Curriculum and the books on my shelf

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I am looking at my bookshelf and see books on Egypt I have not been able to use, books on Rome and Greece that have gone to waste and the list goes on. I buy books that look great but then never get around to using them and I am getting tired of it. We are using SOTW for dd and I was able to use some of my grammar age books on Egypt but not all. She did look at a few because I placed them in the book basket but mostly it was turning the pages and not reading. Same thing with ds, I have a ton of history books and historical readers but they are not getting used because using a curriculum puts time limits on a subject being studied. So, as I am looking at what to purchase for next year I am getting a thought...what if I take what we have on the shelf, organize them into the three stages within a time period and have the children just read through the books. There are historical fiction, biographies, and non fiction books. Activity guides and color books, plus more. In other words make 3 libraries (grammar stage, logic, and rhetoric) and organize each library: prehistory through today. Then let them read and make notebooks (narrations, drawings, map work and whatever else they want to add).

Would it be enough? Even for High School (ds does not plan on college, military bound, but if he did it would be just a normal state college nothing competitive to get in).

Probably this is being done by many here, but for me it was a light bulb moment. So tell me it is doable or tell me I am crazy.

 

Note: I plan to add to our home library as we go along incase one time period is lacking. Also our city Library is excellent.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I am looking at my bookshelf and see books on Egypt I have not been able to use, books on Rome and Greece that have gone to waste and the list goes on. I buy books that look great but then never get around to using them and I am getting tired of it. We are using SOTW for dd and I was able to use some of my grammar age books on Egypt but not all. She did look at a few because I placed them in the book basket but mostly it was turning the pages and not reading. Same thing with ds, I have a ton of history books and historical readers but they are not getting used because using a curriculum puts time limits on a subject being studied. So, as I am looking at what to purchase for next year I am getting a thought...what if I take what we have on the shelf, organize them into the three stages within a time period and have the children just read through the books. There are historical fiction, biographies, and non fiction books. Activity guides and color books, plus more. In other words make 3 libraries (grammar stage, logic, and rhetoric) and organize each library: prehistory through today. Then let them read and make notebooks (narrations, drawings, map work and whatever else they want to add).

Would it be enough? Even for High School (ds does not plan on college, military bound, but if he did it would be just a normal state college nothing competitive to get in).

Probably this is being done by many here, but for me it was a light bulb moment. So tell me it is doable or tell me I am crazy.

 

Note: I plan to add to our home library as we go along incase one time period is lacking. Also our city Library is excellent.

 

 

 

OMG! I was thinking this same thing for next year! I actually did organize my bookshelves by cycles. I think we'll listen to SOTW in the car, but just read what we have at home and not worry about the other activities. I have a beautiful set of maps, so I'll use those to talk about the geography of the history.

 

We'll still do a language arts program and math program, but other than that, I'm going to use what I already have for next year.

[AimeeM]

I want badly to do this as well. Unfortunately, I have a daughter who HATES writing, so I have the feeling keeping a notebook would be torture for her and she would then resist reading the books.

[MamaT]

Yes, that is mainly how we do school. Textbook type books are mainly just to fill in the gaps. I organized my library at home and made a list for every subject and every stage. I found that subjects I would never get to if I was following a curriculum plan were easy to cover this way - natural history, science history, art and music, worldview, government and economics at the middle school level, and the list goes on. I say go for it.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Yes, that is mainly how we do school. Textbook type books are mainly just to fill in the gaps. I organized my library at home and made a list for every subject and every stage. I found that subjects I would never get to if I was following a curriculum plan were easy to cover this way - natural history, science history, art and music, worldview, government and economics at the middle school level, and the list goes on. I say go for it.

Did you do this during High School also? Was it enough?

 

I guess if you really break it down, this is what SL does. They picked a sampling of books from a time period and added in a Non-fiction spine.

[love2read]

Before SOTW and other good books were published or reprinted, that's how most classical and charlotte mason homeschoolers educated their children. It works and we still use that approach on some level. The main problem that we had was the lack of accountability. Children who love to read will fly through book after book without thinking about the material on a deeper level.

Does anyone remember Kathryn Stout's Design-a-study from the early 90s that was called Guides to History Plus? We used that for a few years before I lost it and was swept up by the latest/greatest curriculum that wasn't. I never did use it for high school, so I can't speak to how deeply it went, but it was a handy go-along to pull a variety of books together. Maybe there is something similar available online now.

