Average weekly time: Together (5), alone (10), total hours (15)
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 very interesting.
Like. I read it 1x or 2x per week at lunchtime to all the kids. Then I ask a question or two each. I like the narrative approach to the Bible.
Little Pilgrim’s Progress
Like. Love it! So exciting.
Like. So much better than Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (at least for the 5-10 age bracket).
My Path to Heaven
Neutral. It’s pretty boring. But then, it doesn’t take that long.
Like. It’s a bit dry. But worthwhile. He and Kid Dos did it together.
History/Biographies
Child’s History Of the World (2nd half)
Like. Love it! It tells so much about history.
Like. Third time around and it’s still a keeper.
Signature Bios: Teddy Roosevelt, GW Carver, Geronimo, Edith Cavell, Annie Oakley, JP Jones, Abe Lincoln, Pocahontas, Lafayette,FDR
Like. They’re all very interesting. All of them.
Like. He read these at his own pace.
Timeline
Neutral. It’s fun writing them, but it takes quite a while if you have a lot of stuff to do.
Neutral. I don’t know how much sticks, but we only do it every 3 weeks so it’s not much effort.
Geography/Cultures
SovietTrek
Neutral. How they can bike across Russia stood out to me.
Like. Good adventure story and decent geography.
Little Tiger
Dislike. It’s about an artist. It’s boring.
Neutral. I don’t think he got much from it.
Children of China
Dislike. Boring again.
Neutral. I don’t think he got much from this either, but I think it depends on the kid.
Water Buffalo
Like. Tells about his life and how he lives and hunts crabs and stuff.
Like. I was going to read it aloud but he did fine reading to himself.
Nature Study/Science
Pagoo
Neutral. Took a while but it was fun how he gets to share a shell.
Like. But I am so glad I didn’t read it aloud this time around. I hate reading it, and he did great reading it himself.
Wild Season
Like. I didn’t like it and then it was fun.
Like. He illustrated the narrations and they were the best illustrations ever.
Among the People
Like. Love it! It’s all about animals.
Like. We had fun laughing at the silly/naughty animals and morals.
Small Square: Woods, Coral Reef, Seashore
Dislike. Tells about animals in a boring way.
Neutral. I’m getting a little tired of reading them out loud and may switch to something else next year. They are starting to feel a bit Usborne-y.
Nature Journal
Neutral. We have to draw for 10 minutes (too long). But I like that you get to draw all kinds of different stuff.
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
Neutral. The bad thing was it took so long, and the good thing was it’s about her life.
Like. Long chapters but such a good read-aloud , and he probably wouldn’t have read it on his own.
Pinocchio
Neutral. He’s so disobedient and it’s funny. I feel like it’s bad for kids if they’re young it’s not doing the right example.
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.
Shakespeare
Dislike. It take so long and everyone falls in love.
Like. I did drawings for about the first half of each play so we could keep everyone straight.
American Tall Tales
Like. Love it! It’s so funny and it doesn’t make you believe anything. It just gets crazier and crazier.
Like. He enjoyed it.
People Could Fly
Like. Awesome. There are lots of ones about devils. I like John and the Devil’s Daughter.
Like. He was fine reading the dialect and really liked it.
Heroes
Dislike. Awful, just plain awful.
Neutral. This was challenging for him….not sure why.
Princess and Goblin
Dislike. Awful. It took so long and I had to read 3 chapters [per week] and it was so boring.
Like. He didn’t like it but I think it was worthwhile.
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Like. That was fun, that was great, that was awesome.
Like. He got into the Little House books this year.
Milly Molly Mandy
Like. It’s so fun.
Like. This was one of his first chapter books that he finished himself this year.
Poetry
Shakespeare Sonnets and Love Poems
Dislike. Just so boring.
Dislike. Not a success.
Ogden Nash
Dislike. I don’t remember it.
Neutral. Funny, but totally over kids’ heads.
Math
SU 3rd Grade
Dislike. Such hard stuff and tests.
Like. SU is so easy to use.
Ray’s Intellectual
Dislike. It took so long.
Like. 10 minutes about 3x/week and is good mental math.
Miquon
Neutral. Only the fun ones were good, which were barely any. I like evens and odds and stuff.
Like. Still good for him.
Writing
Pentime Handwriting
Dislike. I hate writing the long paragraphs with seven things in it.
Like. But he’s been getting away with spending 3 days on 2 pages and needs to work harder next year.
Reading
McGuffey 3rd
Dislike. There are lots of long ones and about really boring stuff like “The Rainbow.”
Like. Lol—boring but good practice reading aloud.
Foreign Language
Duolingo Norwegian, Chinese, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew
Like. You get to learn so much stuff and buy stuff with lingots.
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. I like that you draw all different kinds of animals and some were really hard, though.
Like. Not difficult.
Colored Pencil
Dislike. It’s so hard and I could get nothing lined up.
Like. He did some really good drawings.
Picture Study
Five In A Row (Children’s Books)
Like. I didn’t like Grandfather’s Journey though.
Like. I really enjoyed doing FIAR this year.
Music
Hoffman Academy Piano
Dislike. It takes forever and teaches such hard stuff. From Hot Cross Buns to Cuckoo.
Neutral. It’s free and is self-teaching. Kids Tres and Cuatro especially learned from it since they started from zero musical knowledge. I’d really like to get real music lessons next year.
Overall Evaluation:
Future Children? Make the stuff a bit easier. Don’t give them as much SU.
Maybe switch science read alouds for my sake. Limit time spent on Duo.
Next Year? Maybe a bit less or as much instead of more SU. It’s fun but only division. Give me more history books that are fun and don’t take too long.
Find a music teacher. Maybe switch to video drawing lessons for a bit. Follow up on lists and time management. I think I’ll go back to individual poetry and picture study.
charlottemasonmodern 