Thanks! I will check out those links! I think he is beyond Starfall and PBS, so I am looking for sites that are more in depth. Yes. We are VERY familiar with Minecraft. Too familiar!!!! :) Thanks again!

Hi, I am sure this question has been asked a billion times before, but I am having trouble finding what I am looking for using the search function. I'm trying to reduce my 8 year old my son's interest in the Let's Play videos on Youtube and looking for more educational or just generally more stimulating websites for him to visit. I don't necessarily mind him spending down time on the computer, but I really want it to be more interactive and less just mindlessly vegg-ing out watching British guys playing Minecraft! He does play some of the old Sim games like Sim Earth and Sim Ant, and I think those are fine. He actually learns things playing those games. I just blocked Youtube and then discovered that a lot of the better websites like Ted-Ed.com rely on Youtube for the videos. That was annoying. So, you all always have excellent suggestions! I am familiar with the "old" standards like Brainpop. Does anything just pop out at you that you saw that was cool or interesting...particularly sites that were more interactive and not just watching videos...but actually creating or making things? Thanks so much!

These are all great ideas! Thanks! I ordered some story cubes and I think I'll try those first. It's just us and we are afterschooling right now, although I am always sort of dreaming about homeschooling. I know he writes at school so I don't want to push too hard, but I really want to give him some more confidence and freedom in expressing himself.

Thanks so much! I love these forums.

Hi, I am looking for some ideas to help my almost 7 year old son with expressing himself verbally and on paper. I'd like to help him develop some storytelling skills and generally loosen up about expressing his ideas. He's a perfectionist and almost seems afraid to say what he's thinking sometimes in case he's wrong. I'd like to have him write some stories but I think he'll resist, so I sort of want to hide it. Any suggestions?

Thanks you for the advice. :) I think I will do that.

Hi! I'm really just afterschooling, but I thought I'd get more responses here. :) I ordered Singapore Math Kindergarten Essentials A and B for my just turned 5 year old son. He really likes math and is already doing addition and subtraction in the teens. The Singapore K Essentials is so easy. However, I did notice that it teaches certain concepts like "identical" and "similar." These are concepts and terms we've never talked about before, but he had no problem understanding the difference between the two. We had been using a Flash Forward math workbook for grade 1 that I got at Barnes and Noble and have just started learning skip counting. Do you think I should start with the Singapore Math because it's teaching important concepts or if he is already beyond the material, move on to something else (or order the 1st grade curriculum)? Thanks!

We are using Children's Music Journey with our just turned 5 year old son. It's a computer program that hooks up to our keyboard (piano keyboard---not computer keyboard). Our son loves it, and he's already started to play simple songs. It's set up like a game, and each section is taught by a different composer. We tried another program first, but it wasn't very good. My husband seems to think it's a good program. He is the one who plays in the family and he taught himself. http://www.adventus.com/ I think there are 3 programs in total and our plan was to finish the 3 and then start with formal lessons. Good luck! Roxanne

Hi, My son is attending a Montessori preschool during the morning. He just turned 5 and missed the cutoff for K by two months (which is fine with me). Montessori is teaching the kids how to write in cursive first. My son totally hates this because he went to a previous preschool where they started them in print. Now he's confused. I'm not really sure I like the starting in cursive, but what can I do. His handwriting is terrible either way, so I wanted to give him some practice at home. But now I'm not sure how to start. I ordered Handwriting Without Tears Pre-k and K, but those are in print. Now I'm wondering if I should start with cursive instead. What do you think? Stick with cursive because that's reinforcing what he's learning at school? Print? Can I do both without making him nuts? I worry that if we do public next year for kindergarten he will be even more confused if he just learns cursive. Maybe this is a Montessori plot so I'll keep him there. :tongue_smilie: Thanks!

Thanks! This could get very addictive. :)

Hi, I was looking for some resources for kindergarten science, social studies and history. I'm not looking for anything formal, but I'd like to do some fun weekly activities in these areas with my son and it would be helpful to have a list of topics, chapters, etc...so I don't get off track. It would also be great to have a list of complementary library books that we could read together. My son is 5. I'm interested in science concepts, learning about history, maps, other cultures, etc...Can anyone recommend a book, curriculum, etc...in these areas? Thanks! Roxanne