August Specials   Click here to see the Lester Family recordings that are on sale. Click here to see the Classical Kids recordings that are on sale. Paddle to the Sea on CD is on sale. Click here for details. Many Family Pastimes games are on sale. Click here to view.   The Official Trickster Kit (Curiosity Kits) - Most kids love playing tricks on their friends and family members, and this kit has all the fun favorites that kids have been using for years. It includes classic favorites like the whoopee cushion, hand-buzzer, snake-in-the-can mixed nuts, icky teeth, weird and spacey eyeglasses, squirting camera, and bonus joke book. I gave the kit to two of my 7-year-old nephews, and they loved it (especially the whoopee cushion!) Recommended for ages 6+. #3740 $15.00 $11.99 #S-3740 $15.00 $5.99 Only $5.99 with your $30+ purchase. Our shopping cart is not sophisticated enough to determine if you have indeed purchased $30+ to qualify for this special offer, but we do not process your order until we receive it in our office. If you have not purchased at least $30 *before* s/h (the total can include the Trickster kit, your order will not be processed and we will email you. Growing Without Schooling: A Record of a Grassroots Movement The original text of the first two years of Growing Without Schooling Magazine (GWS) are now available for the first time under one cover, reformatted and indexed for easy reading and reference. As you will see, from the very beginning reader's letters were an important part of GWS. This book is special, though, because you will read first-hand accounts from homeschooling's early pioneers and John Holt's ruminations on homeschooling. This book covers the August 1977-December 1979, issues #1-12 of GWS. This books is currently out of print, so it's only available while supplies last. Paper, 262 pages.  #7108 $29.95 $26.95 #S-7108 $29.95 $10.00 Only $10 with your $30+ purchase. Our shopping cart is not sophisticated enough to determine if you have indeed purchased $30+ to qualify for this special offer, but we do not process your order until we receive it in our office. If you have not purchased at least $30 *before* s/h (the total can include the GWS book), your order will not be processed and we will email you. Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman - From inside the book's jacket: This intimate, eminently practical story of a successful homeschooled family of six children illuminates today's most exciting choice in education and shows how it works from cradle to college. What is it that homeschoolers do that the public schools can't or won't? There are at least as many answers as there are studies. But nothing can capture the homeschooling experience in all its richness like the story of a real family that homeschools its children in middle-class America. Here is a remarkable portrait of the magic that occurs when a home - and, in the truest sense, the world - is transformed into a living classroom. This family's journey emphasizes "freedom, innovation, autonomy, self-organization, and creative collaboration," following the interests of each child and fitting "the educational system to the child, instead of forcing the child to fit into a system." Hardcover, 304 pages. 8.4"x5.7"x1.2". #6614 $24.95 $19.99 #S-6614 $24.95 $5.99 Only $5.99 with your $30+ purchase. Our shopping cart is not sophisticated enough to determine if you have indeed purchased $30+ to qualify for this special offer, but we do not process your order until we receive it in our office. If you have not purchased at least $30 *before* s/h (the total can include the Homeschooling book, your order will not be processed and we will email you. Living Joyfully with Children Living Joyfully with Children by Win and Bill Sweet. I don't read as many parenting books now that my children are older, but reading this book came at a good time for me. It allowed me reevaluate my approach to parenting, reinforcing what I already do, and it also gave me some new ideas. I especially liked their discussion of following family principles rather than rules, and it is a regular topic of discussion within our family now. I like, too, how the Sweets talk about honoring a child's true self, not rushing children, and protecting them from harmful outside influences. Simply a lovely parenting book. "Living Joyfully with Children is a gem in every respect, one of the best how-to books for parents I have read: lucid, unpretentious, straightforward, admirably easy to read, and absolutely invaluable." Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Magical Child. Paper, 150 pages.  #1179 $13.95 $9.99 Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel. Thirty different "statistically average" families in thirty countries are profiled. Photographers lived for a week with each family; and at the end of the week, a photo of each family surrounded by all of their material possessions was taken outside of their homes. Statistical information accompanies each photo-essay, providing an opportunity to contrast the different levels of material wealth. Hardcover. 360 color photos. 255 pages. #4378 $39.95 $24.99  Sale! Royal Masquerade (Aristoplay) - Players dance around a beautiful game board looking for clues about the royal guests. Be the first player to correctly guess the identity of the Mystery Host. The play of the game involves a beautiful ring to wear with “magical powers”. The Mystery Host’s identity changes every game so the game can be enjoyed over and over again. There are two levels of play, including a younger version for non-readers. Materials: Austrian crystal ring, colorful playing board, six masquerade playing pieces and six matching masquerade cards, 18 identity cards, checklist pad, two dice, instruction booklet, and an invitation to the ball. Ages 4-8, 1-4 players. #415AX $20.00 $13.99 Sale! Sharing Nature With Children by Joseph Cornell. A delightful nature awareness book with helpful ideas and activities to help children become more aware of the earth around them. One activity involves wearing a blindfold, finding a tree, getting spun and walked around, and then removing the blindfold and trying to find the tree again. Our family did this at a local park, and our children were delighted to be able to find "their" tree and giggled at mom's difficulty in finding the way back to hers. Includes both individual and group activities. Paper, 175 pages. 20th Anniversary edition, revised & expanded. #0734 $9.95 $6.99 Sleeping Grump game (Family Pastimes cooperative game) - A story adventure game! Grump has taken the villagers' treasures and is now fast asleep at the top of the beanstalk. Together, players climb to the top to recover their treasures. Grump may not be wakened or he takes back everything. Players share the treasures and leave some behind for Grump. Their kindness will help change him. The game is won when everyone has some of the treasure. Includes: 6 x 24" board, die, blue sapphires, golden eggs, magic cherries, harps, movers. Ages 4-7, 2 to 4 players. #SGX $15.00 $9.99     top of page