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Thank you -- I will add that to my religion curriculum. I appreciate you helping me.❤️

Hi, I can certainly discuss that. I guess I might ask you what it is you are busy with or what distracts you that takes away from things you wish you were spending time on? Do you have a routine of your own or is it a routine you built around others? What is it that fills your time that you wish didn't? I've got your question on the list for January 😊

Hi! I think if we get that far it will be because she wants to do something around math. Maybe I will go that course! But I certainly will have Morg take Calc 3 if she wants to! I'll be asking you for book suggestions before then 😊 I just ordered an old copy of the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) to see if that is something we want to try later on. What math are using for your kids?

I found she had done another just the same so I'm going to frame both lol

Do you know I had no idea those were older books! When they are 'repackaged' with a new cover, I can't even tell at the bookstore and I never bother to look at many my kid chooses!

Hi! Thanks for your comment -- I will certainly address those topics in the coming month. I just put them on the list! But I can answer pretty quickly here until then. Study Skills: I teach study skills organically right now. I think how we take notes and how and where we study is very personal, and the more a person figures out on their own method, the easier and more naturally those skills grow to work for the child. The PBLs make Morgan compile her own information and write her own notes. She sees me write notes and study. She sees me highlight and annotate book pages. I started her with a simple junk book -- she has one going all the time. It's simply to jot things down in no particular order, or to work out longer math problems or try writing a word she doesn't know, or make a list. It's entirely unorganised just as mine is. So instead of a note book, I call it a junk book. In the 4th grade I started her with her own planner. She made her own travellers notebook this year after she saw mine and she keeps herself current on her daily and weekly tasks. This will play heavily into later years when she will need a calendar or a way to see far ahead so she can mark how many pages a day she might need to read in each subject in order to stay current and not fall behind a certain tempo, or what she needs to do each day to complete a 10-page paper on time. We have a habit of being quiet in the house, especially in the morning, when everyone wakes up unrushed, has a coffee or tea and reads before the day begins. This is a HUGE thing to learn and carry into adulthood. In all my years I maybe rushed out of the house 4 or 5 times and that was because I was jet-lagged. So time management, junk notes, a planner, seeing me annotate, highlight, take notes myself, having Morgan write and keep track of her own notes for PBLs, and learning not to be rushed are all ways she is learning to keep herself sharp. A final thing on study skills that I think we never discuss is sleep. My whole life I believe I was successful because I rested. Morgan goes to bed at a decent hour and wakes up without an alarm or me waking her. She gets up when she gets up. The training comes in going to sleep early enough so that she wakes up in time to not be rushed in the morning and have a proper amount of sleep. Reviewing Work: We review work all the time through reading, discussion, narration, writing, and now through art with the Waldorf style of learning. She learns that if we are talking and she can't remember something, she knows where to find it, or that she wrote about it in her main lesson book and she can flip to it. I have been personally rather shocked by how much of what we learn comes up later - many months later-- in conversation, and it is Morgan reminding ME and bringing up past lessons. She integrates what she learns into everything else she knows. I think this may be one great benefit to not using multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank or word-search curriculum. We do have the quizzes for each chapter of SOTW history but we do those together and have a really fun time quizzing each other for fun like a friendly competition. My sister used to do this with me when I needed help with schoolwork. So I guess that is also a study skill. Science labs -- YES! Totally... a huge yes. We did a lot of kitchen labs last year but this year's science is geography and so our 'lab' is really about getting out and about. We did a bird's eye view of Morgan's room, of our farmstead, of our town. A lot of cartography, The science will be less lab-like this year but next year is botany and we will begin to create our formal lab in the shop. We will be able to do all our experiments out there through the years, bunsen burners, microscopes, the works. And botany will start in our garden. I'm a hobby farmer. Morgan has her own plot of land and she germinates all her vegetable seeds and some of her flowers. We can use those to begin our studies loosely over the summer and then get more serious about it with the main lessons in the 6th grade. Computer science and programming: These are probably the two subjects I am concerned about the least... next to spelling. I'm okay with Morgan not knowing how technology works. Unless she shows an interest in learning, it may never be on our list. BUT... I do have my eye on that electronics course My Practically Imperfect Life homeschool mom purchased for her son. It looks really interesting! My husband said he would be happy to take on that course with Morgan (and me as a student as well!) in HS. He is an amateur electronics guy, rebuilds old military radios and is a HAMM operator with his own set up. So we would be more interested in teaching the hardware side of technology than the software side. I will do a video on these things because you brought up some really good topics I haven't covered!!! I hope this explains well enough until then 😊

@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy Thankyou for such a detailed reply.Happy holidays

Thank you very much. I'm so glad you think so!

