Firstly, letting an 11 year old do a core alone would depend on the core and on how much interaction you want discussing the history and readings with her. I chose to stay with SL because I love the wonderful discussions it stimulates with my dc and I, and I love learning the material along with the dc. Secondly, you don't need to do a core with a 5 year old at all. You can simply buy or borrow the books from core P3/4 or P4/5 you are interested in, and just have fun snuggling and reading to your little ones. Add in a little handwriting and learning to read/phonics, do some colouring/crafts/other hands-on activities and call it a day. I've been doing 2 cores this year, with my oldest two combined in core E and my younger two in core A. The pre-school cores and core A take very little time to complete. The time you spend on math, reading, writing would be the same with whatever curriculum you choose.

I know that attidude well! There are times when I ignore it and we just move on, and times when I talk with my child about what exactly is too hard. Sometimes I'll ask my dh to look at the work, and he may say it actually is quite hard. The child will still have to do it, with the help they need, but acknowledging that difficulty can be really freeing for the child.

It would depend on you and your dd to a degree. Personally, I'd want to have a curriculum to make sure I wasn't missing anything my dd would need to know. Math concepts build on each other so much, and if you miss teaching the basics in an area it may have consequences in her future learning. There is also the long-term education to consider. Many post-secondary programs require a certainly level of math. The institution may want to know what texts or resources your dd has used. Or if your dd was to re-enter building school, it may make the transition easier if she followed a recognized math curriculum.

How old is your son? How involved have you been with helping with homework, sports, music, religion, etc.? Do you have an established "teacher/student" relationship already in other parts of your daily life? If your son is upper elementary or higher, I would have a completely different approach than a younger child. For the older student, I'd be more an advisor/consultant/encourager working together with my child to find out their areas of interest, needs, and preferred types of learning materials. For a younger child, it would probably be much different. I'd need to have a stronger role in teaching content and choosing curriculum and materials. In either scenario, I think a de-schooling period has recommended by other moms who have gone through this. Each year in school would equal about a month of de-schooling to relax and figure out the direction and method you and your child want to go forward with. I think for any homeschooling mom, whether their children have been in ps or not, having clear expectations of work required by the student, and the role of the parent, are really helpful. For example, have a goal for number of pages or time limit per subject each day or each week. Allow the child some control and flexibility in choosing subject order, place to work, etc. Communicate openly with each other about how things are going for both the student and the parent, and make adjustments when needed.

I'm not sure the age or level of your dd, but Life of Fred is a great program for explaining concepts and it is fun. The elementary books are great as supplements to other curriculums, and the higher levels, starting at Fractions are more complete, though not sure if any of them are stand alone. They sure add to my dc's motivation to want to do math. We use a combination of Singapore Math and Life of Fred.

I must admit that I really dislike most American and Canadian reality TV shows. There are a couple British shows I love, though: The Choir, hosted by Gareth Malone (4 different ones so far, and they are all great! The latest was Miliary Wives) Jamie Oliver (Cooking shows, Food Revolution)

I had my youngest at 39, and a miscarriage 3 years later. I would still love another one (I'm 45 now). If you and you dh are open to more children, then go for it. I wouldn't worry about how things might be when the dc are 20. I guess there may be some financial issues if your dh was to retire just and the dc are heading for college, it might be tough, but you would have lots of time to plan for that.

I would probably opt for making sure dh spoke only Spanish with the dc. You have a HUGE resource there. I'd also made sure they had a solid knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, and a knowledge of both written and spoken Spanish. Then go with "shorter" visits - as in weeks or a couple months - to Spanish-speaking regions. The country you choose could have very different dialects to the Spanish your dc are learning, so check this out ahead of time. I don't quite see the need to pack up the whole family and move just to teach your dc Spanish. If they are truly interested and motivated to learn the language, they can go on exchanges or move to a Spanish-speaking area themselves when they are old enough.

