One of the biggest things I want to improve for school next year is an increase in the number of books we read, particularly books related to the time period we’re studying in history.

Next year, we’ll be studying The Mystery of History, Volume 2: The Early Church and The Middle Ages — which spans, roughly 30 AD to 1450 AD. (Or EC or whatever the toodles it is now.) My kids will be ages 11, 8 and 5 and I want to find books that they can read and look at on their own, read together, and have read to them. I want living history type books that add to our history story, while expanding our knowledge and appreciation of literature.

I have a tendency to want things pretty specific and just so.. HEY.. I know what I want. ;0)

So I’ve scanned the table of contents, I’ve googled and found a few other book lists, I’ve searched Amazon, and I’ve made my own list of books to buy/borrow for the school year. Here’s it is:

That’s a ton of books!! Obviously we’ll try to find as many as we can at the library, or used book stores. I’ve included plenty of options because we may not be able to find some of them locally and I don’t want to buy them all. The ones with asterisks are the ones I’d really like to own.

Other Resources:

I’ll up date with additional resources as I come across them.

Roman History – History for Kids
Middle Ages for Kids
The Vikings – History for Kids
Medieval Russia – History for Kids
All About King Arthur
The World of the Samurai

Also, here’s a link to our coordinating book list for geography.

This week’s freebie at Currclick: A root and compound word unit, 14 pages, based on the Dick and Jane reader, Friends Old and New. It doesn’t say what age or grade but I’d say it’s good for 1st and 2nd graders, depending on your child’s reading level. Click on the image below to get it free!

See everything by this publisher here.

Adjectives — easy peasy, right? I mean, we’re not even talking dangling participles here, we’re just talking about basic grammar. Adjectives describe nouns — how hard can this be?

I don’t consider myself a grammar whiz, but I do consider my grammar to be at least above average (when I choose to use it, I choose to ignore it quite frequently, but that’s beside the point.) The point is, that my daughter’s 6th grade grammar workbook has really been making me feel grammar illiterate lately! I graded her worksheet yesterday and as I was marking the ones she missed I was thinking, “Even I wouldn’t have gotten that one!”

So the question is.. “Are you smarter than a 6th grade grammar assignment?” Grab a pen and see for yourself.

For the following sentences, write down on a piece of paper the adjective and the noun it describes. For example:

The lonely man sat in the dilapidated house.

In the above sentence, the adjective ‘lonely’ describes the noun ‘man’ and the adjective ‘dilapidated’ describes the noun ‘house.’

1. My rambunctious puppy knocked over the valuable flower vase.
2. His grades showed his tremendous effort.
3. There are many purple flowers in the large arrangement.
4. These sweet peaches are the best I’ve ever tasted.
5. My evening pottery class is full of interesting people.

So what do you think? Easy peasy? Click here to see the answers! How did you do? Are YOU smarter than a 6th grade grammar assignment?

*The above questions are part of an assignment from Princess’ “English & Grammar Grade 6” by Brighter Child. I’ve been quite impressed with it so far, it’s been a good choice for working & practicing grammar skills. It’s a very cheap little workbook we found on Amazon.

I’m also linking this up to the Hip Homeschool Hop! Welcome Tuesday hoppers!! Did you enjoy my little grammar quiz? ;0) Incidentally, they’re giving away a grammar book today, so if you needed help with these 5 questions, maybe you’ll win their giveaway for a little bit of grammar help.

I have a bajillion Firefox tabs open right now.. okay not that many, but I did have that many a few days ago. I’ve seen and read many great things in the past week! Even if you’re not a homeschooler you may enjoy some of these:

DIY Spinny spellers and repurposing Duplo bricks @ Filth Wizardry – a great idea for early spellers. I actually did the Duplo blocks thing once myself… until the boy had a fit over what I did to his blocks. ;0)

Those “Socially Inept” Homeschoolers @ Principled Discovery – I know this is a really old post but I found it while searching the internet for something else. I found it a really well written post (she always does write in a very well thought out and presented manner.)

Some left brain/right brain & learning links I’ve been reading/researching:

• Left Brain vs. Right Brain Function in Learning
• Left Brain vs. Right Brain Teaching Techniques
• Multiplication for Right Brain Kids

Mad Glibs – Mad libs online! Free!

Online word games @Storyit.com – fun word games for early learners. A word family games where the child chooses the word that doesn’t belong, a hangman like game, and several others.

I know there were many, many more things I read and found but didn’t think to bookmark or save. What good things have you read recently?

I’ve got something exciting coming next week!! I just thought I’d give you that little tease.

Just one little hint: It will appeal to Moms with kids with spelling words. =D *waggles eyebrows*

Check back Monday to see what it is!!

Some of you may gasp and shriek, avert your eyes from the carelessness and obvious disdain of all things listworthy. You may find this hard to believe, but the none the less… I (the listmaker) have never really made a Reading List for school.

*shrieeeek!*

Before you click away and run to Google Reader or wherever to unsubscribe, allow me a moment of self-defense…Princess loves to read. She checks out tons of books from the library and buys cheap ones at the thrift store. It’s never really been an issue. And it isn’t really an “issue” now either.. I just feel that we’ve reached an age and grade level where I *do* want to assign specific books to read.

Enter the 2009-2010 Reading List:

Oh, it’s blank. You noticed that huh??

Yeah, see, that’s the thing. I haven’t actually MADE the list yet. I need a bit of help with that. You’ll help me won’t you?? I don’t want to pick a bunch of random books, I want to choose good ones that come recommended from other mothers. I want a variety of styles and I wouldn’ t mind if some of them raised questions. In the end I’m going to select 10 (for starters — we’ll see how long it takes her to read that many) and when she gets to the end she’ll earn a reward.

So you see, they need to be good. Oh, and somewhere around 5th/6th grade reading level. Don’t want them to be TOO easy for her. Off the top of my head, it occurs to me that I don’t believe she’s ever read Black Beauty and I recall a friend telling me recently that her same-aged daughter was reading the Diary of Anne Frank.

What titles can you offer up for the list? Which books did your children enjoy? Which ones did you enjoy as a kid? Leave your suggestions in the comments — pretty please? Thanks, y’all!