Thank you so much. It's a wonderful feeling to know other homeschool moms connect over the same things -- and with deep interests. I will continue to discuss what I read each month along with Morgan's books. That seems to be something of interest to many, less of a book tube channel style and more like a 'reading for planning purposes', but I also really do love most of the books I choose. Are you thinking about taking a course yourself or homeschooling yourself in a particular subject?

@ This last summer I loosely followed Build Your Library’s booklist for ninth grade for myself and I loved everything I picked up. I didn’t read everything she suggested and I didn’t complete any assignments but it was so fun to go back to reading for my own education.

@@tylrj93 What did you think of the Build Your Library line-up for a 9th grader? I think that is pretty neat you took it upon yourself to learn because of the enjoyment of learning for YOU. This House of Walls vlogger did that recently. I think it might have been from BYL as well? I’m looking at The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) for math, to learn it myself and then teach it to my daughter. I just learned after Zeta for Math U See, the tests are multiple choice. That may be a deal breaker. One of the mounting reasons I like Live Education is that the teacher must learn the material and then teach it and the child actually does all the experiments. They are not just read from a book. There is no ability to follow a pre-written curriculum. I’m waiting to get into physics which was always my fave science. Out of everything I’m dragging my feet over biology. I always found it boring. I never cared to remember stuff so I’m not looking forward-yet-to biology.

@ I really loved the level nine books I read. I picked her ninth grade because even though I really love everything history I had never really dove into prehistory let alone geology. I LOVED how she combined history with science, lots of geology and biology (which I agree is my least favorite of the sciences even though I have a nursing degree with basically boils down to a lot of biology). Everything really flowed together and I can see how you would build an entire year of school around prehistory/biology/geology. As for math I really need to look into a way to refresh my upper level math before my kids get there. My oldest is 7 so I have some time, but I have noticed that I’m even learning quite a few math tricks I never learned as we’re going through his second grade math book. I think math is a “use it or lose it” subject that I need to start using more of again!

@@tylrj93 I have stayed one set ahead of Morgan so far -- and it's the little tricks, as you mentioned, or the way in which the math is taught that I have to make sure I know at this stage. There have been a couple things that really blew me away -- and a couple A-Ha! moments, too! Math is accessible to homeschool kids. But I tell Morgan if I expect her to her learn it, I must re-learn it or learn anew myself. That seems very encouraging to her. If I make myself do it cheerfully, she can manage it, too. OMGosh, I just looked at BYL level nine pre-historic curriculum. There is a lot there! That lady is really quite interesting. I have to look into her background. She put a lot of thought into that program.

I just checked Libby and our library is a bit hit and mis with the Erin Hunter series. I've always wondered why they would have something like Book 3 and 7 of a series and not the rest. I do love our little library tho!

Hi! I've been putting a little bit of my own self-education into the videos and wasn't sure how that would be received but it seems a lot of moms are just as into self-education as educating their kids. What would you be interested in studying if you took a class? I will doing Epsilon alongside Morgan next semester and I'm looking at Beast Academy and their higher math, The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS). I plan to cover the syllabus-writing first thing when I start back up in Jan. Thanks for letting me know your interests for videos. Happy holidays!

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy I think many of us are drawn to homeschooling as an extension of our own educations. I have started The Well Educated Mind (Susan Wise Bauer) and would love to be part of a book club to discuss books with others. If I was going to take classes I would probably choose psychology, philosophy, linguistics or something in education. I have started to consider what I'll do in the next phase of my life after my daughter graduates. I retired from the Navy and never planned on being a homeschooler, but I've really enjoyed the experience so far. I don't know if I'll focus on topics that simply interest me, or pursue a degree that I can turn into a job.

@ I think philosophy is crazy hard… but I would totally love to study it. The problem is I feel like we have missed a lot by not giving women who might have been philosophers a voice. Philosophy misses a point of view I would like to hear. But a book club about philosophical books I could still totally do. The problem with book clubs is I never seem to want to read the same things the people in the club want to read! My husband and I swap books and that is quite fun. With the outlook you have you can do anything you like. People who are curious have an interesting way of discovering success and being engaged with what interests them.

You are most welcome! Thanks for watching ❤️

Thank you - you as well! ❤️

Aw I made your list -- Thanks so much! You have a great holiday ❤️

I have so many memories of Estes Park. I am pretty sure I nearly froze up there one year while camping in winter! Your memories might be better than mine lol! See ya next year!

I think lightly structured unschooling is a great way to put it. I think I do this a lot when we are not doing our core subjects. We are starting the pop-up bakery PBL tomorrow that I made for Morgan. I'm going to be even more hands off with that and she has the whole month up to Xmas to do that. I think of these things as low stakes/ high yield. I guess the real term is high input/low output.

