Our state requires a name for our school, so that is why we picked one. But, even if it didn't, we would have needed a name when I signed up for the Barnes & Noble educators card, IIRC. We have school colors (brick red/burgandy and gray, which ironically is very close to our favorite college colors) and a mascot (tortoise - slow and steady wins the race). One year we made ID cards for fun, and I've purchased them school-color polos before, though they just wear them whenever. The older two boys went through a phase a couple years ago when they wanted more of the trappings of going to school without having to go to school. I think that has pretty much faded.

We love it here too! It is easy, enjoyable (my boys love to diagram the English translations), and gets done. We are going to go into LfC A next year, mostly because we like that program too (we had been doing it before it got to be too much and we broke to do GSwL). I'm thinking we will fly through LfC A as much of it will just be review, but I am fine with that.

I'll third, I think it is, Getting Started with Latin. We love it here. It is slow but not too slow and explains everything in context, plus about half the translation sentences are review, so y are constantly using words/grammar you learned many lessons back.

We (dh and I) went to mine and his, as did our parents. But they were all local. I wouldn't have asked my parents to travel, let alone spend money they didn't have, to come to it. It was fine; I think I liked it better than my undergrad because it was much smaller and I actually knew the other students and professors well. But, overall, it wasn't a big deal. If she is saying not to worry, then I really wouldn't worry.

I'm actually planning a bit of a hybrid of your options for my soon to be 12 year old next year. We are going to start WWS1 but take it a bit slowly (I also think I might avoid the literary analysis lessons and stick with incorporating more of Teaching the Classics to our literature time). I also plan on copy work and dictation the BW way once a week (since it only takes a small amount of time and the boys like it, we'll do a copy work passage, a "French dictation", and then a full dictation). We will also keep Fridays as free write time. So, M-Th will be formal lessons from WWS, at a different point in our day on T-Th, we will do our BW copy work/dictation, and Fridays will be left for free write time. (My middle ds, who will be a younger fifth grader next year, but who is a bit advanced in school, will be doing writing with my oldest.)

We are gluten and dairy free, very low soy, and all natural. We also tend to buy mostly organic (as much as we can). We spend roughly $200 to just over that per person per month for a family of six. That might include some household items (which might only be $50 a month at most), but does not include vitamins/supplements, of which I think dd's are the most expensive. We buy a small amount of pre-processed food as there are mornings I'd rather the kids have a toaster waffle or a bowl of cereal because frankly cooking 3 meals a day gets old sometimes. ;)

I'd also recommend working with her digit span/sequential memory. How many digits can she hold in her head at once? (For example, if you give her the numerals 4 5 8 2, can she then tell them back to you? Can she follow multi-step directions (given orally)?) We tend to max at about a 7 digit span. If you have an iPad/iPod/iPhone, you can get the "Simply Smarter Kids" app - it has options for visual/auditory, or either/or and is intuitive (if you can pass the one-item level, it moves to you the two; if you get a level wrong, it bumps you back down. We are working with dd right now trying to get her to a 2 digit span (up until about age 7, your digit span should be equivalent or higher than your age). She's non-verbal so we do things like "touch your hair and then touch your toes".

Thank you both for you input. It helps to "talk" this out with others (dh and I do talk it out too but sometimes outside perspectives help, especially as ds11 is our oldest and our biggest guinea pig ;) ). We do school year round (and plan on doing some light math/reading even during our "break" this summer). Usually the most time they ever have off from school is 2 weeks; anything more just isn't pretty. So, starting something new right now isn't that big of a deal in the long run. And whatever we do for the PreA time (SM 6, Dolciani, something different) will be made to last until the "end" of 7th grade. So, I do have some wiggle room, which is nice. Today we put SM aside. He did the first chapter of LoF Decimals/Percents (he did Fractions but I couldn't find time to fit in D/P as it is purely supplemental for him) and then we did lesson 1-1 of Dolciani just for something different. It was pretty much all review and fairly non-stressful (though he freaked with the second problem in LoF because he couldn't at first think of a way we use base-12 in our daily lives. After a couple "leading" questions, he relaxed. He hates to get anything wrong, which makes matters worse. We only have tomorrow before we break for Easter, so I think we'll have fun again with LoF and a bit of Dolciani just because. I might order a couple other PreA books used off Amazon to have around (we also have the two LoF PreA books). The older the boys get the more I can see the differences in how they learn. Derek - when you reviewed programs with your son, did he work through the first couple chapters of each, or did you together skim the book to get a feel for it? Without spending too much money, I'd love to give ds11 a chance to see what's out there, but I also know that dh and I would have to make the final decision (he's the kid that will take a bite of something new and say how much he loves it and then by the 3rd bite, he doesn't like it at all, so I couldn't necessarily give his first opinion/impression much weight LOL).

