We lived 500 miles apart for a couple of years--I'd see him Friday night to Sunday night. At the time, we didn't feel like it was hard. He was in the city, which he liked. I was in the mountains, which I liked. Weekends were full of family activities, we had stuff to talk about, were excited to see each other, etc. Mid-week was routine. Nothing I couldn't handle. In the long-term, however, it wasn't a healthy arrangement for us. I first noticed it when just he and I went on a vacation and we were at TOTALLY different places. It took us the whole vacation for us to actually connect--something I thought we'd been doing on each of those weekends, but never had enough time to really connect deeply I guess. So, the kids and I ended up moving to the city. I sobbed. I was mad at God for almost a year. But it's been a great, healing, growing move for me. If I was going to live like that again, I think that I'd try to prearrange a way that dh and I could have regular time just to ourselves.

Hits: Getting Started With Latin SL Science 2&4 RS A MUS Primer, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon McRuffy LA K JAG AAS 3&4 Words are Wonderful (vocabulary) Just Write Wordsmith Apprentice Pianimals SL Readers 2 Intermediate Just OK: SpellWell (I like the word lists for my ds, but getting it done is a different matter) SL P4/5 MBTP 5-7 unit 1 MOH 1 (I like it, but it bored my kids so much that they don't remember anything) WP Chess programs (did the job, sometimes confusing/boring) Each and every handwriting program, next year it's copywork Fail: WP Rock Around the Earth WP LA 4 (not enough retention/instruction) Easy Grammar MFW K

We have had that problem in places where we have hard water. Switching from liquid to powdered detergent seemed to help.

There are 7 people in my book club, and generally people still go even if they didn't finish the book. We meet every 4 weeks or so on Monday nights--it's a night out I look forward to. We rotate who picks the books and hosts the meeting. Often we'll meet at a coffee shop, but occasionally at a restaurant or home. I like the rotation because it helps me to branch out and read things that I normally wouldn't.

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Song of the Lark & My Antonia by Willa Cather I read plenty of good books this year, but these were so fabulous I'll be reading them again.

I am using McRuffy K Phonics with my 5 year old and we're loving it. I agree that it is best if the child already knows most letters and their sounds, since the program doesn't spend a lot of time with that. I like how it progresses, it feels logical and thorough without getting boring or taking forever. I think the guide is easy to follow, and like how they intersperse games and readers...the pace is great. I tried SL K LA (which was mostly letter sounds and got boring) and WP Pre-K LA (which did not feel like it had the logical progression and thoroughness or cohesiveness McRuffy has) and about half of SSRW Pre-K (which actually got boring believe it or not--probably because my dd wasn't interested in the singing) and McRuffy has been so much better. A Great fit for us--if they went past 3rd grade I'd probably be using it with my other dc.

I got some from Amazon and found them useful and worthwhile.

Have you called them? Every time that I've called and talked to someone they were extremely helpful and accommodating. If they can't get those books to you by your starting time, I'd venture to guess that they'd give you a partial refund.

In the Lake Tahoe area (where I recently moved away from :()it is often 20-30% humidity, so 80% to me would feel like I'm drowning.

I begged for years to be hs'ed. My mom said no; she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Finally in 11th grade I did independent study w/classes @ the cc and electives at the hs.

We are doing WP AS2 after doing SL Core 3, and AS2 has been great. I have used the Core 4 readers for my boys, and it's been a nice balance. I've even learned a ton this year, and it's been fun too.

Winterpromise has 2 chess courses. I haven't seen them yet so I can't comment on how they'd work for a co-op, but you might check them out.

I ordered EG 5/6 and returned it...the graphic layout was chaotic to me; I was getting headaches just trying to stop my eyes from jumping around. So, unfortunately, I can't compare how the explanations are because I couldn't even get through them w/EG. I'm a visual learner.:cool: We are using GWG 3, 4, and 5 this year w/my 8, 10, and 12yos. I very rarely have to help explain things to them, and when I do it's only a quick clarification. Each level seems to cover basically the same things, only in more depth each year...you could probably skip a level fairly easily.

Ditto what everyone else has said. CA is super easy to hs in, and there is tons of stuff to do. I haven't been persecuted at all for hs'ing, in SoCal or NorCal. Most people are impressed, actually, and agree that the academics in ps are generally very lacking.

