I don't exactly like the science center, because it has a large climbing structure in the center, multiple stories high and I can lose children in it. It does have great exhibits though. Music? There are lots of venues for music, but they aren't kid friendly necessarily. The Frist has live music in the lobby on some Friday evenings. You might find some music downtown, but I can't say I ever see people just out playing down there, and I'm there fairly often. The symphony does some free shows in the parks. Check their website for a schedule.

For the first few weeks, prepared, ready-to-go meals every other night was about perfect. We usually got big meals and had leftovers, so getting something every night was often too much. Also, everyone brought dessert, which my kids loved, but was crazy. Some muffins or something to eat for breakfast would be better. It might be nice to have another few weeks of freezer meals. There are good recipes at websites like Once a Month Mom or in books like Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer. If she has a big freezer, you could throw a shower to fill it. Or people could bring a ready-to-go meal and a freezer meal at the same time. I have never had twins, but I bet any help would be awesome.

No timed schedule here. I have a list of things to be accomplished each day, not times. We wouldn't be able to stick to them.

I haven't used them yet, but I bought 3 & 5 for next year. I like the look of them a lot. Somewhere on CHC's website they talk about not being YE, so though I haven't read through the science books to make sure, I assume they are not.

The CHC spelling lists were ridiculously easy. I have kids who are pretty good spellers, I'll grant, but even two grade levels above where they were was so simple.

We mostly do secular stuff, depending on the child and the year. I have been very happy with MCT, WWE, WWS and things like that. My girls did ask to try Seton's spelling for next year, and I got Kolbe's Jr. High Lit for my oldest. We have read through some of the books from CHC in the past. My kids enjoyed the Catholic Tales for Boys & Girls and the Fr. Brown books for kids, but until middle school I don't really do reading comp. -- they just read a lot.

Went through this yesterday, except it was $340. Ouch!

There are very few things defined dogmatically by the Catholic church. Limbo was never one of them. Nor has it "been done away with." Limbo is one of those many areas that is an unknown and not required for belief. We can hope that those that die without actual sin and unbaptized will be saved, but there is no official teaching one way or another. Baptism is still the only normative way. Catholics are still supposed to baptize their children shortly after birth, and it is scandalous that so few do it.

We converted together about five years ago. I knew the church's teaching before converted. It was and has continued to be one of the hardest things for me. I agree with the teaching, but I never looked forward to a large family. I've been done having kids since my third was born. But we are terrible at charting and following NFP rules for long, and so here I am pregnant with my seventh child. I love them all and the church isn't forcing this on me, but it doesn't make it easy.

I have the Furlong book. It is ok, but not as much of a story as SotW. I prefer The Old World's Gift to the New, if one is looking at old books, but both of them are dated. They use words like Mohamedan and basically almost entirely skip the Reformation. The newer books in the Catholic Schools Textbook Project line up are excellent. I really recommend them. I think for younger kids using SotW vol. 1 by itself is fine. At the end of the year one could study some early Church fathers and early saints, but otherwise it is world history before the Church. For the Middle Ages it gets more complicated and not all of SotW is appropriate, but much of it is fine.

We have 4 bedrooms and currently 6 kids. Three girls are in one room and the three boys in another. My husband and I share one. The last is both a room for a baby and a guest room. We just moved our youngest in with his brothers. When our new baby arrives he or she will be in our room for a long while, but eventually will go upstairs to the room with the crib.

I think that is a great option, but the OP wanted something complete. I think starting the first year with laid out plans isn't a bad idea anyway. I didn't do that and floundered for a few years until I figured out how to plan out my day. I might have figured out what I wanted sooner if I'd been less independent at first. Or I could just be a moron.

http://lapbooksforcatholics.com/ I haven't used them, but a friend did one and her kids enjoyed it.

Seton, Catholic Heritage Curriculum, Kolbe Academy, St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, & Mother of Divine Grace I'm on my iPod or I'd include links.

I suggest you sign up for the RC History forum and ask there. I own two levels and use a few ideas and some book lists, but it takes a level of planning that I don't want to put into it. Also, like Tapestry of Grace, it will cost a fair bit to implement, because it uses a lot of books -- which is a great, but expensive way to do history. It can be really nice to help hold kids at different levels together.

We've been using History Odyssey rekeyed and revised to work with The Light to the Nations books. So far that has gone really well.

I'm planning to start fresh, but I never recorded much more than was necessary on the old system.

I'm not sure even a local bishop can make self-intinction licit. I think that self-communication is always considered illicit -- although it certainly sounds like a lot of priests out there are allowing it. Sadly.

A local bishop may suggest that he has the right to dictate this in his diocese, as some bishops have tried to prevent the Extraordinary Form from being offered in their diocese even after the Motu Proprio. If one looks at the GIRM, however, it says nothing about that being the decision of the local ordinary. It says in paragraph 245, "The Blood of the Lord may be consumed either by drinking from the chalice directly, or by intinction, or by means of a tube or a spoon."

Intinction is permitted. Self-administered intinction is illicit, only the priest should be doing the dipping and you have to receive on the tongue, but Latin rite Catholics can have communion distributed by intinction.

Besides all the good answers you've already gotten -- if you receive from the cup, you are supposed to hold the chalice with both hands. I'm usually carrying a child and can't grasp it in both hands. So I usually do not receive under that species. I do bow before walking on past though.

There are gluten free chicken boullions? I know she says her recipe is gluten free, but it calls for chicken boullion, which usually has gluten in it.

Three ideas: You could assign numbers to each lesson as some curricula like History Odyssey do. So instead of daily plans you would plan say 90 lessons for history and break that into approximately how many you want to do per week. If some are more and some less due to changes in plans you adjust as you go. In a related vein, you could break lessons into chunks (chapters, etc) with a plan for how often they should be done per week -- leaving wiggle room-- and do a plan like that. Here is an example: http://www.shirreware.com/Curricula/GradeFive.pdf A third suggestion, would be to make plans by the week, as books like WWE do, but make sure never to completely fill day five, so that when life happens, day five on the schedule can work to ease the pressure of getting everything done earlier in the week.

As everyone else said, yes there is a big jump and also there is no reason to link the number to grade. Getting to WWS in sixth grade is about perfect.

My daughter in basically the same position will be doing CC next year. Not online. I have plenty to keep up with, but I don't think the online class would be worth it.