[Sugarfoot]

This is pretty much exactly what's going through my mind lately, too. We had our school room/play room/craft room re-done recently. I brought our "main" curriculum materials downstairs, but everything else was packed into boxes. I'm in the midst of unpacking now. I knew we had tons of great books in every subject that we'd never used, but wow, seeing them all come out of the boxes and back onto the shelves, well... My 16 y.o. was helping me unpack the other night, and he just kept sitting down with book after book and looking through them. Ugh. I loved it that he was looking at them, but I felt horrible that it was the first time! He's my child with severe dyslexia, so I feel like he missed so much "joyful" reading while we worked so hard just to read at all. I just want to start at one end of the shelves and read through them. If we don't like one after a few pages, we'll just move on to the next.

 

My oldest will likely have a career in filmmaking; in many ways, it feels like he already does. He's extremely visual and loves to hear things read aloud while he forms the "pictures" in his head. DD 13 is the same way, although she reads to herself quite a bit, as her dyslexia is much more mild and we caught it sooner.

 

Anyway, I hear you! I feel like I bought all of these great books, put them on our shelves in specific historic periods, scientific subjects, music or art areas, whatever. And then we never even looked at them. :glare:

 

I need to do something about that.

[NotAVampireLvr]

We have books organized by topic in our house. Stole the idea from my MIL. It will make things VERY handy next year for sure... especially with science since we are not using a curriculum.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Before SOTW and other good books were published or reprinted, that's how most classical and charlotte mason homeschoolers educated their children. It works and we still use that approach on some level. The main problem that we had was the lack of accountability. Children who love to read will fly through book after book without thinking about the material on a deeper level.

Does anyone remember Kathryn Stout's Design-a-study from the early 90s that was called Guides to History Plus? We used that for a few years before I lost it and was swept up by the latest/greatest curriculum that wasn't. I never did use it for high school, so I can't speak to how deeply it went, but it was a handy go-along to pull a variety of books together. Maybe there is something similar available online now.

 

Love Kathryn Stout books. I even recommended them somewhere on the forum. I am using her Natural Speller and Maximum Math and plan on using her Science. I have the History one in a box but didn't think of it for this...it would be perfect.

 

I think if the child was held accountable for the material read....brief narration or even a list of things learned during the week, plus map work and other notebooking activities it would help them see the big picture.

[woolybear]

hmmm....I really like this idea, but ds is into tests and such, so I am finding it easier to buy new books that have tests already created to go with them. I don't want to overwhelm him with books to read, but I agree....we have so many wonderful books here. Unless I am reading them aloud to the dc, they often don't get read at all, or just flipped through.....still thinking.

[Carol in Cal.]

I did something similar. I organized our books by volume of SOTW, and encouraged wide reading in the areas that we were currently studying.

 

You're not buying all the books in the AG, are you? The most I ever bought was 1-2 from each section. I would look through the descriptions and pick the ones that I thought were best for us, and limit myself to no more than one or two. And we did find a few duds that way--a very Catholic book about the Reformation that was just inaccurate, and a book relating the Puritans with the English pre-Restoration and Restoration periods that I found fascinating but that was over DD's head, and a book about ancient queens that flatly stated that the Biblical story of Esther is untrue. Other than those, though, the AG recc's were superb, and we developed a library that I just love that way. However, DD did not necessarily read every single book in it right then--some of them she came back to later, and some she never did read.

 

There is no reason to feel that books are a waste of money just because you didn't end up using them as you intended. If they are good, sooner or later you will probably use them for something.

 

I don't think that this would be adequate for high school, though.

[Rockhopper]

Well, I'm not a WTMer or Classical model homeschooler -- so I personally wouldn't feel bound at all to separate books according (to my mind) arbitrary stages.

 

So often a great picture book has information useful/appealing/helpful to an older student, and sometimes a younger student wants to pursue an area of interest by reading a more in-depth treatment of the subject.

 

I much prefer having books just sorted by general topic to encourage reading "outside the stage."

 

But other than that, yep -- I think it's a great idea!

[MamaT]

Did you do this during High School also? Was it enough?

 

Yes. It was more than enough! If you look at classical-homeschooling.org and read what she has to say about using real books at the rhetoric level, along with some note booking WTM style, it provided a great high school experience for my high schoolers. My senior has been offered 2 scholarships so far, so for me, it has been a success.

