While not exactly like those in MEP, my son (while doing MEP) enjoyed doing these (free) problems with a hundreds chart: http://www.mathwire.com/problemsolving/hblogic.pdf

We're only in our second year (first grade), so I don't have a lot of experience. However, the biggest hit in our house has been Life of Fred. After finishing Level 1 of MEP, my son decided he no longer "liked doing math". We took a break from MEP & broke out Life of Fred. He even asks to read it on weekends.

This was my 5 yo son last fall. But by the spring, he started enjoying coloring (although he still hates to draw). And everything he "wrote" (which wasn't much, mostly a little birthday card or some signs to use while playing with his Hot Wheels) was always in all uppercase -- he recognized lowercase letters but refused to write them. This year, now that he's six, practicing printing lowercase letters has been much more productive. He doesn't object to writing them, and the letters actually look quite nice. So don't worry about taking things slowly, especially with a little boy. Even though my son hated art, he did like numbers & was always willing to do dot-to-dots, especially if they had "big" numbers. He also liked mazes. So I figured those were good ways to work on fine motor skills. Try to find something your son enjoys -- it doesn't have to be letters yets -- and let him work on his motor skills that way.

My 6 yo son is reasonably bright, accelerated in some areas and picks many things up reasonably easily. But I have tried to never tell him he's smart. (Of course, he does hear it from the grandparents & other loved ones.) Whenever he achieves something new, I always praise how hard he worked to get there. And I'm always emphasizing practice & hard work. That being said, I don't know how well it's working. My son sounds just like your son. Whenever he can't figure something out immediately, he tells me it's too hard & he can't do it. Sometimes mini meltdowns even follow. UGH! I think part of it is personality and how much somebody is driven to succeed. I've been struggling with this a lot lately. I'm going to keep following this thread, implement some of the ideas, and keep hoping he grows out of it. (Fingers crossed!!) If anybody has read any worthwhile books on the topic, I'd love to know.

I saw the post above about the reading levels, but I always find them so confusing. For what it's worth, we started Level 3 for my 6 yo after nearly completing OPGTR. My son is managing just fine. Of course, there are few words he finds challenging in each lesson, but I thought that was the point. They are also a little challenging when it comes to reading comprehension, but I think that is partly due to the use of older expressions and older concepts, with which he is not familiar. I chose Level 3 after browsing through the free online versons of the books. I thought Levels 1 and 2 might not be challenging. For his "fun" reading, he reads the early chapter books (like the Level 3 readers, such as Henry and Mudge or Doddsworth). Level 3 of McGuffey's is more challenging than those readers.

We've been using a McGuffey Eclectic reader, which I LOVE. I agree with an earlier poster about a lot of the early readers in the library not being particularly rich in language. I let my son read those for his "fun" reading time because he likes the stories. (He particularly enjoys the short Doddsworth series.) Another option is the Usborne early readers -- I think they come in Levels 1 and 2. We picked up Usborne's Aesop's Fables from the library, and my son really enjoyed it. A lot of the early Usborne readers come in non-fiction topics that you could fit to your child's interests.

I'm not an expert on McGuffey's Readers. This year, I purchased my first copy. (We started it after getting about 80-90% through OPGTR, but if you want to start sooner, probably a Level 1 or 2 McGuffey's would work.) I have this version: http://www.amazon.com/McGuffeys-Third-Eclectic-Reader-Readers/dp/0471288918/ref=pd_sim_sbs_misc_3 I don't know how it compares to other versions. However, it does mention God. We're about a quarter of the way through, and God has been mentioned a few times, but there have been no references to Jesus or Christianity. Here's a typical example of how God is mentioned: "They (the birds) went with him to church, and while he said his prayers and sang his hymns in it, they sat in the trees, and sang their praises to the same good God who cares for them as he does for us." The stories are great; they teach a lot of values and morals. And it's wonderful to expose your children to the older language and concepts. (My son just couldn't figure out why one story kept using "o'er".) I hope that helps!

