Loot

Okay, that was fun! Crowded, but fun. Expensive, but fun. Overwhelming, but fun.There's just nothing like being surrounded by a whole convention center full o' possibilities!

Here's what I came home with this weekend:

From the Geography Matters booth:
Trail Guide to U.S. Geography
Trail Guide to U.S. Geography Student Notebook cd-rom
Eat Your Way Through the USA
Children's Illustrated Atlas USA
The World Almanac for Kids 2007
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2007

As you can see from the above list, we will be diving into U.S. geography. This is our second rotation through world history, and the first time we studied American History we didn't really "camp out" there, as we focused on how America fits into the world's history/timeline. This time, now that they are older (6th and 8th grades), we will focus more on America's history, as well as it's geography and government.

From the Christian Liberty Press booth:
The Land of Fair Play: American Civics from a Christian Perspective
and Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers because it was on sale for $5.00. (We'll probably read it this summer.) We loved Mr. Pipes and the Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation, and I plan on reading Mr. Pipes Comes to America next year.

From the Institute for Excellence in Writing folks:
American History-Based Writing Texts cd-rom (You can see a sample here.)
I think I'll be ordering the Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course B as well, later in the summer.

We enjoyed catching up with Sr. Gamache with La Clase Divertida. After a brief foree into French, Kyle is now firmly convinced Spanish is to be his second language, so we purchased Level 3. We thoroughly enjoyed levels 1 and 2 in previous years, and I'm excited because in Level 3 they learn to share the gospel in Spanish. Sr. Gamache wrote Kyle's name down so he can help with the booth next year, so that's some extra motivation to work on his Espanol in grade seis!

I picked up my upcoming 8th grader's next level of Math, Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1.

I also took the plunge and purchased Veritas Press' Omnibus I. I love it! We aren't taking the whole plunge into it until 9th grade, but my daughter will be reading some of the secondary resources for literature next year. We will begin some of the primary resources when we go back to ancients in 9th grade. (There is an excellent review of Omnibus here, which mirrors some of my thoughts. There is also a comprehensive review of it here, which lists the primary and secondary resource titles.) For my son, I purchased Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 with the accompanying comprehension guide. It will be challenging, but he can do it. We will be following the Veritas reading selections for grade six, as I've always found them to be a good match for his interest and reading level. I'm excited about tackling some of the tougher reading with both of them.

I didn't get a good look at Tapestry of Grace, as their booth was always swarming with people. I'm thinking about a possible Omnibus/TOG combo for 7th/9th grade so I'll be looking at it further next year.

Whew! It took me almost as long to type and link everything as it took to buy it all. I just love curriculum shopping and planning. It's been a fun weekend! And now I'm ready for summer. :)