Dh is using the extra time to do the things he didn't have time for when the workload was high, such as keeping the house in sellable condition and teaching our teen marketable skills. If your budget isn't going to work out for the cash flow, your family might consider doing side jobs or your own family business on that day off. One suggestion is a pool maintenance business.

Keeping a food diary that includes the amounts (estimated) of what he eats and when can be helpful. One of my children turned out to be allergic to Red Dye 40. He had eczema almost from the beginning and always had hives a few days after a bday party, but we didn't figure it out until preschool gave him a drink with a lot of Red Dye 40 and he broke out in hives instantly. Checking back, we found that the infant vitamins and the icing on birthday cakes both had Red Dye 40. He's a sunnier child now.

Use the Den Meeting Agenda as a template and then read the Bear Book carefully so that you can pick activities for many parts of the meeting that will count toward acheivements and at the same time work for the weather and meeting location: pasting from scouting.org: All Cub Scout den meetings have the following parts: Before the Meeting. Before the Cub Scouts arrive, leaders gather to make preparations and handle last-minute details. Gathering Activity. As the Cub Scouts begin to arrive, they join in an informal activity or game, often conducted by the den chief to keep the boys interested and active until the entire group has arrived. Opening. The opening is the official start of the den meeting. It usually consists of a formal ceremony, such as a flag ceremony, a prayer or song, or a group recital of the Cub Scout Promise. Program. The program part of the meeting will vary by the age of the boys (see below), and may be broken into two or more parts. Generally, most of the meeting consists of craft projects, games, and activities that are all based on the monthly theme. Closing. The closing draws the meeting to an end. It's usually serious and quiet. Den leaders could present a thought for the day or give reminders about coming events. After the Meeting. The leaders review the events of the meeting, finalize plans for the next den meeting, and review their progress toward the upcoming pack meeting. back to me: Also, get one of those big posters from the scout shop that track the scout and his acheivements - it'll motivate them to do some at home. I asked the families to work with the Scout to complete 2 acheivements each month - either finish ones that were done partially in the den meeting or do a different one entirely. I gave them an outline of what we'd be accomplishing in the Den from Sept to Blue&Gold, and asked that everyone who started in Bears by Sept set a goal to earn the Bear rank by B&G in Feb. If your pack does any camping, achievements can be worked on then in the activity stations. This is a fun rank to be den leader for. I can't find the link I originally used, but there are people who put their plans up on the internet. Quick search shows that the fast track program on scouting.org is probably a result of those volunteers' efforts to save the rest of us from reinventing the wheel: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/FastTracks.aspx Tips I found useful from Powwow to pass on: Don't overlook Ach. 24 start picking the denner and ass't denner at the first meeting - that way every boy has a chance to serve for at least a month and complete Ach. 24b. Our den of six retired the denner, promoted the ass't denner and elected a new ass't denner (from the pool of those that hadn't served) at the first meeting of each month. Assign and coach the denner to do Ach. 24c and d and possibly a at the second meeting each month. Do Ach. 24e&f after everyone has had a turn at denner.

Board Games: S'Math, Monopoly for Kids, Monopoly, Life, Clue, Mancala, Fluxx, Pandemic, Mille Borne, Dominoes, Checkers, Apples to Apples, Tiki Topple, Scrabble, Othello, Backgammon, Connect 4, Amazing Labryinth, Mastermind for Kids, Spywire, Guess Who?, Pick and Pack Computer Games: Hits: Cluefinders, Zoombinis, Pajama Sam, Freddie Fish, Putt-Putt, Math Blaster, Zoo Tycoon, Pit Droids, Hoyles Card Games Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks, legos, rocks & minerals Puzzles: Junkbot at the Lego website Etc.: Deck of playing cards, scouting supplies, Ed Zaccarro, microscope, student quality colored pencils

My kids have aged out of Cubs...when I was the leader I used Baloo's Bugle and the Program Helps and took into account our den's planned contribution to the Pack Meeting. Supplies..ask last year's Bear Leader for tips but consider using natural items and recycled items! Dollar store is good too.

I wouldn't cut her from computers and games until I understood what need it was filling and had found other ways to fill those needs. I would cut the time down though. At 15, she should start to be thinking of her future. Can you guide her into an exploration about what is attractive with making movies and playing videogames and then help her find ways to develop her talent further? Too add to the other posts: I would encourage her to participate in a youth group, especially something like CAP or scouting, that will get her into good habits for mind & body and give her intellectual stimulating opportunities. Does she have regular opportunities to get out an exercise? Does she have a sport? Does she need lessons or a partner? Physical fitness is important, especially if her future involves sedentary work. Does she have a charity that she volunteers for? Perhaps she can use her interest in animals to find one? Who knows, maybe they'll need a website?

If you get Hoyle Card games for PC, you can practice against the computer before you teach to the little ones: http://www.hoylegaming.com/game.php?id=6&ClickID=dzcs02kktmkyctwxrhnnnmkxncmobk0yhbor I'm sure there are free sites on the internet too, but they probably have distracting advertisements. War, Go Fish, Slapjack, Concentration, Old Maid and Crazy Eights are good for the under 8 set, then Hearts, Blackjack, Gin Rummy and Canasta... I keep a card deck and a tennis ball in the vehicle for those times when we have unexpected waits. http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/childrenscardgames.html Have fun.:001_smile:

How about calling the Dr.'s office? The answering service will relay the message to whomever is on call.

I would see what his musical goal is and expose him to some other types of music that use percussion if possible. I would make sure he's aware that percussion includes more than the snare and the bass drums and the cymbal. The tympani and the xylophone can be included at some point as well, so he will be learning to read music and tune if he plays in groups other than rock or jazz bands.

It would depend upon the district and the child. 7th is the first year of honors here and the workload is high. Students are dropped at the end of the quarter from any honors/accel class that they don't maintain a good grade in. You would need to work with the school in the winter of 6th in order to secure a place in honors/accel classes if the school is overcrowded. 8th is where the high school credit classes start for accelerated students, however all classes are in the middle school. 7th and 8th is cliquey unless the area has a lot of people moving in/out. 9th is a huge adjustment year for everyone as it's a new building with more than one feeder middle school and the discipline problems can be eye openers and a bit emotionally disturbing to some students. Other students just don't transition well to the freedom, new friendship opportunities and organizational req'ts of high school. But it all really depends on the student, your area and particular district. Perhaps a call to the guidance counselor would be helpful.

Yes, I'd drop art at 12, but would plan sketching before he graduates high school. The ability to draw in perspective and the ability to draw other views comes in handy in life, especially if he's going into engineering or the sciences.

Dice https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=chessex+7+piece+dice+set older PC Games: Star Wars Pit Droids, any of the three Zoombini games, Pajama Sam (No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside or Thunder&Lightning Aren't So Frightening ) Challenge Math http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_vg?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ed+zaccaro

Do you have a genius box? That's a box filled with interesting discarded stuff for a child to use to make whatever they want. For crafts, I like the Highlights for Kids website. http://www.highlightskids.com/Express/Crafts/h13craftsArchive_Decorations.asp

Having BTDT, remember to be careful when you adjust your diet; you don't want to give yourself high cholesterol by adding in too much red meat nor do you want extra calories that you can't exercise off.

Just for clarity: The tricks my son was taught were all rote memory devices. A few involved finger counting, but the majority had nothing to do with math. For ex: the nines trick. :glare: Say you want to multiply 9x6. Hold both your hands up, fingers and thumbs extended. Assign the number 1 to the digit on the far left, 2 to the one next to it and so forth until your last digit is assigned the number 10. Put the digit that corresponds with number 6 down. Your answer is determined by looking at your hands. Count the digits to the left of the digit that you put down. That's the value of the tens place in your answer. Count the digits to the right of the digit you put down. That's the value of the ones place in your answer. It was far easier, faster, and much more powerful mathematically to use Singapore Primary Math and actually teach the kid. Pre-algebra has gone very smoothly, since he knows his number bonds and realized that he's been using the properties for years. :001_smile: I did not have to do any drill at all. SM's wkbk was enough to get the facts and strategies in memory for this kid's learning style. To meet the timed test demands at school in 6th grade, we played war, then learned how to write quickly on paper. (We afterschool).

