Tree of Life Mothering

I know I’ve had way more than 2 adventures of being Dr. Mom, but I didn’t start naming my Dr. Mom cures in a series until last year, with this post, about the killer cactus that attacked me remotely. Sometime I will have to start relabeling all the other posts I’ve done here on this blog about times I’ve been able to facilitate healing with holistic remedies. Then catch up and blog about all the other times I haven’t recorded yet.

Anyway, in the past 18 months I’ve had problems with my skin. First it was itching from bed bug bites, then the stinging and itching from the Bluetooth-enabled evil cactus on my wedding anniversary, and then just last month, I had this weird itchy rash.

I’m sharing what worked to relieve the itch in hopes it will help someone out there. Sometime in the middle of January, I got this strange rash right out of the blue, below my collarbone and above my breasts. It was red and SO itchy. I had not changed laundry soap or skin soap or deodorant or perfume. I had not eaten anything different, other than a fancy gourmet cheese that my married daughter had bought when she was here to celebrate New Year’s. I was totally mystified as to where this rash came from. Were the dreaded bed bugs back? No. I searched for any tell tale bed bug signs other than the itch and couldn’t find any.

I went to my trusty homeopathy remedy blog, by Joette Calabrese, to research skin issues. I found these different articles:

This one called, “Itchy Skin.”

This one, “Sickening Summer Rash,”

Then this one, “Let the Skin Be Our Guide,”

Then finally this one, “Everywhere an Itch, Itch,” which includes a podcast episode and the transcript of the podcast.

None of them completely matched my situation. I didn’t have “here an itch, there an itch, everywhere an itch, itch.” In other words, my skin didn’t itch all over. It just itched in that one location below my neck. It didn’t come from summer heat. It did feel better when I scratched it. The bumps were not even bumps, but irregular patches. You can’t really tell in the photo above. The patches don’t show up in the picture, it just looks red all over. Despite never finding an exact match for my situation I went ahead and tried Joette’s different recommendations. I used these different remedies, as mentioned in those posts: sulfur, urtica urens, antimonium crud, and ledum. sometimes in different potencies, just because I couldn’t always find the exact potencies she recommends at my store.

At first they seemed to work. My skin that was inflamed red seemed to calm down a bit, to look like this below, within minutes of taking the remedy. It doesn’t look red any more but the bumps are there.

Then, after a day, or two of using the different remedies, it seemed like the rash wasn’t getting better and I was just barely feeling relief. I still felt like scratching my skin to the point of bleeding to get relief! It was horrible! I ran out of the pellets that seemed to be barely relieving the pain the most (sulfur) and asked my husband to get more but they were out at the local health food store.

So I switched from using homeopathy to using essential oils. I remembered that when my five youngest children got the chicken pox 8 years ago this June what worked was oregano essential oil. The one child who I applied the oil to when the bumps first started erupting had a much milder case of the pox. He had much less itch and shorter duration of pox. The pox didn’t itch at all and scabbed over after just two days for him. I wish I had figured out to use the oregano oil with the kids who got it before him. I decided to use this remedy for myself. So I applied the oil to my strange bumps/patches, and then also used Redmond clay (mixed with water to form a paste), a hot cloth to keep the clay damp, a ziploc bag over that, and then a heating pad to keep this “poultice” warm. I held this to my rash and  then I was barely able to function at my other tasks. Many nights I had to apply this heated poultice in order to fall asleep.

The oregano oil gave a burning sensation for the first 20 minutes or so, but then my skin felt better. It was like the oil plus the heat and the clay numbed it so I couldn’t feel the itch. After reapplying this concoction a few times a day for about two days, the rash finally went away. It was like the oregano burned it away. The past few years my homeopathy remedies have outperformed my essential oils, but this time around, the essential oil gave more relief and cured the problem. So that’s what I did and I hope it helps someone! I haven’t had a problem since. I am so grateful! At one point of many rounds of Googling to find images of different skin rashes, it seemed like the closest image to what I had was a chronic, incurable skin disease. Nooo! That was too hopeless for me. I kept looking and experimenting.

I’m not sure if the homeopathy paved the way for the oregano to work, or maybe the oregano would have worked without the homeopathy.

Either way, I’m so grateful my rash cleared up! My heart goes out to all of you who suffer from chronic diseases. I hope you can find relief. I recommend Joette’s resources, especially the protocols she has learned from the Banerjis, a father and son team of medical doctors who practice in India and have a tremendous success rate of healing diseases, even those that appear to be incurable.

I’ve been on a Timeline Card Game kick since discovering the game by Asmodee and getting it for Christmas. Santa stuffed some stockings with the classic and the inventions sets. The others are on my wish list. What a simple idea yet so adaptable to any subject. Every subject has a history right? So you could make this game to study the history of anything. My mind is reeling with the possibilities! (I wish I had learned history like this when I was a kid, along with storytelling and other history-based games. My children don’t know how good they have it!)

So when my Hero class read and discussed this book

about a theologian who turned into a spy to help plot the assassination of Hitler, I thought it would be super fun to turn the historical facts we read in the book into a timeline card game. (I taught a Hero class six years ago, so you can read about the Hero class project here where I describe the class. It’s basically a class for homeschooled youth about heroes of WW2. I like to add WW1 to the study as well.)

You can read the directions for my DIY Timeline Card game here. The game involving the cards above and below is based on The Faithful Spy, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Notice how the cards above are missing dates and the ones below have them.

