We have used pieces of it and I plan to use it in its entirety next year. The child gets to put all his work into a portfolio or binder. The activities are fun, and involve a lot of coloring, cutting, and pasting...perfect for my hands on learner. It is thorough and covers a wide range of topics. I give it a two thumbs up! Oh, and the TM is necessary.

:iagree:

We use Vocabulary from Classical Roots. So far, so good. The lessons are short and sweet, dd is expanding her vocabulary, and all in 10 minutes a day. To me, knowing the roots is much more important than learning the language itself. It isn't spoken as a first language anymore. So for us, a full on Latin program isn't practical. It is too much of a time investment for a relatively small benefit, especially considering the many excellent root programs available now.

Johnny Tremain was by far our favorite book for that time period. It has SO many 'famous' characters in it and really pulls the entire period together. We used it as a read aloud last year when dd was in 4th grade. After the first couple of chapters, she really got into the book!

We used core 3 last year and core 4 this year. I think that Core 3+4 is a great option if you don't want to take two years. Quite honestly, I am tired of American history now that we are creeping into the last third of core 4. Lol! You could go to the website and print out the book lists for 3, 4, and 3+4 so you can evaluate what you would be missing. If there are any that would disappoint you greatly, then you could swap them with a less desirable book that comes with 3+4, or read them over the summer. And I would not attempt to do two full cores in one year. Wow! That just sounds over the top to me. :001_unsure:

Agreeing with the scented candles, febreeze, plug ins, air fresheners...Many people are allergic. My dd and I are very allergic to those types of things and are likely to get an asthma attack and/or a migraine almost immediately. Fresh baked cookies is a great idea! We are trying to sell our house right now and the main thing we focus on when showing is extreme cleanliness. Best wishes!

I used to take it. I was on it for 3 or maybe 4 years. This summer I weaned off of it due to side effects that got progressively worse. Menstrual irregularity (between 18 and 36 day cycles) which is NOT how I used to be at all. AWFUL cramping. Just awful. Sometimes it sent me to bed for days. Joint pain. Chest pains. headaches. inability to lose weight. Since I stopped taking it, my last two cycles have been completely normal, my joint pain is almost gone, and I have had zero chest pain. The headaches still come and go (not as often) and the weight...well, I need to excercise.:tongue_smilie: The strange thing is, I had no side effects from it until this last spring. Then...whammo...all this stuff started happening. The chest pains had me thinking I was having a heart attack at age 32!!! Then I read online about the side effects from it and this weird stuff I was feeling all boiled down to the medication. So I weaned myself off of it and I feel great. I hope you feel better soon! Depression is NO fun. :grouphug: