I want to buy the SOTW 1 activity guide for this year. Does anyone know if they do a back to school sale? I will happily wait a week or two if it meant I saved some money. Thanks!

Post on their FB page and ask them how it's going. When I did that last year, they told me it should be out this fall. It obviously didn't make it. They then updated it to say it should be out the 2013-2014 school year. So maybe they can tell you if it's still an option or if they're pushing it out further.

Elemental Science Physics is what I would do. Designed for 4/5 grade, lots of fun experiments, but meaty too. Right up the alley for boys. :)

Call around or start your own troop. I'm the leader for DD's GS troop. Our Girl Scout troop is open to siblings, except for troop meetings. (You're thinking what DO siblings get to do then, right?) Well, siblings come along on camping trips. Sleepovers. Service projects. Park dates. Literally everything EXCEPT the once a month troop meeting. DS is joining Cub Scouts this year too and his Den *encourages* siblings to come to everything but the den/pack meetings. They have 2 camping trips a year and a sleepover trip and entire families are welcome to come - the Den Master says his view is "The more, the merrier!" So I would call around and see if that option doesn't already exist. And if it doesn't, start it yourself! I guarantee there are other people in yoru same situation. And both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have national policies that allow for the inclusion of siblings.

I committed to 50%. I already about our math for this school year, but I'd like to look at MM. So I'm really hoping it makes it to the 50% off since I'm buying it without being 100% sure that we'd even ever use it. :)

That is NOT a good price. Michael's has the tempera paint for 1.99 a bottle. I just bought some last weekend with a 20% off coupon, which made it 1.59 a bottle. The oil pastels - I got a 45 ct. set for 6.99 at Joann's on Saturday. If you buy them with 40% off coupons (you can find them online, on your iPhone, or in the newspaper) and Joann's will take 15% off everything for teachers (clearance, sale, regular price) and Michaels takes a similar percentage off for teachers as well. Both stores recognize homeschoolers. Joann's has a card you get...Michaels you just tell them that you homeschool. :) I would think you could get all of that stuff in a couple of shopping trips for way less than $100...

We're just finishing up CLE LA 3. It goes into more detail on the names, although that's always bugged me and I just crossed it out and wrote the labels. :) Grade 3 uses the terms adjectives, action verbs, and helping verbs. I'm impressed with it and just ordered LA 4. (We've been using it since 1st grade.)

Does Christian Light Education ever have free shipping codes? Or any sort of promos? I have $100 worth of stuff to order and free shipping would help a lot!

This is what I use. It's aluminum free. (Note this is for a 4-pack of them. I got it at my local grocery store for <$5. I was very very hesitant to try it because I live in Texas where it's 105* for weeks in the summer, plus the humidity. I've tried other natural deodorants and I always ended up stinky. This stuff works!! I used it all through last summer and even in the heat of the summer being active I didn't stink or even have to reapply. The trick is that your armpits have to be WET to apply it. I put it on right after I get out of the shower. I actually have a little spray bottle and just spray a couple of sprays of water, put it on, and them I'm good to go. Oh, and it lasts FOREVER. I've had the same one for over 9 months.

CLE?

True story: Last week I went to buy a mouse for DS's snake. The mouse costs $1.08, including tax. I gave the cashier $5.08 because I didn't want to get any coins back. The cashier gave me back $3.92. When I asked him for the rest of my change, he looked confused. I told him, "I gave you $5.08. The snake costs $1.08. You owe me $4, but you only gave me $3.92." He looked from the cash register, to my hand, back to the cash register. Then he shrugged and gave me 8 cents. The next day we went to another store and got jipped on change again. And I realized why I never pay with cash anywhere anymore.

8 weeks or later is ideal. I wouldn't personally worry about 7 weeks though.

:grouphug: I can't imagine what this would be like. I'm so sorry. Have you gotten any indication that they might consider sending her back?

We're using CLE LA 3 right now. They got rid of the marks in 2nd grade if I remember correctly. I really like it and feel like it's rigorous, but not excessive at all. It is very independent, at least for my daughter. We spend about 10 minutes going over new material, she does the We Remember on her own, and then I grade it and give her feedback. A lot of people say that the writing portion is light and recommend supplementation. We didn't use anything else this year, but I do plan on supplementing for 4th grade.

I've never seen it on sale, but it's very easy to find the TM used and you can often find most, if not all, of the LU's used as well. I think I paid $25 for CLE LA 3 this year. There's a Yahoo group for CLE where people sell stuff. If nothing else, buy the TM used and then purchase the LUs new. It's entirely possible that it does go on sale too and I just haven't paid that much attention to it. :D