We are doing level 3 LA and are loving it. Some of the drawbacks mentioned by others are actually benefits here. My son is NOT an LA type of kid. He excels in math but really hates LA - it taxes his brain terribly. That said, he doesn't complain nearly as much about English this year and is making great strides. We're somewhere near lesson 45. I plan on sticking with their LA for the foreseeable future, something I've NEVER said about ANY LA program. Pros: Variety of topics mixed throughout prevents boredom & burnout (mastery didn't work here) Art included! Geography included! Spelling lists that I can use as I see fit Continual review of spelling rules Cons: All in one doesn't work for kids who are all over the place. Lesson length is uneven; we just work for a set time. We also work on several lessons at once since my son can't handle extended focus on one area of LA, even in a single sitting. Lit is "morally good" but not high quality IMHO (we read our own). No answer key through level 3. Not a problem for me, but many have expressed frustration with that.

We are using LA 3 for my 4th grader. He enjoys it more than any other LA we've done, mostly because of the varied lessons. We tried Rod and Staff for a couple of years and it was torture for both of us. We also did MFW's update of Language Lessons for Today - I hated it because there was no clear progression of skills. It seemed totally random. The Good and the Beautiful definitely mixes things up and doesn't follow units like R&S, but it does incorporate review periodically, which I appreciate. My son likes the picture studies and geography, and it's surprising just how much LA is incorporated into those lessons. It's a win here.

We lived in the San Bernardino mountains at the time. I remember my parents being really nervous about going down the mountain with us kids. My dad was a general contractor and got some of the clean-up work. It was a pretty scary time.

English: Good and Beautiful 3 Math: CLE 500 History: SOTW3 w/ A Child's First Book of American History, associated read alouds, SCM visits to North America, some history pockets Reading: 30-45 min/day from various genres Science: Nancy Larson 3 Guitar: daily practice on guitartricks.com Typing: daily practice on typingclub.com

2000 Dodge Dakota with 155,000 miles. It runs like a dream and ds9 wants it when he gets his license. We'll see if it's still running by then!

From the Old Testament all the way through the New Testament, the Bible is clear that homosexuality is a sin. I agree with others that it is not THE sin and shouldn't be focused on to the exclusion of other sins. Here are just a few passages: "26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done." Romans 1:26-28 "8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." 1 Timothy 1:8-11 "9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 And one from the Old Testament: "22 “ ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." Leviticus 18:22

I had an individual policy through Anthem last year and couldn't get out of it fast enough. Every single time I used health services - even filling a routine prescription - I had to deal with some kind of problem. Their hold times are atrocious, nobody ever follows up, and they never follow through on what they say they'll do. I ended up avoiding all things medical because I knew it was going to be a nightmare. At least, that was my experience. I decided it'd be easier to deal with a health share. Since I was already keeping insane amounts of records because of Anthem's inability to handle things correctly, I figured I could keep track of stuff for a health share, and probably save time in the long run. Sorry you have to deal with them.

Sorry about the quoted post with no comment. I hit the wrong button. :) As to the cost of BC: I take a typical generic pill. We joined a health share this year, so no prescription coverage. Good Rx, an online prescription discount program, quoted me $24 for a 3-month supply. My health share included a discount card through another company, and that one dropped it to $18 for 3 months. Without a discount, the price ranged from $24-$45 per MONTH. I used Good Rx last year even while covered under an ACA health plan. The plan was useless and covered almost nothing. My discounted price through insurance for things like allergy nasal spray was a joke. I eventually stopped filling my prescriptions through my insurance and just used the discount cards.

August 1. We're sick of the heat and humidity, and we're not doing anything outdoors because of it. I figure if we're already trapped inside, we might as well start the school year - and then take time off this fall when it's gorgeous outside.

Agreeing with the above. The Bible, reading, and phonics instruction are completely integrated and can't be pulled apart into separate components. I did not care for the program at all. MFW K was wonderful. 1st was a train wreck.

You can buy just the readers and the readers guide up through Readers 4/5. The guide includes a weekly/daily schedule and study/comprehension questions. It also includes some vocabulary and historical/contextual background information on the books. As for read-alouds? You can't get a guide just for that. You'd have to get the core guide for whichever level you're looking at - and that includes a schedule for Bible, history, read alouds, and poetry. BUT - you can get a list of all the read alouds in each core (just pull it from their website). Then you buy the books used or check out from the library, and read them at whatever speed works for you. Hope that helps.

I despise cities. I've lived in Miami, LA, St. Louis, Seattle, Tucson, DFW, Austin, and Louisville. Don't like any of them. My nightmare vacation is a city vacation. Give me the mountains of Colorado, the Tetons, the Oregon Cascades! I need green grass, blue sky, space to plant flowers, peace and quiet. I have no interest in the cultural stuff offered by cities - it's just not for me. I'm much happier camping and canoeing on a placid lake. That said, I've lived in cities my entire adult life. I've learned to deal. I don't like it, but I don't see it changing any time soon.

I do 3-4 loads for our family of 3. I rarely sort, but just throw everything in together until the washer is full. I'll do a separate load for towels, and I do 1 load of sheets every 2 weeks. I'm sure I overload our machine, but don't really care - I've gotten plenty of use out of my laundry appliances before they go kaput.

We never have professional pictures done anymore. We had a family member who did some when DS was born and again when he was 1. I have a nice camera with a tripod and delayed shutter, so we do them on our own. Most of the time I'm super pleased with he results. We'll probably get some professional photos done in the next few years.