@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy that is a really good way to think about it. Our 6 year old is neurodivergent and I see this style of learning really working for her- loads of autonomy to take charge of her own learning with the right amount of structure to scaffold the pieces that require more executive function- planning, organizing, staying on the intended question, etc. She is too young at the moment, but as she comes into her own as a reader I'm certain she'd love this and I'm inspired to learn more while she is young so I could create some of our own PBL style projects for her down the road.

Such a great question. The answer is: Immediately. Languages can be learned in conjunction with each other. Kids don't need to differentiate. We don't worry about teaching math with English. Kids can learn it all at the same time. Their minds don't solidify things into categories like an adult's does. I didnt start until I was 10 but all my friends already had at least 2 other languages by that age and spoke them all fluently. They learned with play-based games in their younger years. In my school, French was taught in conjunction with English starting as the child entered school. Both languages were a significant part of our daily curriculum. Overseas, a second language takes up 12-17% of the school day -- every day. Generally the people who tell you to wait are American and they don't speak multiple languages fluently. A dear friend of mine taught her daughter English, Spanish and Polish at the same time. And while her daughter was slower to begin speaking (she was mostly a quiet child until she was 2 years old) when she did start speaking she was not only rattling off ALL her languages but they were clearly separated by language and not mixed up at all. It was glorious to have experienced that first hand and see for myself. The key is just doing it, doing it every day, making it fun and -- in your own mind, have a real plan and goal to actually get them to fluency. Foreign languages are so easy for children. It's when we are adults that it is daunting. But your kid won't know that. Have fun!❤️ -- Also, consider learning along with your child and getting a tutor for YOURSELF as well! It will be fun!

I am glad my video helped. That is always so nice to hear. I try not to sway but just present info on both sides. Fix-It really was fun and easy to do every singe day as well as helpful. Grammar, spelling, and vocab seem to the elusive animals in our homeschool. I am reluctant to purchase three separate programs and I'm not even sure if they should be taught together either. Especially since we have a huge gap between them. My daughter is really up there in vocab but not in spelling. And we are okay with grammar.We won't win any awards or anything for diagraming a sentence but we are okay! So nothing seems to work for all three subjects when I wish we could find something to fit all three. I don't think I ever mentioned that we tried Word Roots in 4th grade and it was a total bust. We both hated it. Not the best learning method for us. It's all very subjective! I'm gonna say it's a lost cause and we are winging it this year without much direction. But I think our reading is really moving us along while we figure out curricula. Thanks for your comment. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Selecting non-fiction is completely different, isn't it? I'm looking at my developing list and not only is it all for 9th grade and above but they are books that would certainly bore the pants off a young kid or the text is too lengthy. The biographies I do have are the Little House series, the Diary of Anne Frank, Yondering (semi, non-fiction), Echoes of the Farm... and the other non-fiction is The Secret Life of Lobsters , How Live on Mars, Orion's essay collection titled Animals & People, The inner Life of Animals, The Secret Life of Trees, The Soul of an Octopus. These would be really good read-alouds. The one I want very badly is an original Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart Lake. It's a top fave and the only authorised biography. My father has an original copy and I was reading some of it aloud to him this last month and we talked and talked about the Earps and the frontier. My dad has always been a wild frontiersman himself in many ways. His father was a cowboy with nothing but a horse and a dog for many years. My dad taught me to use a shot gun at the age of 8 and I was fast drawing from a thigh holster a little after that! So the book is meaningful. But the list is very slow going. I think that is ok since everything a kid reads outside of fiction is non-fiction... all the math they do, the science, the history curriculum...

I started with fact review that I knew Morgan could already do really quickly and then built up from there... sort of like boiling a frog! But I will probably always keep the warm ups a solid grade below what my kid can do. Just as a fast thing she can get her mind into quickly and focus her. I do them, too. Maybe your kids will like it if they see you doing a page as well!

Hi! It is a bit different since I added Pepper & Pine's mental math. We are still on the plan I had for longterm right now... I have MUS Delta and Epsilon this year for 5th grade and Key To Fractions. I did add Key To Measurements to give us a break between fraction books. As for HS, I did this video to show difference in programs as well as encourage moms out there they really can get a kid to Calc with MUS if they chip away at it patiently with just the one page a day. However; I do vacillate between mapping a strong math path up through Calc II or doing Calc I by 12th grade. I mean to mention stuff like that and then the camera rolls and I miss things! This is something I can discuss next week in my Nov homeschool update. I usually shoot for planning well above where I think we may get in case we do need to get there. I am looking at the plan now and I do plan to do MUS Zeta, MUS Pre-Algebra and Key To Geometry. Live Education has some really interesting Geometry main lessons coming up for us in 6th grade. I like to map this stuff out because it is interesting to see how we slip around, fall back, leap forward. Maybe what I will do is keep the plan and then on the next page, write out per year what we actually did for an interesting compare and contrast.

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy Thanks for your response and sharing your thought process. Looking forward to hearing more in your homeschool update. Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!

You are welcome! I'm so glad it is helpful to you 😊

That truly means so much to me to hear my video helps, thank you for telling me. Do you watch Pepper&Pine's videos? She has a ton of info on building a Waldorf curriculum. She predominantly uses Live Education now but she has some earlier videos where she compares a couple others... one was Oak Meadow and the other was Waldorf Essentials. I'll be doing an update covering the Norse Mythology we are completing now. We enjoy it so much and it's crazy how much information we go over in one main lesson. It's just so FUN that it feels like we are cheating the learning process in some way! I have already decided we will continue on with Live Education next year. My biggest tip for myself to remember is that it really is a full learning package. We came into Waldorf late and so I had my curriculum already before I decided to try Waldorf. I was just so drawn to it. We are going slowly because we are new to it and we are still doing other unit studies but will stop that after this December break so we don't feel rushed. Have fun!

Oh gosh, this was my very first video I ever made! 😊 I have morphed a bit since that but here is my general philosophy on read alouds. First, there are certain books on my daughter's TBR that I would like her to physically read herself for the practice and advancement of reading. These are at or slightly above her reading level. The messaging is also at grade level and they can be easily discussed. There isn't a lot of guidance or assistance with literary comprehension required. It's just reading for practice and developing speed. So then, the read-alouds will be books well above my daughter's reading level and with challenging comprehension. Her comprehension is several grades higher than her reading ability. So the read-alouds allow Morgan to stay engaged and challenged at a higher level with new ideas, vocabulary she might otherwise struggle with visually and concepts/metaphors/messaging/undertones she needs help teasing out of the story. We pause and talk about the concepts together, debate a little, think about an ideas together. This is where the teaching kicks in. The books I choose for read aloud are just as fun for my daughter as the ones she is reading but she gets something deeper out of them. This keeps the reading frustration to a minimum and the advancement and enjoyment of reading (through listening) and understanding new ideas to a maximum. We always have 2 books going at the same time -- the books she is reading and the read aloud we are doing together. They are rarely attached to another curriculum and so we just read and read aloud what we want and chip away constantly at books. I hope this helps!!!

@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy That does help thank you! My daughter is 4 1/2 and enjoys me reading chapter books to her while she finishes up her dinner. I've often wonder what that will look like when she is older and can read herself, if it will make her more reliant on me to do the reading and make her more of a lazy reader because I'm reading to her so often. My parents never read chapter books to me, so I never knew what that felt like. But I see there will be a place for both, you explained that so beautifully. Thank you!

@@pa1attention I totally get that! I think of reading as two things -- the actual reading just to learn to read is just one. The other is consuming information and enjoying it. But kids can take in far more info than they are capable of actually reading themselves. So being read to as much as possible is so great for the mind and imagination and growth. You can work on comprehension with read alouds. And it's just plain FUN to be read to! My daughter told me a couple months ago that even when she is in high school she hopes I will still read to her or we can listen to books together. She can listen to books for much longer than I can actually read. I get tired after about 30 mins. So now I put the audio book on and we sit together and listen and pause the audio to make a point or ask a question or debate something and then move on again. We do this curled up with a cup of tea or while I'm driving with her in the truck. It's my experience that kids view reading different from read aloud so I don't think spending a lot of time reading to a child will make them want to read less themselves. The opposite might actually be true in that they learn how many amazing stories are out there and that may encourage them to read more themselves. But it's also why I make sure the books my daughter reads are books she WANTS to read and dont make her struggle. Struggling should be reserved for high school or college level reading. There are so many great books out there that if a kid doesn't like one, ditch it and get to one that is interesting to the reader! have fun 😊

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy I'm also currently doing a lot of oral storytelling with my 4 year old, we use a Waldorf style rhythm of homeschooling, I was excited to hear about your Waldorf Geography block you two did. 😁 My daughter's vocabulary and memory is quite high, and with staving off early academics, I'm started to get some pressure to 'teach those abc's'. 😌 I trust in the process though and will continue to read her rich stories and share little puppet plays with her and she loves to reenact. I'm very inspired by your teaching style! My mind is blown in how you organize all this in your head and plan it all out!

