I second the ProActive. I bought it originally for my 13yo dd. Now my college-aged dd also swears by it, as do I! The three of us share one monthly order.

Interesting. Thanks for letting me know! I'm planning to use the Spanish 2 texts and I'm still trying to figure out the best (i.e., fastest, least expensive) way to order these. Just a couple of minutes ago I purchased one of the Spanish books through Abebooks in the U.S. so that I can examine it before investing in the entire package.

Both the French and the Spanish materials go through level 3. Horriblebooks in the U.S. doesn't carry level 3 in either language (although it might be worth asking the owner (Ray?) if he could special order them for you). I don't think that bookdepository in the U.K. carries French level 3. You may have to purchase directly from Galore Press. Others on this board have done so successfully.

Never mind. Now I notice that the low sodium one is *vegetable* broth, not meatless chicken broth. :o

My 8th grader has used both Physical Science and Life Science. We've been very pleased with them, although I think that they probably wouldn't be a good stand-alone curriculum for a child who is deeply interested in science. We're using Life Science as an overview of Biology before moving on to high school level Biology (with labs) for ninth grade. I make my dd take notes on all the lecture materials, otherwise she'd be finished with the program very quickly and I'd worry about retention of facts. HTH.

I was ordering these when I noticed that Amazon also carries low sodium versions of the Frontier broth. Have you tried these, Kalanamak?

Yum! I'm looking forward to making better tasting soups with both of these products. Thanks again!

Hooray! Many congrats to your hard-working ds and to you! That's wonderful news!

I'll certainly keep that in mind. Thank you.

Thank you for posting this link. Unfortunately, it won't work for us because it's a Spanish I set and I'm looking for Spanish II. Hopefully, if it hasn't already been claimed, it will help some other family. Best regards.

Thank you for the info! My older dd was recently bemoaning the fact that chicken broth smells so good but she can't eat it :( (she's a vegetarian who loves soups). I'd love to be able to find a good substitute.

Hello, Laura in China! Hope you don't mind that I quoted your earlier post to me regarding Galore Park books. I haven't figured out how to do an official quote yet (you know, the one with the quoted text in its own little incuse box. In any case, thank you once again for the Galore Park links. I'm ordering the Spanish texts through Horriblebooks.com.

I've heard very good things about the Galore Park materials from the U.K. (I'm interested in their Spanish books, not the Latin ones, though). When I asked the Hive Mind how to order Galore Park books in the U.S., Laura in China very helpfully provided the following sources and info: horriblebooks.com buys Galore Park materials in batches at a discount and with cheap shipping. They sometimes keep extra materials on hand too. bookdepository.co.uk ships from the UK with free shipping.

Thank you! I'll be watching.

Ooh! Thanks, Claire! This actually looks quite good (and not too high in sodium). I'm going to try it.

Could you please share the name of this soup base? I use boxes of ready-made vegetable stock from Whole Foods, but am looking for alternatives because we're not crazy about the taste (we buy the low-sodium type).

Thank you, Jean. I loved reading the story of your brave grandfather. Although we live in what is probably the most welcoming country in the world, it takes a lot of courage and self-sacrifice to leave one's home and to start a new one on foreign soil. I have a lot of respect for immigrants. My parents came here from Europe in the 1970s.

Chocolate, of course! ;) Failing that, cereal.

Laura, thank you! I'm very grateful. This is just the information I was hoping to hear!

I've been doing this for years. I buy queen size fitted sheets and king size upper sheets, blankets, and duvets. That way, when dh rolls around and pulls the covers during the night, there's still enough left for me!

Aargh! I always mean to use my tote bags for grocery shopping but I keep forgetting to take them with me when I leave the house. Perhaps I'll go right now and put some in the car. Thanks for the nudge!

So clever! I loved the kettle! Dh loved it all! Thanks!

