12 yr olds like computer games. I agree he'll more than likely be good at helping and doing his homework. He'll probably be a little shy at first too since he is 12 and most of the children are much younger. I know my boys would have been. Kudos to the mom for not wanting him to be alone and I hope he takes to it well. Good luck in finding things he may like.

My boys didn't do daycare at that age since they were in sports and their dad was home for them. Plus they would have been upset since none of their friends went to daycare that age. lol

Holly -- My DH suggested Origami, too. DS used to have a box of it that he never used, but, when we looked in his closet, we couldn't find it. So, maybe we got rid of it. Might see if "A" is interested.

Brain teasers? I don't know, either, where to look for that, or even what, exactly, it is, but, maybe I could google it. I wondered about Sudoku puzzles. He didn't seem very interested in crossword puzzles or mazes, though, so I don't know if he'd be into paperwork kinds of activities.

Maybe, designing an activity for younger kids. I might try some other things out first, and, get to know him again (he used to be in a licensed day care home that I ran 5 years ago -- he's kinda special to me), Then, see about that.

Ali -- I don't expect that the day care would spring for a $30 activity. They got on my case for making too many copies of coloring pages -- I was told that one per day per kid is enough. Sounds like fun, though.

Greeting cards might be fun. Valentine's day is just about over, and I don't really have supplies together to plan anything great fot that, but I can keep that in mind for the future.

Someone else suggested to me that maybe he could make his own comic book. I might pitch that idea to him.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sandy -- We have only one computer in the room, and an hour, 4 days per week, when it's available. With 16 kids, that would only give him about 15 minutes per week. Won't fill a lot of time that way.

Hopefully, he can enjoy the being a helper thing.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for your ideas.

~ Faith

So IO have consulted the expert (my Nephew, yeah he smells like a boy too). He surprised me by saying that some of the best things he has gotten have been from me. Which was sweet. He loves doing origami! Which is cheap and fun to learn. I also like to buy the long balloons and we learned how to make balloon animals which would be fun for even the smaller kids and the older child could help them. I also taught him how to do face painting (we were trying to entertain his little brother) Which led to him designing "tattoos" and later led to the comic book drawing.

He also really enjoyed the card tricks book I got him which he tries to use to swindle me for money whenever I see him. And i also don't recommend the marshmallow shooters. LOL Good luck.

My husband suggested a book on comic book art, and some simple paper to practice, or...oragami! he said he loved that crap as a kid. A chance to do homework, or lots of positive help from him would be great, as long as HE gets a chance to relax, and just be taken care of too. My husband wants to remind that sometimes the boys are given work to do when girls get a chance to play...pfffft...yea, I giggled at him too. I brought up that girls playing with dolls prepares them for mother hood, and juggling a family. I sometimes just pat him on the head, and let him think he is right.

Clearly video games wins the race if you ask a kid, but video games can be quite addictive, and non productive. Reading, drawing, homework, or puzzles can be fun. get his brain in gear.

Got to talk with him about it today. I told him that I'd been thinking about things for him to do, while he was there, that might be enjoyable for him. He told me that he'd been thinking about it A LOT since yesterday. I said that I wanted to hear his ideas first.

He said that some of the things that he enjoyed doing were reading and drawing. I told him that I remembered that he'd enjoyed those things when he was younger, and, that I wondered if he still did, and had planned to ask him about that. (I don't remember if I mentioned it, but he and his younger sister used to be in my licensed day care home 5 years ago.)

I said that bringing his own choice of book from home would work fine for when he was in the Books and Quiet Games center. And, that, when it was his turn for the Coloring center, he could do his drawings. I suggested creating a comic book. And, he quickly brought out three art books from his backpack, which he said that his dad had purchased for him. One was specifically about comic book art. He also brought out a sketch book and showed me his drawings, which were of characters that he planned to be in his comic book. People, this kid is INCREDIBLE! If I had seen his art work and not known who did it, I could have believed that it was done by a professional adult artist. Other kids saw his work, too, and wanted just to go watch him draw during his coloring center time; they were very impressed.

I didn't remember to suggest homework, but I'll do that when I see him next week.

We also talked about whether he might be interested in doing the reading to other kids during my "teacher reading" center that we do once or twice a week. We're currently reading Stuart Little. He thought he'd be interested in that.

And, I said that when he was scheduled to be in the Block or Lego center, he'd probably have lots of creative ideas of things to build, if he'd be interested in helping other kids. He thought he'd enjoy that. I told him that, for me, it was a real bonus to have an older kid at day care, because he could be such a help.