@@pa1attention In the early years, I think there is a lot to trusting that process you mention. On either side of grade school -- both in the very early years and then again in high school, there is this weird pressure to do certain things. These pressures are externally developed and then internally accepted. When I started homeschooling just last year, I threw the cuffs off and shut my ears. It's been the best thing I have ever done, to follow my kid rather than lead her. Guide her rather than push her. Waldorf is simply fantastic for us in that way. I can't believe the amount of information we go over in a main lesson -- and it is all fun and engaging and creative. And my style is still very different from traditional Waldorf but that's the beauty of homeschool. Also, try watching Simplify Homeschool's video on middle school: th-cam.com/video/GGWWIrrRlEY/w-d-xo.html They are a couple of sharp, quirky homeschool ladies who turned their knowledge into a business and their laid back approach to middle school may help put your mind at ease for the younger years. My daughter was a later reader than what we call average. I was a very late reader who STILL to this day struggles with spelling even though I have a minor in writing and my career required a high degree of writing skills. I am now an avid semi-speed reader. Barring a learning disability that requires attention, I am of the mind to use standardised progression only as a guide. I was pretty fearless about letting Morgan read her way and in her time with me as her guide to show her great books I knew she would love. We did a ton of read alouds last year because my kid had trouble with more than 2 pages at a time. That's the cool thing about homeschooling. We only have to do what is best for the kid, not what is best for other people's opinions. It can drive people crazy when you do your own thing... and then it WORKS 😊 Also, if you are doing Waldorf, do you watch Pepper&Pine's videos? She is fantastic. If you have questions about Waldorf, she is a great help.

Hi! Thanks! I'm glad you like them 😊

Aw, that is so nice! Thank you! I'm humbled you have subscribed. I always answer comments and have gotten to know several homeschool moms through my channel. If you have questions, please let me know. I also do a lot of videos suggested by viewers so input really generates what videos I do. Thanks for being here!

Thank you!

Thanks so much for the book suggestion -- I will look it up. I hadn't thought to read the list but I certainly can. I added the PDF of my current list in the video description. Can you enlarge that doc on your screen to make it of use to you? If not, and you want to hear the list, I will read it in an upcoming video. Here is the link to the PDF in case that helps: drive.google.com/file/d/1Qat-N6-YRrMhN57kdzSJZc9ZlwFN5nn2/view?usp=sharing

At the 4:54 mark of the video I am linking here from the TH-cam channel "The Simple Happy Life", Sabrina discusses using a spanish program she really likes. The link to the Spanish class is listed in her description details. Spanish is FAR easier to work with in the United States if that is where you are located. There are tons of programs. Many tutors on OutSchool look pretty fantastic, too. Here is the video link: th-cam.com/video/ypesnBWxDR0/w-d-xo.html For apps, the ones we used were Babbel (It was fine but their program is known to glitch and can be annoying to the learner), Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur... All will teach some Spanish but never get the child to practical conversational speaking. For that, a class is required. A 1-on-1 tutor is best and those can be found in a lot of places but make sure the paid course is reputable. Do some research before you put money on it. There are several online language schools that are a bit of a scam. Have fun!

My son is using Spanish Homeschool Curriculum with Sra Morato. It ia fantastic. It is incredibly well organized so the student knows exactly what to do each day. We are doing self paced and it is a fantastic combination of interesting videos, variety of cultural studies on Spanish speaking countries. There are online assignments as well as printed assignments. It is just an excellent program overall. I am so glad we happened upon it. My son isn't particularly excited to learn a foreign language but he has admitted it is a really good program.

@ thank you for that helpful comment!

I know of a lot of programs, you definitely don't need them all but look into them and compare. For elementary/middle school: - Homeschool Languages - Llamitas - Beautiful Mundo - Language Together - Carson Dellosa workbooks - Español en Vivo - Where'd You Learn That for middle/high school: - Carson Dellosa workbooks - Español en Vivo - Spanish Now! - Señora Gose - Avancemos There are also many online classes on outschool, WTMA, and other online course providers.

