The basics is to setup a civilization and get it to sustain itself and then expand but you are right that it does involve some conquering of other nations...as is typical of history...which of course, does include battles. The battles are not graphic or anything....just little men with spears or whatever. As the family of a soldier, "use of weapons" isn't banned in our house....how can I we do that when Daddy uses one at work....instead our kids know the right and wrong uses of weapons in history (and today as well)....as I'm sure your son does too. Of course, the kids don't have real weapons...lol. DS has a few play swords, light sabers, nerf gun, etc. Obviously, I respect family decisions on this issue (my sister has a similar stance as you mentioned). Civilization III would probably be the least offensive in this respect (from my vague experience)....my hubby would actually be the best to ask and he's at work tonight. I'm sure there are lots of other strategy type games that would work just as well for reasoning skills, etc.
IT is a war type game but its more about the strategic set up and building of countries in my view. the actual battles you dont see much of really, its just a matter of Oh my country just took over said country, now what do I do... We found that our ds learned a lot about history thrugh playing it, with more focus n that when we find an era he played in he was a weath of information, and we looked things up and sure enough its quite historically acurate, plus it really does put a good exciting what is the word I want? it made him want to learn about those periods in history that I had not really thought to dig deeper into... First I didnt like it cause it was a war game, but the more I have seen the benifits, plus he and dad and older ds have decided to play it in unison so they discuss things too! good quality male bonding time? I dont know but its ice to see them all interested in history!
Just as a thought, have you tried Rise of Nations? It is similar and has history in it too, less fighting, more building up?
Ditto here. All 3 of our kids (the girls included) play Civ III and Civ IV (we have all the expansion packs too because its on of DH's favorite games). All 3 have learned alot and asked lots of questions about historical figures, etc.
Thanks ladies, I will look at it more. I was at Walmart tonight with no kids and thought a few times about looking at it, but then because hubby and I were finishing up our Christmas shopping, I kept getting on other tracks and never did make it to the video game section.
Oh, the oregon trail! That just brought back flash backs of my school days. I have to say that was the only computer game i remember from the elementary years and i remember how much i loved that game. In fact, i just bought it off ebay for under $10 including shipping. I cant wait to get it and play with my dc. Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for reminding me of that game. It was a fun trip down memory lane
You can play the old original, from our elementry days (yes it's the only one I remember from then too) for free here: http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html
For high schoolers, you might want to try "Great Courses" I think it is called. They have a variety of classes, but I think it might be more telecourses (video) than online. There are a few college that now offer high school classes online (Nat University is one) but I don't know the pricing.
Look at the state you are in, cause I know that my nephew had to go to a certain named one for it to count when he did his summer school last summer. He was able to go to BYU for the summer, via online! Was cool for him, and my sis liked the idea he was doing this through a college. University? AOP has an Academy, so does Bob Jones University, Look around this page you could find many, Connections Academy, .. in my area I found so many online schools it was not funny so you definately have to do some research to find what ones are what, if you look at an online academy look up Jubilee, thier afiliates have cool web sites and "Lockers" online my dd was wanting to do that but dh vetoed it for the fact he could not see why the price was so high for what I could be doing anyway, Lol.
Liberty University also has an online school. I know they do high school, but I think it is k-12, any tuition you pay is "credited" to your kid if he attends Liberty at the university level...either online or I believe residential. I can't remember how much it was, but it wasn't anymore than the private schools here.
If we end up going that route, there are free virtual schools here in PA, quite a few of them actually... they are essentially public schools, but you have lots of freedom with them.
the ones near us are no so fredomish, very governmentally controled, so chances are I will not go that route, but do like I did wth dd
Here they give you enough work to cover about 2 hours for a kid who doesn't struggle... you have to account for 5 1/2 a day... so reading books, clubs/scouts, family outings, etc get counted. The students have a teacher that they meet with on the internet once a week and then in person once a month. They provide you with a computer and all the things you need and even pay for your internet access. I'm far from ready to go that route.. and probably never will, but it's an option I have kept open...lol
We use time4Learning as our core and really love it. It offeres the basics of Language arts, math, science and social studies. There is a writer program which is like a word prossesor. The child can work at their own pace, independantly or with your help. You can do the lessons in order or skip around too. If your child needs a different grade level in math you can do that, the other subjects would all fall under the same level as eachother. The lessons are fun and engaging, hard words are highlighted and then a voice will say the word, also some words are highlighted and when clicked will give you the definition. In many of the history and science lessons there are links and info to find more info on a subject or area of study, from books to websites and more. In the parents area there are free printables that go along with many of the lessons, so if your state requires hardcopy worksheets etc, there are quite a few available, but also a check of the parent forum with provide you with more resources to use. There is a section where you can view and print your child's grades and attendance. You can also have it only show one subject at a time and change the dates you want to show. It shows what they were studying and the grade they got and the day and time. Our state (FL) accepts this printed log at the end of the year, I did not need anything else. So there is printable worksheets, projects and other items available at Time4Learning and printable records of grades etc. The areas studied are also easily supplimented with outside items like trips to the library, educational shows or even trips. Also Time4Learning goes well with many other ways of homeschooling so it can be used as a core curricula, a supplimental or even a tutoring program. They offer 2 weeks free and it is less than $20 a month.... no contracts or any of that either.
