For this year's Christmas gifts, my mom says that she would like to buy our kids some stuff to do on the computer, such as math drill games, phonics games, etc. She wants me to tell her what to get...and I have no ideas as of now. So, I'm asking you! I'm not looking for the kind of games that are long on fun and short on actual purpose. I'd love for the younger kids to have a way to reinforce core subject knowledge (phonics/reading, math facts, Latin vocab, spelling, etc.) during the "in-between times" of the school day. I've searched online, but really have no way of knowing which software fits what I'm looking for. Any ideas?

Wow! Thank you all for these great ideas...Creative juices are flowing!

Our church is hosting a medieval-themed music camp in June. As one of the instructors, I would like to make my classroom into a castle. I've checked out various ideas online, and have a few questions. (Also, any ideas from you all are welcome.) What is the best way to make the walls (inside and out in the hall) look like stone castle walls without spending a bunch of money on wallpaper? I've thought about hanging bedsheets, but can I paint them to look like stones? What kind of paint should I use? How would I attach them securely to the wall/ceiling? I've also thought about cardboard, but again, how could I attach it to the wall securely yet temporarily, without ripping the paint off? Is there any other way to cover walls to make them look like castle walls? I'm thinking about making a (stationary) wood or cardboard 'drawbridge' over a 'moat' for the entrance to the classroom. Any ideas for me here? I know I could order cheap plastic chains to hang from the top of the door to the edge of the bridge, but what could I use for water? Fabric or plastic tablecloths, maybe? Anyway, just brainstorming at this point. Any ideas y'all can give would be much appreciated!

I've always found it best to start teaching the youngest (K-er) while her older sibs do morning independent work (spelling, handwriting, Latin drill, reading, and (for the two oldest) math and English). Then, while K-er does seatwork from our lessons, I move to teaching the 2nd grader, who by that time has usually almost run out of things she can do on her own. (The older two are still doing independent work.) I flip-flop back and forth between the k-er and the 2-grader, and end up meeting with the older two afterward. Works for us...

The other day, when I was still 'back home,' I called my sister after finding this book in yet another thrift store. My sister (an even harder core thrift shopper than I am, if that's possible) travels the country full-time with her husband, an itinerant speaker, and their three girls. I just had to know...was this book stalking her, too? I asked her the same question I asked on this thread. She answered, without hesitation, "The Story of Jonah." Funny! Any more fabulous deals y'all want to share?

Bingo, hsmom3tn! You win the hard-core thrift shopping award for the day! And bonus points for your explanation; I didn't know that. Hey, maybe there's a money-making opportunity here. We could buy up all of the copies of this book, seal them in a capsule, and when we're ninety years old, sell them as 'vintage books' at $20.00 a pop! (But I'm thinking they'll still be haunting thrift stores in the year 2063...)

So, here's the link to an image of The Book That Is Stalking Me. The title of the book isn't in the link, so those of you who want to keep guessing what it is can do that. Hey, maybe if I just broke down and bought this book, it would leave me alone...then I'd donate it to a thrift store... (Notice that the price for used copies is $0.01. Yeah, I'm thinking this book must have been the victim of a massive overprinting, and it's getting its revenge by stalking innocent thrift store-goers.) http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0837850681/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_1?ie=UTF8&index=1

You know, I've seen a lot of these books, too, so good guess! But the one I'm thinking of is a Bible story...The very thing that makes it stick out to me is that it is this one, and only this one, Bible story in the whole series that is at every thrift shop I visit. For as long as I can remember, I've headed to the children's book section first to see what treasures I can unearth...but now there's this weird compulsion to search for the additional purpose of seeing if This Book is there. I was almost defeated yesterday at the Salvation Army store...kept searching...digging...pulse quickening...It's not here???....Oh, yes. It is. Unbelievable. I'm 1000 miles away from the ten or so thrift stores I frequent, and it's here, too. It has been in the thrift stores I've visited on vacations, too...Pigeon Forge, Williamsburg, etc. It's STALKING ME!!! I...can't...get...away...from it. Awesome!!! Oh, yeah! Love it! There's just something about getting an item at 90% off the retail price that gives me the warm fuzzies. I have to resist the urge to tell everyone I know what I just found. That's why I started this thread!! :tongue_smilie:

Wisely put.

We've incorporated different schedules and routines (strict, laid-back) over the years, depending on our needs and stages of life. I remember feeling so guilty (as a pregnant mom of three kids under 6yo) about napping in the afternoons instead of doing history and science with my then-1st and 2nd graders...but you know, it didn't turn out to be a really big deal. Right now (when we get back from break) what we'll need is a strict schedule to wipe these party grins off our faces, and help us transition from Bacchus's realm to Athena's. Sometimes we've made this transition more gradually, 'easing in,' as it were. But this time I sense the need for something stricter. The basic idea behind any routine we do is that I've always started out working one on one with the youngest child (K-5 this year) while the older ones do as much work as they can independently. After I do a few things (usually phonics/reading, spelling, and handwriting) with the kindergartener, she is able to do some seatwork in those subjects independently while I work with the 2nd grader, who has by then completed her own 'morning independent work.' I work alternately with the two youngest while the two older ones (4th and 6th grade) continue working on their own until I meet with them. Sometime in the middle of all of this, we do our 'memory period,' which right now consists of singing various VP history songs and the Presidents song, reciting Ephesians 6, catechism, the states and capitals, the Preamble to the Constitution, various English word lists (helping verbs, prepositions, etc.). Our 4yo loves this time, because he gets to dance/march around the room to the music, and he knows the states and capitals as well as anyone else (without knowing what they really mean, of course). We just keep at it until we're done, which (on an ideal day on the strict schedule) is around lunchtime. Then, it's violin and cello practice time. (We do piano practice in the morning; all four kids take turns during the 'independent morning work' time.) HTH! I know my life is different from yours...Back when I had just two, I did basically the same thing; it was just simpler. (It didn't seem simple at the time, though! It's harder when they can't read and do as much on their own.) I think the basic idea is still just to alternate between the two for the core subjects and then at some point meet all together for read-aloud time, and whatever else you're combining them for.

OK, so I was at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in the place where I'm visiting my family 1000 miles from my home...and, sure enough, I saw The Children's Book That Is in Every Thrift Store again! It wasn't Good Night Moon...or The Foot Book...or Charlotte's Web...I'll see if any more are interested in guessing, and then I'll reveal the answer. Hint: It is a small hardback book that is part of a larger series...but I rarely see any other books from this series in a thrift store. Maybe there was a massive overprinting of this book years back??? BTW, I snagged some great deals today...All books at this place are 39 cents!

Whoa! That blows my find out of the water! 5knights, nice grab on the Martha Stewart ornaments! Here's a quiz question for hard-core thrift shoppers who never fail to look through the children's book sections: What one children's book seems to pop up at just about every thrift store? (I would say EVERY thrift store, b/c I think I've seen it at every single thrift store I've ever visited.) Any ideas?

This is great, Mama Lynx. There is great value in letting them gain these real-life skills! Our kids routinely make breakfast and lunch for themselves, and are pretty good about cleaning up afterwards. The three oldest (even the 7yo) can fix eggs any way ya want 'em, make pancakes, etc. Our two 'little girls' team up on cleaning and vacuuming out our Suburban--that's pretty hard work for them. Chores like the ones you've mentioned are just a given, of course; my 9yo ds cleans a mean toilet...I think our kids asked one time for an allowance/reimbursement for chores (must have heard this from their friends)...We told them that their reimbursement is that they get to live in a nice, clean and comfortable house. :) (Or, if you take what Laura Ingalls said about her childhood, she felt that by helping out her parents, she was actually 'paying' them for the home they had made for her.) But what do you all think? Do you ever pay your kids to do nitty-gritty jobs, so that they can save up for something they want to buy, or an event they want to attend?

Me too. Wish I could take credit for it...I don't know where it came from, but my friend uses it all the time.

Oooh, nice! Vintage stuff! Post a pic if she uses the roll in a work of art.

Not a bad idea, bethben. We've tried hard to do this, although in this world 'media' are of course ubiquitous and pervasive. My kids really don't know what they're missing...They watch very little TV (I would say no TV, but maybe twice a month they watch a prerecorded America's Funniest Video show, or happen to come downstairs after being put to bed, and see a little of my dh's football game...but no regular shows). They have no video games, no ipods, no cell phones, no Wii, no personal gaming devices...and as I'm rereading this post so far, I realize I sound like some kind of back-woods extreme kook who condemns out-of-hand all of the things I'm mentioning. (I don't, by the way; I just hope to integrate these kinds of things into each child's life in a planned, cautious, responsible manner. Maybe that's too idealistic. Right now, I find life heavenly without these distractions.) Something I've done to help 'quiet the mental noise' in our family is that when we're in the car (which we are quite often, since we live in the boonies and have to drive over an hour to get to lessons, etc.), I encourage the kids (who are clamoring for a story or music CD--more noise!) simply to think in silence....like "drop everything and read" time, only it's "drop everything and think" time. This idea garnered some quizzical looks from the kids at first, but now they're used to it...and it's really amazing to talk to them and find out what their minds were chewing on as we all sat silently. My personal opinion echoes that of other posters: our ancestors benefitted from the time they had to think about things--really think, I mean. That time has been robbed from us by our frenetic, noisy culture. Never a quiet moment... Anyway, these ideas are simply my attempt at doing what may turn out to be impossible anyway. But, as my friend likes to say: "Better to shoot for the stars and hit a tree limb than to aim low and blow your toe off." :lol:

