As we progress through this HS journey, I notice how much my avid readers loves stories. At the age of 7, her reading ability is much higher, but her 7-yr old sensibilities cringe at the typical paperback novel with little print and zero pictures. She read "The Lion,...Wardrobe" last year because I had an "artsy" version with big print and frequent illustrations. Now I'm spending SO MUCH TIME trying to find fiction about the Roman empire for her to delve into. Would it be, first, useful to others, and, second, possible for TOG, to add to the literature section of the webpages a list of EXTRA literature resources for all ages? Those with avid readers could go to that section and get books for the kids to read in their free time that would reinforce learning, and yet they don't know it's "doing school!"

If others like the idea, maybe we could make it a Groupee list where people add titles and comments, so the staff doesn't have more to do. But, just in case you've graduated to the point of eating bon-bons every afternoon, I thought I'd add to the to-do list.

Deanna

Hi Deanna! No bon-bons in my house yet!! I have suggested to TOG staff that a new forum section be added to each Yearplan section. The section would be for us to list alternate books, movies and resources that could be used during our TOG journeys. I think they liked the idea, but they are so busy right now that I don't think they can make that type of change to the forums at this time. It's a good idea, especially for those of us who don't really have time to get on the Loose threads forum on yahoo.

I do have a concern with this suggestion, ladies. Part of why people pay us is to SELECT resources. If we do this kind of thing, would not many (not all, but a significant number) feel "pressured" to include ALL suggestions offered?

LOL! Marcia knows us too well. *Ü*

That's a good thought. I know that I personally am headstrong enough to look at things and realize I can't do it all. I still do like the idea of having a place where we could make suggestions for alternate resources, especially movies that fit the time periods, but I certainly could continue to do well without such a place.

Tonight on another forum, I saw a post where someone was lamenting that for the Y2 Redesign, her library only had 13 of the 94 books listed on the primary resource list. I do not know which or how many levels she was including. Someone like that with limited financial resources and limited library availability might really benefit from a place where great alternates were posted. I would certainly hate for someone to feel pressured to choose more alternates simply because they were listed here, but it also seems that *not* to list them might not allow for a valuable resource for some as well. Just my .02.

Doing it all.... Marcia, agreed! If you list the resources then there a LOT of of folks (the 'ole me included) who will pull out their software and start organizing and trying to create the "perfect" plan - the one that incorporates every resource at EXACTLY the right point in time. You know - the plan that has everyone cramming ideas into their heads and reading books on every conceivable topic so that they never actually get away from "read" and move into "think and WRITE!!!" Yikes. Ooops. (Is my slip showing?????? ) Content vs. skill development - tough one, eh? One of the things that I LOVE about TOG is that it is constantly directing me toward IDEAS - NOT planning. And incremental skill-development rather than hunting down topics and people that we might have missed. What a LIBERTING experience!!!!! I love the left-hand page of the reading assignment chart VS the right-hand page. I know that it SOUNDS silly, but it has helped me to retain my focus. It helps me to think in terms of "enough!" Those left-hand resources are my we-have-done-an-excellent-job-here railroad tracks.

As a recovering curriculum-junkie I would like to offer some insight into my goofy past ways of thinking. I spent WAY too much time lining things up! WAY too much time. Once my kids had a general idea of the flow of history it has been SO easy to just toss books their way. When I find a gem, I offer it up. No planning. No organizing. No wondering if I'll forget to add it in later. I just offer it up. AND NO MORE WONDERING what horrible gaps they would have had in their LIVES if we had missed this WONDERFUL resource... I have FINALLY accepted the notion that we aren't going to read all of the wonderful books in the world. Bummer, huh? Sounds silly, eh? Like any other obsession in life it sounds DUMB when you actually confront it. But then you move into the place of enjoying how dumb it was and being able to actually LAUGH OUT LOUD at yourself because somewhere deep down in side you actually believed that it WAS possible to read all of the GOOD books. WHAT were you THINKING!!!!! There is something so VERY liberating in all of that honest and very self-deprecating confession of the nonsense that was going on in your head. AHHHH!!! Fresh Air! The folly just needed to be exposed to the light in order to be snuffed out!!! Now it is so very funny and humbling!