[Jenny in Florida]

Would it be enough? Even for High School (ds does not plan on college, military bound, but if he did it would be just a normal state college nothing competitive to get in).

Probably this is being done by many here, but for me it was a light bulb moment. So tell me it is doable or tell me I am crazy.

 

That's pretty much how I've done things for years.

 

Each year, I decide what historical period we'll be studying. First, I look at our own shelves and see what I've got that covers that period. I make notes about any holes I see. Then, I look over any lists I can find and do my own research and come up with a list of book titles I think would be good possibilities.

 

My next stops are PaperbackSwap and BookMooch, where I order anything on my lists that is currently available. I put anything I really want that isn't available at the moment on my wish lists and then wait to see what I can gather before my I-really-need-to-start-planning-now deadline.

 

I also check the library to see if they have copies of things I can't snag from the swap sites and make myself notes.

 

When it's really, really time to start making plans and setting goals, I decide whether the things I haven't been able to request are really necessary. Can we get it from the library when we need it? Is there an acceptable substitute I can get from a swap site or the library?

 

If the answers to those questions are all no, and I really, really have my heart set on a particular book, I go ahead and buy it.

 

Then, I stack up whatever materials I've scrounged, put them in chronological order, and start figuring out how I will assign them during the year.

 

I've never purchased a curriculum for history but have always made my own.

 

Did you do this during High School also? Was it enough?

 

 

 

That's how my daughter did history until she left for college. And my son is doing ninth grade this year on an even looser plan.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I did something similar. I organized our books by volume of SOTW, and encouraged wide reading in the areas that we were currently studying.

 

You're not buying all the books in the AG, are you? The most I ever bought was 1-2 from each section. I would look through the descriptions and pick the ones that I thought were best for us, and limit myself to no more than one or two. And we did find a few duds that way--a very Catholic book about the Reformation that was just inaccurate, and a book relating the Puritans with the English pre-Restoration and Restoration periods that I found fascinating but that was over DD's head, and a book about ancient queens that flatly stated that the Biblical story of Esther is untrue. Other than those, though, the AG recc's were superb, and we developed a library that I just love that way. However, DD did not necessarily read every single book in it right then--some of them she came back to later, and some she never did read.

 

There is no reason to feel that books are a waste of money just because you didn't end up using them as you intended. If they are good, sooner or later you will probably use them for something.

 

I don't think that this would be adequate for high school, though.

It is not a matter of trying to purchase all the books mentioned in SOTW Activity guide. I have purchased, over the years, many, many books from used book sales...a lot of old (some out of print) books as well as new ones. I have a huge collection of SL readers (and read alouds) from 10 different cores, as well as WP and few other lists.

It is the pick a few and let the others just sit on the shelf that is bothering me. It is wasteful. I have books that have been on my self for many years and because I am pressed for time to get a curriculum done the books don't get read again and again. There has to be a way to use them all over the years. i think taking my idea and applying it to Katheryn Stouts History guide will make it all work, add in the notebooking work and I have a history curriculum that will take us through High School.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Yes. It was more than enough! If you look at classical-homeschooling.org and read what she has to say about using real books at the rhetoric level, along with some note booking WTM style, it provided a great high school experience for my high schoolers. My senior has been offered 2 scholarships so far, so for me, it has been a success.

Thank you, this helps relieve some of the jitters I have about this plan.

[momto2Cs]

I am looking at my bookshelf and see books on Egypt I have not been able to use, books on Rome and Greece that have gone to waste and the list goes on. I buy books that look great but then never get around to using them and I am getting tired of it.

Would it be enough? Even for High School (ds does not plan on college, military bound, but if he did it would be just a normal state college nothing competitive to get in).

Probably this is being done by many here, but for me it was a light bulb moment. So tell me it is doable or tell me I am crazy.

 

Note: I plan to add to our home library as we go along incase one time period is lacking. Also our city Library is excellent.

 

I think it is totally doable. This is exactly what I am thinking of too - I own so many resources already, why buy more? For example, I own volumes 1 and 2 of BFSU - all I need for science are supplementary books/videos (library, so no cost there) and minimal supplies for hands-on. For history, there are so many great books that I already own, and so many available through the library, that I don't need to buy more.

 

Hmmm, you've got me wondering how cheaply I can get through next year!