We discussed other things that we sometimes do, like arts and crafts, playing with goop, playing board games and card games, etc. And, I said he'd also have the option to go to what I sometimes used as a 5th center, where kids, especially the older ones, could work on something independently, if they needed a break from younger kids, or were bored with the planned center activities.

I asked him about Origami, and he thought he'd like that. So, I might ask the day care center about purchasing some Origami paper for us. I'd probably have him do that independently, rather than planning it as a center activity. He seemed real comfortable with some of our plans for him.

When his mom picked him up, she asked if he had behaved. I've hardly ever seen him NOT behave; he's a good kid. She said that he'd thought it might not be fun, because there were so many little kids. I told her about some of our conversation. He must have been more worried than I'd realized about being bored, if he'd thought a lot about possible ideas, and talked with his mom about it.

I'm feeling good about our plans. And, it is SO good to have the two of them back.

And, thank you, so much, everybody, for your ideas and suggestions. They really helped me to plan today's conversation with him.

~ Faith

You may have such a happy 12 year old boy there that he may invite some of his friends!!!! You sound like a person who really cares and one who got into the profession for all the right reasons.

I don't know where you live but I am hooked on the 'Craigs list'. It is a free classified add on the internet. They have mnay sections, one of them is a free section. You can also post on the wanted section but from my experience reading those it's not a section that get a whole lot of traffic. Anyway, post some of your requests in the free section and see what people might have for you so you can augment your budget. There are also grants that you can apply for supplies.

Here is a website with the type of logical puzzles I was thining of:

http://brainden.com/logic-puzzles.htm

You have scroll part way down the page for the whole list of them to come up.

Update -- on my day care job in general, etc.

12 y.o. boy sometimes seems bored, and frustrated with the sometimes annoying behavior of some of the younger kids. But, other times, he enjoys building blocks with younger kids, or spends his time reading books that he brings from home, doing his art work, etc. He enjoyed playing "Mother May I?" one day, which I thought would be too little-kiddish for him. We're doing "Duck, Duck, Goose" later this week (I haven't done that yet, while he's been there). I'll see if he wants to participate in that. Sometimes, it just feels good to be able to act like a little kid again. He seems to vary, though, from day to day. Some days, he enjoys helping and participating with them. Other days, he just feels annoyed by them.

A couple of times, I've made homemade stuff to use in one of the centers (homemade silly putty, homemade playdough). He asked for the recipe for the silly putty, and said that he made it at home, and that it turned out well. He might make the playdough at home too; it was a no-cook recipe. I'm glad when he enjoys something enough to take the idea home with home and do it again.

He has also enjoyed the magnet construction set that I brought from home. Still waiting on the center to purchase origami supplies.

In other day care news, it's good to be working in a child care setting again. That's something that I did years ago (early to mid '80's). In the 90's, I did mostly social work. I left that job to open my own licensed day care home (because I really wanted to get out of administration kinds of things, and back with kids) in 2002-2003, but, had to close, due to my MS.

Following that, I'd been working in the school system with kids, as a para, and I enjoyed that. But, not being in an academic setting now, and being the lead teacher (the only teacher) in the school age room gives me lots of flexibility to do stuff that I enjoy with the kids; it's fun to plan center times, teach them board games and card games, play old-time playground games (we play them indoors), teach social skills in getting along with each other (it's only fun when I feel successful), etc.

Sometimes, I think that my heart is really with younger kids (infants through preschoolers), but I find that I'm also enjoying the older kids that I currently work with.

I've just been working there since the end of December, and it's very part time (2-3 hrs per day, after school). If I wasn't on disability, I would not be able to take such a low paying job, but, the income that I earn from it is adequate to supplement my disability income. I struggle with being "disabled", and needing to be on disability, but, in my head, I know that there are a lot of blessings that come with it. (The income, the flexibility, etc.)

I grieve giving up my social work career, because I always expected to return to it, but I also recognize that child care was a field that I loved, prior to getting into social work, and, in the past, I managed to find a job that incorporated the two fields (worked with pregnant women and new moms, and I licensed child care facilities, preschools and day care homes in the county). I just don't think that I could find a social work job that would involve few enough hours to work around my MS fatigue issues. Absences, due to MS flares would be an issue again, as in my past jobs. (I work in a large enough child care center, and few enough hours, that the director feels like she can cover my absences, when necessary.) And, the stress in a social work job would also be higher.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

~ Faith

Thanks for the update. When God closes a door, He opens a window!

Sounds just like my 12 year old boy!

It also sounds like both you and he are doing well. Good job, Faith. He is lucky to have you and it sounds like this job is just what you needed, too. God does indeed open windows!!