OK - having said that.... it is because I traveled that twisty, turning, stomach-churning road that I know how to teach. I am a MASTER at searching our public-libraries on-line database. I have a WEALTH of ideas at my finger tips. I know authors. I have beloved illustrators. I'm familiar with publishers. I know how to navigate Amazon well. AND I now how to USE my books to teach. One year I keep track of the number of pages of literature/history/etc that either I read to my son or he read on his own. That year I exposed him to over 27,000 pages of text! He likes reading. And I've learned how to teach from books. So the lists, the ideas, and the know-how are already out there. I didn't create this experience on my own. There are SO MANY terrific resources available to give parents a leg-up in exposing their kids to the world of books (Honey for a Child's Heart comes to mind.) AND MANY of those resources are about great literature that isn't specifically linked strongly to history topics. In fact it was valuable for me to step away from the chronological history-bus and think about them APART from time-period. And it's easy. Just start at the beginning of Honey for a Child's Heart and read them. No problem. No plannning. It is experiences like this that have made our lives richer AND it wasn't linked to "school" OR history.

I can understand how parents with poor libraries might be looking for specific history books to use if the suggested titles are not available, but if someone hasn't previewed them all then it IS just a list. And there are OODLES of those available. Unless they've been previewed by someone AND I know what their criteria/philosophy of education is, then the list is meaningless to me. Honestly? It's just easier to learn how to evaluate a resource on your own. Folks don't need a list for history; you've already provided the library call number.

As far as a literature list there are SO many of those already available. Christine Miller has 1,000 Good Books listed on her site. There are entire books like Honey for a Child's Heart that include descriptions of each and every book - excellent, wonderful, not-to-be missed titles that WOULD be missed with a chronological history approach. (Winnie the Pooh just doesn't fit ANYWHERE!!! And come on, do you really want to try to teach character foils to a high-schooler who never giggled as a child at Rabbit, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and the rest of the gang? ) My kids have enjoyed so many of the Sonlight titles when I am looking for some more tasty historical fiction. Why re-invent the wheel?

Honestly? It was worth my time to self-educate in choosing and USING children's literature. It has also helped to self-educate in HOW to study literature. It has given me a leg-up in offering mental bread-crumbs as I go through life with my kids. I can give them brief glimpses into what they will be doing later on as they grow into adult-level appreciation of literature and ideas. They don't even know that I dropped them OR that they picked them up, but they do nibble on them. Those mental pegs are there when we approach those ideas later on BECAUSE they have nibbled on those ideas SO many times without knowing what they were eating. When I finally tell them what they're noshing on they say, "Oh! I get it!" It is SO easy to hand out clue-phones when you have been laying the foundation for years. That only happens when *I* have self-educated.

There are SO many starting points out there already. It's not hard. I didn't need a better plan; I just needed to work my plan.

Peace,
Janice

Enjoy your little people
Enjoy your journey

Darn it, Janice! You zing-ed me again! I sometimes feel like you spy on me and then post on this here forum.

It's always amazing how eager we are to be enslaved to something. I'm always making lists and trying to line up everything "just so" and having it never work out and running myself around in circles, stressed and guilted. You should see all the language arts materials that I have piled up, with lists to help fit them all in just right! All the while I miss what God has plopped in my lap RIGHT NOW, because it doesn't fit MY PLAN. Who is in the driver's seat here?

Funny--when I married my dh, he would always tease me because anytime we went anywhere, I never knew where we were or where the car was. It had never been a problem before we got married. And I would tell him, "It's the luxury of not being in charge anymore. I'm just enjoying you, enjoying the moment. I don't HAVE to know where we are!"

Obviously I need to plan our days, but I could do a little more enjoying the ride.

I'm WAY off on a tangent! Now I'm off to find Pooh.

