Yes, this always looked appealing to me, but I'm glad to know Sahamama's tip. Loss of the dad in the plot s still too hard for my youngers. :( Carol, that's exactly how we read the books! It's my favorite way to read through the series! I was amazed how much of the detail I'd forgotten about the last book. I'm glad they stopped making movies out of the series b/c they never do the book justice! I loved Kisses from Katie. My oldest dd couldn't even talk about the book b/c she was stuffing down every desire to move overseas herself. What an amazing young woman Katie Daivs is! Love that book as well, but the olders have read it. I'll save it for a read aloud with my youngers in a few years which will be nice b/c I always forget so much detail. Thanks for the suggestions! Thanks for the commiseration. Sahamamama, I didn't quote your post b/c of length but I appreciate the great suggestions. Lisa

That's about what we've been saying all week! I'm already wondering how many years I can wait until we re-read them again. So they *get it* at the next level. I adored those books growing up. But I have so far failed to get any of my kids hooked on them. And the one time we sat down to watch the PBS show, we were eating dinner and my kids were grossed out at a calf delivery. :D Meant to tag Ellie's post here as well, b/c this looks like a good option. Hmmm.... these have always been on our list but we never made it past the first chapter or so of Back of the North Wind. I'm only sad about Susan. What?! Not saying anything else b/c of a possible spoiler.

These are great suggestions. Keep them coming. I'm especially excited to add the oldest two (at home) back into our evening read alouds. As much as I love children's literature, I enjoy sharing new books with my olders. Maybe the CS Lewis series, or at least one of them, that Carol and Ellie mentioned upthread would be good. We've all read the Hobbit but -- now I admit my utter lack of classical background -- I've never read the rest of Tolkien's series. :huh: I know. My grown kids have tongue-in-cheek said their lit tutorial teacher said no one can be truly literate if they haven't read the Tolkien books. And I can't have my older kids having that over me!! So maybe that. Lisa

I've not heard of a term but there should be one because it's definitely a phenomenom. I can remember being in the grocery store and the clerk making the usual nice small talk and I just wanted to wear a big sandwich sign that said Do you not see that my life has fallen apart? It's not that I didn't want to make small talk, it just felt exactly as you describe -- completely disconnected. And then overhearing other women fuss about the trivial? Such disconnect. [And I'm not getting on my friends. I have/had amazing friends. It's something the rest of us don't even realize and I didn't expect their world to stop because mine did.] Lisa

Eaglei, So grateful you have so much to thank God for even in the hardest of hard. I cannot imagine your year but what great hope you have! I am writing "Eaglei's son" on an index card and putting it on the fridge to pray for him this week. Virtual hugs to you as you walk through this with him and your family. :grouphug: Lisa

Eaglei, So grateful you have so much to thank God for even in the hardest of hard. I cannot imagine your year but what great hope you have! I am writing "Eaglei's son" on an index card and putting it on the fridge to pray for him this week. Virtual hugs to you as you walk through this with him and your family. :grouphug: Lisa

Congratulations! Well done, Jenn! Lisa

You've got a math girl! Or a very literal thinker! Cute. ;) And I'm completely green at the hour y'all get to leave for church, even when you have to leave early.

I loved the first year we homeschooled. I'm not sure it was our best but I loved having the kids home for the first time. We were so new to homeschooling and it felt like we were in a cocoon of sorts as my oldest came home in K and 1st grade. Partly b/c of their ages, mostly b/c homeschooling was so new, life didn't have the noise and angst of choices that homeschooling has now. It was all reading, discovery, field trips, reading some more, pulling together a unit study and working through solid curriculum that didn't cost an arm and a leg or require 2 days out of the house. So, I'll go with the first year. But we've had some great years in between that first year and now. Lisa

And I love the finish that Lewis wrote to the books but we are so sad to see the end of the series! This is 3rd time I've read them aloud to my kids -- but the first time for my youngest two -- and the maybe 5th time I've gone through the series. We've spent the better part of this school year with Narnia. Ds has been anticipating being out of Narnia books and has been saying for weeks there should be more. My only consolation is that we're going to start Heidi, which is one of if not the one of my all-time favorite books. And I'm searching for a read-aloud I can do with my high school boys as well since they're now out of sports. So, anyone have suggestions to fill our can't-wait-to-get-to-it read-aloud void? Or maybe you could just commiserate with finishing a book that you never wanted to end. Lisa

