Ohh, I forgot about that Home Training Tools site! That is a great site. Not as blingy, maybe, but the materials are probably much more tested. We don't have a microscope, though. Has anyone bought the kits? I think he would like those. I admit to feeling unenthused by a book of experiments. We have one, and it's always, "I need cream of tartar, 500 yards of tinfoil, and 3 lbs of sand!" bleh. Mom is too lazy! This is why kits appeal.
So I went a little off the rails and bought him this:
http://www.makershed.com/products/squishy-circuits-kitwhich is possibly a little too much like SnapCircuits, but he treated SnapCircuits more like Legos than science, KWIM? This seems much more open-ended and alos has an art/creative component. As an aside, the Maker site that is from is fantastic!! Not so much on life science but a ton of really cool things there. I wish I'd seen it earlier in the "Christmas process."
I'm sad for him today because he had one of his periodic depressive episodes about school.
He's so incredibly patient, as his observant teacher has pointed out. He is never a behavior problem. But so much of his day is...waiting. He is at gifted pull-out 5+ hrs/week and gets a lot of differentiated work, but it's still a lot of time just...sitting there not doing anything that does anything for him. It makes me want to buy him a thousand exciting things for home, like his little brain is kinda dying on the vine out there. (I won't! But I want to.)
Sorry, rant over. Thank you for your help. His birthday is also soonish.