I think it's worth it--you get some really wonderful books for your library! Of course, you have to realize that there are some things that you have to add in or schedule (like math or electives) even if you use SL LA and Science along with the Core (you may want to try to figure out if you want to use SL for all of them or not). As far as doing what it says it does, make sure that you read their Reasons NOT to Buy Sonlight. eta: we've used P3/4, 3, 4, half of 5, and parts of K

Persuasion is my favorite, but if you're looking for mind candy I'd pick a different one. I thought Northanger Abbey was great fun, and Emma is definitely more lighthearted.

Thank you for all of those ideas! I'm thinking of trying LLATL, although I've heard that it's light on spelling. I need to look into TLP more too.

What are my options for an integrated LA program? I want to try to find a way to cut out some busy-work for my 10yo next year, and would also like to have spelling and vocab be related to his reading somehow (I'm hoping that will make it stick more). This year he is doing: -GWG 4 (going good) -HWT cursive (won't be doing a separate handwriting program next year) -Building Spelling Skills (CLP, going okay) -IEW Next year I want to start him on vocab and some simple lit.analysis and want to try to make our LA more efficient. I will most likely be keeping GWG and IEW. I'd rather not have to come up with a program by myself! :) Thanks

This is what I was thinking...I'm not as familiar w/Whittier, but in Long Beach $1 million will buy you a 4 BR house in a pretty stinkin' nice neighborhood...esp. w/the current market.

I'm combining SL Core 4 and WP AS2 this year, and it has been great. Very easy to do (I basically use WP for history, then SL for the Read-Alouds and Readers) and I feel like I've got the best of both worlds.

I've been pulling together my plans for K next year, this is what I've got so far: Math: RightStart A (continuing) Science: combo of CLP K science, SL P4/5 science, and bunch of other books I have around, mixed with hands-on nature study type stuff. Handwriting: HWT K Social Studies: a mix of Core Knowledge, SL P3/4 and P4/5, and some Usborne books for a basic overview of our world. My dd loves worksheets, so I may end up making some for her. I've thought about FIAR, but I have a tendency to try to do too much! Reading/LA: We're using SL LA K right now, which we'll finish. After that, I'm not quite sure what we'll use. I want K to be relaxed...mostly about reading, so a good phonics base. We'll see. Fun seeing what everyone else is doing!

I use the WP schedule as my base. I like that they give you a topic for the week and unit--it makes it easier for me to get an idea of our pace and lets me know what topic we'll be studying. It also makes it easier for me to swap books if I want to. I like to have a big picture in my mind before attacking the bits and pieces. I really only use the SL schedule as reference. I have a 9yo dd that would be bored and antsy listening to many of the Core 4 read-alouds, and 2 boys that love to read, so I've swapped a lot of the SL readers/read-alouds. Instead of following a strict schedule I just keep a list of what order we're doing the books in, and we just read every day. I find that we enjoy it more (and possibly get more reading done) if there isn't a set amount required. I think that I value the WP guide more than SLs because websites, movies, and activities are harder for me to come up with than discussion questions. And like I said, the big picture outlook that WP provides makes a big difference for me. I'm very goal oriented. :) With SL I'd tend to feel just lost somewhere in the middle of the school year, with WP I always feel like we're accomplishing things, and I think thats just because of how the guide is laid out. YMMV

You'd probably be better ordering WP in pieces, like Jennifer said. Esp. if your ds isn't much into the activities, and you will be using other reading (you wouldn't need the Adventure Reading books unless you wanted to add some of them in). You'd have to price it out to make sure you'd save $, but I would think you would. For SL you'd order the readers, read-alouds, and the IG (if you want the schedule, questions and maps etc). I follow the SL schedule only loosely, btw, but the 2 programs seem to move at similar paces. FYI, SL does include 2 missionary stories in core 4 near the end (one is a reader and one is a read-aloud I think). If you're tight on $ you could buy the SL IG, then find the books used or whatever.

I'm using WP AS2 and SL4 this year (WP for history and SL for lit). I find the WP guide to be much easier to tweak than the SL schedules...I would get obsessive about staying on track w/SL. I didn't use SL's notes as much as I use WP's internet links and other ideas, but that's just me. Personally, I haven't really been thrilled about any of the SL history portions I've used (K, 3, 4, 5). I LOVE their readers and read-alouds, but I think their spines are flat and uninteresting--especially when there are so many fabulous books out there to pick from. I feel bad saying that because I really love Sonlight, but I don't think their history books have as much thought put into them as their readers and read-alouds. They have been very easy for me to combine, and I feel like I have the best of both worlds. :)

I'm in Long Beach (when I'm not in Tahoe).