@ thank you for adding those. I’ve been looking at outschool for Arabic recently

Hi there! I think you mean in reference to current American politics. Well, publishers are a powerhouse, and while already-published books have been challenged or were challenged in our still-near past, it may be helpful to consider a few things. Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Cancer' is a great example. Already published some decades earlier in France in the 1930's (go figure, if you wanted to publish sex scenes, the French would oblige!), an American publisher distributed the book in 1960-61 and this ended in the Grover Press v. Gerstein Supreme Court ruling in favour of 'Tropic of Cancer' -- because it had "social value". Ironically, Gerstein was the States Attorney in Dade County, Florida. This is a state notorious for challenging books. But even if the case had gone in favour of Florida, the book was still in distribution in other countries. Keep in mind that these days, books that have been banned from public locations such as school and town libraries, are most certainly still for sale on the shelves of books stores. In fact, book banning in a way is quite good for the book itself. As soon as a book is banned, it gets a bump in sales! But you certainly would pay a bit more for it under a fancy new book cover brandishing some kind of blurb proudly advertising the fact it's a banned book -- and, oh, BTW, coming soon to Netflix or Hulu will be the adapted-for-television version! I don't mean to make light of book banning. It will always be here, sometimes more sometimes less depending on the temperament of Americans. But take heart, you can always get a copy from France through the mail! In all seriousness, I think it is worth mentioning WHY groups ban books and not movies or TV stations. It's easier because the challenge is just in one library or one district. They are literally "onesies and twosies", speaking for their area and affecting their area. This is what law is for. A book is challenged and someone challenges back. And while they seem to add up over time (remember the books are still available in bookstores), note that the power and wealth of Hollywood and the lightning speed with which TV stations can report to everyone that their free speech is threatened, no one bothers what they distribute. Sometimes I confess it would be nice if they were reigned in a bit! Awful to say, but it's sort of tongue in cheek because I have the option to turn off the TV. And in many cases, courts say the same thing. "Don't like the book? Then don't check it out of the library." But we don't really hear about repealed cases and we certainly never hear when the books are put back onto a library shelf. Challenging free speech is as important as free speech itself. It keeps us thinking about it and caring for it. It's the water that keeps the plant growing. I am collecting books now -- not just banned books -- so I can screen them and mark them up. I doubt I will regret telling you not to worry too much. If anything, buying them now means you get a nice, older copy from back in the days when the book was originally challenged. That is exciting to me. I like to buy originals if I can. But I, myself, don't worry about actually not being able to acquire a banned book. I know Margaret Atwood scares the heck out of us all with her words, but we are not there yet. And we will not get there if we teach banned books.

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy wow! thank you for taking the time to give me this history and perspective!! I really appreciate you...and I'm glad I could be walked back from the Margaret Atwood cliff! Also I just read a piece published in The Atlantic yesterday (titled: How the Ivy League Broke America), and I thought you would really like it. It was a fascinating article about the history of our meritocracy, how it isn't working, and changes that should be made (it even talked about high schools that are completely PBL based...which made me think of you). I attached the article in a comment last night but TH-cam took it down, so I thought I'd just mention it here without the link. Thanks again!!

@ I will look for it and read it. So weird that right now I am reading John Keats’ ‘The Sheepskin Psychosis’ that touches on this very subject. The book was printed in 1963. I’ll likely bring it up in my monthly update. And thanks again for the article suggestion

You bet. Wow, I’ll check out that book. Crazy timing and the fact that similar thoughts were being written over 50 years ago! Also just realized my response/last comment was on my wife’s laptop (under her YT account), so it looked like it came from a completely different person. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thank you! So glad you are here. If there is something you wish to have addressed, let me know. I tend to do a lot topics based off homeschool moms’ questions ☺️

I’m glad u found it, and thanks! I post the premier notification every Sunday so people know what is coming and the video is live every Monday at noon. U can turn on notifications if u like but I generally get overwhelmed by that feature if I turn it on.

What a great question. No matter what, Morgan reads 30-ish pages of actual book pages visually a day. These books are at or slightly above her reading level. Our read-alouds are several grades above her reading level but are at or slightly above her comprehension and vocab level. Morgan's comprehension and vocab are several grades higher than her reading level right now. I bridge this gap with tougher classics we listen to together. They don't count as the 'reading' but they do count towards her literature. In her own time, she listens to far more audiobooks I dont tend to mention on TH-cam since I don't count them as school -- all the fun junky stuff that kids want to read. So, essentially, she can listen to however much she wants but the reading still involves her sitting down with an actual book each day.

Thank you! I have to say, the colours make me happy. I struggled with thumbnails last year. Little by little I'm trying to be better and show better, also I'm more inclined to really show the process of things I do as opposed to flip-through discussions since I find I am generating more of my own curricula.

Thank you so much! It's a fun process. I love pulling resources and then going to the library to look at the books before I buy them.

Thank you!!!

Thank you so much! Oh gosh, I just saw your books for your 8th grader. We just read that -- please don't roll your eyes if you watch my last video where I reference S.E. Hinton as a man! My who life I never knew Hinton was a woman... Boy don't we make mistakes! I love your own line-up for curricula!

oh gosh, thank you 😊

I think that might be my next video this coming Monday! A few people are interested in the list. I’m developing one for non-fiction as well. The list will change over time but I want something to pick from as we go and I want to have a check list or a ‘completion of classics’ list so I always have a direction and guide.

Oh shoot! I make all kinds of strange mistakes, don’t I??? Thank u so much ☺️

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy dont we all!

I came here to say the same thing. I didn't learn this until I was teaching the book to middle schoolers as an adult!