Oh man. On my best days, when I come in from a meeting or working out of the house and come home to their dishes in the sink, I think "Stink. Oh well. Job security" as I clean up the kitchen. But other days, I am like seriously? You can do calculus, go overseas on a missions trip and you're a cook to order at that restaurant but you cannot for the life rinse your plate and put it in the dishwasher? Life as mom. One day -- not this day for sure Quill -- I'm sure we'll wish for a sink of dishes. Hoping a shower and some hot tea helps you feel better. Lisa

I have family that have lived there for 20 years. I'm sure locals will join in but I'll answer what I know based on numerous trips and family in the area: weather -- HOT. 11 1/2 months of the year. Actually, the winter can be really nice but summer is downright hot. And I'm a Florida born and bred girl. I feel like I'm baking walking from my car into Publix. But I've always felt that about South Florida. bugs -- Well, Florida has lots of bugs. Definitely mosquitos and at times there are no-seeums. I don't think the no-seeums are as bad inland as they can be on the coast. activities for older folks -- Fort Meyers is your place! During the season (Thanksgiving - Easter), Ft Myers has an influx of folks wintering in Florida. Plenty of shopping, arts, beaches/parks, restaurants. Lisa

Their sales on the SP courses haven't been consistent, so it's hard to predict. I bought one on sale about this time last year and then I believe it went on sale again just before or in the fall. So I wouldn't sit tight and see if there's another sale through this summer or early fall. Lisa

I'm so sorry. This is so hard. I've been a single mom for 3 years after dh died suddenly. At the time, I had 6 at home, 1 in college. I now have 4 at home. You're going to have to ease up on many, many things b/c just taking care of the kids will be a full plate. Simple meals are fine and good. A simple cleaning regime -- I do mine on Saturday. And I've just gotten used to not having everything done with the house that I used to. I find it impossible to have the time to do the yard and the house and from-scratch meals and errands and homeschooling and .... So, I've had to learn to be okay with standards not as high. I hate even writing that, but it's true. I've chosen to put the lion's share of my time in raising my kids, homeschooling and, some writing. I heard that friends change once you're divorced or widowed. I really haven't found that. I don't go out with other couples and I entertain at home much less than we used to, but all of my friendships have remained. I'm so thankful for that! Regarding friends -- it will be tempting to rely heavily on them for advice, venting, emotional healing and to just fill up loneliness left from your dh. This is just mho, but it's a lot for our friends to take on sometimes. I was really careful not to overload friends emotionally. I walked through a hard divorce with a very good friend years ago and ended up spending lots of time on the phone with her, with others and walked with her so closely through it that it was emotionally taxing on me. I had to step back at one point just for space and I think it felt like I was pulling away. Anyway, in my situation, friends have definitely walked with me through this and I've tried as much as possible, to not overload any one friend. Exercise -- this sounds crazy but exercise has been so helpful to give me some alone time, to expend emotional energy and to get those good endorphins. Homeschooling -- it sounds like your kids will be grieving. Do the things that feed you all emotionally and spiritually through this. Read uplifting books together, take a day off for a field trip or masterly activity when everyone is having a sad day and cut back to the core subjects if all of the financial/legal issues become overwhelming. If friends ask how to help, meals were hugely helpful to us for the first few months. Try to keep the same routines and same rules for your children. Stability is good and routines are your friend. I think mostly it's going to be important for you to just be okay with lowering your expectations of yourself right now. xoxo to you ~ Lisa P.S. Here's something I wrote that expresses a lot of what I was feeling about single parenting in the trenches. I feel rambly right now but this sums up a lot of what I feel sometimes! I can tell you, there are really hard days where I just want to cry into a pillow and there are really, really great days.

