That's awesome, I love my crockpot, although it's not quite sparkly anymore as I use it all the time.:D My best thrift store find so far was an eden pure heater for $25.

I agree! And to those who said they are looking forward to that perfect home when kids are older, don't forget the grandkids!:D

Sloppy joes in a thermos, taco meat would work this way too.

We've used sonlight for 8 years now and loved it. I did sometimes add things like games, activities, or cooking projects to help son remember but the books were great and he learned his history well enough to test into public school high school a year ahead.;)

Cornbread, fried taters, coleslaw, or serve em up on a pile of mashed potatoes.:D

OOOOOOH Yuck!:001_huh:

Or teenagers with out haircuts:confused:

That's not a bad idea, SL core 1+2 was our very favorite year. We used the Story of the World activity guide to add hands on activities and had a great time. We did everything from making a chicken mummy to dressing in togas.:D

We too have enjoyed Christian Cottage Unit Studies in the past and find them easy to implement. I also like that they cater to all age groups. Another plus is that there are lots of science projects.

I agree. This recipe looks good. INGREDIENTS: 7 small onions, cut in half and thinly sliced (about 7 cups) 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted 2 tablespoons sugar 2 dried bay leaves 1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat 3 cans (10 1/2 ounces each) condensed beef consommé 1/4 cup dry sherry or apple juice 1 cup apple juice 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 8 slices ( 1/2 inch thick) French bread, toasted 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (8 ounces) DIRECTIONS: Toss onions, butter and sugar in 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Top with bay leaves and beef. Cover and cook on low heat setting 9 to 10 hours or until onions are deep brown. Stir in beef consommé, sherry, apple juice and thyme. Increase heat setting to high. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until hot. Remove bay leaves. To serve, spoon into ovenproof soup bowls and top each serving with slice of toast and 1/4 cup cheese. If desired, broil with tops 6 inches from heat 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.

Hi Julia, My favorite site for comprehension guides is http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/ And I also really love http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Lapbooks_at_HSS.php for unit studies and lapbooks to go along with many books and subjects for all ages. They even have lapbooks for the littles to go along with books like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The best part is both these sites offer their products for FREE;) Blessings Paula

If you're more interested in World History and your older dd reads at a higher level, why not start with core 6 and order the readers and language for younger dd at her level, after all the younger readers sets that go with cores K-2 don't really match the core anyway. Core 6 uses the SOTW books and you could add the activity guide for younger dd to draw her in. If you don't think this will work then I think I would go with core 3.

I started this early with dc using manipulatives. For instance I would get the button box out and they would do 4 x 5 by making 4 piles of 5. My dc were doing this before starting ps kindergarten. My oldest is autistic and we occasionally do some math workbooks even though he is out of school. He still wants manipulatives but he prefers seasonal edible ones, for instance candy hearts at valentines and marshmallow pumpkins at halloween, he does get the concept though.

I agree, you can't go wrong with Betty Crocker. I also love the Dining on a Dime cookbook. Not only does it have lots of down home, inexpensive recipes but lots of cute quotes and stories and housekeeping ideas.

No but I did use sonlight core 1+2 our first year for 2nd grade and added the SOTW AG and we had a wonderful year.