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CrunchyMom
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I just got an order from Amazon (aren't CC Rewards great, lol?) with the Comstock Nature Handbook.
I know that people use this spine to varying degrees and find lots of other books to supplement in this area, but my reasoning was:
If something happens and I can't have the library/curricula of my dreams, this at least has the pertinent information I would need to educate my children in Natural Science. If they know everything in this single book, they would be well on their way to being more educated in this field than most, yk?
So, with all of the unrest in our country both politically and economically, I feel the need to prepare for the worst in a small way. Not necessarily expecting it, but it got me to thinking that if I were preparing to home educate my children in, say, The Depression or something like it where I'm stuck using what I have, what would I wish I had bare bones.
For instance, we have a copy of the catechism and the Bible. I think I will want to add a Baltimore catechism to our library. Not that I won't choose to use more things: picture books, a children's Bible, children's catechism programs, etc... were it available, but I would be "okay" for educating my children in the faith with these books.
What compact resources would you recommend for different subjects. I think I would want a collection of saints stories. Any recs?
Now, I know this group is great at being minimalists in most things EXCEPT books. I've seen those "What's your ONE favorite..." threads that result in essay length responses 
This could be a great exercise in minimalism, like one of those, "If you were stuck on a desert island..." memes.
I guess one would need to list the necessary subjects (or a necessary subject if you only know of the "perfect" book in your own field of expertise) and then the few "necessary" resources for them.
So, yeah, what is "necessary" in the same way bulk grains and legumes might be for emergency preparedness. Not the tastiest long term diet, but nourishing. 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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mooreboyz
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I was actually thinking about this yesterday...if we move to a more isolated country area or if libs end up closing altogether and if the internet is gone what resources would I want to have? I don't have any great ideas yet, but I'll think more and add later.
I'm anxious to see what others think as well.
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Jackie
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Martha
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Hillside's Language Lessons would get you through 7th grade in writing/grammar.
CCC and Baltimore Catechism and Bibles of course would be enough for faith formation. something for bible history. I like Seton's recommendations.
History and science - nature and reading materials would be enough at least through elementary, possibly higher pending POV on that sort of thing.
Math is pretty basic through 4th grade. 4 basic operations (+, -, X, and divide in hgher and higher numbers), which I really don't think one HAS to have any book to cover. Fractions, decimals, then algebra and beyond. There's free online sources, but I think the printing is just as expensive or more expensive than just buying a workbook or text.
Stock up on paper, pencils, art supplies.
Have a cage of some sort for critters and such for nature studies.
ETA: a decent and durable microscope and maybe telescope? surely not "neccessary", but very good to have I would think?
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Martha
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JodieLyn
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The Constitution and perhaps some of the writings of the writers of the constitution and what they say about it.
Books on do-it-yourself.. while not strictly educational, it sure would be helpful to know how to garden and preserve different foods and fix things around the house and oh.. just anything like that.. if money is that tight and internet isn't an option and there's many people in the same boat.. that's one of my priorities.. to know how to do things with what we already have and how to keep them functional. Sewing too. And those are things that would be very helpful for children to learn regardless.. they have a lifetime ahead of them with all sorts of economic ups and downs and natural disasters and such 
some sort of full course of mathematics would be good too.. even if you buy workbooks but then don't have the kids write in them so that you can have one "master set" that the kids can work on paper instead of in the book.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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JodieLyn
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As much as I could get my hands on on the history and teachings of the Catholic Church.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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lapazfarm
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I've actually been pondering getting a good set of encyclopedias. That would cover a whole lot, I would think.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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mooreboyz
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Our family's been focusing on...learning how to can, grow all the essentials to live (in our climate!), make bread, store what we grow, and so on. I'm starting to gather resources now on medicine. I feel there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to learn how to deal with most things that come our way. We rarely go to the doctors, but lately when we do I feel like they don't know any more than I do...especially with our last birth. If anyone has any good resources in this dept, let me know.
