reading material but they don't have the writing skills yet (stupid unschooling philosophy!) to get their thoughts out. How should I plan for them long term? What's next? I feel like I'm lacking some vision here. I don't want to just get a history and science textbook and then answer some questions every chapter. I want them to be able to explain what they've learned in written form. Ultimately, I want them to be able to understand anything they set their minds to, without me holding their hands, and then be able to teach it to others in written or verbal form. How do I accomplish this? Some compounding factors are that we have a slough of littles that are always interrupting so any suggestions need to be fairly hands-off from me.

I've been casting about, trying to figure out what to do for grammar for middle school, either later this year, or next, but I can't decide what would work best for DD. She's a visual-spatial/whole-to-parts learner, pretty quick on the uptake, good at learning in context, but terrible at rote memorization. Humor, pictures and color are good things. She's had some exposure - we've done Treasured Conversations, FLL4, Daily Grams 5, and Grammar Island, but nothing consistent from year to year. So far, the best thing has been Super Grammar, which is basically a comic book describing each part of speech or concept as either a hero of villain, but it's just a book, no practice. R&S and CLE are out of the question, as they cause tears and frustration on both our parts. The Language Mechanic, The Giggly Guide to Grammar and ELTL are on my short list, but I have zero experience with any of them, so I don't know which would best fit my needs. I'm sure there are others I'm not aware of. What would you recommend for this child? I'm planning to use Build Your Library next year, which does not include grammar or spelling, but covers all the other English areas.

Does anyone else out there follow WTM suggestions for Science in the Logic stage? We've been trying to (although the kits get pretty expensive) because I love the hands-on experiments. I've noticed some things and I'm looking for feedback from others (or maybe just some reassurance, as usual). My dd loves Chemistry experiments (We're using the T&K CHEM2000 kit.). She's mostly resigned to doing experiment pages. She doesn't mind doing reports too much (she's my LA-happy dd), but she has a hard time coming up with subjects for them. I'd rather that she just keep moving through the experiment book, learning as she goes, and spend some side-time on the Periodic Table, but (as usual) I'm not sure if it's enough. Has anyone out there worked a dc through WTM science in Grammar and Logic Stages (a non-STEM-type dc) and ended up happily doing high school science with no trouble? Is anyone else working through it? What happens if I find I have an extra year before we get into high school stuff? Just asking . . . :) Mama Anna

I am considering using History Odyssey but my ds is 10 and starting 5th grade. I think Ancients Vol 2 would be best for him, BUT I already own the Usborne I-L History Encyclopedia. I do not have the Kingfisher book that they recommend. Has anyone mixed these two together. I realize I could just use Vol 1 which does use UILHE, but it doesn't have the same notebooking expectations as Vol 2 has. Has anyone already tried this or know of any schedules already available. Hate reinventing the wheel! Wendy

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share a little blog I've started in which I will be posting online resources linked with the units and subunits of SOTW book 4. Most of what you'll find there are extension materials such as primary source documents, and video enrichment for my logic stage son. It's called StoryOfTheWorldBlog I hope you might find it of some use! Cheers, Lisa

There was a recent thread on scheduling and encouraging excellence on the accelerated board where Nan in Mass wrote the following: "I should add that one of the focuses of middle school was academic and organizational skills. There comes a point (and if your children are accelerated, it will come sooner) when the child needs better writing skills, needs to know how to study, how to take notes, how to keep a calendar, how to organize his materials, how to do research, that sort of things.(continues)" As always, Nan got me thinking and wondering what you all do to systematically teach study skills, note taking, researching and the other skills that Nan mentions above to your logic/dialectic stage student. If you have favorite resources, please share those as well.

Can you help me list all my options for music appreciation in the logic stage? Since DS was tiny we have played classical music, and since he started homeschooling we have gone through Mike Venezia's composer books, and in fifth this year we're studying the orchestra. In sixth we're going through Usborne's Introduction to Music to see music from the beginning (we're covering ancients anyway) to the current period. I don't think there is enough in ancient music to keep us occupied even for a semester! What shall I do for seventh? Ideally, I would love a program that is: colorful pretty to look at offers biographies of important composers (can be not all at once, like in a series) may or may not include music - if it does, a high quality recording well-written, interesting text simplified music sheets for each composer, thus a sample of their music A homeschooling mom can dream, right? ;) Anything else you can recommend, please do so - I'm not afraid of a good text, if it fits almost or all of the above criteria.

Maybe my search skills are rusty, but I can't find any good threads on history for the logic stage. Has anyone used the WTM recommendations for history and found them helpful? Thus far, our history study has been reading SOTW, giving oral narrations, completing maps, and reading non-fiction resources from the library. Literature for ds10 has generally correlated with our history study. I have not included the encyclopedia readings as it seemed to be overkill combined with literature, SOTW, and non-fiction library books. Overall, I've been really pleased with the kids' retention and enjoyment of the subject. The plan for next year is to read aloud SOTW1 for dd7, but ds10 will add-in the activities laid out in the WTM to round out his history study. I plan on having him outline topics in Kingfisher (already owned), study primary sources, write 1-2 narrations per week, fill out a timeline, and complete a map. Literature will also be loosely tied to our history study. Was this too much? Sufficient? Where there any resources your child enjoyed more? Any guidance you can provide is appreciated!