[ereks mom]

I am looking at my bookshelf and see books on Egypt I have not been able to use, books on Rome and Greece that have gone to waste and the list goes on. I buy books that look great but then never get around to using them and I am getting tired of it. ...I have a ton of history books and historical readers but they are not getting used because using a curriculum puts time limits on a subject being studied. So, as I am looking at what to purchase for next year I am getting a thought...what if I take what we have on the shelf, organize them into the three stages within a time period and have the children just read through the books. There are historical fiction, biographies, and non fiction books. Activity guides and color books, plus more. In other words make 3 libraries (grammar stage, logic, and rhetoric) and organize each library: prehistory through today. Then let them read and make notebooks (narrations, drawings, map work and whatever else they want to add).

...So tell me it is doable or tell me I am crazy.

 

 

I have always wanted to do something like this. This is kind of how I envision Sonlight working, although I've never used it.

 

I think if the child was held accountable for the material read....brief narration or even a list of things learned during the week, plus map work and other notebooking activities it would help them see the big picture.

 

:iagree:

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

That's pretty much how I've done things for years.

 

Each year, I decide what historical period we'll be studying. First, I look at our own shelves and see what I've got that covers that period. I make notes about any holes I see. Then, I look over any lists I can find and do my own research and come up with a list of book titles I think would be good possibilities.

 

My next stops are PaperbackSwap and BookMooch, where I order anything on my lists that is currently available. I put anything I really want that isn't available at the moment on my wish lists and then wait to see what I can gather before my I-really-need-to-start-planning-now deadline.

 

I also check the library to see if they have copies of things I can't snag from the swap sites and make myself notes.

 

When it's really, really time to start making plans and setting goals, I decide whether the things I haven't been able to request are really necessary. Can we get it from the library when we need it? Is there an acceptable substitute I can get from a swap site or the library?

 

If the answers to those questions are all no, and I really, really have my heart set on a particular book, I go ahead and buy it.

 

Then, I stack up whatever materials I've scrounged, put them in chronological order, and start figuring out how I will assign them during the year.

 

I've never purchased a curriculum for history but have always made my own.

 

 

 

That's how my daughter did history until she left for college. And my son is doing ninth grade this year on an even looser plan.

Thank you. Your post and Mama T's post is giving me the OK to do this, knowing you both did it for High School and it worked.

 

Did you have your HS children do anything with what they read (narration, notebooks)?

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I think it is totally doable. This is exactly what I am thinking of too - I own so many resources already, why buy more? For example, I own volumes 1 and 2 of BFSU - all I need for science are supplementary books/videos (library, so no cost there) and minimal supplies for hands-on. For history, there are so many great books that I already own, and so many available through the library, that I don't need to buy more.

 

Hmmm, you've got me wondering how cheaply I can get through next year!

This is what is starting to sink in too.

[elegantlion]

I don't even have all my books here, some are in storage, and I felt the same way recently. I wrote myself a note to not purchase any more history books except for the modern period. I've also collected a lot at thrift stores, clearance tables, etc.

 

I do own Spielvogel's Western Civ and Human Odyssey to use as a spine but otherwise I'm trying to use what I already own.

[woolybear]

Love Kathryn Stout books. I even recommended them somewhere on the forum. I am using her Natural Speller and Maximum Math and plan on using her Science. I have the History one in a box but didn't think of it for this...it would be perfect.

 

I think if the child was held accountable for the material read....brief narration or even a list of things learned during the week, plus map work and other notebooking activities it would help them see the big picture.

 

Ah. I think this is a key point, both for ds and myself. He wants tests to see where he stands with things. I think maybe it is the being held accountable aspect as well. The notebooking, etc. can stand in for this. (With grades, as per his request.)

 

I definitely have ancients, middle ages and American history covered. We also have plenty of literature, science, and bits and pieces of lots more. Yup, you've got me thinking about working these resources in better.

[MamaT]

Thank you. Your post and Mama T's post is giving me the OK to do this, knowing you both did it for High School and it worked.

 

Did you have your HS children do anything with what they read (narration, notebooks)?

 

Yes, that's why I mentioned the article called "on the use of living books" on the classical-homeschooling.org website. We used a modified version of that for my children's notebooks in high school.

[Carol in Cal.]