Theresa...encylopedias are a great idea. I know at times our library gives away old sets. Before the internet, when I was in school that is really how we did all our research.
I really like Botany in a Day. It is a great resource for plant identification.
I'll be back with more later!
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Jackie
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Bookswithtea
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Would it sound weird if I said I kind of like the idea of the challenge...the challenge to school without spending money, and to use just what's in the house?
Science would be life...growing a garden, cooking in the kitchen, observing bugs, animals, plants, etc. Field Guides (or Comstock) would be a bonus.
A Bible
I think I could teach math, if I had to, up until high level fractions/decimals without a program. After that, I'd need some help from dh, but it could be done. If I had MUS stocked up though, I'd be happier.
I think phonics, and language arts can all be taught without programs.
So that leaves me with only one other need besides a bible and paper (or a slate, I suppose )...a compilation picture book.  Seriously, how many stories do we hear of folks on the prairies who only had a bible, a slate, and one book of fairy tales or nursery rhymes or something like that?? Children need pictures to be inspired. A compilation picture book is higher on my list than math or language arts supplies.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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Rachel May
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How about a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary? Ours has so much more infomation than just definitions. Phonics, grammar, some history and geography....
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CrunchyMom
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The encyclopedias and dictionary are such good ideas that would seem so obvious, but I didn't think of them.
Books, I don't think you are crazy unless you think I'm crazy for thinking its kind of fun to ponder this idea in spite of putting it under the heading "Emergency Underground..."
Thining of this reminds me of how in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, the only two books she had were the Bible and Plutarch's Lives.
I wonder if that or what other literature would be worthy for a family to read over and over and over in addition to the Bible. Shakespeare?
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Shari in NY
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What an interesting thread! If I were stranded and only had a few books to share with my children I would, like Books With Tea, want a good Fairy Tales book and also a set of The Lord of the Rings and Orthodoxy by G.K.Chesterton. With these I think you could keep in mind why you are out there fighting the good fight.
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Lisbet
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So maybe one day the amount of books/curriculum we have on our shelves will not seem so ridiculous!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
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TxTrish
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Just when I start to think I am the only one thinking these things ..............
Thanks, Lindsay for the topic.
One think I am sure of, I wouldn't have to buy a single new thing. I could easily do it with exactly what I have.
I have a set of encylopedia's already, and was blessed with a copy of the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedias - along with all the rest of our stuff.
TxTrish
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marihalojen
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I've actually been pondering getting a good set of encyclopedias. That would cover a whole lot, I would think. |
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Theresa! I met a cruising mom at park day last year who did the round the world thing with her dh and kid and a set of encyclopedias. Their whole "curriculum" was read one thing a day and write a page on it. I have to say the boy hated it though. He said so himself very emphatically.
Which encyclopedia set would you choose? When I was homeschooled we had the 1911 Britannica. - It is generally acknowledged to have been the greatest encyclopedia ever written. Its depth of knowledge and the erudition of its text are remarkable. For the 98% of recorded history that occurred before 1911, this is the most definitive source. Blah-blah-blah you know how those reviews go! Great for history, not at all great for science.
Comstock would cover a lot but would leave huge blanks in science that is not found in your backyard, right? I seem to remember in lots of old classic literature there would usually be one medical or health book available to be pulled off the shelf to confirm that yes, they had scarlet fever. So I wonder what would be a good general, all around body book today? Gray's Anatomy was the classic then probably. I think we have Advanced First Aid Afloat in some hold here, but that's not quite the same.
For reading what about the complete set of McGuffey's Eclectic Readers? Nice and small, full of classic stories, I guess.
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The Mari Hal-O-Jen
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Martha
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oh!
I thought of 2 other things.
K'Nex and Legos.
I think they learn a LOT about mechanics and design and such with those.
Besides that, on a rainy day they keep little ones from driving mom nuts.