@@carahins1674 It was the same for me and George Elliot. And in my video that is airing tomorrow, I talk about my S.E. Hinton error when I cover books! How many others, I wonder, don't know her? Apparently, her editor wanted her to hide her female names with initials so male reviewers would give her book about boys a fair shake. Now THIS is something I would have wanted to know as a girl and student! I learned it at the age of 52. At least my kid learned it at 10. But you know something? And I should have mentioned this in one of my videos: It may be a fantastic idea NOT to reveal it to anyone reading the novel and then spring it on them -- or let them discover it while researching for a paper -- that the author is a woman. Because the look on my daughter's face was worth my own mistake of not researching the author deeply beforehand. She really sat there and thought about it. A lot was going on in her head after I told her the Hinton truth. Thank you for commenting!

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy Oh, I think that is brilliant! The surprise is really something! Thanks so much for being in the space. As a homeschooling mother of four young girls (7 and under), your content is really inspiring!

I will do that soon! It will change over time but it’s nice to make a list and have it to refer to. I have 2 lists: the one I pull from and the list I am keeping to track the literature we have done. I am starting one for non-fiction but that will be far more in tune with Morgan’s preferences and can be weighted heavily towards her likes.

@ @ thank you so much, I am so looking forward to that! Would you mind also recommending some books for lower grades or what you’ve picked for read aloud to Morgan before she was homeschooled? I am really curious on what you did before 4th grade too.

@ that one sounds interesting. I’ll have to think about how to do that. I do have a couple good boxes of books we kept because we love them. Morg’s reading history before homeschool was spotty because reading was difficult for her. Let me think on it! 😊

I need to start keeping serious notes. I better dust off my Cornell note taking skills!

Thanks for clarifying. I couldn’t come up with the name when I was on camera!

No worries! I just happened to know that one! I love your book reviews. “There’s nothing in there for teenagers.” 😂 Perfect! I wrote down the Mitali Perkins novel for my daughter for next year too - we read Rickshaw Girl (also by Perkins) when she was in 1st or 2nd grade, and we both loved it, and my son and I enjoyed Bamboo People when he was in 5th/6th grade. Mitali Perkins is a fabulous author!

@ I don’t remember how I found Monsoon Summer but I am so glad I gave the book a try. It is so interesting and takes you out of your world. I should look up Rikshaw Girl.

Thank you so much! I’m so glad it is helpful. I’m really happy when I know any of my videos help other people or generate ideas. I’ll look up birds bees and kids. Thank u!

I had told Morgan yesterday I wish I had been homeschooled and she said matter-of-factly, "You are. Here with me." And that just struck me like a lighting bolt. She is right. And with math, we are in it together. If she gets to Calculus, I get to calculus. Not quitting is half the battle won. I'm just so determined to show Morgan it's ok to be average AND win. It's also pretty amazing how many moms before me, like you, took their kids back several steps and used MUS to move them forward. You know what's annoying is that this is probably a real common thing but none of us knew it when we were doing it.

@ Morgan is so right!!!! I love learning right along with my kids in every subject. I love what you said…it’s okay to be average and win. There is not much MUS content on TH-cam.

I just watched one of the videos and looked through a lesson and some of the tests. This looks really goos. I saved the website. Thank you mentioning this. Have you been using it? I don't think MUS will ever have us generating our own equations as much as this. This is super useful.

My kiddo is only a 1st grader, so I hope MasterMath is still available when we hit 6th grade. I’ve heard lots of good things about it and it’s free, kinda hard to beat!

@@rachelembree6175 it’s so well organized for something that is free. And with videos.

Thanks for watching!

Well, your note made my morning. I think it would be wonderful if all of us who connect because of this channel lived within a few square miles of each other. Then we could all have coffee and actually talk. I've found my videos are getting longer and a bit meandering. Perhaps I am getting bolder, but I am so interested in discussing home education in more depth than we really are allowed to ever have in person. This channel at least lets me find women doing or struggling with the same things and loving it all the while. I think it is so interesting you went all the way back to Alpha. At the time we switched to MUS, I felt like I was jumping off a cliff and hadn't checked for the parachute. What a risk it felt like starting with Beta and redoing everything. But then, I didn't understand the power of mastery and self-paced work. Strangely, for an adult, of course I understand it. I do it all the time. I don't know why I didn't equate it to Morgan as an option. I suppose in my defence, it only took me three months with Saxon 5/4 before we took a right turn and left it. But three months felt like an awfully long time. I admit that occasionally I feel slightly annoyed with my predecessors for there not already being a video on this kind of thing. But then, I also get annoyed there is so little information and so few studies on home education. Who are we? What do we look like? What happens to all the kids? How can a woman homeschool and work if she wanted to? There is only one video I have found that reasonably discusses a study on homeschool moms and their kids. I keep meaning to bring it up on a video. Here is the link if you haven't seen it. It's 11 years old: th-cam.com/video/AGp4KFLuQNc/w-d-xo.html Thank you for your comment and I wish you a wonderful school year. Let me know how you progress with math and if you make any changes or additions. I'd be very interested. All my best!

