We have the Contraptions kit, and my son loves it. He's five, so he needs help assembling the different toys, but he definitely learns from each one.

Is this the link you were thinking of? http://myfamilyiseternal.blogspot.com/2010/07/literature-based-geography.html

How about adding in biographies of important people from around the world? Ghandi, Mandela, Golda Meir, etc. There's also a lot of wonderful books about children around the world that you can add in to give your kids an idea of how other children live.

I looked at ECC, and am basically designing my own secular version of it because I figured I could do it better and easier. My little guy is just five, so we're going to use it to introduce map skills, and then work on geography, biology -living v. nonliving, classifying animals from around the world into their major groups, learning about animal adaptations, ecosystem linkages, plants and adaptations, etc. I got an art around the world book, and we'll be reading stories from around the world. And then we'll be focusing on how people live differently around the world, both for cultural and geographical reasons. We'll use books like Giles Laroche's Houses around the World for that. I also have the Habitats book that I got during the Scholastic dollar sale so we'll build animal habitats for different biomes. I also have a bunch of geography puzzles, recipes, music, etc. We have a fantastic library here which makes this fairly easy and inexpensive to do with a little bit of planning.

Does he like models? There are several for this time period. http://www.amazon.com/Make-This-Viking-Settlement-Models/dp/1409505421/ http://www.amazon.com/Make-This-Medieval-Castle-Models/dp/1409505618/ http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Assemble-Medieval-Castle-Full-Color/dp/0486246639/ These are just a few of them.

That Kingfisher book is just what I've been looking for. Thanks!

I have really struggled with this as well. It seems there are 47,000 books on animals, but finding a good spine about plants is almost impossible. Ones I am considering getting include: Usborne Science With Plants: http://www.amazon.com/Science-Plants-Activities-Mike-Unwin/dp/0746009763/ Janice VanCleave's Plants http://www.amazon.com/Janice-VanCleaves-Plants-Mind-Boggling-Experiments/dp/0471146870/ Essential Atlas of Botany http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Atlas-Botany-Parramon-Studios/dp/0764127098/ From Seed to Plant http://www.amazon.com/From-Seed-Plant-Gail-Gibbons/dp/0823410250/ The Life of Plants Series (link is to one of the volumes) http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Parts-The-Life-Plants/dp/1432915061/ Eyewitness Plant http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-Plant-DK-Books/dp/0756660351/ Plants in Different Habitats http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Different-Habitats-Natures-Changes/dp/077872316X/ Hope some of these ideas help

I've had Gnomes by Brian Froud since I was a child and I have loved it and loved it. Absolutely wonderful art and stories about how gnomes live. http://www.amazon.com/Gnomes-Deluxe-Collectors-Edition-Huygen/dp/0810998467/ His book on Faeries is also amazing. http://www.amazon.com/Faeries-Collectors-Edition-Brian-Froud/dp/0810995867/ Anything by Brian Froud is going to be great.

Have you seen this? http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/09/robotics-maker-faire/

I've read really good reviews of the Chaos tower.

My son is five, but he loves building things. We currently are mostly a Lego household, with the Contraptions pack and some eBay'ed Technic pieces. I know there are lots of different building sets out there that all have different pieces, but it seems that most of the brands are not compatible with each other. My looking around has turned up these major brands: Mechanical Engineering K'Nex Technic Engino Fischertechnik Electrical Engineering Snap Circuits Fischertechnik A lot of the mechanical brands have solar power add-ons now, it seems. Robotics Lego Mindstorms Arduino Fischertechnik Thames and Kosmos seems to have a kit in each area, but not really expandable from what I've seen. So, what I'm asking is if there is a recognized "best" brand in each of the three areas. I'm not going to start him on robotics right now, but just for future planning, because this stuff is expensive. I would like to pick a brand in each area and stick with that brand to prevent buying things that don't work together. Fischertechnik seems to cover all three areas, but it also seems the most pricey of the three. Advice? And I know you can do a lot of engineering stuff cheaply if you have an adult that knows what he or she is doing who can supervise, but neither I nor my husband have that skill set.

Why do you want him to do writing or answering questions? Writing just for the sake of writing isn't necessary. If this is part of his curriculum, then that is one thing, but if he is pursuing this on his own don't feel like you have to turn it into school work. Another option is to let him pick an animal, and have him do a report on it. Something along these lines. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/ Other ideas for worksheets you can adapt to any animal books: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/animals/writing.shtml http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Story-from-an-Animal's-Point-of-View http://www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com/animals-writing-prompts.html http://www.teachhub.com/animal-instinct-video-writing-prompts I've linked to two excellent books below. The first one is younger in audience. I'm not sure what level of proficiency he has in the material. http://www.amazon.com/How-Animals-Work-DK-Publishing/dp/0756658977/ http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Life-Secrets-Revealed-American/dp/075667221X/

Yes. This. Gifted kids get things quickly. They don't need busy work, they need something different to keep them going. Let her write, but then have her go back and edit. Editing is a great way to learn the mechanics of writing, and it's going to appeal to her more than a workbook. Don't make her do the problems just because they are on the work sheet. Remember, it's home school, not school at home. She shouldn't have to do stuff just because someone else thinks a standard child needs a certain amount of practice.

I'm just wondering if that level of specificity is needed for a three and five year old.

What advantage do you get out of using the terms abiotic and biotic instead of living and non-living?

That's genius.

I've never been able to figure out how to print out a whole grade at a time, so if someone else has, I'd love to hear how.

Maybe I am just confused, but how is what you want different than subtraction worksheets?

I bet your seven year old would be happy to help.

http://havefunteaching.com/songs/ This website has tons of songs you can buy. My son loves a lot of them, though we just watch them on YouTube.

No, it's a parody.

I agree. We're using the Shape Builders one right now, and he really enjoys it.

The answer is nine or 13. There are only two ways that you can get $2.05 out of quarters and nickels without going over 15 coins. Eight quarters and one nickle, or seven quarters and six nickles.

I would reevaluate your shopping list. I think Christmas is much too commercial as it is. Letters of love and appreciation, Maybe gifts of time? Service, babysitting, clean your house, wash your windows in the spring, etc. I know so many people that are living with financial cutbacks that they didn't have earlier that I wouldn't be surprised to see Christmas be much smaller across the board. Are these people that you can talk to and say, "Maybe we just get together and have desserts and sing carols, or have a christmas caroling party and then back to your house for cocoa and cookies?"

There is a Catan Jr. that a six year old would be able to play. In fact, it's on my possible list of games to get for my son for Christmas.