I pick times that work for our schedule. Since you're in the tutor type of situation, anytime that is available in both your schedules is fine, just as it would be if you were giving a piano lesson. I wouldn't arrive the same time as the student does, as she'll likely need a few minutes to get a drink, interact with caregiver, and use the facilities.

I would just get into a conversation about early childhood screening in her area and ask if she's had the free screening done. Sometimes here people won't do the screening b/c they think it's costly or they don't realize what they can learn about the child's development.

Quick cash (print off a few business cards and put them up on bulletin boards in high traffic locations): Housecleaning Detailing cars Babysitting/daycare for off-shift workers Whatever job service has available also try: Gigs listed on Craig's list in your area

What a brave fellow! Now that he's done it once, can you have a discussion about the root of his fear in order to put his fear into perspective? If he's confident that an active life guard is there and he stays in shallow water, he can begin to play and feel more comfortable since he'll be able to stand up and rescue himself. I'd give him goggles too, as he'll want to grab things underwater comfortably. I would offer playing in the lawn sprinkler so he gets experience with his face getting wet.

It's normal. Many have no clue that another family's schedule runs differently than theirs. I've also run into some that don't realize that the sibs want to play with each other sometimes rather than entertain friends. My answer is always along the 'family time now' lines, although sometimes it'll be after lunch reading time and I'll invite them to go home, get their book, and find a comfy spot in the living room with us.

The wrong number popping up means it's not firmly in memory. It's common with the upper level multiplication facts and they usually guess rather than take the time to use the strategies. To get the drill in the fun arena, you might consider playing war. The variations are listed here: http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/2006/12/29/the-game-that-is-worth-1000-worksheets/ . Five minutes a day is good; you'll have to prompt the use of an appropriate strategy for a missed fact. At the same time, you can require proof in the assigned work - the deal at my house with this age is that if you make a computation mistake, you re-work the problem showing all steps and you must prove your answer by checking and then find where you made your original mistake and state what your mistake was. You can also assign estimation to be done as well as the exact computation problem - that will establish the habit.

Could you elaborate on the careless errors and the type of problems in the drill? Some errors, like sign mistakes, are easy to fix. Others, like wrong number popping up in head mean that the fact isn't learned and the error checking strategy isn't there, which is a longer term fix. My sixth grade teacher was effective in eliminating careless errors - he'd skim the test, hand it back and restart the clock. The final time was the time it took to get them all correct. At that age, we wanted to beat our own times, so we learned quickly to use all we knew about the computation itself, error checking and estimating to make sure we didn't mess up.

Front & back ok here. She could even use a composition book. >>Maybe it does not even really matter how she writes up the log. Here, the notes are used to either write an essay in class or to prepare for a test over the novel. So, aside from summarizing the plot, she should have all the plot, character, conflict, setting, theme type of info down. I would call the school, though, as it will give you a head's up on how the English Dept. does things and what the log will be used for. Whoever is teaching summer school English should be able to answer your question.

Public school put us in that position too. I did the basics over the summer - for third that's the all about multiplication unit - using Singapore math and playing multilplication war. The rest I taught as each unit was begun. The p.s. fall schedule of mucho days off gave enough time for me to teach the third grade part of the unit so ds could access the fourth grade part in class. The teacher was kind enough to give me a syllabus so we could use weekends and days off effectively. Any spare time went into moving forward in the SM book. It was a lot of work as fourth grade is a big state test year here and there was a lot of other homework,but it really paid off by making middle school math easy.