It is not a matter of trying to purchase all the books mentioned in SOTW Activity guide. I have purchased, over the years, many, many books from used book sales...a lot of old (some out of print) books as well as new ones. I have a huge collection of SL readers (and read alouds) from 10 different cores, as well as WP and few other lists.

It is the pick a few and let the others just sit on the shelf that is bothering me. It is wasteful. I have books that have been on my self for many years and because I am pressed for time to get a curriculum done the books don't get read again and again. There has to be a way to use them all over the years. i think taking my idea and applying it to Katheryn Stouts History guide will make it all work, add in the notebooking work and I have a history curriculum that will take us through High School.

 

But are they all worthy books? Some books are just not worth the time to read them. I have a lot of books too, and I just am fine with the idea that some of them may never be read in our family and eventually given away. That, to me, is one of the nice things about garage saleing--you can grab some stuff that might turn out to be crucial, or might not be helpful at all. It's hard to know what is really going to catch your children's attention. I think that your organization idea is great, but just be ready that it doesn't necessarily mean that you will finally use ALL those books, or even that you should.

[Mommyfaithe]

I want badly to do this as well. Unfortunately, I have a daughter who HATES writing, so I have the feeling keeping a notebook would be torture for her and she would then resist reading the books.

 

Well...she doesn't HAVE to write her notebook....she can cut out pictures, draw, map, scrapbook....maybe add in captions of copy work or a dictation...a poem....etc. Notebooks do not have to be boring...summaries and outlines...they can be creative outlets that show what they have learned.

Faithe

 

Eta: We have always done history and to some degree science using living books through High School. My kids did notebook...my wordy ones using words, my artsy ones using artsy pages and my just the facts guys using outlines, lists or narrations which were short and factual. The graduated ones have all done well in college and have a better grasp on history than most of their peers.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Mommyfaithe

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

After reading all the responses, I looked though things I have that will help me get this implemented. I found the History Guide from Kathryn Stout and History Scribe CD (another thing I bought and forgot about). I then took these and my idea to hubby. He said it sounded good so do it. I didn't even get to use the speech I had planned to argue my points. Soon as I laid it out he said it made sense to him.

 

Thanks all for the responses.:001_smile:

[1Togo]

Here are few resources that would help tie this together:

 

Historical Essay Questions - Westvon Publishing

MapTrek - MapQuest

Timeframe Timeline - Excellence in Literature

Novel Activity - Ultimate Timeline Guide - Geography Matters

Edited January 24, 2012 by 1Togo

[1Togo]

I posted on the high school board, but will add it on to this thread since it pertains to studying history using notebooks. For those of you who have done this at the high school level, how do you assign a grade if you are not using typical textbooks and tests? MFW AHL assigns a history grade by points; i.e. 100 points total with 25 points for maps, 30 points for essays, 20 points for timeline book, etc. Do you use a point system like MFW or rubrics that are included in the notebook ?

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Here are few resources that would help tie this together:

 

Historical Essay Questions - Westvon Publishing

MapTrek - MapQuest

Timeframe Timeline - Excellence in Literaure

Novel Activity - Ultimate Timeline Guide - Geography Matters

Thanks for the info. I do have the Ultimate Time Line Book , might look at that again.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Spent the last few hours with my kitchen table covered with the Ancient History books from my shelves. I have Mystery of History Vol. 1 that I am using as a jumping point. Had this for many , many years but never used it. This is going to work, I can see it coming together. Goodie!

[momto2Cs]

Spent the last few hours with my kitchen table covered with the Ancient History books from my shelves. I have Mystery of History Vol. 1 that I am using as a jumping point. Had this for many , many years but never used it. This is going to work, I can see it coming together. Goodie!

 

I was doing the same thing! I have Gombrich's A Little History of the World that I can use as a spine, and then add in all the great fiction, Eyewitness books, etc., that I have been collecting over the years, and then there are all the additional books, and videos, that I can get through our library. Like you with MOH, I have had the Little History book for years without really using it, so this is exciting! I'll have to buy barely anything in the fall, which is great because it means I can take some of the money I would normally spend on history, etc., and buy a few fun things. Maybe I will finally get the Milestones in Science kit this year!

[Jenny in Florida]

Did you have your HS children do anything with what they read (narration, notebooks)?

 

Ooops, I forgot to answer this.

 

Yes, my kids have to come up with some kind of "output." My daughter was supposed to write a context page (as described in TWTM) for each "primary source" she read. At the end of each unit, she had to do some kind of project. She had the choice of writing a paper or something else that we agreed upon.

