We have a similar homeschooling history :001_smile: We started when my ds was in 6th grade and my dd in 1st. We used MFW ECC for that year, CtG for 7th, and RtR for 8th. By the end of 8th, I knew I needed to make a change and I regret not making it after the CtG year. I too grew frustrated with the disjointed feeling of the curriculum. I ended up making so many changes to the program in an attempt to add cohesiveness that it just wasn't worth it to buy the curriculum. If you plan to use their high school curriculum, which will delay a year of modern history for 3 more years, I think it's a great idea to do a year of US history on your own. I'm creating a course for my dd, who is moving into 8th grade this year too, and will be using Joy Hakim's US history books and other materials. I've put it together using booklists from the Sonlight 100 core and many threads from this forum. HTH! SaveSave

The spine that he uses when he uses a spine is The Power of Ideas by Moore and Bruder. Dh said, "This spine is useful as it includes primary texts embedded in the author's secondary description. If it were a year-long course, I would employ more of the text and spread the readings out and assign a number of short response papers reflecting on specific philosophical themes/problems." Every few years he changes it up by using only primary texts, but said he keeps coming back to this text. I'd be happy to send you the course syllabus if you'd like to see it.

Running out the door but will respond later with what my dh, who is a philosophy and religious studies professor, plans to do with my ds this year. Ds is a senior as well. ETA: He's only planning to focus on philosophy with ds and will be pulling from his Intro to Philosophy college course.

Bump. I'm curious about this too. Hope someone responds!

We did too. They were soft and had a variety of colors. They also have these little removable pads if your daughter is concerned about keeping things looking smooth :001_smile: which mine was!

We live just outside a city and went out to eat at a fun, trendy restaurant there. He loves crowds and being out and about. I also made him a Shutterfly photo book representing his 18 years of life. Choosing the photos was the tough! I wanted to include them all :001_smile: I asked people to write him notes that I included in the book. SaveSave

We have a couple of different read alouds going during the school year. First, I read to my dd every night before bed. Those books come from a list I've developed over the years of books I don't want her to miss, but also books I think will be good read alouds. Not all good books are! Second, and we count this as something separate, are the read alouds from history, science, Bible, and other typical school subjects. There may be weeks in which we aren't reading anything aloud for school though...which is why we make sure to have our nightly time :001_smile: I'm not sure my reply is helpful...

I second the recommendation for Wednesday Wars - so good! How about The Lord of the Rings? Also, The Squire's Tales series? My son loved them.

Yes, this. I used to purge based on functionality, but no more. Holding onto things because "we might use them one day" really created a nightmare for me in our smaller home. So, I've fully embraced that piece of her method and have strongly encouraged my kids to do the same. For the most part, they have. I completely ignored her advice/method for books as all of my books bring me joy :001_smile: I still use her method for storing clothing in drawers, but both my son and daughter have reverted back to horizontal piles. However, because we got rid of so many of their lack-of-joy-sparking clothing, there do have plenty of space now to maintain that. The only piece I'm still working on after a year and a half is the sentimental stuff - pictures, family mementos, old letters, and those types of things. I go in stages - work on it for a month and take a few months off. I have a good amount of those kind of items as I somehow ended up being the owner of most of our family history after my mom moved into a small cottage in a retirement community, and then an even smaller assisted living apt. The rest of the house has been sorted through and purged though, so I don't mind taking my time doing this. I do hope to be done by Christmas...that's my goal.

Me! :party:

I used to fly quite often and loved it. Now...I can relate to your anxiety. But I'll tell ya, each time I have to fly now, once I'm on the plane and buckled in, the anxiety disappears and the excitement about the trip takes its place. I know that will happen for you too :001_smile:

So sorry :grouphug:

We've found good tween options at Nordstrom Rack, Gap, Old Navy, and Boden's Johnnie B line. Boden has sample sales in our area once or twice a year and those are helpful. Athleta Girls has some cute stuff!

Do public schools use that label? I honestly don't know.

So horrible and sad.

So sorry for your loss :grouphug:

Same. I start to lose my voice at about two hours...no fun. We were trying to finish up The Hobbit as a read aloud last year and I ended up reading for over three hours. The story was fantastic so I hung in there with it, but my voice was shot and I was worn out afterwards. That was straight reading without any breaks though. With breaks, I read a hour here and there without any difficulty.

This pretty much sums up what I do too. I use a bullet journal and have dedicated a portion of it as a grateful journal. Everyday I try to sit down and write just three things I'm grateful for. It helps me to maintain a healthier perspective. My friend found a cute app for her iPhone that she uses for the same thing. I believe it prompts her daily to write down what she's thankful for. Yoga is a big help for me too. It relieves anxiety/stress and helps me to be more mindful of the burdens I carry around with me...and then let them go :001_smile: Reading the Bible is important for me too. Particularly Psalms. Also, doing any kind of service or mission work helps tremendously. Just getting that focus off myself, and my stress, and working to help care for someone else's needs. And, yep, limiting the news I listen to or watch. Being careful of the messages I subject myself to. SaveSave

Yes, we planted several trees in our yard two years ago. My favorite are the birches, river and paper. They are low maintenance, grow quickly enough, have beautiful foliage, and I love the peeling barks. Also, they are medium-sized trees and ours will only reach about 50 feet. We didn't want anything taller in the front yard where we placed them. We also planted a Canada Red Maple, which has gorgeous foliage and will only get to about 50 feet as well. Pretty low maintenance as well. We planted a white dogwood in our side yard, but it is so slow growing that I wish I had chosen something else. Painfully slow!! I live in in southwestern PA so these trees should grow just fine in your zone.

Same here

Yes to Audible being worth it! Agree with the list the PP posted. Also, we loved the Narnia books on audio.

So terrifying and sad

I'm doing LLfLOTR with my 12 yr old dd this fall, and an in-depth study on Tolkien with my 18 year old ds at the same time. These lectures look perfect! Thanks for posting. This entire thread has been so helpful!

Thank you for this warning! We have a gas stove that's only 3 years old but has recently started running hot. I will keep on eye on it!

:iagree: