I agree with many of the above posts... the size of the house matters, but so does its floor plan and how the space inside is used up by furniture and such. We were a family of 4 living in a 20 foot camper for a year. Now that was small! Since then, our family has grown and fortunatly our home too!

Price. R&S is cheeper and my boys are able to do some of it aloud rather than write page after page after page.... It works for us. Everyone is different.

Your candid review has been most helpful! Thank you so much!

I'm with some others - Moby Dick. Ugh! Anything Hemmingway,too. I personally love Austin - but Im a girl. I dont think my strapping young men will be as thrilled with her emotional brilliance as I. And Black Beauty. Yep! I know that sounds really bad, but we are serious horse lovers here and dont do well with any type of animal abuse stories in any form. Thats going to be tough! I am so glad it was written, though! Dont get me wrong. Awesom lit - just hard topic.

We just finished the Life of Fred books Apples and Butterflies. I have heard a lot about them, but wanted to find out for myself. They proved themselves worth the time and money. Though a bit unorthodox, my kids laughed and learned. It doesnt get any better than that. I would NOT use them alone... but along with another curriculum like MUS or MM. We plan on continuing on in the series in our upcoming schooling. Has anyone else uses LOF? What did you think of it?

Wow, these links are really helpful to me too. Thanks so much!

We will be using the Apologia Botany this year and using the lapbook that goes along with it. My boys Hate journaling/copywork type schooling, thus the lapbook. Really, you have to know your childs style and then work around that as all apologia related material is quality.

Thank you so much!

Thanks for this - very helpful!

We kinda do the same as one of the previous posters- we go by the sale ads and then tweak our menues around that for the week. Also what our garden is doing too. We try to plan about a week at a time, but it must stay flexible, for sanity sake. As for snacks - my kids are welcome to make their own pb&j's, grab a banana or snack on some homemade healthy granola cookies I always keep in stock.

staying consistant seems to be my troubles... not so much the chores, but just keeping up with the system set up to DO the chores...Ahh!

Just a wonderin' What does your first day back at homeschooling look like? Do you all get down to business right away, do you have a party of celebration, do you start slowly, etc... Thanks!

I feel like I am an alien - I dont have a smart phone. Up till recently, I just got a pay as you go phone, for emergency purposes only. I really dont want to get stuck with a flat out in the middle of no where again... that is, hoping the phone has a signal:tongue_smilie:. Ugh... I feel like I am stuck in a time warp. Can anyone relate?

We are going to be starting Apologia Botany this upcoming school term and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with planning out how they scedule the lessons. Once a week for so many hours, or twice a week for one hour each etc... Any help would in fact help. Thanks!

When I have time, I make my own Pizza sauce from scratch, but when I am in a hurry - I grab a jar of pasta sauce and a large can of tomato soup and mix them together. My boys love that too. Kinda has a spaghettios taste to it.