My dh and I have been happily married for 27 years and we've never had an established "date night". Some years we only got out 2-3 times a year. Now that the kids are older we have more free time together. It never bothered us and we always enjoyed the time with our children. So, for us, it hasn't been necessary. As a side note, we usually ate dinners together as a family. After dinner, the kids often went off to play and dh and I would chat for a while. I think it's important to have time to communicate with each other.

My two youngest learned to read with Abeka. It was painless and worked well for us. We also supplemented with lots of easy readers like the BOB books and Dr. Seuss. When learning to read they really need to read something EVERY DAY to retain the skills learned.

Has anyone tried combining Trisms History Makers/History Masterminds with Sonlight World History G & H? I'm thinking about how feasible it would be to combine these and take 3 years to complete? I've used SL in the past but have never used Trisms. It would be for my dd for grades 6th-8th and I would be working closely with her as needed. Any thoughts would be very appreciated.

:iagree: I've been there the first week of July and also in October. Will never do July again. Now, if you love hot, humid, lots of people, long lines, etc., you may have a nicer experience than we did.

I agree that it may be best to try and gradually decrease your coffee drinking. I was recently hospitalized and put on a clear liquid diet. I had to endure the caffeine withdrawal headache while also dealing with other medical issues. Not fun. Now that I'm home and a week has passed I've decided to stay away from as much caffeine as possible. I feel better and am enjoying my herbal tea and hot water with lemon. Not so bad once you get past the headache.

Oh yes! I'd count it.

I've used the Homeschooler's High School Journal for many years because it's easy to adapt to my schedule and number of children. It isn't dated so I can adjust the dates as needed. It gives me flexibility to add or change subjects as needed. Even though it's called a high school journal, it is adaptable to any grade level. This one gives me a no-frills planner which I've found to be very useful and I think the price is reasonable. Recently I found the Well-Planned Day Planner which I've used once and plan to use again this year. It's more like a calendar since the dates are already printed into it. It also has the subjects printed for each day so it's less flexible than the other planner. It's more expensive but I find the pictures cheery and fun. It just makes me happy. It is geared for Christian's. I only have one child homeschooling now so it works for me.

Thank you all! Each of these look like they might be helpful! I'll check them more closely tomorrow. My dd just finished CLE 300 and we're in the process of reading the elem. LOF books. She loves the LOF books! Since she's a little behind where I think she should be in math I want to spend this next year catching up and yet not totally overwhelming her. My hope is to find a way to suppliment CLE 400 with either games/manipulatives or better/alternative explanations. Maybe both. I'd be very happy if we could get through all of CLE 400 and half of 500 by next summer. Are my expectations too high?

I'd like to find a book that explains or shows how to present math concepts. We use CLE for math but sometimes my dd needs concepts illustrated in another way for better understanding. Any suggestions?

Cheese Fries are the best!

You've already gotten a great list started! We also like... The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (We love all her books) Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky

I really like Runkle for geography. I feel it pulls together gaps that we've had with other programs. I never thought about using it as a read-aloud. I think it's a great idea and I may try that. Thanks for the idea!

My thoughts are that you and your children would benefit from a more relaxed homeschooling mode for the remaining school year. Seems like you've completed your main curriculum. I'd probably continue with the math review sheets you're using and just let your dd enjoy the review. For grammar you could use the library books you're reading and do some dictation and/or copywork. Choose a paragraph here and there from the books she's enjoyed. Or simply rewrite a few sentences from a book and let her make corrections. Plan on lots of exploring if you're new to the area. Visit different libraries, museums, parks, etc. Send postcards or letters to friends and family. Get a deck of cards and a book from the library and learn some new card games. I agree with the person who suggested doing a unit study on artists or composers or the state you've moved to. Your children will not suffer long-term harm from having a more relaxed end of the year. Try to build good memories that you'll all cherish 5 years from now.

I think SL would be a really good choice for you. Each core has a great assortment of books to read, read-aloud and discuss. Some of the lower level cores seem easy but once you hit core D the content jumps to a much higher level of difficulty. Compared to typical textbooks for reading and/or history I think SL outshines them all because you're reading real books with varied and interesting content. Over the years we've had some very interesting conversations based on what we've read. Keep in mind that SL doesn't offer much in the way of hands-on activites related to each core. Regarding their science. I wouldn't think it could be used independently by an 8 yr old. Your dd could read and enjoy the books but the experiments would mostly need adult supervision. We love watching the Discover and Do DVD's. I didn't love their language arts program and haven't tried using it in probably 8-9 years. They seem to change it frequently. I've used SL off and on and always end up back at SL. Next year I'm taking my 5th grader back to SL (again) and plan to stay with it through high school.

Since your dd is currently doing well with Horizons and you both like it, I would not switch at this point. If at some point she starts to struggle then you can either slow down the pace or try another program. I think there is great value in staying with one curriculum. I'm currently using CLE with my youngest dd who is really struggling with math and am looking at possibly switching back to Horizons. My dd really hates math and CLE but is finally making steady progress. I'm trying really hard to resist the urge to change curriculum. Plus I already have the next set of CLE math so I could save myself money by sticking with it. I admit I go through this every spring. I'm always tempted to try a different curriculum as there are so many great choices.