When I ask what do they do after they are done, I don't mean curricular activities like sports, dance, scouts etc... I am asking along the likes of activities they do at home--crafts, electronics kids, building or cooking something just because it is fun... things like that. I need some ideas for boys and girls 7-13 age range to keep mine busy. Thank you in advance.

Could you share your experiences? Thanks so much.

Do you mind sharing which one it is??

They got air hockey from grandparents two years ago. Can I just say it wastes valuable space in my house as kids don't care for it and don't play with it. I wish they let me know what they were thinking before buying that huge thing.

I was all ready to get mine Xbox as their one big present and few other little things and now I decided that would not be the best option to get that Xbox as they tend to get slightly obsessive if they like the game a bit too much. So now I am back to square one what to get. And Christmas is coming up very fast. Would love to hear what other parents putting on their lists, especially if your kids are between 7 and 12yo. Thanks so much.

Check out Balsam Hill trees. Very realistic and they have skinny versions of some of their full trees if you want tree not to take up a lot of room. We got our on sale they had few years back for less than half of the price. Then there is always Michaels, Joann and Hobby Lobby- they tend to have descent looking trees and many of them skinny enough to tuck away in a corner of the room. They have been running sales on trees at 50-60% off.

See if you can have an open MRI- I had that for my neck post car accident. I think it was little over 30 minutes. Slightly less claustrophobic if that is the problem you are having. Also, they can fit you with that a mirror so you can see around and out better. Ear plugs are definite must. What helped me to relax and worry less is closing my eyes through the entire thing. The MRI machine they used for me was actually very musical once I closed my eyes and listened to it. It is sort of loud. I also did multiplication tables in my head to keep my mind off of it.

Many great suggestions already here. Stocking up is great just because you know you will use it and the price to buy it now is much better for your wallet than buying later when you run out. This week Publix is having BOGO on pasta and I have coupons I bought from online clipping services which will bring down my cost from 1.39 regular price per box to 36 cents per box. I am absolutely stocking up on this and I will buy more than 10 boxes at this price. Many things can be bought at half the price and something at 75% off. The trick is to watch circulars what is going on sale and know what you use and buy in larger quantities then usual. When toilet paper was on sale few months back with manufacturer coupons and store coupons (some stores allow stacking coupons)- that was a great deal I could not pass up. Now I have toilet paper under all of my kids beds- and I know I won't have to buy it anytime soon. Sometimes you have to be willing to try something new in order to get a bit of variety and save money at the same time. Fresh produce is very hard to save with. That is something you probably buy what is in season for the best savings. There is no point in paying $5 for a pint of blueberries in the middle of the winter if you can buy 3 pints for $4 during the summer. I usually stock up on frozen fruit (blueberry, raspberry, cherry, etc.) when the stores have them BOGO, usually in the summer. I rarely buy anything generic unless it is something that is really good (Publix Greenwise milk goes on sale regularly and they put out coupons many times) since I can buy the same item brand name way cheaper.

Thank you, I think this one would do nicely. I am still looking through but it has a nice variety.

http://www.penguin.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/books4boys/agegrade_middle.php My boys like the books on here. Now I need a girl version. Is there something similar to this for elementary ages (or any age)? Thank you.

I am willing to wait. I checked on shipping prices- It looks like keeping box under 20x20x20 is the trick is getting cheaper shipping cost (20 pond box 20x20x12 from west coast to east coast goes for about $18 media mail.)

Could you post some pics of what you have or e-mail me. I would love to get my hand on some of them. How far do you live from Georgia?

I am looking for the remote operated trains that still work, maybe few more buildings, elevation tracks, bridges, extra curve and straight tracks. Ours trains finally died after almost 7 years and I am not ready to spend a massive fortune on brand new ones yet. The company does not make them anymore. Please let me know if you have any that you are willing to part with. Thank you. Nataliya

As far as memorizing facts, my kids learned best when moving. So, we learned addition and subtractions through 12 as well as skip counting while they were swinging on the swing, climbing the monkey bars,walking in circles and things like that. And we did a lot of math on the driveway with sidewalk chalk instead of on paper at the table. Worked like a charm every time. Finding how she learned and what makes her remember may be the best option as well as doing it often.

Someone on here mentioned walking out of the appointment if it takes too long waiting. Problem with that is that many doctors now are starting to charge you for the visit since they have scheduled a spot for you to be seen- it makes no difference if there is an hour wait or 5 minute wait so you end up paying for 2 appointments even if you are actually seen once.