I'm feeling a little uncertain about how next year will flow. This year I started a SL core combining my youngest two, and it wasn't the best match-up for my youngest. My 8 yo made a sudden leap in interest for academics in September, which made it hard to keep the two together. I'm trying to figure out whether it will work to keep them together for next year or not. I can't imagine doing three cores (my oldest two are already combined in a core). I'm thinking the only thing to do is begin next fall as originally planned and make adjustments. Who knows, the little guy may have a sudden surge forward, too. If not, I'll probably repeat core A with him. We'll be doing SL cores B and E (with Canadian content), SM, LoF, French.

Our dc loved doing the Junior Ranger program, though your dc may be too old for that. We loved the Yellowstone canyon. We also had an amazing time swimming in a little river just inside the west entrance. The water is very warm and there are some really neat cliffs. Otherwise, we enjoyed pretty much every hike we did. There is so much to see and the variety is great. There are also lots of talks and hikes led by Rangers - the whole family learned tons! We camped just outside the park, so I don't know about campgrounds in the park.

I have done short-term immersion courses (6 weeks) in Quebec, where I went to French classes during the day at my current language level, and lived with a family who spoke no English. I also studied Norwegian for a year at university, then went to live and work for 3 months in the summer. (I later lived in Norway for 4 years.) In both cases, it was very helpful to have basic knowledge of the language, grammar and a base of vocabulary ahead of time. Then, there was the unforseen hurdle of jumping into areas using completely different dialects of the languages than I had studied. If you are planning on living in a smaller village in France, make sure you study in that dialect or it will be like learning a different language all over again. It would probably be better to try and engage a private tutor, so that you and your dc can be working at your own level. In very small groups, you will also be forced to talk more, which is a good thing when learning a language. Also, try to find ways to interact with native speakers as much as possible, possibly through sport or other activities.

Most churches and performance centers (theatres, concert halls) as well as hospitals I've been to within the last few years have all had signs up in the bathrooms to kindly not use scent when coming. I think this is pretty standard practice to help inform people that a great many people are highly sensitive to the products. I just had a thought though, our church used insense quite a bit during holy week. It's not normally used here. That was probably tough for a lot of people with sensitivities. My children noticed the smell and didn't like it, but they don't have allergies. I guess for these infrequent, special occassions those with allergies would have to be aware and sit at the back, near an open window, or avoid the service. I wish there was a way to accommodate everyone.

Yes, I've experienced the "pain" of paying for dance recitals. Last year I learned about the world of violin and paying for rehearsals with the accompanyist. In Taekwon-do there are extra fees for belt promotion exams. It is frustrating when the extra fees are not always explained up front.

We also start looking toward Easter at Ash Wednesday and the 40 days of Lent. Our whole family participates in doing acts of abstaining (from specific food items, or computer games, etc.), extra prayers and acts of charity throughout Lent. Palm Sunday we make crosses with palm leaves and often act out the stations of the cross; Holy Thursday 3 of my children participated in the washing of the feet and last supper mass; Good Friday we attend the special mass and later watch the RCIA candidates act out the Stations of the Cross; Saturday will be the Easter Vigil; and Easter mass Sunday morning. We'll break our fasting of foods and activities - usually eat lots of chocolate. Sunday will also be a big family dinner. I do hide chocolate eggs for the children, but the focus of the season is definitely on Christ and not on the bunny.

Woolybear - I was totally in your place a few years ago - exhausted from trying to plan everything out year after year with 4 young children (plus I had a miscarriage which left me completely defeated). I've been doing SL with our own Catholic and Canadian (for the American history cores) modifications for 4 years and love the schedule and books. I don't always use the notes, but they are handy to have. You could just use book lists, but I found trying to find the books and figuring out a weekly schedule was still time consuming. I don't mind investing in the wonderful books that our family will read over and over, and I can then pass on to my grandchildren (or sell, though I don't forsee that ever happening). Good luck on your journey!

