We were invited to join our old parish priest and his family that are traveling to the Vatican City in May to celebrate the canonization of Sister Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala. It seems like an amazing opportunity to witness the canonization of a new saint by a new pope, and maybe even an audience with his Holiness. So, where do I start? They haven't selected a date for sure, and I'd like to spend 10-14 days in Italy. We would be with our priest for a couple of days at the Vatican. Perhaps some time in Rome, some in Venice, I'd love to see Cinque Terre, Florence.......everything! My DS is 12 and DD is 9. Where would you go with kids and a DH who wants everything planned? He's a reluctant traveller, but I think flying on an airplane with a priest might make it ok:) I really don't know where to start to make this happen, and I dream of travelling with my family. Kelly

If any of you nice people have seen my threads lately on science and history, I think I've come to some sort of decision. For background, we live overseas and are only planning on coming to the States in December 2013. So I've been trying to figure out what to do for History and Science for the semester before we leave (we are doing Creation to Greeks MFW this year). And with all this planning, I needed to fit it into the long-term plans. These are for dd6th and ds3rd. I had a heart-to-heart with my husband and he encouraged me to see what I already have here and see if I can use it for that semester. I was actually surprised as I looked through my files and shelves to find that I have quite a bit for studying Rome and quite a few science books we could go through. That's helped me decide that I will do Rome for the semester we're here, then take our time in the States to enjoy being there, i.e. field trips, libraries, national parks, museums, etc. History Studies: Roman Empire Augustus Ceasar's World Usborne Internet-Linked Enc. of Roman World Going to War in Roman Times Abeka Old World History and Geography 5th grade City by David Macaulay Detectives in Togas Pearl Maiden Cleopatra by Dianne Stanley The Bronze Bow Vinegar Boy The Very First Easter Matthew's Story The questions I have: Is it enough? How would I arrange these to maximize our time together? I'm thinking this would take about 12 weeks, or is that too long? Is there something else I should buy to round this out? How would YOU do this? For Science: My children have been asking to study geology, meteorology, microscope stuff, and human anatomy. I have: The Usborne Science Encyclopedia The Usborn Children's Encyclopedia A World Encyclopedia The Book of Knowledge The Complete Book of the Microscope The Complete Book of Earth and Space Science Crafts for Kids Eyewitness Book of Rocks and Minerals The Bones and Skeletons Game Book Uncover the Human Body and quite a few other miscellaneous titles about Oceans, Birds, Animals, Nature Experiments and Crafts. What would you do with this? Choose a topic and give the kids the books I have, make them outline or make a notebook, research in World book or internet, choose an experiment or two per week? I'm willing to try to do this, but am overwhelmed just looking at it. Thanks in advance to any who can give me your opinion...

Okay, for anybody who has a kiddo who loves both history and hairdressing-- who knew that was a thing? http://www.openculture.com/2013/02/how_a_baltimore_hairdresser_became_a_world-renowned_hair_archaeologist_of_ancient_rome.html <Baltimore hairdresser challenges dogma that fancy hairstyles on Roman busts and sculptures must be wigs, studies texts and decides they were translated incorrectly, discovers how to recreate the hairstyles. Includes video.>

I could really use your help, just by sharing your experiences and opinions on the different programs out there. What do you use? How do you use it? What do you like or not like about it? If you don't, what do you want to use next? I'm really considering using Mystery of History but I keep getting stuck on the fact that the series is not finished. I don't know how to deal with that and reconcile it with our needs. What do you do after Mystery of History's first three books? I just found Diana Waring's History Revealed products and it sounded interesting. Any comparisions or reviews of Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries? I've looked at other programs like Story of the World (which sounds good but seems young for my 6th grader) and K12's Human Odyssey. Just can't seem to make a decision on this...and could really use your help just by sharing your experiences. Thanks!

Please help me assemble a reading list for my ds. We are spending most of our school year on ancient Rome, plus some time on early Christianity, ancient China, and the ancient Celts. The History of Ancient Rome from the Teaching Company is the main resource with added documentaries and movies and one or two research papers. Here is what I have so far for literature or historical fiction (I'd love to add more literature to this list): Detectives in Togas The Bronze Bow The Eagle of the Ninth The Lantern Bearers The Silver Branch Ben Hur The Robe Shakespeare - Julius Caesar (still deciding if I want the original, a play on DVD/movie, or a retelling - I'm thinking a retelling since my ds isn't interested in Shakespeare) Also I'm thinking of at least excerpts from the following: (any other suggestions?) St. Augustine City of God Josepheus War of the Jews The Gallic War - Caesar The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Gibbon Early Church Fathers If you have suggestions for ancient Celts, ancient China, or early Christianity I'm :bigear: Reading level is inconsequential, but I would like to avoid graphic violence and sex.

When I first studied ancient history I was ten or eleven. I fell in love with everything about Ancient Greece. I still love Ancient Greece. At that opinionated early age I decided that I hated the Romans because their culture was just a ripoff of Greece's. :lol: And many years later, even after a full course in Greek and Roman humanities in college... I still kind of feel that way. Rome does not excite me. Well, we just wrapped up a very exciting in-depth immersion in everything Greek. My daughter fell for Greek mythology in a huge way (helped along by read-alouds of the Percy Jackson series) and has been reading everything she can get her hands on and pretending Greek gods and goddesses 24/7. Our front walk is decorated with chalk drawings of gorgons, and I've seen more block and Lego temples than I can count. It's gotten to the point that my husband has banned mythology discussions at the dinner table. Now we're supposed to move on to Rome. But she came back from a playdate with another SOTW kid saying "We listened to some of Rome in Catherine's car, and it was not what I was expecting. It's so violent. Romans loved killing." Soooo... we've got twelve chapters of Ancient Rome coming right up. Please inspire us. What do you like about Roman history and culture? What should we read? What projects would be fun for us? Can you convince me that Roman culture was not just a dumb violent appropriation of Greek culture? I am willing to discard my preconceptions if it will just make our summer with the Romans more enjoyable.