How heavy is the Christian content in Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serle (Particularly the updated version edited by Margot Davidson)? is it the occasional Bible verse/story, could it be reasonably edited out or substituted for? DD is doing very well with the Charlotte-Mason style Simply Grammar, I'm looking for something to follow it.

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share a little blog I've started in which I will be posting online resources linked with the units and subunits of SOTW book 4. Most of what you'll find there are extension materials such as primary source documents, and video enrichment for my logic stage son. It's called StoryOfTheWorldBlog I hope you might find it of some use! Cheers, Lisa

DS 12 told me he wanted to do chemistry this semester, so we are doing ACS Middle School Chemistry. It's a great program, but it is not what he expected - he wants fizz and bubble and explosions. I would therefore like to supplement ACS with some fun experiments that he and his dad can do together once a week or so. I don't have the time to shop for the supplies for experiments described in books like Fizz, Bubble and Flash. I need complete materials and instructions to hand to DH and DS and let them rip. If there is text or an online module to provide the formal "science" part, all the better. DS is a great reader. Thoughts so far: -PLATO Physical Science is science but no fizz, so that does not make sense given our needs. -Supercharged Mastery Kits are too much (in terms of time & $) given that we need a supplement, not a full program. Suggestions? Experiences? Reviews? Warnings? I am in an endless loop of surfing through websites and need to just make a choice!

I'm trying to find a spine to use for after our studies of Rome. We will be using Augustus Ceasar's World with that. I would like something that covers Early Church History and the Medieval Period, perhaps even the Renaissance/Reformation as well. The only one I know of is Mystery of History Volume 2(which really starts with Paul, I believe and includes the Fall of Rome). But it only covers the Medieval Period. Then you have to buy another volume for the Renaissance, then the last book hasn't been released yet. Story of the World Vol. 2 covers from 400 AD on and seems young for my 6th grader. I'm thinking about steering away from a huge curriculum package (because of cost and teaching time required). But then I don't know what to use. Ideas? And, oh, it would be nice if her 3rd grade brother could sit in on the readings.

Hello. I have been searching around alot to learn about how to integrate a biblical worldview into our history, science ...basically across the board of our curriculum. We use the WTM suggestions as our guide. At present, I am homeschooling a 7th and 5th grader in the 1600-1850's of history as per WTM. We are reading from the SOTW 3 and the KFE along with the literature suggestions in the WTM. We are also reading the Story of Science series to give them a sense of science in history as I find it so disjointed otherwise. I will not be buying new spines or literature books. The thing I do not need is another fully planned and laid out history curriculum or a christian based curriculum that has all the spines, literature suggestions etc in it and costs lost of money. Rather, I just want a guide that (hopefully) follows history chronologically but will give me the necessary questions and discussion ideas that I can use with my children to help them think and discuss from a biblical worldview for history, science etc. And I also want it to be inexpensive. I have seen suggestions for Truthquest, but I am not impressed with it enough as some have said she implies things that God did/though that one cannot imply.... I have looked at TOG, and others, but they all come with extra books and spines that one needs to buy. The thing I like about these curriculums is that they have questions listed and discussion ideas to use in their lessons to encourage a biblical worldview. What about Francis Shaffeur's "I then shall live series" Is this something I should read/watch to help me to know how to integrate a biblical worldview into our studies? I understand it is for the high school year students to learn from. Is there a list of questions/ideas that have been compiled that I can use that will help us think more biblically? Kind of like how the WTM book lists questions to use in discussing literature (listed in the logic stage section). Should I create my own biblical history plan?...by including Trial and Triumph, christian biographies/stories, using a biblical timeline, etc? I would love to use the Bible in our lessons, but I just don't where to start or have the time to do the necessary study to compile scriptures and teaching together to apply to what we are learning (unless someone has suggestions on how to do this??? :001_smile:) What about the cornerstone curriculum? Has anyone had any experience with this? Would it give me what I need? The thing that gets me is how has the pioneer homeschoolers and those that homeschooled many years prior instilled a biblical worldview into their lessons without the use of the current curriculums? It can't be as hard as it appears. I would really like suggestions from those who have logic or rhetoric level students as they have the experience/knowledge I am looking for. So any suggestions?

DD (10) is wanting a grammar workbook or program that she can do by herself. I'm looking at Spectrum and Evan-Moor but other ideas are welcome. She's completed most of FLL level 4, and isn't appreciative of MCTLA's playfulness with words, plus she wants to be able just to "get it done." TIA!

I really think I jumped the gun this year. We picked out Oak Meadow 9 this year and started back in September. I finally decided to give up on it. Nothing is sinking in and he finds it horribly boring. We don't interact at all because of how it is set up. He is just lacking the skills to accomplish the work. So, I ordered Writing with Skill for him. So, his language arts work is going to be Italics, Writing with Skill, reading of his choice. He writes summaries of HOAW as well. I am trying to not focus on how things will look on a transcript. Instead I need to focus on the levels and getting him towards the goals he needs to meet. I can keep track of the work he accomplishes and make a transcript later. Any thoughts? Anything you would add? Commiseration perhaps. He has excellent spelling, vocabulary, and memory recall!