Just taking a quick look on sport medicine websites about pre-practice food recommendations, fruit and carbs are good because they are easy to digest and quick for the body to use. High fibre and proteins take longer to digest and can cause stomach cramps if eaten too soon before exercise. I know for me before a running race, I would never eat protein. Afterwards is much better. Lots of runners drink fluids or eat gels with sugar and/or elecrolytes during a long distance run for quick energy.

I would go for yogurt and/or fruit rather than protein right before exercise. You want the sugars and carbs because they are a quick source of energy. Protein takes a lot longer to digest, which is great for afterwards but not when your body is busy running.

My dh and I prefer that our dc use a prefix of respect (Mrs., Mr., Miss, Uncle, Aunt) with adults. Many/most of our homeschool friends have similar habits. It is becoming very uncommon, though, outside our homeschooling circle. I find that very sad. In our martial arts academy, though, all black belt students and assistant instructors no matter what age are referred to as Mr. or Mrs./Miss last name (adults) or first name (youth). This is a definite and intentional sign of respect. I really appreciate our head instructor's emphasis on this, along with the other tenets of our martial art (e.g., courtesy, perseverence).

The plan looks great. We love the SL books from core K/A. For history, it would depend on the depth you want to go for this age. My dc have gotten more out of SOTW when they were older than 5.

I would just let him write the numbers in the boxes, letting them go over the lines and outside the box when necessary. For the written numerals, have him dictate and either write them in yourself, leave them blank, or note that they were done orally. My 8 yo ds had large printing and didn't always fit the numbers in the boxes. I didn't sweat it. Just write the answer and move on.

The Anatomy Coloring Book is amazing for studying detailed anatomy. I used it at university, but for an interested middle school student, it would be great as a supplement. The Visible Man or Woman are also wonderful for seeing the parts of the body and where they are in relation to each other.

How many times has he studied this time period? I remember studying the same old stuff in Canadian history year after year in school, and hated the repetition. Perhaps he could do a parallel time period from a different perspective? What was happening in the north (Canada) or the south (Mexico) at the same time? For example, Lewis and Clark employed French-Canadian voyageur paddlers - what would Canadian voyageurs be doing farther north? What did they paddle? What food did they eat? Why didn't Lewis and Clark ask them for suggestions on food and transportation? Who were Lewis and Clark racing to reach the west coast and why? We are studying US and Canadian history at the same time and finding it really fascinating to draw comparisons, and see how the countries interacted and influenced each other.

I've used SL cores P 3/4 through to core E. As others have said, we LOVE the special time reading and discussing the wonderful books. I've found, similar to another mom, that if you pick a core so that your child(ren) are in the mid to high age recommended, they get the most from the book choices. I do appreciate the IG schedule, but don't always follow the daily readings as listed. I like to follow it more horizontally and do a week's reading with one book in a sitting. I'll do poetry once a week and Mother Goose once a week. I never followed the schedule for P 4/5 at all - just read and re-read the books. My 6 yo still pulls out books from P 4/5 to read with me, and my older dc pull them out to read silently. The P 4/5 science books are some of my all time favorites. Core A, together with science A, and whatever LA and Math you use is a very full grade 1 program. I'm really glad they re-named it from core K, as it is too much for most kindergarden students.

There are some Canadian curriculum for various subjects, though I have to admit that I have used more American curriculum and Singapore Math. You could visit a homeschool conference and probably see what is all out there. We're coming into conference season. For Canadian history, there is quite a lot of Canadian material. Donna Ward has materials for the level you mentioned. Kids Can Press has some awesome books for Canadian history. Discovering Canada series, by Robert Livesey and A.G. Smith, is also wonderful. There is also a history guide developed by a Canadian homeschool mom which includes recommended books and a suggested schedule, called Modern History through Canadian Eyes.

I used books from SL P 4/5 for my youngest, with some SM, HWOT and DEL. Kumon workbooks for cutting, pasting, mazes, etc. were fun. Sadly, I don't do nearly as much mommy-led hands-on activities with the youngest two as I did with the olders. There are craft supplies, math manipulatives to explore, and lots of building toys available, though.