I’ve been working away on our history plans for the rest of the year and I’m stunned to realize that not only are we not even close to being half way through Truthquest AHYS II, but chances are we won’t finish this year.  Eek!

But that’s okay.  We raced through the first book only to realize that as good as it was, we hadn’t taken the time to record as many of our lessons as we should have.  The books in this series are so good and to not have any paper to show for it isn’t the end of the world, but it would be nice. 

I know some people skip topics in the guide, but I can’t bring myself to do that unless there are absolutely no resources available on the topic.  I learned so little history in my public schooling, that I’ve enjoyed getting a grip on it as much as my son!

I’ve also come to terms with something that is often taught in regards to the Principle Approach methodology of learning and that is teaching one idea per subject, per day.  This has helped us in a lot of ways.  Most specifically, it’s helped us not to hurry, but to enjoy what we’re learning more. Sometimes it’s so hard to just stop because you’ve learned the one idea, but you can overload.  We’ve done it more times than not!  I’ll tell you about another way we’ve used this another time.

So I’ve dug through my books today and made my lists.  I’ve found it helps me if I have a separate list that is just the books for boy to read by himself.  I’ve also tried to date my list and if we go all through the summer, we might finish by fall. 

In the midst of trying to plan, I’m also trying to move all 2000ish of my books from the upstairs down to husband’s old office.  It’s a great room with two windows but no direct light.  I’m about half done, but every time I sort through them,  I get more perplexed as to how to arrange them.  So far I’ve organized the history books chronologically, but I haven’t decided whether to include the historical fiction in with them.  Hmmm. 

Well, I’ll throw in one history recommendation for today.  It’s a series, actually.  The Sowers Series Biographies.  They are Christian based and specifically focus on the many providences of God.  I’ve mentioned before how wonderful the George Washington book was.  Since then we have also read the Samuel F.B. Morse bio.  Another thing to note about these books is that they are written using primary sources:  diaries, letters and the such.  We are about to start the Johnny Appleseed one.  We look forward to each title!