 

I'm doing things a lot more loosely with my son, for a variety of reasons. He's much more in charge of his studies for history. Every few weeks, we agree on what place or time or person or event he'll study next. When he's "done" with that study, he owes me a project of some kind. Thus far this year, he's written a couple of essays and done a couple of craft projects. He chose to do an oral report for his most recent segment, but we haven't had the time to sit down and hear it. For the next unit, he wants to build a model of one of da Vinci's inventions.

[woolybear]

I was doing the same thing! I have Gombrich's A Little History of the World that I can use as a spine, and then add in all the great fiction, Eyewitness books, etc., that I have been collecting over the years, and then there are all the additional books, and videos, that I can get through our library. Like you with MOH, I have had the Little History book for years without really using it, so this is exciting! I'll have to buy barely anything in the fall, which is great because it means I can take some of the money I would normally spend on history, etc., and buy a few fun things. Maybe I will finally get the Milestones in Science kit this year!

 

 

OT but I picked up the Milestone in Science kit at our consignment store. I spent $8 on it and I'm glad I didn't spend more. I am not overly impressed with it. The quality is cheap. (Lots of cardboard punch out pieces.) The explanations on how to do the experiments are long and not always clear. To be fair, I didn't give this a huge chance, but this was our experience the couple of times we pulled it out.

[momto2Cs]

OT but I picked up the Milestone in Science kit at our consignment store. I spent $8 on it and I'm glad I didn't spend more. I am not overly impressed with it. The quality is cheap. (Lots of cardboard punch out pieces.) The explanations on how to do the experiments are long and not always clear. To be fair, I didn't give this a huge chance, but this was our experience the couple of times we pulled it out.

 

Thanks. Maybe I'll just stick with looking up experiments and matching them up with scientists we learn about. :glare:

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I was doing the same thing! I have Gombrich's A Little History of the World that I can use as a spine, and then add in all the great fiction, Eyewitness books, etc., that I have been collecting over the years, and then there are all the additional books, and videos, that I can get through our library. Like you with MOH, I have had the Little History book for years without really using it, so this is exciting! I'll have to buy barely anything in the fall, which is great because it means I can take some of the money I would normally spend on history, etc., and buy a few fun things. Maybe I will finally get the Milestones in Science kit this year!

:thumbup:

My homeschool account is growing not diminishing like it does at this time of year. There are a few kits I have had my eye on for ds but they were too price. Now with this plan, I so far need nothing for the Ancient study. The only thing I need to buy for ds next school year is his English and vocabulary (about $100). I have his math, Latin, and Biology already on my shelf. This is a far cry from the original ($800) I told hubby I needed for my ds. Naturally he thinks this is the best plan I have had so far, even asked why I didn't think of it earlier:glare:.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Ooops, I forgot to answer this.

 

Yes, my kids have to come up with some kind of "output." My daughter was supposed to write a context page (as described in TWTM) for each "primary source" she read. At the end of each unit, she had to do some kind of project. She had the choice of writing a paper or something else that we agreed upon.

 

I'm doing things a lot more loosely with my son, for a variety of reasons. He's much more in charge of his studies for history. Every few weeks, we agree on what place or time or person or event he'll study next. When he's "done" with that study, he owes me a project of some kind. Thus far this year, he's written a couple of essays and done a couple of craft projects. He chose to do an oral report for his most recent segment, but we haven't had the time to sit down and hear it. For the next unit, he wants to build a model of one of da Vinci's inventions.

Great idea with the ds Vinci project.

 

Thanks for the info.

[momto2Cs]

:thumbup:

My homeschool account is growing not diminishing like it does at this time of year. There are a few kits I have had my eye on for ds but they were too price. Now with this plan, I so far need nothing for the Ancient study. The only thing I need to buy for ds next school year is his English and vocabulary (about $100). I have his math, Latin, and Biology already on my shelf. This is a far cry from the original ($800) I told hubby I needed for my ds. Naturally he thinks this is the best plan I have had so far, even asked why I didn't think of it earlier:glare:.

 

Well, geez, why didn't you have this plan earlier? ;) Mine's feeling the same way. He's asking "Why do you buy all that when you already have all this?" Now I am just looking at grammar and a couple of LOF books before fall. Maybe a different Latin program.. we'll see.