You will notice that the game charts have a column labeled LEARNING STYLES.  If you have read Discover Your Child’s Learning Style, you will understand what the notes mean.  If not, here is a brief key:

Modalities:

Print means that most content is in print.

Picture means there are a lot of pictures or other graphics.

Visual means that both print and pictures are used in the game.

Verbal means there is some to quite a bit of talking involved.

Listening means that listening is involved.

Auditory means that both Verbal and Listening skills are used in the game.

Hands-on means that there is significant hand movement of cards, pieces, etc.

Whole Body means that the whole body is moving.

Writing means that writing is involved.

Dispositions:

Move means that there is significant physical activity.  These games are great for the very active child who hates to sit still.

Produce means that there is a clear (to the student) and quantifiable learning objective.  These children like to have a game labeled “educational” whereas that adjective is the kiss of death to most of the other dispositions.

Invent or Discovery means that there is discovery and/or experimentation involved.

Interact means that there is significant social interaction.  This learning style enjoys most games so it is only listed it when the group interaction is above average.

Create means that the game requires significant thought and/or creativity.

There is another vital element of learning that is important in regard to physical movement or what schools like to call Physical Education.  This is explained in depth in Smart Moves by Carla Hannaford.  Therefore, we have included the notations Vestibular and Proprioceptive to help you pick out P.E. games and activities that give your child reinforcement  in these sensory areas.

Vestibular refers to awareness of body balance and movement.

Proprioceptive  refers to the relative position of different parts of the body and the strength of effort used in movement.

Most games combine multiple elements, so we listed only the salient ones.  Likewise, any one child’s learning style is far more complex than these simple definitions and each child’s personality includes a combination of several modalities and dispositions.  Watch for the elements in games that your child likes and look for those or similar elements in other games

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MATHEMATICS

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Your choices now will depend on your philosophy of education.  If you are using Math-It or Ray’s Higher Arithmetic, you will want games that review, reinforce and use in a practical way the skills learned in basic arithmetic.  If you are using a modern textbook (including Life of Fred), which mixes algebra with arithmetic, you may want to add some of the games recommended for High School Algebra.

In any case, you’ll want to assess your student’s abilities in each mathematical skill (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents, measurement, basic geometry) and choose games that will enhance those skills because a deficit in any area will hamper his progress from this point on.  Unlock the Mystery to Math by R.J. Toftness is a good resource to find and remedy any deficits in basic skills.  Simply take the grade level tests until you find which skills need review and reinforcement.

HELPFUL BOOKS

• The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Math is a very helpful reference and guide to understanding.
• Ray’s Higher Arithmetic
• Unlock the Mystery to Math by R.J. Toftness

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REASONING & MEMORY

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The ability to easily remember random information is a great asset in today’s educational world.  Memory experts have developed a variety of techniques to enhance the memory, but few, if any, are ever taught in school.  Recall is an amazing game, both fun and easy to play, that teaches the most commonly used and taught memory techniques.  It is truly a memory course disguised as a game!  You will be amazed what you and your children can remember once you have mastered Recall.  Driveway Deals is a fun board game that will challenge you to use the skills you learned in Recall.  SET is one of the best games of figural logic and chess needs no promotion.  It is the granddaddy of all strategy/planning games!

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LANGUAGE ARTS

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By this age, many parents are wringing their hands, trying to force their children to write complex essays, as is the fashion in our schools today.  Unfortunately, the students have seldom been given the tools and the step-by-step instruction to enable them to write a simple story, let alone a formal essay easily. In addition, most students haven’t read enough good literature to have a good model for writing in their heads. Dr. Ruth Bechick’s You Can Teach Your Child Successfully –Grades 4-8 provides a sensible guide to helping your child develop writing skills.  Create-A-Story board game will painlessly teach your child to write a creative story.  It teaches all the elements of a story in a fun and educational game.  Don’t worry if your child is not a proficient writer yet; this is just the beginning. Do a lot of oral story telling or narration. Long written passages are not necessary at this point.

Reading good literature is the heart and basis of Language Arts.  Hopefully, you have been reading good literature to your children for years to immerse them in the works of great authors that they are not yet ready to read independently.  This practice gives you many opportunities to discuss the ideas presented and it will also increase their vocabulary greatly.  Each child has different tastes in literature, so try to guide your child to classics and other literature that suit his personality, yet give him a variety of genres.  There are many recommended book lists on the internet and we have a variety of popular titles at www.excellenceineducation.com.  You may not be familiar with many books that are considered classics but you can easily find a synopsis or review online.  Remember to include audiobooks for the car or other times when reading is not possible.  Librivox.org is a great source for free audiobooks in the public domain.  This means they are old enough to have far better grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary than most books written in the last century.

Facility with words and a large vocabulary will help your student in every walk of life.  A Way With Words, Pick Two, Spell It!, and Quiddler are all games that enhance spelling by creating words in different formats as you play the games.   They all stretch your brain and enhance spelling in different ways.  Quiddler comes in regular and Delux versions.  We recommend the Delux for someone struggling with spelling because it has a unique spelling dictionary which lists words by length as well as alphabetically and players may consult the dictionary between turns.  Pick Two is a fast paced game where each player makes his own crossword and therefore works at his level. Speedeebee is a fast spelling game with a creative twist making every round different.  The Authors card game will introduce your students to 13 famous authors and their works.  Rummy Roots will greatly increase vocabulary by teaching Latin and Greek roots in 4 different levels of play.  No prior knowledge of Greek and Latin roots is needed!

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LIFE SCIENCE

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Choose a few games from the list according to your student’s interests and learning style.  Remember that if you are homeschooling, you don’t have to follow the public school’s scope and sequence, so if your child has no interest in life science at this point and would rather build Lego machines, that is just fine.  The Game Curriculum is meant to be a guide to possibilities, not a prescription that must be followed.  You can also use games from other grade levels since most games have a wide age range.  You can do the games from 6^th, 8^th grades or some from High School just as well in most cases.

HELPFUL BOOKS & CDs:

Lyrical Life Science Volume 1 (Text, CD, Workbook)                                                  

Lyrical Life Science Volume 3, The Human Body (Text, CD, Workbook)                            

 Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body                                                                          

Zoology for Kids: Understanding and Working with Animals, with 21 Activities                              

The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Biology                                                                 

Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick                                               

Human Anatomy Coloring Book from Dover by Margaret Matt & Joe Ziemian     

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HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY

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Emphasis:  Ancient to Medieval Times

HELPFUL BOOKS, ETC.:

• Time Traveler from Usborne
• The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin
• The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty
• The God King by Joanne Williamson
• Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
• The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff
• The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henty  (also a Jim Weiss audio book)
• Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster
• Lives of Famous Romans by Olivia Coolidge             
• Caesar’s Gallic War by Olivia Coolidge

Audio Recordings by Jim Weiss:   

• Heroes in Mythology
• A Treasury of Wisdom (Diogenes)
• A Treasury of Wisdom            (Alexander the Great)

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BIBLE & RELIGION

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

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