Peace--
Julie in AZ

Deanna,

I thought about my post this morning, and I realized that my response was kind of directed into space and didn't really address your question. I'm sorry!

Obviously a list or a Yahoo group would be helpful for ideas. If you aren't aware of these resources, I would like to offer them up. They were starting points that helped me A LOT.

First of all, I would HIGHLY recommend the book "Honey for a Child's Heart" if you don't already have it. It was well worth the money I spent on it. Like I said, I started at the beginning and just ordered the titles through my library system. My husband would read aloud to the children and once he even commented that I was picking such great books! I giggled and asked him if he had noticed that the author's last names were all in alphabetical order.

Honey for a Child's Heart
Gladys Hunt
ISBN: 0310242460
http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Childs-Heart-Gladys-Hunt/dp...id=1184590213&sr=8-1

Another VERY good choice:
Books Children Love
by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson
ISBN: 1581341989
http://www.amazon.com/Books-Children-Love-Childrens-Lit...id=1184590213&sr=8-1

These two are PRIMARILY fiction.

Christine Miller publishes a terrific resource called "All Through the Ages." It is a sorted list of history-related books. All she did was merge MANY other well-respected lists into one. It is sorted by time-period as well as by reading level. There is even a geography-sorted re-arrangement at the end of the book. An EXCELLENT resource. It really helped me to learn to navigate my library's web site because it connected me with so MANY keyword searches in our system that pushed me toward new titles that weren't available when the book was published.

All Through the Ages
Christine Miller
http://www.nothingnewpress.com/atta.shtml
I think Rainbow Resource Center and others carry it too.

Christine Miller also has a great non-history-related fiction list on her site. It's called 1000 Good Books and includes MANY out of print gems. We've found some winners here that I haven't found elsewhere:
http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/v2/index.php?page=440

And finally - don't forget the list of people and events (in the timeline section) of the "Yellow" TOG pages. Check with your librarian and learn how to navigate your library's system. There are SO many terrific picturebooks and middle-grade books on these people and events. If you learn how to do key-word searches with your library's system, your "extra reading" book-shelf will always be full. :-) We STILL use these books for bedtime reading even though I have kids in 7th and 9th grade. Sometimes it's the summary and the GREAT pictures that are found in a picturebook that truly CEMENT those ideas in my brain; the same holds true for my kids.

HAVE FUN! I have found the world of children's books to be a WONDERFUL place!

Peace,
Janice in NJ

Enjoy your little people
Enjoy your journey

Janice,

Thanks for your post. It is funny, but its path into space intersected my heart on its way out there, and gave me hope and inspiration.

I am sure I am not the only one.

All the Best,

Megan

Sorry, all these replies to my post have been popping up and I haven't even noticed!

My initial purpose in the list was to allow a place to suggest and ferret out "extra" reading on the side, for fun. I understand that suggesting alternate resources could be helpful in one aspect, but could take on a life of its own (and not in a good way) in another aspect.

Mainly, when I'm scouring the net, trying to find some Roman-era fiction for a 7yo who reads at a high level, but still has 7yo sensibilities ("Where are the pictures, Mom?"), I think that surely somebody else has done this before and would know of some books. I was mainly hoping for a place to post about "fun" books to read, not truly alternate resources. Most juvenile fiction that I've found is marketed towards fourth or fifth graders and up. She can read at that level, but doesn't like all the little print, and doesn't have the experience needed to understand some of the issues, etc., that authors can present to a child almost in middle school. What is out there that she can read, besides Magic Tree House?

Can we post about good books for our kids to read on their own that match with certain weeks of TOG?

And, I'll check out those resources, Janice. I assumed that those lists wouldn't include a lot of historical fiction for younger children. I'm about to give her an "artsy" copy of _Wind in the Willows_, which I'm sure is on many lists, and I'm hoping the interspersed pictures will motivate her. That book is more advanced that C.S. Lewis, but we'll give it a try now that she's a little older. Also, we have moles in our yard, and maybe that makes it more fun, too!

Keep the ideas coming,
Deanna