@@ThePattersonHomeschoolAcademy Oh yes! I have often wished for people to chat to close by, who are as passionate about homeschooling as me. :) Sometimes, when I find something interesting while researching, excitement just explodes out of me and I just need to tell someone about it - ha ha. Going back to Alpha was a huge leap of faith for me for my eldest son. But we were having so much struggle with memory work of basic maths (addition & subtraction) and the spiral programs were just brushing over everything so quickly, that I really thought we needed to. I often think of spiral programs as an inch deep but a mile wide. I found it really interesting when looking into our states curriculum requirements for maths, that they have the same approach as well, covering a lot of very broad concepts, very quickly. Thank you for your video recommendation, I haven’t watched it before, so I’ll check it out. I agree, a study on homeschooling and family dynamics would be interesting. I would love to see what the breakdown of hours between roles would be, for example: jobs of the home and outside of the home, homeschooling, research/planning, and home making. I’ll be interested to see the progress you make this year in maths too, there’s so much value in what you are sharing with us. Who knows maybe you’ve inspired me to share our homeschool journey on TH-cam. Chat soon and have a lovely year as well. :)

@@rowanmac I felt driven to start a channel because while every homeschool mom on TH-cam was and is doing a ton to share, no one's voice really matched my own and I was curious to see if there was anyone out there at all like me. And if there was, then they could have a channel to watch. You should absolutely consider it. At first it's arduous and awkward but very quickly gets to be part of a routine. I am trying to see if I can publish one video a week at the same time, noon on Mondays, for the whole school year, to make myself consistent. But I don't want to burn out so I will take maybe 3 weeks off for Christmas when people are usually too busy to watch anyway, and the whole summer off. I think homeschool moms on TH-cam get burned out doing too many videos and everything else in their lives. I really am interested in seeing if I can continue this all the way through to graduation because there is so little out there on the upper grades and virtually nothing of substance because so much is out schooled. That's not a bad thing, it just doesn't provide a lot of content for someone who might be seeking to keep the majority of studies at home and would like some help or ideas. But if I find I can't or don't want to vlog anymore, I'd like to find a way to keep in touch with some moms and have a community from which to draw and ask questions of. People I got to know along the way who think sort of like me. And looking ahead, while I am already outsourcing French, I keep a close eye on it and develop it and plan for it beyond just the course Morgan is taking. I also know, for instance I will outsource electronics in Morgan's senior year to my husband. He is a HAM radio guy with a little studio inside our farmstead's shop. He likes to rebuild radios so he is more than happy to teach an electronics course. So certainly things will change but I would like to still be there and create the course out of sheer interest like you -- and likely be a student right along with my kid. I just love the research, course building and then guiding a student. I can't read enough books! I've been training myself to speed read and practicing memory retention (always a challenge for me) and keeping books and books of notes. And everyday, I think about how it could be possible for a mother to teach her children and earn a living wage. I think it would be a dream if there was a degree program in college for it where a mother could somehow be paid for being a part of a strong future generation -- a fast degree later in life when a woman wants to have kids. It just seems like a whole bunch of smart women would be able to figure that out if we were joined in some way and not fractured all over the globe. Anyway... here's to dreaming! But we are living in a dream doing this I think. It's wonderful.

Hi! I got mine at Costco. I was shocked they had DK books like these. I. didnt think they may have been specific to a select made only by Costco, but if you look on the DK website, you can find several very similar books perhaps just repackaged a bit differently: here is a link to the page on their site that covers all things body/anatomy. Check around on the medical and fitness tabs as well. I just found a women's fitness book I would like from their site: www.dk.com/us/search/body%20literacy%20library/ I hope this helps! Oh, also, Barnes&Noble has really great oversized books on this stuff as well sometimes, usually in the front of the store or you can ask someone there.

iAlso curious, as could not locate this book or the Science of Fitness! Thanks!

U should be able to find something similar on that website. I think the DK company just packaged it differently for Costco. But when I search for something similar on Amazon from DK nothing comes up. So definitely checkout the actual DK website.

I'm so glad you liked it!!! I'm veering heavily towards some women's studies credits in HS... history for sure but economics as well as oration and articulation/diction/comportment. Not debate per se... negotiation in times of peace and conflict. Something like that.

That is so nice of you to say, thank you so much 😊😊😊