That would depend on the doctor and how big the office is. My GYN appointments took 2 hours at one office which was huge and no more than 45 minutes at their smaller office. Pediatrician appointments always take 2 hours no matter if I have 1 kid with me or 3 or more. I had to see a cardiologist once, what was suppose to be 45 minute appointment ended up being 2 hours, no explanation or apologies. Actually, I never received any apology from any doctor or staff ever for not being on time. Around here, you want to see the doctor, you wait and there is nothing you can do. And no one ever gives you an update on what is going on, even if you are in the exam room for 30 minutes or more and doctor is no where around unless you go find someone by yourself.

Our teacher does not allow use of Wikipedia at all when doing any written assignments. Usually it is minimum of 2 real books and few credible internet sources.

I use scholaric.com to schedule everything out. I put everything in there, not just school work, including book club, park days and field trips. For everything else, Excel spreadsheet. Simplicity is what finally got me on track to have it all done.

Sorry you are having trouble after the root canal. Those are never fun. I've had multiple root canals done over many years and I also tend to stick with the doctor that works for me. In most cases for me it took 3 days for soreness to go away (with pain meds doctor prescribed- Tylenol and advil did nothing here) mostly due to keeping my mouth opened for 2 hours. Yes, it took two hours every time, sometimes 2.5 hours, but this guy is very, very good and never had I had a problem. You did not mention if the doctor put any medication into cleaned out canal and then had you come in a month later. That's what mine does every time -supposedly to make sure there is nothing else that flares up. Then, the next time he goes it and cleans out the medication, does some more x-rays and then fills it with permanent filling. Root canal is always a 2 appointment procedure (sometimes 3 appointments if you need initial consultation). And he is with me almost all the time working on the tooth unless x-rays need to taken or something needs to set. I usually ask for breaks 2-3 times during procedure to relax the jaw and he always accommodates me with that. his practice is very small he never works on multiple patients. He is good and usually booked about 3 weeks out. In your position, I would find another specialist (do a lot of asking and research-don't just go by what the general dentist says) and seek another opinion. It could be just a swelling, or he missed another nerve, or tooth got cracked in the process. Could be many things. Hope you feel better.

I will state before hand that I am not an expert. I am an adult with what they call mild reflux. The dr put on Prilosec and I only took it for 4 days because it made my symptoms much worse. Dr answer to that is come back and we will try another pill. I did a lot of reading and what helps for me is sleeping on multiple pillows for elevation so that acid does not come up. Big help was lemon and water. Turns out lemon is a natural acid neutralizer from what I read. In the beginning I drank lemon and water a lot and it within a few days I was almost back to normal. I think it took me over 2weeks of drinking lemon and water to get full effect. Make sure your child drinka it through straw if you try with end of the straw as far back as she is comfortable so the lemon does not hit the teeth (enamel and acid). I darnk it before every meal and sometimes inbetween. Now it is only as I need it for maintanance. Limiting glutein and sugar also helped alot. I had that food stuck in the throat before and now I don't anymore. You could try limiting as much sugar ( sodas and such), gluten ( there are fluten free bread mixes, pancake mixes and pasta) or just replace with rice. No barley, chinese food (gluten in soy sauce). You could try limiting, eliminating milk too- it takes 17 days for milk to get out of your system. And no food 2 or better, 3 hours before going to sleep. Nothing overly rich or greasy (fried stuff) for a while- that is the worst. Whether lemon and water works or not you should now pretty fast because you will be miserable so you may want to have anti acid meds handy. So sorry your child is having to deal with this. It is not fun at all. You could try this and see what happens. If it doesn' t work, try the meds and see if you can find another doctor who does not have his mind made up before he even sees your child.

We did Stanford 10 Online with ABeka testing last year $35 per student. Quick results. We also used Brewer Testing -don't remember price, easy and painless, quick results.

How about normal with special quirks. Every child has something that makes them who they are and not just a copy of another child. That by itself makes them special and unique. There is no point in buying into the whole "my kid is better than your kid" mentality. Absolutely not good for anyone.

You could just do R&S English a year behind, it is rigorous enough with enough repetition that you won't have to worry about missing something.

I think the simplicity of it is what appeals to me. The same way SOTW worked for youger grades: read a chapter, do some mapwork, answer some queastions, do an activity. Not complictated. With Elemental sciece I like the schedule part-simple and I don't have to think about it. Worksheets, labwork, reseach, all there in a nice book without having three different binders to go through or 25 pages to flip back and forth. Maybe it's just the style of it that just appeals to me. And it looks like majority can be done by the student himself if the parent is not able to be right there. It also requires for the student to write more, not just multiple choice questions or fill in the blank. I hope this make sense. The only part about history is ds does not like hand on approach in history (he loves that in science- disect it, grow it, turn it into mush and see what happens, just don't ake his do to any projects in history). We had a lot of interest led history here but I am thinking going into later middle school and eventually high school, he needs more.

This would be similar to Logic Stage Elemental Science so we are talking through 8th grade if possible Thank you.