I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for. By hands-on do you mean games? Here are a few ideas to pick and choose from. Who Am I? game (¿Quien soy?) You could buy this game (in English) or find an online version to print out. Each person has a sheet of cartoon pictures like a year book page, and you ask basic questions to eliminate people and try figure out who the other person has chosen. Questions like, are they wearing glasses? Similarly, you can modify the game Hedbandz. We had a basic list of questions in Spanish to refer to, and a limited set of choices. You pick a card, everyone else can see "what" you are and you ask questions to figure it out. We played Twister and Red Light, Green Light I want to use Rory's Story Cubes, but haven't yet. The card version of Pictionary can work, but I don't remember exactly what we did. (blush) BINGO? Make some index word cards and build sentences? Are these the kinds of things you have in mind? For that matter Battleship would work for letters and numbers. You don't have to use war ships, you could use different vehicles, flower beds, fruit displays at a "grocery store", etc.

It varies, right? Currently, though, just having an hour to spend in whatever frivolous way I please, guilt-free, has been working. So, reading a book, or working on a project that interests me.

I agree that she is brave, and how awesome you can help! Is this s one-time thing, or something on going? I would suggest starting in the kitchen because it is easier to make a nice large "clean spot", start the dishwasher, hand wash the rest, clear off the counters, clear off the table, sweep (and wash?) the floor. Then work out into the family room, but leave time to come back and clean up the things that collect anew in the kitchen. Sooo much easier to theoretically clean someone else's house than my own!

My dc like Go To The Dump, which I think came originally from Right Start? We also had some fun with Math Dice and Double Shutter.

Thanks! My library has it and I can't wait to check it out! OP, I've had good luck making blocks of soup and freezing dinner rolls. Also lasagna, chicken and rice casserole (like chicken pot pie), and meatloaf. I try to incorporate frozen vegetables or spinach so that a separate dish is not required.

Aww, don't leave him feeling hen-pecked!

A second sock! Trying to keep the momentum going, but, you know, other things call. I also have a sweater going for dh, but I took an unplanned knitting hiatus over the summer so I have to figure out what it was I was doing???

I think that sounds good. I shoot for about an hour with my 4th graders, but it is hardly an hour of quiet, dedicated problem-solving!

Sometimes I will double a recipe and divide it into three meals. Then I make a vegetable side-dish to go with it. Yes, freezing is only half the job, getting it out early enough to be thawed in time is the other half! Sometimes it takes two days to thaw in the refrigerator. I freeze soup in gallon bags inside large Tupperware, then take it out of the Tupperware for longer storage. Spinach-mushroom lasagna is really popular here. Also did a cheese-chard quiche recently.

No kidding! The pain literally made my toys curl, like they were directly connected. No one was giving me much attention about this until a friend of mine suggested I try this orange-y flavored magnesium Peter Gillham's Calm. It was like magic, ahhhhh.

I, too, opened this expecting a punchline of Aimee kind. What a cool trip!

Maybe a workshop on "Techniques for Letting Go." Maybe get some masseuse(s?) to set up in the lobby, and privacy cubicles next to the dark chocolate vending machines.

That's how I do it in my (engineering) head. When I write it I do it the traditional way. The trick is to be sure he doesn't get caught by problems like, $3.48 + $2.71, where you have to revise your sum as you go. If he can talk you through how he does a problem like that (add the dollars, add the tens, add another dollar, add the units) then he is doing well. I think Kiana teaches math at university level, so she did ok with advanced math. :-)

I would take the class just so I know how it is done and somebody else can worry about having everything we need, will it work, will we finish in time, etc, etc I am unlikely to do it on my own (as proved by the diy cheesemaking kit that has been sitting in my pantry for a year).

Aldi's sells a decent Samoas knock-off.

You can surely "visit" other dens before you make any decisions. I'm sorry to hear about the lack if communication. I can empathize! It was a revelation to me recently to come to understand that some people join but don't really participate in much. There is no problem with that, but that is not how I do things, so my ds accomplishes a lot at home, and the meetings are more for fun - although the behavior you describe would not be acceptable.

And your dry wit. Missed that too. Happy you are back.

My dc are learning Spanish because I know enough to get them well started. Also, conveniently, there are a lot of resources available locally and online. That has let me come up with a mix of materials that is working for us (at the moment). We start in K and slowly and steadily keep at it. In 3rd we started Latin. We are approaching that more systematically but drawing lots of connections to Spanish. In college I had a couple of instances wishing I knew some Latin. There are a plethora of curriculum choices and reviews for it, which also helps. In middle or high school I'm expecting to turn the choice over to them, unless they express interest earlier. As an engineer I will say that I never regretted my lack of German - but there is not a large German presence in the aerospace industry. I did, however spend a week in Spain as part of my job and my bits of Spanish were great! For my two weeks in Japan, however, I was functionally illiterate.

Miquon and BA are great, we use them here and like them. Don't feel like you need to rush to find the right thing, either. Keep it light, work on facts, see what appeals to him. Find some games to reinforce the facts once in a while, card, computer, dominoes, dice, etc. With my dd I had her fill in a 12X12 multiplication table once a week or so, sometimes timed, sometimes with the rows and columns out of order. That helped a lot. We could talk about which ones have her trouble and which were easy for her. I use MEP (along with Beast Academy) for my ds. They are both great programs, but I found MEP hard to get started and impossible to casually flip through. I would say save it for if you need a change down the road a but.

To add a link, highlight the web address of the page you want to link. In your message, highlight the text you want to make "hot". Press the button in the message toolbar with the chain links in front of the world. A little window will open for you to paste the web address into. FYI, I can't do it from my phone.

Thank you! I look forward to deeper investigation of their offerings. You are correct that despite not truly being fluent (where is that line, anyway?) I need native speaker materials to really teach some topics, and to facilitate wider discussion in Spanish in our homeschool. Plus, a variety of materials over the course of the week keeps the murmurs of rebellion at bay.

I radically improved my handwriting before/while teaching others. I had truly thought it not possible at my "advanced" age.

Interesting idea! I have been working with my 3rd (now 4th) graders to read in Spanish. It has been nice to work on it now that we have enough language skills to have rabbit-trail conversations in Spanish. For instance, if they don't know a word, I prefer to give them a description or synonym in Spanish. If your library has a collection of board books, though, that might be a good place to start. I have had difficulty finding teaching resources for young Spanish learners that approach the language systematically. Since most people here learn it as older, conversational learners, that is how most of the teaching materials are set-up. Perhaps you will have better luck with French? Regardless of whether you are teaching then to read in French, definitely read to them in French!

Well, give us some hints, we love that game!