See & Spell Puzzles

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Is it getting chilly in your neck of the woods? It is here in central Ohio. I am already putting my energy savings and stay warm plan into action. This week I hope to sew up some rice bags that will be mini space heaters in our beds, some draft snakes for windows and doors, and some window quilts. Because we know it will be cold and snowy for many months I have also been thinking about how we can entertain ourselves without resorting to watching TV all winter. Yes, we will be indoors a lot but we can find fun things to do that doesn’t require a captive audience. And I say this despite the fact that a little birdy told me that Nana is getting us a Wii this xmas. Oh boy…

So as part of my xmas shopping I have been heavily researching cooperative board games. We have a few already for younger kids but not so many that will keep my oldest boy begging for more and none that my hubby and I could play alone after the kids go to bed. I want something fun, educational, and if possible, cooperative or collaberative rather than overly competitive. I think I will pick one or two up NOW though so we can get a jump on the season.. my oldest has gone fishing on his own every day for a month but the past couple of days the trips have been short since it gets cold and dark earlier.. soon he may not go at all.

Luckily I had a few good games in mind, suggested to me by some wonderful unschooling moms, and those opened the door to even more awesome possibilities. Here is some of what I found. They are not cheap like what you find at Wal-Mart but supposedly the quality leaves the usual Hasbro type games in the dust.

Shadows Over Camelot- This is a 90 minute game that takes you into the world of Camelot and Knights. It is collaborative and it would be especially good for us since we have been watching and enjoying the BBC show Merlin. Evil forces are gathering around Camelot – The Black Knight was sighted atop a desolate ridge a scheming Morgan plots her revenge; the Saxon troops are on the move; and acres of timber are being felled for the siege engines. And yet Lancelot has all but vanished, with Excalibur yet to be recovered. These are heavy times indeed. Will you, young squire, come forth and pledge allegiance to your fellow Knights at the Round Table? Is your heart of pure intent and ready to sacrifice for the good of all? Or will the dark promise of power seduce you into treason? As the incarnation of the Knights of the Round Table, players work together to defeat the forces closing in on Camelot. This game was recommended by a TV free family I met on another web site of mine… for its educational nature. I think the next one would be good on that count too.

The Colosseum Board Game - My son and I watched a two hour documentary a few months back on the Colosseum and he was so enchanted with the structure and the world of ancient Rome that I ended up buying him several large Roman history books that he devours nightly. He is so much like me… I love ancient Roman history too and this game looks amazing. As commanded by the Emperor, Rome is in the midst of a 100 day celebration commemorating the opening of the greatest public arena ever conceived by man – the Colosseum. Players earn wealth and glory as one of Rome’s greatest impresarios by producing grand spectacles in the hopes of attracting the most spectators to your events.

Another game I know my son would love is Cleopatra And The Society of Architects. He and I both can’t get enough of ancient Egyptian history, mummies, pyramids, Pharaohs, etc. And Cleopatra is a tie in to ancient Roman history as well. In this game, she calls on the members of the Society of Architects to build her a magnificent new palace in Alexandria – with a Pharaohs ransom to the design that pleases her most. It includes a true, three-dimensional palace that players compete to build. Players strive to become the wealthiest of Cleopatra’s architects by constructing the most magnificent and valuable parts of her palace. The twist however is that players will be tempted to deal with shady characters and trade in materials of dubious origins in order to help them build faster.

Ticket to Ride- This is a game recommended to me by several unschoolers. It is great for learning about geography. It is an award-winning strategy game that challenges players ages eight and up to complete multiple train routes connecting major cities. As miniature trains begin to populate the board map of North America, secret city-to-city rail connections are completed or hopelessly blocked by merciless competitors. There is also a Europe version. These might be just what you need to help kids struggling with their geography or social studies lessons or classes. 

Carcassonne- Yet another unschooler recommendation… how it is they find these awesome games? The Carcassonne is a clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique roman and medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and build cities, roads and monasteries in the South of France. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious. The game is for ages 8 and up and 2 to 5 players. Who do you think is going to know more about medieval history.. the kid in a classroom or the kid playing a strategic game set in that time period? This game is actually pretty cheap in price and I think it may be because there are many expansions packs you can purchase to add on to the game.

They look like fun right? What games to YOU play to keep everyone entertained when the weather is less than optimal?

What oh what will kids do in the summer when left to their own devices? I decided to check out the garage to see what my son was up to and found a very pleasant surprise indeed. His love of cars has motivated him to start building his own. He used plaster of Paris to make this car mold and then it looks like he hot glued the wheels into the wheel wells. He painted it black and decorated with stickers.

This boy just amazes me with how smart and talented he is and yet this is a child who struggles in school. His strengths are very much mechanical and architectural and schools just don’t put much emphasis on these interests and strengths. Public school fails him and many other students so it is my job as the parent to counteract damage, be his advocate (on his side always), and use off-school time to help him grow and flourish. And he doesn’t even need much help in that regard anymore… this kid is taking flight on his own.

I have gotten tons of emails lately from people offering resources that will supposedly help my kids stay up to snuff academically while they navigate their summer vacation. I also know several parents that are consumed with using the summer months to “homeschool” so that their public school kids have a leg up when school starts again.

