My kids will be starting high school next year. I think they will have a full load academically, but they would like to continue to study Latin. They will be half-way to two-thirds finished with Second Form Latin. Would it be appropriate to stop there and start with Henle Latin for high school? Also, how much time does it take to complete one book per year? 1/2 hour per day? A full hour? Finally, how teacher intensive is this curriculum? I'm going to school full-time myself (grad school) and definitely need something that is independent if we decide to continue with Latin at all. Thank you!!

Awe, been there done that. I was Cubmaster of our Pack for a few years and we introduced a trophy for the slowest car in each Den & Pack. We live in an area where a lot of the Dad's are mechanical engineers. The races were getting ridiculously competitive. The kids were off playing while the Dad's were gathered around the race track and I'm pretty sure world-wide Derby records were being set. The rule for slowest was that the car with the single slowest time won, but the car had to cross the line every time it ran. It actually takes a lot more skill to win as slowest than trying to win as fastest. My Dad (a mechanical design engineer) and a few of the other engineer dads started a good natured contest to win slowest in the Open Class the first year. We usually only have a few families stay for the Open Class, but that year we had a huge crowd. Everyone cheered at the end when my Dad won. The boys who won during the Den & Pack races had obviously made their own cars, but they were treated as heroes. I'm really not of the mind that we should give every kid a tropy for just showing up, but in this case the slowest trophy was such a boost for our Pack. The kids who don't win fastest or slowest don't get as frustrated because they fall in the middle somewhere and just figure that somebody probably did worse than they did. Every kid doesn't have to be a winner, but it's also very painful when someone has to come in last.

This is something you might want to consider. http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/oral-allergy-syndrome-foods I have oral allergy syndrome. It started to develop during my early elementary years. By the time I was in high school, I was no longer to able to eat any uncooked fruits or veggies, except strawberries. (I eat loads of those!) Most of the time, I can't eat any fruits at all, even cooked. I can eat veggies if they are cooked well enough. I can usually eat peanuts if they are roasted, but I can't eat any other nuts. Those with oral allergy syndrome are also affected by the seasons. I have one friend who is only "allergic" to certain fruits in the spring. Oral allergy syndrome is not a true allergy, so the symptoms are a bit different. True allergies usually have an anaphylactic reaction where the patients throat will swell shut quickly. When I eat a little bit of something I'm allergic to, the inside of my mouth starts to hurt. If I eat a little more, I develop hives around my mouth. If I eat even more, my face starts to swell. If I continue eating even more, my throat will start to swell shut. I rarely make it that far. The mouth pain and the hives are painful enough to stop me from going any farther.

Well, it's more of a fall drink, but hot apple cider?

This is where I'm at with my mother, too. I am noticing things that could be the early signs of dementia, but the rest of my family thinks I'm crazy. I live with my parents, though, and I'm with her every day all day. I just keep watching and making notes. She also could just be aging normally. Time will tell. In my state, IL, occupational therapists can evaluate older patients ability to drive. They actually have a sort-of driving machine (kind of looks like a driving video game) at the OT office where my brother-in-law used to work. They put the patients in there and test their reflexes, etc. We have been watching my mother's driving very closely. My Dad has taken it upon himself to limit her driving a bit already. (You can't drive in this part of town, you have to drive the car instead of the van, etc.) Our next step, when we are ready for it, will be to ask her to be evaluated by an OT. If anything, it will be helpful to have someone unrelated to her tell her she should no longer drive.

When I was about 4 years old, the entire family went to visit my grandparents on their lake in rural MN for Christmas. I had just had pneumonia (also have asthma) and still had a horrible cough. I was very, very sick. My sisters & cousins all played outside in the snow and skated on the lake while I watched from a window and cried for days. Finally, my Mom and Grandma couldn't take it anymore. I still remember both of them wrapping me up to send me outside. Think the little kid from the Christmas Story movie. I couldn't move my arms or legs and could barely see anything. My Dad took me outside for just one hour. He put me in front of him on a snowmobile and ran me around the lake for about 45 minutes. Then we came back to the cabin he threw me in the snow and let me make snow angels. Best hour EVER! I'd say let him (her?) go, but try to limit the amount of time if you can.