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Martha
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Rachel May
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marihalojen wrote:
lapazfarm wrote:
| I've actually been pondering getting a good set of encyclopedias. That would cover a whole lot, I would think. |
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Theresa! I met a cruising mom at park day last year who did the round the world thing with her dh and kid and a set of encyclopedias. Their whole "curriculum" was read one thing a day and write a page on it. I have to say the boy hated it though. He said so himself very emphatically. |
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To my orderly mind, this approach seems golden, BUT...have you read the Know It All by AJ Jacobs?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743250621/interactiv eda485-20
From our perspective, Jacobs' book makes this approach very bucket filling and not necessarily that good at that. (However, he makes it a good read although there are immoral moments, and I got a great Scrabble word out of it). Still, I bet if you rabbit trailed from the seperate entries, you could have a lot of fun by using them as a spine. We bought a set of 2007 World Books from the library for $65 and love them.
Quote:
| Which encyclopedia set would you choose? When I was homeschooled we had the 1911 Britannica. - It is generally acknowledged to have been the greatest encyclopedia ever written. Its depth of knowledge and the erudition of its text are remarkable. For the 98% of recorded history that occurred before 1911, this is the most definitive source. |
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Jacobs' book says this too. Still, he reads the most recent version. My friend was raised on a really old set of World Books. She said the only time it was a problem was when Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination postdated the publicaiton date.
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Rachel
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KC in TX
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Lisbet wrote:
| So maybe one day the amount of books/curriculum we have on our shelves will not seem so ridiculous! |
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That's what I was thinking.
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KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
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Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
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lapazfarm
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I am not of the mind set that we will ever have to go underground to homeschool. (But I am always keeping the sailboat schooling in the back of my mind, Jennifer!)
But, as an intellectual exercise, if I had to choose only a few resources, I think one could do much with a good set of encyclopedias.
In reality, I only considered the Encyclopedias because I thought it would be something that would allow me to use less internet (instead of depending so much on the Google), and they would cover just about everything if I needed it. I'd never actually want them to be my only curriculum. I think I would feel like your friend's son!Yikes!
If I did get a set I would want it to be the most up-to-date I could afford. We are far too science oriented here to depend on an older version.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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amyable
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Bookswithtea wrote:
Would it sound weird if I said I kind of like the idea of the challenge...the challenge to school without spending money, and to use just what's in the house?
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I don't think it's weird at all either. When I was studying to be a speech pathologist I had a supervisor that told me about one of her own supervisor's challenge: do therapy all day long, with many different types/ages of patients, and the only thing you can use is a spoon! I thanked the good Lord she didn't make ME do that but I often think about that lesson. How creative could I be?
That being said, I'm going to cheat and say my "one" thing I would want are all the Sonlight read-alouds. Besides being able to use them to learn history and all sorts of language arts, the girls and I often have great discussions on morality/virtues and religion. I guess that assumes some knowledge of these things on my part.
If I can't have a stack of books like that I would want a Bible, the CCC, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, a book like Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child, and a big "survival guide" like how to build fires, what plants are edible, etc. Maybe a whole big plant ID book. I'm horrible at that.
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Amy
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Milehimama
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I have the first 3 Foxfire books and plan on getting more as I find them. Great info for self-sufficiency interspersed with interesting stories.
Also I have a handbook of herbal healing and home remedies. I'm already having trouble finding a doc that will see us with our "alternative" vaccination schedule - doctors have refused to treat my children and denied us being patients. I don't know how bad things will get, but I do feel the need to have as few records as possible/fly under the radar. Right now the health dept. and the public schools don't know about my kids.
For Catechism, in addition to CCC and Bible (for adults) I love the old My Catholic Faith by Louis Morrow. It can be simplified for 2-3 grade but is written at a 6-7 grade level, lots of pics, and divided into easy, comprehensible chapters.
I also think an Art Encyclopedia (I have several coffee table artist books, but if we are hunkering down, would probably want it in one volume).
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Milehimama in Houston
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Emergency Underground School Essentials