Just a little food for thought. http://lewrockwell.com/orig9/finnigan10.1.html

I've been hosting a decent sized Thanksgiving dinner for a number of years. I always tell everyone they don't need to bring anything. My immediate family likes to chip in for the desserts or turkey. But everyone else inevitably brings "something". In my experience, flowers (which I normally love to have), even arranged, are kind of a pain, because you already have the place "decorated" for the occasion, and now you have to find a spot to display the lovely flowers that just arrived. We're not big drinkers, so wine tends to go to waste, and I don't even think we'd partake too much in a sparkling cider, but everyone's different. And I usually provide plenty of desserts, although I don't object to putting out another one. My favorite "hostess" gifts are some kinds of treats to enjoy at a later time (I love the suggestions about some breakfast treats) or something I can use. I've been given nice hand towels, which I can always use because mine tend to get used looking over time - Williams Sonoma has the BEST hand towels. I've also been given fun new cooking utensils from Williams Sonoma, which I really enjoy because I would never buy them for myself. And a lovely thank you note after the dinner is always greatly appreciated.

I've sold a lot of children's clothing and toys on Ebay over the years. Of your three proposed choices, you'll probably get the highest prices on Ebay. But over the last couple of years, children's clothing has been selling for less and less on Ebay. (I hardly sell anything on there anymore -- just trying to get rid of my existing inventory.) Then Ebay takes a cut and PayPal takes a cut. Also, it's a lot of work to photograph, list, and ship. And for items that weigh over 13 ounces, shipping costs start getting expensive, so even if you charge them to the buyer, they will cut into what the buyer would be willing to pay for the item. So it's probably not worth the small difference in price to go through all the trouble to sell on Ebay, unless you have lots of time on your hands & can't find anything better to do. ;) Craigslist will probably get you the next highest prices, but I personally don't like to have strangers come to my home, and meeting them out costs gas & is an inconvenience for me. So my vote would be consignment shop or a children's consignment sale if you can find one. Or have your own garage sale (and list it for free on Craigslist under sales/garage sales -- don't waste money on expensive newspaper ads). Good luck!

I'm in a similar boat & certainly appreciate your problem. When we started homeschooling last year, my son was 5. He loved math. He was really into learning big numbers and adding them for fun. (When playing with his friends, he liked to discuss billions & trillions, but usually just got a confused reaction.) He was constantly at our whiteboard "doing math" while he played. And then halfway through the year, I decided to try MEP Level 1. We started near the beginning, even though it was working with very small numbers, because I liked the concepts it taught. And I really enjoyed the challenges it provided. We worked through the summer and just finished Level 1 last week. But for the last month or so, my son has been saying he doesn't like math. It killed me to hear that after he had been enjoying it so much. So I told him we could take a week off from math. I'm now regrouping & trying to think outside the box to help him find his love for math again. I picked up my copy of "About Teaching Mathematics" by Marilyn Burns (you can probably find it at your library - I got a cheap used copy on Ebay). It has a lot of neat, challenging activities that I think I'm going to incorporate while we take a break from traditional math programs. In particular, I like the ideas for geometry, which others had mentioned as a fun alternative. It also has activities for measurement, probability and patterns & functions, as well as arithmetic. It might be something you want to look at. I hope you find something that works for your son.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has this problem. I usually try to wait until the last minute to buy it so I can't do too much damage. But this year I found an amazing deal on candy about 2 weeks ago. And then I immediately gave it all to my mom to keep at her house until tomorrow. Hopefully I won't be able to do too much damage before the trick-or-treaters arrive.

Thanks for the idea. I had DVR'd the second season, from what I can tell. But I wanted to start at the beginning. And thanks to you, I found it & requested it from the library.

We actually like the tiles. For my 6 yo son, who is only willing to write so much in a day, the tiles are a nice change of pace. Some days we use the tiles, and other days we write the words & phrases. But we can get through a lot more words in the same amount of time using the tiles. Like others, I like that the program is focused on the spelling rules rather than on just memorizing a bunch of words. In this respect, I don't mind that it's parent/teacher intensive. I like being able to see where he's struggling so I know which rules need more review. In fact, for rules that he has trouble remembering, I come up with my own words in addition to those in the book. He starts to memorize the words in the book, but I want to make sure he's really getting the rule. Frankly, the only con for us is the price. FWIW, after Level 1, I decided that we only need the Teacher's Guide (along with the tiles we already purchased). I don't use the cards to keep track of what we need to review, just little notes that I put in the my book.

