Dh and I met when he was an exchange student at my high school. I didn't think he was my type as he was a terrible flirt at the time. We remained friends though and he actually came to my wedding when I married someone else. :001_huh: We kept in contact all those years and when my first marriage fell apart he said he "didn't want to let me get away again". :001_wub: We've been married 15 years now.

That's hard. We've lived in dh's country and currently live in mine. I have had all the same feelings that you've described. I am happy that we moved back to the U.S. but there are a lot of things I miss about dh's country too and I do ask myself whether we made the right decision sometimes. I think that once you have lived in another country that it's hard to ever feel at home anywhere again. At least that has been my experience.

No, we didn't do any of that and I don't think that it would have helped in our situation because I don't see any of the problems that have arisen for us are really "cultural" differences.

Literature guides, Christian Studies, Famous Men books, Mythology study guides...I think that's all. We've enjoyed every product that we've tried from them.

Love the name Oliver! I wanted to name ds1 Oliver but there is a famous German soccer player with that name and a lot of people were using that name in Germany (where ds was born) at that time so dh deemed it "too trendy". I think Cory is okay for a little guy but doesn't age as well as Oliver would for a grown man.

Yes, IMO that would work fine. You might want to check out the sample pages on the Memoria Press website. This particular guide is written for 5th grade though so it might not be what you want for your 13 year old.

I have a ds13, a ds10 and a dd3. I was 38 when dd was born. It was difficult starting over again, especially since the boys were just getting to a more independent age when dd was born but overall I wouldn't change a thing. Despite the age and gender difference my oldest son and dd are very close. I think it's been a good thing for the boys to have a little sister. It's given them some nurturing skills that they would not have developed otherwise. My older ds actually does a better job babysitting than dh. :lol:

LL8 as well.

I vote for metric as well. When I moved to Germany it took a bit of getting used to but I really prefer it now and it makes more sense. Like a pp mentioned, it makes for much more consistent results in baking and I find it alot easier to weigh everything in one bowl on my scale than to get out a bunch of cups.

I taught my boys how to cook with a Marion Cunningham cookbook called "Cooking with Children". I really liked it because it teaches kids how to make simple REAL food. Most kid's cookbooks IMO are geared to making just desserts or using a lot of canned food/ mixes. In addition to recipes there are lots of helpful tips on safety (oven, knife, etc), how to measure ingredients, etc. By the end of cookbook your child should be capable of making a simple dinner. My boys enjoyed the book and both feel confident in the kitchen now. If you're on Paperback Swap I've seen a copy offered recently.

Still working on our plans but so far they look like this: Bible: Christian Studies IV Math: TT Algebra Science: Kolbe Physical Science Literature: Lightning Lit 8 Vocabulary: Classical Roots C Grammar: AG History: History Odyssey Level 2, finish Early Modern and start on Modern French: Galore Park and possibly a tutor I haven't decided what we'll do for extracurriculars yet.

We don't do a lot of screen time. We only have a tv for dvds and the kids can only watch those on special occasions or if we are sick. They only have a few Lego games for the Wii and those are limited too. Computer is mostly just for school related stuff but if they are going to do something creative then I'll allow it for that. For example they have made up stories as a Power Point presentation and currently they are making cards for an airplane game. Other things my 10 and 13 year olds like: Legos Playmobil Snap circuits Nerf guns Board games Marble run Puzzles Bike riding Drawing Making their own stories/ comics Reading Listening to music or audiobooks Baking My 10 year old is also learning to knit. It's not a typical boy thing but it keeps his hands busy and helps him focus.

I would. We've taken the kids to wineries here at home and in France and the Guinness brewery in Dublin.

I lived in Germany for 12 years and we travelled quite extensively while we were over there: Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Ireland, England, Denmark. Canada several times as we live in a bordering state. Dh travels the world for work and has been way more places: Japan, China, India, Costa Rica and several more European countries that I haven't been to. He's not American though. ;)

I think Lightning Lit is going to fit your goals better than Galore Park. We've used and like both programs but they are not comparable at all. Galore Park is more of a general English program and not a lit study. The excerpts that they use are quite good and there are some good suggestions for further reading but there isn't any text analysis or very much writing. Of the two LL is more challenging and myds13 finds it more engaging than Galore Park. There still isn't much literary analysis with LL7 (although I am under the impression that it builds up to this in subsequent levels) but it is more in depth and you learn different literary terms and there are more writing assignments. They are both full year programs.