I've googled So You Really Want to Learn Spanish and found that Amazon sells the books; actually, it sells new and used copies of Book I and mostly used copies of Book 2. Is there an American source for the CD that goes along with Book 2? Or does it have to be ordered from Galore Press in the U.K.? Is the CD necessary? My dd, aged 13, has used En Espanol by McDougal Littel, along with the workbook, interactive CD, and online quizzes for Spanish I. It's been a reasonably good choice, but I like the fact that SYRWTLS seems to have a stronger focus on grammar. Dd will be studying Latin throughout high school, but she would like to continue with her Spanish studies at her own pace (I can't help her with Latin, but I'm fairly fluent in Spanish). Thank you for pointing us to these new materials. The SYRWTLS books look really good! :)

Two of my "how to homeschool high school" role models, Gwen and Sharon, have already given you wonderful responses to these questions. My points are not listed in quite as pithy a way as theirs and some of my concerns have already been voiced by them, but I'd be happy to tell you what we're thinking. My dd's currently in 8th grade and it's our second year homeschooling. She has recently decided that she would prefer to stay home for high school. The questions we're asking ourselves now are somewhat different from the questions we had when we first took the leap into homeschooling: (in no particular order) 1. Will it be harder for my dd to get into the college of her choice? She has an older sister who is in her second year of university. This older child attended a New England boarding school. She applied to 11 colleges and was accepted at 10 of those. Will my homeschooled dd be as successful during her college search? 2. How can we prevent the college admissions game from killing all the joy and spontaneity in the next four years? Should we encourage our daughter to take "the most rigorous course of study available" (as per the college admissions websites) or should we let her delve deeply into her own interests and hope that the colleges will accept her based upon who she is? Does "the most rigorous course of study available" mean as many APs, SATIIs, etc. as possible, or can it be defined in other ways? 3. How difficult will it be to convince our local high school to allow her to take her AP exams, if such exams are not normally administered at that school? 4. Will it be possible for her to participate in high school sports? The governing body of our state's interscholastic sports team prohibits homeschoolers from participating in high school sports. My daughter (who is a two-time junior olympian and a national record holder in riflery) has been approached by the coaches of a local, non-high school affiliated team. They would very much like her to join next year, but their team plays against several local high school teams. Would her participation by illegal? Would I be putting the team in jeopardy if she participated? Would I be causing a homeschool "stink?" 5. Will courses designed by me be accepted by the NCAA clearinghouse? I have to make sure that dd's courses qualify under NCAA rules because my dd may want to shoot on a Division I team. The NCAA lists approved school-delivered and online courses but is less clear about mom-designed courses. 6. Will she miss not having had a typical teen social life? My dd's a bit of an introvert and seems to be happy having just two or three good friends on whom she can call, but is that enough? Will she, at some later date, regret not having had a more typical upbringing? She loves the interaction with her friends from her online classes, but should I make more of an effort to find venues where she can interact with others her age? How do I do that-- do I try to seek out other homeschool social/educational groups (not very successful, thus far), or should I forget about homeschoolers as possible friends and look for groups that specialize in one of her interests (it's been difficult to find teens with her interests, much easier to find adults). 7. If she takes a rigorous course of study, with several online AP courses, SATIIs, community college classes, and in-depth test prep, will she have time to continue studying two foreign languages? She loves both Latin and Spanish but doesn't see how she can fit them both in. Should she continue Latin classes in order to take the AP exams and continue with Spanish just "for fun?" 8. How can I compare the relative value of the various online classes? Which is better for my dd-- Scholars Online, PA Homeschoolers, Keystone...? How to make the choice? Actually, Gwen, Sharon, and others on this board have been very helpful in this regard-- thank you!

Black Beauty. Oh my goodness, I remember nagging my mom into reading me this book when I was 8 or 9. I couldn't understand why she would keep crying throughout the readings. I found out shortly after she finished that she had skipped over all the emotionally tough parts (none of the horses died or where mistreated, they just sort of magically disappeared from the text-- poof!). I felt cheated that I'd missed part of the story, so I made her read the whole darn book again. This time we BOTH bawled. I'll NEVER read this book aloud to my kids. ;)