Average weekly time: Together (5), alone (15), total hours (20)
Rate each book (like, neutral, dislike).
Add a few comments (my comments are italicized).
Any changes for next child or next year?
Bible/Spiritual Reading
Egermeier’s
Like. It’s fun to hear and I really love the questions.
Like. I read it 1x or 2x per week at lunchtime to all the kids. Then each kid answers a question or two. I like the narrative approach to the Bible.
Little Pilgrim’s Progress
Like. Love. It’s interesting and fun.
Like. So much better than Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (at least for the 5-10 age bracket).
My Path to Heaven
Neutral. It was a bit boring but I liked looking at the illustrations.
Like. It’s a bit dry. But worthwhile. She and Kid Tres did it together.
History/Biographies
Builders of the Old World
Neutral. It wasn’t the most interesting book I’ve ever read.
Like. Worth reading, and a good level for her.
Medieval Days and Ways
Dislike. It was really boring and there was nothing about girls in it. None of my school books ever have anything about girls in it.
Like. Worth reading, and a good level for her.
Timeline
Neutral. It’s not my favorite thing but I very much enjoy doing it by myself now but it’s hard to pick things out to write.
Neutral. I don’t know how much sticks, but we only do it every 3 weeks so it’s not much effort.
Geography/Cultures
Explorer Biographies: Vikings, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Zheng He, Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, Pizarro, Raleigh, Hudson, Cook, AfricaTrek, Perry, Amundsen/Scott, Himalayas
Neutral. At first they were very interesting. Closer to the end they got a bit boring, and I got really tired of hearing about exploring America.
Like. This was a lot of reading for her. A biography every 2-3 weeks. She really grew into it, and her mapwork was very detailed and great.
Nature Study/Science
Human Body
Neutral. It was pretty interesting but didn’t teach me much about healing people like I hoped so I could be even with T—- [a friend] knowing how to heal with nature.
Like. I think she got more from this than Kid Uno did.
Building Book
Dislike. It took forever to read and was most of the time boring but now that I’m done it taught me a lot and in Newsies there is the Brooklyn Bridge and now I know all about it.
Like. This was her most challenging book—lots of pages every week and not the most interesting topic. She rose to the occasion.
Nature Journal
Neutral. Not my favorite, I don’t exactly like it too much but I don’t hate it either. It’s hard to draw.
Neutral. I’ve had a hard time getting any of the kids to put any effort into them. I may do more directed nature journals or do object lessons next year.
Literature
Heidi
Like. Loved. It was very interesting and fun.
Like. Long chapters but such a great read-aloud, and she might not have read it on her own.
Pinocchio
Neutral. I liked how it was a different version [than the Disney movie] but I kind of knew what was going to happen.
Neutral. I’m not sure why this has been so popular over time; seems like the moral is “go to school and be obedient.” Ours had some very funny translations.
Short Stories
Neutral. They seemed to take forever to read and I liked them better when you printed the out. The Lady and the Tiger was the best. I don’t like how they end in suspense.
Like. Some (like Irving’s) were over her head. Worthwhile.
Gilgamesh Trilogy
Neutral. They were so short—it was a bit disappointing.
Like. She liked them a lot.
Arabian Nights
Like. Loved! So interesting and fun. Love knowing all the Arabian names.
Like. Lots of reading, but she flew through it with extremely detailed narrations.
Treasure Island
Neutral. Wasn’t my favorite. Very thrilling and fun but not a single girl.
Like. A good classic.
Bullfinch
Neutral. I could hardly understand any of it cuz you started out with Kid Uno.
Like. It was a bit hard for Kid Dos because Kid Uno had been reading it for a year so Kid Dos started in the middle of Greek mythology. I’m glad to be done with the Greek/Roman section. The Norse bit was more interesting.
Incredible Journey
Neutral. Fun but not one of my favorites.
Neutral. I agree.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Neutral. Very interesting.
Like. A good one.
Iron Scepter
Like. Very interesting and fun and magical. I like magical books.
Like. She got the allegory parts.
Poetry
Shakespeare Sonnets and Love Poems
Neutral. Poetry isn’t my favorite thing—it doesn’t have a solid story to it.
Dislike. Not a success.
Ogden Nash
Neutral. Same reason.
Neutral. Funny, but totally over kids’ heads.
Math
SU 4th Grade
Dislike. It has given me a lot of knowledge about how to figure out my math problems but it is very boring and hard. The only thing I look forward to is getting a piece of candy or 15 minutes of math game.
Like. SU is so easy to use. She did great in ADAM this year (except for geometry).
Ray’s Intellectual
Dislike. Not very fun and very hard.
Like. 10 minutes about 3x/week and is good mental math.
Miquon
Dislike. Not very fun and it’s hard and I hardly ever get anything and sometimes you get mad at me during it.
Like. Still good for her. She should finish next year. I do get frustrated trying to explain it, especially if I’m hungry or it’s 5:30 pm and I want to be done with school for the day!
Writing
Pentime Handwriting
Neutral. Pretty boring but not as hard as math. I like writing about animals and after writing the very big paragraphs I like coloring it in.
Like. Her handwriting is excellent.
Grammar Rod and Staff 5
Neutral. Mostly dislike. Not fun. Challenging and hard.
Like. This has been tough for her with no formal grammar. We are taking it slowly. Some Mad Libs might help.
Reading
McGuffey 4th
Dislike. Boring. I cannot even understand the stories.
Like. Lol—boring but good practice reading aloud.
Foreign Language
Duolingo German, French, Spanish
Neutral. It gets very depressing because the other people cheat in XP.
Neutral. I think the kids spend a lot of time on the computer and I have no idea how much actual language learning is going on.
Art
Drawing Animals
Neutral. Boring. But I like playing a game where I’m an explorer drawing animals.
Like. She produced some great baby animal drawings. Quick and easy.
Picture Study
Five In A Row (Children’s Books)
Neutral. It’s not my favorite subject.
Like. I really enjoyed doing FIAR this year.
Music
Hoffman Academy Piano
Dislike. Hate him, he’s so boring, I had to start with Hot Cross Buns.
Neutral. It’s free and is self-teaching. Kids Uno and Dos found it too basic since they’ve had music lessons before. I’d really like to get real music lessons this year.
Overall Evaluation:
Future Kids? Not so many exploring books and biographies. Perhaps doing math 4 days a week. For the Building Book, I feel sorry for Kid Tres cuz he has to read so many pages. Maybe assign fewer pages or not do it at all.
If Kid Dos could handle all the reading this year, any child can 😊 It’s a big jump in reading from Year 3.
Next Year? Maybe add in a new subject or two like a fantasy book. I don’t want to have to read all exploring biographies again. Less math for me. More outside time in the summer. Making lists the way they were…I liked it better when you made me do stuff. No more Miquon. Maybe more fun poetry that’s easy to memorize. Make rock climbing school like fitness classes. More fun books like Heidi. Continue to do your read aloud.
I’ll probably plan her science around rock climbing. I will continue group read alouds. She could use some direction with lists and time management. If she finishes her handwriting, she will start typing. Add some spelling practice.
charlottemasonmodern 