What are some living books you have used for earth and space science? Also, what science encyclopedia would you recommend for this age group? I am not interested in a boxed curriculum such Elemental Science, NOEO, etc. I want to put together my own but need some ideas and recommendations for living books and an encyclopedia to use as a spine. Edit to add...we are very conservative Christians. We will teach that some people believe in evolution but we teach young earth creationism. Thanks in advance.

Okay, I consider myself an eclectic homeschooler with a classical bent, but this year almost every piece of curricula I've chosen is CE. My problem is that it looks like SO much - how do you get it all done each day without burning yourself and the kids out? Do I have too much planned? If so, what would you let go of? Here's my 6th grade list: Writing: WWS1; Creative Writer 1; 5 Minute Daily Writing Practice (when in car or something) Spelling/Vocab: Word Roots Beginning Grammar: Analytical Grammar (1/3-1/2 book - DD is talking about wanting to go to public school in 8th grade, want this done by then!) Math: MM6, and some number sense books, math puzzle books, Danica McKellar math books (Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss my Math) Logic: Building Thinking Skills 2 Social Studies: What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know (great stories, poetry, history, etc.) Geography: Mapping the World with Art Reading: Various books (Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Hobbit, Hero and the Crown, Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, etc.) Science: She has science on Wed at the public alternative school we go to (only has class on Weds.), but will also do an Electricity Unit and Anatomy Art: Drawing from Right Side of Brain workbook and self-directed (fashion design, crafts, etc.) Whew! That seems like a ton, but can't see getting rid of any of it. Writing, Spelling, Grammar, and Math need to be done daily and with Wednesdays away at school, I just don't see how to do anything else, but I really want to. HELP! Thanks!

I'm looking at doing up my sixth grade plans as we normally switch over in April. What are y'alls plans or what are you doing or have you done? If we just continue on with what we have been doing it'll look like this - Reading & Literature – LCC history and literature suggestions Writing – WWS and or The Creative Writer Fine Arts – going to museums; biographies by Mike Venzia; creation of some sort, maybe felting? Math – Singapore 4A and B OR Life of Fred Fractions Science - Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid History, Geography, Government - SOTW 3 with Kingfisher; This Country of Ours Health - ? Physical Education – bunches of stuff Logic - Red Herrings 2 If I hit the Lotto then we'll add in Rosetta Stone Japanese because my daughter *really* wants to learn it.

I have decided that with our rather hit-or-miss approach over the years, that I need to buckle down a little, at least with ds, since he's officially of "middle school" age/grade in the fall - yikes! :ohmy: I've decided on the basics, and have narrowed history and science down to 2 options each. With history, I want to simply be able to read aloud once or twice a week, and let ds (and his sister) explore the rabbit trails. Science, well, you can see below. I would love and appreciate some feedback on this! Language Arts: Brave Writer Lifestyle, with some written history/science narrations as well. We'll be reading Grammar Land, and ds reads voraciously in his free time. Spelling: Natural Speller, Vocab: English from the Roots Up Math: LOF Fractions and Decimals & Percents once or twice a week, then Math Mammoth Blue series the rest of the time. History: Option 1: k12's Human Odyssey, volume 1 Option 2: start reading through OUP's World in Ancient Times Science: Option 1: Story of Science (Hakim) with the T&K Milestones in Science kit to make the hands-on easier Option 2: Science units based on books like The Way Things Work, The Way We Work, etc., gradually covering various fields of science. IF we go with this option, I may add The Story of Science as a supplement to history readings. Foreign Language: I am thinking Spanish would be best at this point, since we live in a heavily-Hispanic-populated area. Any recommendations for something good but NOT terribly expensive? Other: We listen to a lot of music of various genres, do a lot of art projects, garden, are trying to do Outdoor Hour Challenges, read a lot, etc., so I'm not concerned about extras. I also really want ds to have the time to continue exploring his own interests and passions. IF we do Logic, we'll use Stottlemerier, since I already own it.

The recent 5th grade and 7th grade threads made me want to do a 6th grade one. :D For 2011-2012, my 6th grader will be doing: Math: Singapore 4B/5A; Life of Fred Fractions; Life of Fred Decimals/Percents Writing: Finish Remedia Outlining book, then WWE 4 (I think--need to give placement test) Grammar: Grammar Town and Practice Town Latin: Latin for Children B/C (carryover from last year) Logic: Logic Countdown (carryover from last year), then Logic Liftoff Literature: Ancients reading list drawn from SOTW 1 activity guide and whatever else I come up with from the library; oral discussion per WTM on a few History: History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients (carryover from last year) Science: Singapore Interactive Science (old version--gonna give this a shot, and see what happens); labs at co-op (hopefully) Memory work: IEW's poetry memorization, level 2 (maybe 3 also) Music: choir, music theory, trombone at music co-op Ds is also in Scouts, youth group, and we may do canoeing class. He'll also get a couple more exploratory/enrichment things at our new co-op. Anyone else want to share?

Here's what I've chosen for our core curriculum for this year. Growing with Grammar 6 Winning with Writing 6 Wordly Wise 3000 6 Math U See Zeta Elemental Science Biology for the Logic stage (since that's the only logic stage available) History Odyssey Middle Ages level 2 Visual Link Spanish supplemented by Power-Glide which I found really cheap on Amazon The girls will be doing most of their work independently as I work full time. When I get home in the evening I can help with anything they've had trouble with and do experiments. Math U See is the only choice I'm carrying over from last year, everything else is new to us.