I'm still trying to decide if ds11 is hitting a wall or not, but 5A/B was a struggle and I'm not sure how much was retained (dh has been working with him off and on to shore up some rocky areas there) and it isn't that he's doing horribly with 6A thus far, but every single review and test there are tears and tantrums. He doesn't seem to be doing well with Singapore's way of teaching a skill and then upping the difficulty on the review/test without it being taught (and I'm not necessarily teaching the advanced concept as I'm also curious if he can figure it out). For instance, yesterday he had a few problems like the following: Solve 1/3 - 1/6; now simplify 2 b/3 - b/6. We've done fractions before. We've done variables before. We've even done simplifying equations as well as solving equations with a variable before. But since he hadn't seen that particular kind of problem yet in 6A or even in the previous lessons, he hit a wall and couldn't figure it out without me guiding him through it. I'm just wondering if we have reached a point where his brain and Singapore are not speaking to each other. Dh is hesitant to switch up and would like to have him finish SM 6 for the continuity and consistency of it. But my argument is if he isn't fully learning the material because of how it is approach or taught or practiced (or lack of practiced) with SM, then what is the point of continuing. He is not a STEM guy, which is fine with us; his passions seem to fall on the liberal arts and humanities side. But we want to make sure he has a solid math foundation (dh is a math dude and I rather enjoy it too even though my strengths are on the liberal arts side as well). I'm debating having him finish his current unit in SM (he should take the test tomorrow assuming he can finally finish the review today), and then maybe taking a break with Dolciani's Pre-Algebra. He definitely would benefit from a lot of practice, which has always been lacking with SM, even with the extra practice book, in my opinion. But I've also always been a SM snob, knowing it is a fantastic math program (it helped me finally conceptualiz so much of what I already knew how to do but was never taught why). My middle son is doing great with SM and it's too soon to tell with ds6. Any ideas or BTDT in this area, especially with hitting a wall with SM and needing to switch gears? PS Typos are the iPad's fault. ;)

We done French toast casserole and just used almond milk for all the milk/cream. Maybe we've been gluten/dairy free for too long, but it tasted great and my dairy and gluten eating parents liked it too. I've been meaning to make almond milk ice cream but we need a new ice cream maker. But I can't see how it wouldn't come out okay. I think I've just gotten used to not having things quite as creamy as they used to be. I'm curious how the cream of mushroom comes out. That is one thing I have yet to try making.

:grouphug:

Getting Started with Latin is $19.99 on Amazon. ;) It is pretty cheap for basically a full-year curriculum and I really cannot sing its praises enough to help us ease into the grammar of Latin one toe-dip at a time.

I'm Catholic, so my recommendation of a particular Bible probably won't be applicable, but I can say that when I get my oldest a Bible next year when he fully enters the Church, I'll be looking for something that has age appropriate apologetics inside - some notes and such that will help strengthen his faith and allow him to explain it when asked (1 Peter 3:15). I also want one with good footnotes. He would like it to be leather bound but hardback. We'll see about that. ;)

I was going to answer but think I'll just second what justamouse had written with the exception that my boys are not servers at Mass. Holy Week is an amazing time in the Church. I also would second trying to find English translations of any of the homilies by Pope Francis from this week.

Another option for getting into Latin would be Getting Started with Latin. We were doing Latin for Children A and will go back to it in the fall, but it was getting too intense at the time. So we switched to GSwL and it has been a great experience. There is only one new word each lesson and then sentences to translate with the new vocabulary as well as review vocabulary. It is also gentle in teaching the declensions and conjugations. Latin for Children A will be much easier after our year with GSwL, at least think it will be. ;)

I'm debating attending our parish's Penance Service this week, but I'm curious how "out in the open" the "private" confessions will be. There will be visiting priests there to help hear confessions following the service, but I'm not sure what to expect. I'm debating attending, or instead attending our once-a-month Taize prayer night instead (I haven't been to one yet and really want to experience it) and just going to regular confession Friday or Saturday.

Sounds delicious! I might have to have dh make some meatballs for us on Tuesday night to serve over pasta. :)

The Catholic Home is a good book. It doesn't necessarily have all the various saints days, but it goes through the liturgical year, season-by-season, with traditions and activities. So for Palm Sunday, for instance, there are ideas for intensifying your anticipation of the Resurrection.

Our oldest's RE program (middle school goes a separate day/time from elementary) is having a "St. Joseph's Table" (not my parish). They have small treats to eat and are asked to bring non-perishable food for the food pantry. I needed to make confession this past Friday (we only have a few options at our parish) but I missed it. I'm hesitant to go to another parish nearby as I'm still shaky on the entire experience (I've only gone 3x, counting my first, since my first reconciliation just prior to the Vigil last year); yes, the goal is from now on to go monthly). And can I say the more I learn/hear about Pope Francis, the more I love him?

:grouphug: Joanne

We've gone roughly 2700 miles in a minivan with four kids (at the time 8 months to 9 years). We'll be doing it again this summer. It was a fantastic experience and we still talk about "remember on our trip ... ". We're going a different route this time to see more of the US and we decided that we needed a skybox on top of the van as it was pretty crowded. But, between audio books, music, and some ipods/ipads to pass around, we did fine with about 7-8 hours of actual driving (plus any stoppage time).

Easton is a great mall (my boys love that the Apple Store is basically across the street from the Lego store :lol: ), and then there's the Zoo and COSI. :)

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

Oh no. :( My prayers are with Kay and her family.

Being close to a Whole Foods would be nice.