I was a Den Leader for 5 years and a Cubmaster for 2. You seriously need to let someone higher in leadership about this. They cannot improve the situation if they do not know about it. This traditionally falls under the Cubmaster's responsibility, so I would start there. I know when I was Cubmaster, I definitely wanted to know about things like this.

Thank you all for your replies. This helps so much! I must admit, I was a little surprised & aprehensive when they asked to do Latin. I'm hoping we will be able to pull it off.

My kids are demanding to study Latin this year. They will be going into 6th & 7th. I have absolutely no experience with Latin. Based on all the reviews, I think I might like First Form Latin. I really want something that is simple for me to execute. We have will have a pretty full year before we add Latin. I really only want to spend around 30 minutes a day on this, 60 at the most. Would First Form Latin be a good fit? If so, what components should I order? (I will probably order from RR.) I'm thinking we will need 2 student texts, student workbooks, & 2 tests & quizzes. Should I get the Grammar Wall Charts? Flashcards?? All advice will be greatly appreciated!

Cathy Duffy's website has an "Overview of Publishers." She also has reviews of quite a bit of curriculum. http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/

I haven't read any of the other responses. I am divorced, and my son got a mohawk at his Dad's once on a weeklong visit when he was around 5ish or so. He had wanted one for about a month before that and I had said no. He called to tell me about it and basically threw it in my face. My ex was laughing in the background. I surprised myself by remaining calm and telling him that I couldn't make the rules at his Dad's house, but mohawks were not allowed at my house. I told him that if he still had it when he came home, I would shave his head bald to get rid of the mohawk. (I have no idea why I came up with this. It was just thrown at me on the phone with no warning. I had to have some kind of response and this just popped out.) He cried and got mad. But, when he came home he had a very short buzz cut. He never got another mohawk. To this day, the kids still tell me they like the way I handled this.

I completely understand what you are getting at here. My sister was the president of her dd's PTA last year. What a year! I wasn't just asked about fundraisers every other week, I was pressured to participate. It was expected that I would buy candles, wrapping paper, candy, and cookies, as well as attend spaghetti dinners that seemed to take place about once a month. I always got the story line about how I didn't care about other people's kids if I wouldn't just give a little. I am a single Mom. My kids and I live with my parents and survive on a bit of child support. I really struggle to buy homeschool curriculum every year. Early last spring, I reached the point that I finally couldn't take it anymore. When my sister hit me up for another fundraiser, I smiled at her and politely asked her to contribute towards my children's curriculum. I really enjoyed watching the emotions on her face change from shock, to anger, to confusion, etc. She brought up all the same reasons not to contribute that have been listed here. (It was my decision and she shouldn't have to support it, the public school would lend me books for free, etc.) I brought up quite a few of the reasons she should contribute. She started to ask some serious questions and I think she would have actually contributed. I finally laughed and told her I didn't actually want her to give me money. I just wanted her to see how this felt from my point of view. It was quite the learning experience. She hasn't asked me to participate in a school fundraiser since then. Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with asking family to help out with homeschool expenses. My parents help me regularly. We couldn't make it without them. God has really humbled me through my years as a single parent, and I have learned a few things the hard way. The hardest lesson I have learned is to ask for help when I need it. I still struggle with that. But, nobody is going to be able to help you if they don't know there is a need. In your position, I would ask with a humble heart, without getting my hopes up, and see what happens.

Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful.

Thank you! This does help. So, for days 1-2 & 4, would that take about an hour? Then day 3 took more than 2 hours? Thank you so much for your help. I'm just trying to get a handle on the time commitment for this before I order it.

How is this scheduled? Is it laid out for one hour a day every day of the week, or...