We spent the whole last week of August in Williamsburg, and we found ourselves wanting to stay longer. We did two days in colonial Wmsbrg, which, as someone else said, is a must, since you spend the first day getting your bearings and the second 'sinking in' a little more. (All of our kids--ages 10 down to 3--were captivated by the shops, craftsmen/women, reenactments, hands-on activities, etc.) We also did Busch Gardens. I wish we could have visited surrounding attractions (Jamestown, Space Museum, etc.), but our younger kids wouldn't have been up to it. We're definitely planning a return trip sometime in the future...maybe when my youngers are on 'Explorers to 1815' in history.

My sister and I enjoy shopping at thrift stores, especially when we're together...so that's where we found ourselves yesterday afternoon. We were at Savers, which is a somewhat 'pricier' thrift store, but they were having a 50% off green tag sale. Anyway, rooting around in the back of the home goods section, we unearthed some 'floor chairs' (floor cushions supported by backs made of fabric-covered metal frame) in a nice chocolate color. Perfect for watching TV, extra seating for casual gatherings, etc. Two bucks apiece. We bought all nine of them. We kept saying how nice and practical they were (they 'nest' nicely and don't take up storage space, etc.). So, we thought we'd search online to see if we could find a comparable item's retail price. Well, we found these exact chairs, called Back Jacks...at $65.99 apiece! We paid $18.00 for nine of them! Gotta love it. Anybody else have a good 'steal story' from after-Christmas sales or thrift store shopping?

No, Kim, I haven't seen Super Boggle. Sounds like great fun!

If I can ask, why a chalkboard? Are you going for a certain 'look,' or are you thinking more of utility? Or both? Do you want a free-standing one, or a wall-mounted one? If you're thinking wall-mounted, have you ever seen that cool chalkboard paint? (You just paint the wall with this special paint, and can use it as a chalkboard.) I don't know how well this works; I've just seen it and thought, "Cool!"

You know, this is really the answer I should have posted. I do remember sending in a copy of my diploma way back when. Thanks for the responsible reply, cathmom.

Rainbow, I have been homeschooling for six years in NC and have never, ever been asked by the state to 'show' anything...not even a school attendance record for the kids, or standardized test scores. I don't even know where my HS and university diplomas are. The sole communication I've received from the state is the yearly postcard which reminds me that I need to keep school attendance records, and which offers the guarantee that no one from the dept. of ed. will visit my house if I voluntarily send in my kids' test scores before April 1 (which is impossible, since my kids don't take the tests until the end of April). Somehow, the fact that no one from the dept. of education has bothered to knock on my door (or the doors of my h/s-ing friends) for all these years has given me the idea that they probably never will. And if they do...well, let's just say we're ready for them. :lol:

We LOVE Boggle at our house. We should have gotten a new game for Christmas, as our 4yo (who loves Boggle in a different way) has lost two of the letter cubes. I heard there's a new, digitized version for sale now. (Is that what the OP was asking about?) I don't think I'd buy the digitized version; IMO, nothing could replace the feelings of anticipation (and the countless memories) that wash over me at the sound and feel of the cubes being rattled into their places, and the dark lid being lifted to reveal a new board. Also, the hourglass timer is irreplaceable, since it engenders so much lively dispute about when the time really did run out. This is an indispensable part of all family Boggle games.

Do share; I'm out of the loop on this one! What is Children's Miracle Music? I could sure use some morning miracles at my house!

Five stairstep kids here, ages 4-11 (see sig line for details)...Never a dull moment, for sure! Original 'plan' (haha) was to have two close together, wait a couple of years, then have two more and be done. Long story short: had trouble getting pregnant with #1...thought about adoption as 'our plan' wasn't working out...finally got pregnant...had two kids 16 months apart...took the planned break and had #3 two and a half years later, then #4 twenty-two months after that. Ah! Done!...Done? Really? Hmm...another one would be nice...but...dh was diagnosed with a brain tumor at that point, so maybe not...BUT (God knows just what we need) the preg. test came back positive right in the middle of dh's whole medical ordeal, which, in addition to scaring us to death, eventually led us to choose hope over doubt, to smile at the future instead of wallowing in 'what-ifs.' We named our little surprise Jonathan, which means 'gift from God.' He has been the light of our lives for four years now. We really do think we're done now.