Yes, I have a general plan all the way through high school based on what I'd like them to have for graduation and what worked/didn't work for my older dc. I don't think I had that long-range plan though until my first hit high school. At that point, I sketched in pencil a plan that started with 12th grade and then worked backward. We've had to hold the plan very loosely as interests changed, courses were or were not available, outside opportunities presented themselves. And then, too, we've had to shape it to the child. They are all different! My current 10th grader has college/career plans that are altogether different from any of his older brothers/sister but, next year will really be the year it begins to affect his courses. I'm not sure how helpful it would be to have a high school plan for kids in elementary or even early middle. I think it might just drain energy from the HERE and NOW that is so important. I find myself working way more focused on the skills my elementary kids need now, than stewing about whether they'll be in a certain math book by 11th grade. I'm glad to have the perspective that homeschooling kids all the way through high school and into college give me in my teaching today, but I'm not focused on that end point right now for my youngers. Lisa

Thanks for these resources! I'm collecting up resources to share locally. Lisa

When I had a much more full house of schooling kids and when I had babies and toddlers, the schedule looked different from year to year. It just depended on how many were officially in school, who could read or work independently and who still needed elbow-to-elbow help, whether there was a nursing baby or toddler(s) and what our outside classes and commitments were. I don't think I approached my planning differently, but the flow of our day might look a bit different depending on all the variables. In the last few years, it hasn't changed as much. But my youngers are now ready and asking for their own schedules, so instead of just laying out their work, I think I also need to give them a schedule to tick down. I tend to pick curriculum though that isn't super difficult to implement. Except for an outside class that I might be teaching, I don't want to have to spend (and I no longer have time to spend) a whole lot of time prepping and pulling things together so I tend to choose open and go curriculum. Lisa

I've never been to the Tarpon sponge docks but I've always wanted to go! Thanks for the wonderful booklist. We've collected lots of adult books with Old Florida tales, so I appreciate books for the youngers. Lisa

I think it's a family culture thing. If you and your dh are fine without some traditions, so be it. I don't want to work myself into a frazzle keeping a tradition, but I like that the rhythms it builds into our family. I know some families that do way more than us, some less. Lisa

This almost exactly. Is it affordable? Does it fit my teaching style, my ability to implement, my time to teach it? Does it fit the way I want to approach this subject? (real books or worldview or interactive) Lisa

Well, lice went around our small co-op 2 years ago and apparently returned this year. The parents were really proactive at telling everyone up front as soon as it was found. We actually cancelled co-op for a week to shampoo carpets and let everyone get debugged (there were a couple of other things happening that day anyway that made it seem reasonable to cancel). We had it for the first time ever. I checked, didn't see anything and then a few weeks later .... bad case! My poor boy was scratching away in church and I about died. I think we went through the whole de-licing twice. I treated everyone -- all 6 kids then at home and myself. The 3 of us with long hair used a lot of the shampoo. It's a menace!! So sorry you're dealing with it. And yes, it makes me so itchy! Lisa

I think you should be fine starting with R & S 5. It is intensive, but it's all explained. There are plenty of exercises, built-in review and the extra workbook. My dc don't actually do all of the exercises. We work through the lesson orally, do some of the lessons in the textbook orally (or diagram on a whiteboard) and then they go off to complete exercises in the book or complete the workbook page. My older dc started with R & S after a few years of Shurley English. They had never diagrammed and I recall that my oldest went into R & S 7 (in 8th grade). At that point, there are some complex sentence diagrams, but it was all explained very well and we didn't have any hiccups. Lisa

And the people who are like this IRL? They are gems to be around. GEMS. So refreshing to hear someone disagree with polite questions and some probing to understand. Lisa

That book has always been on my list, but so far down that I never get there. She's a heroine for my parents, who have given a lot (mostly time, volunteer work, political support, etc) to preserving the real Florida. But, ugh, I though maybe it would read super slow. She was a firecracker that's for sure! Lisa

I live in the county which just may be the seat of all [European] Florida history. But I've never done any formal Florida history with my kids. I know of two resources but I'd love to know of others you've used. The Land Remembered, student version. I've only read the adult book. How appropriate is this student book for a 5th grader? Or read aloud to a 3rd grader? Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski. Such a great fictional story of a cracker Florida family. What other books, movies, cant-be-missed field trips (no matter where you live in Florida; we have family all over and we're willing to travel) would you recommend? I have some great field trips to share as well but I want to see what everyone offers up as their best. Thanks! Lisa