We also used OPGTR, and now we are using AAS for my 6 yo son. We're nearing the end of Level 1. I'm very happy with the program & planning on buying Level 2. Frankly, I like that it has the tiles. We can get through a lot more practice words with tiles than with him writing them (and there's a lot less frustration on his part). Typically, I introduce a new lesson/rule with the tiles & have him practice with them. Then throughout the week we practice the words orally & in writing. I quickly abandoned all of the cards, but I'm sure others find them very helpful. I keep track of what he needs to work on mentally or with little sticky notes in my book or by looking at the last few lists of words he wrote. I find it's a pretty straightforward program that doesn't take a lot of preparation. In terms of when to start, my son was wanting to write things & asking how to spell them. So I figured it was a good time to start. (We were about 2/3 of the way through OPGTR.) Also, you don't need to rush through AAS - you can do a lesson as quickly or slowly as you & your child desire. Good luck! Just wanted to add that I agree that AAS is pretty pricey. For Level 2, I plan on just buying the Teacher's Guide. And if I had it to do again, for Level 1 I would have just purchased the Teacher's Guide & Tiles. I have never used the CD, and, as mentioned, I've abandoned the cards from the Student book. And you certainly don't need that fancy little card box. When I used the cards, I just put them in an appropriately-sized gift box that I had around.

Those puzzles look amazing! Bookmarked for a future purchase.

We live in Vegas, and the winter weather here is pretty cool - I would never consider swimming outdoors, even in a heated pool. Somebody previously mentioned the Lied Children's Museum, which is a short cab drive from the strip - lots of fun! We also have a small natural history museum, also pretty close to the strip. Another nearby kid-friendly excursion is Springs Preserve, an indoor/outdoor desert-themed museum, with a small sampling of desert animals. Red Rock Canyon is beautiful, but you would want a car -- it's not somewhere you would want to have a cab just drop you off. It has a 13-mile loop with lots of trails (including a children's trail) and scenic look-outs along the way. We also have a zoo, but I wouldn't recommend it -- I've never been there, but I heard it's pretty pathetic and a sad site. But we always enjoy the dolphins & (small) zoo at the Mirage. At the south end of the strip is Town Square. It's a large outdoor shopping/restaurant area, but it has an outdoor play area for the kids as well. We have lots of other great parks/playgrounds, but you would probably want your own car to hit them -- most aren't too close to the strip. My 6 yo son always enjoys meeting other homeschoolers, so if you have a car & want to meet a park, let me know. If you need any other info, feel free to PM me. Kathleen

This looks neat. In a search for the book, I came upon this sample of the accompanying guide, which also looks interesting: http://sassafrasscience.com/images/zoology%20guide%20sample.pdf

My then 5 yo son had a lot of success just assembling a wooden US jigsaw puzzle where each piece is a different state. After awhile, he not only knew the locations of the states, but their shapes. (I could hold them backwards, sideways or upside down, and he could still identify them.) He also liked to lay out the pieces & put them in alphabetical order. He learned state capitals by just playing games that he would make up with the pieces. Sometimes we would play "store", and I would ask to "buy" the piece with a given capital, and then he would have to find that piece. (And bonus, we could incorporate math into our "store" game too.) For learning countries, we had a lot of success playing a game with Matchbox cars & a large laminated world map spread out on the table. I would name a country, and he would drive his car there. (On my wishlist is The Global Puzzle, where each piece is a different country. I think that will help cement some of the more difficult countries.) I think it depends on your child's interests and how he learns. I don't think my son would have been interested in reading a placemat with lists of states & capitals, but I think it's a great tool for children who enjoy it. And obviously it helps if it's something your child wants to learn. My son was really into geography, so I took advantage at the time. I don't know how much I would have pushed if he wasn't pursuing it on his own.

Dawn, I'm loving all of your helpful posts. Thanks so much for taking the time to share!

Great book! It's filled with lots of great information with a fun, interesting story. My 6 yo son loved it. But he was so preoccupied with the dog on each page that I'm not sure how much he retained, despite multiple readings.

Thanks for the link! Here's a link to a few other puzzles my son enjoyed: http://www.mathwire.com/problemsolving/hblogic.pdf I'll also second Logic Safari, which has been a hit in our house.

Where did you purchase it? I saw on Pinterest that it also works really well on scratched plates.

Reading through the earlier thread about children who get blamed for things they haven't done, I'm surprised at the quantity of "don't ever bring your kid back here" responses. I haven't ever experienced that with my own son, and I've never seen it happen when we were at any type of event or gathering. Now I can imagine it could happen occasionally when things get really out of hand. But in the stories told in the earlier thread, even if the children had actually done what they were accused of, such a response seems quite harsh. Is it common for people to be told not to come anymore for relatively minor offenses?

If you are interested in reading something about the history of education along the same lines, but with citations (and tons of them), you might want to check this out (also free to read online): http://deliberatedumbingdown.com/ Warning: It is a very dense, long read.