I can’t say that I don’t think about this sometimes but mostly I just realize that they are always learning. Maybe it is not the exact stuff they need to know for whatever grade they are entering but for kids in public school, summer is just about the only time that really allows for our children to direct their own learning experiences. And they do learn… all on their own.

A few weeks ago my kids asked me to renew their JumpStart subscription. Well, actually it was my son’s subscription and he used to play the JumpStart game when he was being homeschooled. When he went back to public school he lost interest and I cancelled it. But for the past few weeks my kids have been playing the JumpStart game version for their particular age groups and having a blast. They solve math problems, do spelling, and learn a variety of other things from these games. My 5 year old daughter especially learns a lot because she watches her older brother while he plays too. For parents that seek activities to help their kids stay sharp this is a good one but it is only for kids on the 4-10 year old age ranges. I do have a few complaints about the actual performance of their software but the activities are awesome. The games also really help them learn how to use a computer quite well.

My nearly 9 year old son also got to fulfill a HUGE dream of his. He got to ride down a quarter mile racetrack as a passenger in a 11 second car. He kept saying over and over that it was the single best moment of his life. Here he is standing next to a race car that runs on Ethanol. He is very interested in alternative fuel racing.

This week my 5 year old has also started reading and that was all her idea. She wanted to read before she entered kindergarten. She read me four books this morning from the BOB collection (which we adore).

To keep my son reading I have been a bit sneaky. When he wants to go to the water park in the morning or go to the skate park nearby I grab a book and have him read it to me first. I tell him I have been eyeballing this book and I would just LOVE to hear it before we go… works every time. In the evenings I read Harry Potter to him.

Learning is also occuring via weekly trips to the zoo and at the local Science Center. We are lucky to live 9 miles away from COSI, voted by Parents magazine as the best science museum in the country. I bought season passes so we can go as much as we want and this summer they have an Ancient Egypt exhibit with artifacts, mummies, and a replica of the Rosetta Stone. We also saw an IMAX movie there are about mummies. My son and I LIVE for that stuff. We both adore Egypt, history, and archaeology.

So all in all I see no reason to worry that their brains are rotting away and they will enter school and have difficulties. Their brains are fully functional and leading them to places and activities that truly interest them.

Yep…I have some news…not quite sure how I feel about all of it though. I think I am still processing. My son started out this school year at home after a horrible year at public school last year. He was very excited to do homeschooling, as was I. And I think we have done great together too….he is reading books now and that is a new development. Being home helped to restore some of his confidence too. I still think there is no better teacher than mom. I know exactly how to phrase things and get through to him… something teachers rarely catch onto because they have so many students all with different needs.

BUT at the end of the last school year we got some new neighbors and my son plays with them almost daily. He started to relay comments made by their parents about how he wasn’t in a “real” school and it started to make him feel bad about himself once again. In short, one of the kids next door is real jerk…and so are his parents (and I hope they are reading this). But despite how I feel about them and their attitudes my son likes to spend time with them. Having to wait until they (and his other neighborhood friends) get home from school to be able to play started to get rough on him. I took him to homeschool kids events and socials but he just didn’t click with any of the other kids.

The arrival of winter was another kick in the gut as he went from spending 5+ hours a day playing and exploring outside to staying in all day. If it was just cold outside with no snow…he didn’t want to be out there. And unfortunately we have had many cold days since early October (8-20 degrees) and only a few snow days.

My son indoors and bored is like having a caged tiger in the house. All his little quirks and tics (autism spectrum) came out full blast…including one that got REALLY bad. He will be sitting eating or playing and all the sudden emit a loud scream that could wake the dead. He doesn’t even know he did it and if you mention it he can’t explain why he screamed. Imagine that happening 2-3 times an hour. So the past couple months have been tough on us with frazzled nerves to go around.

I was not surprised then when he came to me and asked if he could go back to regular school. He missed being with other kids and having a busy schedule…especially when he sees his sister going to school and having all kinds of fun…pajama parties, a Thanksgiving feast, a Christmas play, and birthday invites from all her new friends. He was tired of his neighborhood friends teasing him about homeschool and acting as if they were somehow superior. And when he enlisted Dad’s help to convince me I knew he meant business.

Soooo…..I gave him 3 options for different schools he could go to. Ironically he was dead set against going to the same school as last year even though his friends are there. He ended up choosing a city school that is not so close by but has a kick butt art program. He told me it was between that school and a fourth choice I hadn’t offered…a nearby Catholic school. I am happy he chose the one he did because we are … not Catholic, LOL. We enrolled him, went shopping for new clothes, and he started yesterday. It is still really early but he is VERY happy so far and yesterday he came home with homework that he already knew forwards and backwards. It was awesome to see the boost it gave him to realize he was actually ahead. And since he is back in school we re-instated a bed time (something we usually don’t have) and he is so jazzed about school he has been going without complaint.

I am kinda sad our homeschool adventure has ended but how sad can I be when I see how happy he is? I have to remember that I didn’t start this because I thought homeschool was the best way to school your kids and that public schools all suck. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I started this to do what was best for my son and right now he tells me that what he needs is at a brick and mortar school. I owe it to him to do my part to make it work.