I'm a lefty and 2 out of three of my kids are lefties. My lefty dd doesn't write yet but my lefty ds and I both cross from right to left. I wasn't aware that there was another way to do it until I read this post. So left to right, huh? That's really weird. :lol: Can I also use this opportunity to say that I hate it when right handed people talk about lefties having "messy" handwriting like it's a given? There are plenty of right handed people with atrocious handwriting too. I have been told that I have beautiful handwriting. My lefty ds also has nice handwriting. The two people with really messy handwriting in our family are right handed ds and dh.

Well, when I say that I'd like some time off he says I can get that in the evenings after the kids are in bed or later after they are all grown up. When I say that I need more help around the house he says the kids should pitch in more. He also has made the comment that I am at home so I must have tons of time. So, no, I don't really thinks he gets it. Unfortunately.

My dh is German too and ironically he travels to Germany and the UK the most even though his company's main headquarters are in the city where we live. The good thing is that he never has to get "homesick" and he can visit his parents all the time so they'll visit us here less. ;)

We've been married 15 years and for about the past ten years dh's job has required him to travel, mostly overseas. He can be gone anywhere from two to ten weeks at a time. The average is about three but he does a lot of back to back trips where he'll leave and then come back for the weekend and then leave again. Last year he travelled 280 days. We've also had to live apart because of his job for about a year and a half. I like dh's travelling less and less each year. I can manage just fine but I'm getting pretty burnt out. It would be great to have dh around to help with the house and kids more often and so I could have a break!

1. I think it could be more or less rigorous depending on what parts you decide to do. For example there are some lessons where you just need to fill in the blanks but there are others where you can choose to do research and write reports. I really think it does a good job of being challenging but not overwhelming. The SYRWTL series are imo more rigorous and the Jr Science series are a good prep for that. 2. Yes, for us it is. We do science three times a week. If your ds is really into science and wants to do science every day it might not last a year but you could easily add to it by adding in more experiments or making him do more in-depth research. When we got to the section on Charles Darwin for example. We read the "Charles Darwin for Kids" book and did some of the activities in that. 3. I like the program because my son can work independently. We do a lot of the things together but he can work alone too. I like the layout and the fact that it covers three different areas of science each year (Bio, Chem and Physical Science). The text is easy to understand but not dumbed down and condescending. 4. There is a "To Do" section that has some experiments. Most a very basic and you would not need extra materials. Sometimes it is just more of an observation exercise rather than an actual experiment. If you like experiments and labs there are several kits from Homeschool Science that go really well with the units in Jr Science. 5. I haven't needed the answer book. 6. There is a sample chapter on the Galore Park website if you haven't already checked that out. HTH!

We love Galore Park. I 've used it twice for 5th grade now. Very easy to implement and you can make it harder or easier. Not really any labs but you can add those in.

No, it won't. Simply throwing money at a broken system will not save it.

As far as clothing goes I think you will find what German college students wear is quite similar to what American college students wear. There was a time when the differences were more pronounced but not so much anymore. In general though most Germans are more formal in their dress than casual. German women do not usually wear a lot of make-up. I totally disagree with the poster who said that crime is higher in Europe. I've lived in two cities in Germany and NEVER felt afraid for my personal safety. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the States There are obvious places to avoid: train stations at night but otherwise it is very safe there. I think the best thing is to go with an open mind and a sense of adventure.

My two boys are big WWII buffs and I thought they would love this book. We checked it out from the library and we used it as a read-aloud. I think this is the only book that I've read to them that they have absolutely hated. I know it's supposed to be science-fiction but they were really bothered by all the historical inaccuracies. OP, is your son interested in a specific battle or area? Is he more interested in the actual battle or the ships/ submarines?

My ds2 (5th grade) is using the King Arthur guide from Memoria Press this year and really enjoying it. Previously we used the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe guide and he liked that a lot too. We have both the student guide and the the teacher's guide. The student guide is broken up into vocabulary, comprehension questions, discussion questions and enrichment activities. The teacher's has all the answers as well as quizzes and tests. If you don't want to do tests and are already familiar with the book and able to answer the discussion questions then I suppose you could skip the teacher's guide but personally I find it really helpful and there are not too expensive. Ds2 has read both the Howard Pyle and Roger Lancelyn Green versions of King Arthur. He just commented that he enjoyed the latter the best as he found it easier to understand. The Howard Pyle version has "more flowery language" in his opinion.