Kerileanne99 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Okay- So I *Think* I pretty much have things hashed out for Alex for our Fall semester...at least until she bypasses them:) But although she is alarmingly advanced, she still needs fun, cutesy, and 'extra'. Last year we started with all new materials so it would be official and new. This year is just continuation. She doesn't even need much in the way of supplies, although I bought cutesy items. So. I want to buy extras for this year. If you had between $500-$1000 to purchase extras that a child could use long term, what would that entail? We have item like a microscope, A magi scope, molecular modeling, snap circuits, and LOTS of science materials (hubby teaches Chem at uni/mom is Chem/biology). Her favorite subjects are MATH, science, art, and writing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Art classes? Calligraphy kits? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Do you have Zometool? We bought the huge set and pull it out periodically. It is a cross between construction, geometry, and science. Are you all set on electronics like computers and iPads? I'm not sure how far it will stretch in ability yet, but DD is liking the Osmo we bought. Lego Education kits? Nice stationary or cards and writing implements? A graphing calculator? I remember having fun just plugging in equations I made up and seeing what the graphs looked like. Anything from the giant "relaxed math" thread that might catch your eye. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 If you have hardwood floors, a Sphero would be fun (DD just did the Apple Store coding class, and says it's similar to Scratch as far as difficulty, and it's fun to play with geometry and figure out how to get the robot to respond.) Alas, we have either carpet or tile with pretty deep grout lines, neither of which work well for anything that expects to roll :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Along the lines of the Sphero are the Dash and Dot robots. I believe you can use either their own programming language or Scratch with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 French style easels because they are portable for outdoor wildlife drawing Something like this http://www.dickblick.com/products/mabef-sketchbox-easel-m-22/ A big set of art supplies. This box set is $429. https://www.amazon.com/Faber-Castell-Graphic-Collection-Mahogany-Vaneer/dp/B0030GCL6M 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 If you have hardwood floors, a Sphero would be fun (DD just did the Apple Store coding class, and says it's similar to Scratch as far as difficulty, and it's fun to play with geometry and figure out how to get the robot to respond.) Alas, we have either carpet or tile with pretty deep grout lines, neither of which work well for anything that expects to roll :) Don't feel bad. Sphero doesn't roll consistently on either our 1904 hardwood floors or the neighborhood basketball court. It is lots of fun but reproducibility isn't a feature. I really wanted a LOGO turtle but it wasn't to be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookbard Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 We have the Dot and Dash robots which have been fun, a great way to learn programming. If I was buying it myself I'd only go with Dash and buy a few of the accessories rather than Dot. You need an ipad or similar to use the robots. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Backyard chickens!! :hurray: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 My dc's both really enjoyed Thinkfun games like River Crossing. http://www.thinkfun.com/products/river-crossing/ I would also look through the Timberdoodle catalogue. They always have great extras. http://www.timberdoodle.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Our DD prefered K'nex above Lego's. You might want to combine it with: https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Physics-Toys-Hands--Investigations/dp/1883822408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469712266&sr=8-1&keywords=physics+with+toys But for our language oriented dd buying a kindle was the biggest change last year. For all the languages we use so far you get a linked dictionary. So reading in a foreign language is soooo much easier and fun when you can just put your finger on the word to find its meaning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 The book square foot gardening with kids, lumber, soil mix outlined in the book, and a trip to a garden centre to choose seeds. https://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Kids-Self-sufficiency/dp/1591865948 Digital microscope imager (it fits the Magiscope) https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Digital-Microscope-Imager-44421/dp/B003DVP7CE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469716963&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+digital+microscope+imager Plankton net https://www.amazon.com/Educational-Insights-Geosafari-Plankton-Net/dp/B00748S1C0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469717082&sr=8-1&keywords=plankton+net Stop motion camera https://www.amazon.com/HUE-Animation-Studio-Windows-Apple/dp/B0049TQQ1A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469717143&sr=8-2&keywords=stop+motion+camera 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Our newest math purchases were: Degree and Percent Fraction Rings http://www.hand2mind.com/item/fraction-rings-degrees-and-percents/6391 Probability spinners (Ds makes board games) http://www.hand2mind.com/item/doall-probability-spinner-set/6621 For writing we love our date stamp (this is our most used homeschool item!). Ds also loves to write on pages I make for him using a word processor. I make lines by creating a table with the edges set to clear. I then add a purchased border of his choice and he has a fancy page to write stories. Examples of borders we use: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Clip-Art-Borders-Frames-Skinny-Edge-Doodled-Borders-and-Frames-Set-2-2184772 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Set-1-25-Thin-Page-Borders-1180809 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Borders-557768 For art, I would buy all the issues of arTree magazine: https://artreekids.com We have also had good success with Home Art Studio. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 The expensive item post! If Alex enjoys snap circuits she might like LittleBits. You need more than one kit to really do much. https://littlebits.cc/kits/gizmos-and-gadgets-kit Dash and Dot have been a great computer science purchase for us. They are adorable, fun, and really do teach coding skills. https://www.makewonder.com Cuboro is used often at our house. It is a marble run, but is made of identical sized cubes and the marbles run inside them. There are cuboro competitions for adults, so they are not as simple as your average marble run. http://cuboro.ch/7/1/de/Info/Produkte/cuboro-Kugelbahnsystem/cuboro_standard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 Do you have Zometool? We bought the huge set and pull it out periodically. It is a cross between construction, geometry, and science. Are you all set on electronics like computers and iPads? I'm not sure how far it will stretch in ability yet, but DD is liking the Osmo we bought. Lego Education kits? Nice stationary or cards and writing implements? A graphing calculator? I remember having fun just plugging in equations I made up and seeing what the graphs looked like. Anything from the giant "relaxed math" thread that might catch your eye. We do have Zometool! Hubby loves it even more than Alex:) I did order Dash and Dot, prior to this thread as part of her coding materials for this year. Glad to hear it should be a great purchase:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Backyard chickens!! :hurray: Your visiting snakes would LOVE that! (DD has tried to talk me into chickens just to attract snakes...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Your visiting snakes would LOVE that! (DD has tried to talk me into chickens just to attract snakes...) :scared: We actually get snakes here quite regularly. So far no issues with our chookies. The chookies are closed up nice and tight at night time, and during the day they are free range, so they can move away from any dangers. We do hear horrible stories of big carpet pythons feasting on chickens, but this is usually when a snake has got into the coop and the chickens can't get away. I'm definitely pro-snake, but they are not allowed to eat my chickens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 :scared: We actually get snakes here quite regularly. So far no issues with our chookies. The chookies are closed up nice and tight at night time, and during the day they are free range, so they can move away from any dangers. We do hear horrible stories of big carpet pythons feasting on chickens, but this is usually when a snake has got into the coop and the chickens can't get away. I'm definitely pro-snake, but they are not allowed to eat my chickens! I actually only know of one person who had a snake get into the coop, but they certainly seem to be attracted. Of course, one of the common names for a pretty plentiful species in the area is "Chicken Snake" for a reason. One of DD's snake friends would regularly find black rat snakes under the coop. She'd bring them in, give them a meal, and turn them loose quite a distance away in a couple of days. By late that summer, she'd gotten to the point she could recognize individuals, and figures they were showing up, not to try to get into the chickens (and quail), but just for the free rat! I don't know if it's harder or easier to make a chicken coop snake proof where you are. Rat snakes can get through pretty small holes, but aren't nearly as strong as a carpet python, so something like mosquito netting behind chicken wire is usually proof against them. I would imagine a carpet could make it's own holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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