So we’ve been playing the original, commercial game for our gameschooling and then playing my homemade game involving Bonhoeffer’s life and pre-and post- WW1 events in my Hero class. In the Hero class, every month we are reading a different book relating to the world wars so we are adding 10 new cards each month based on the new history facts we learn from each book.

So far, from playing the commercial games, I’ve learned the following:

• the cell phone was first invented in 1973
• the NBA got started in 1946
• the first encyclopedia was published in 1751
• the first hourglass was invented in 900 AD

Not earth shattering facts, but fun to know, right? It’s fun to know history, enlightening, and important too. Not just the political events, but the times of inventions and non-political people’s lives. So imagine my delight and surprise when I found a timeline of the Restoration of Christ’s Gospel in the January 2020 Ensign, called “Seeing the Lord’s Hand”!

It was just begging me to turn it into a “Gospel Restoration Timeline Cards Game.” This is so exciting! What a great way to follow Pres. Russell M. Nelson’s invitation in last General Conference to prepare for the 200th birthday of the Restoration by studying it in a timeline game format! He also issued a similar invitation on New Year’s Day 2020, here.

You can use these directions for making your own Restoration Timeline Cards Game:

1. Get the PDF of the article here.
2. Print out the 6 page document, making two copies. I prefer doing mine in full color. I used my library’s laser printer because my printer at home was low on color ink. It cost me $3 to make 12 pages, 25 cents each. Totally worth it!
3. Get a pack of blank index cards.
4. Gather up scissors, glue stick, and clear your work space.
5. Find something yummy to watch/and or listen to. In my case, I did this while the Face to Face Devotional with President and Sister Oaks was livestreamed yesterday. You can watch it here.
6. Spread out your pages and stack duplicate pages together.
7. Start cutting! For every card, you just want to mention one event. So cut out the mention of each event (including the date) twice, once from each of your duplicate pages. Include the image if you can. About half of the events mentioned on this timeline have an associated image. When the image is too big I cut it to fit. So far only one has been too big.
8. For one of the “mentions” cut the date out and discard that itty bit of paper.
9. Line up the event and the duplicate event with the date missing over each blank card, just so you make sure you have all your little papers in the right order, matched up correctly. I like to cut out four events at a time, and then glue them, four at a time.

10. Glue the mention of the event, with the date on one side of the card. Like in the card above. Then glue the duplicate mention of the event, with the date missing, on the back side, like the card below. See how I cut out the missing date? If the mention has an associated image, glue that too, one on each side. I just love this image of John Adams, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson working on the Declaration of Independence! Isn’t it beautiful?

Keep gluing and gluing and then play the game!

Here are instructions on how to play the game:

Shuffle your deck of cards to get them out of order. Deal out four cards to each player with the side that shows the date facing down. Emphatically instruct them NOT to turn the cards over. They are not supposed to see the date side. Just have them spread the cards with the date side down, in front of them, so they can see them all at once.

Place the rest of the cards in the draw pile, with the face of the card that has all three things face down. Turn the top card over and place in the center.

Person whose next birthday is closest goes first. He/she looks at the playing card and picks a card from his/her hand. Have the person read out loud the event. Then that person decides if it goes before or after the playing card, placing it to the left if “before” and to the right if “after.” Then he/she turns over the card from his/her hand, after making the decision. If the person is right, the person doesn’t have to draw another card from the draw pile. If the person is incorrect, the person places the card in the right spot, then draws another card. Play goes clockwise, with play getting increasingly harder as more cards are played and you have to place cards in between other cards. First person to run out of cards wins!

I hope this game increases your knowledge and delight of the wondrous age we live in! It truly is an amazing, miraculous time! Christ our Savior is at the head of history, which is really “His Story.” He is the head of the events going on today as well. He is our Creator and Redeemer, Judge, and Messiah. He is preparing to come to earth again to rule and reign for the Millennium.

Up until 1830, when the Church of Jesus Christ was restored by Joseph Smith, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,  inventions didn’t happen as fast. But since 1830, they have increased exponentially because of the outpouring of God’s light. This light has made people smarter, all with the purpose of gathering Israel to prepare the earth for Christ’s Second Coming. This article here by Mark Skousen, economic historian, explains this phenomenon in detail. Here is an excerpt from that article by Mark:

As an economic historian, I too have noticed the dramatic rise in sustained economic growth and standard of living starting in the early 1800s. In the area of science and technology, the vast majority of advances have occurred since 1830. The World Book Encyclopedia, for example, chronicles the major inventions throughout history. Over 70% occurred since the LDS Church [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] was organized. Progress prior to 1830 was slow and plodding. Afterwards, it was dramatic. Material life prior to 1830 was about the same as it was a thousand years earlier. But the standard of living after 1830 has increased incredibly for the better.

Before 1830, inventions included paper and moveable type, the microscope and the telescope, the steam engine and the locomotive, cannon and firearms, and the spinning wheel.

Here’s a partial list of major inventions after 1830: photography, reaper and cotton gin, telegraph, gas refrigeration, rubber tire, sewing machine, elevator, hypodermic needle, internal-combustion engine, dynamite, typewriter, automobile, phonograph, light bulb, airplane, radio and television, anesthesia and Novocain, air conditioning, nuclear reactor, xerox machine, fax machine, computers, and the Internet.

Was this all co-incidence? Or was it related to what the Mormons call the restitution and the fullness of times? According to the Mormons, the Lord spoke through the Prophet Joseph Smith and ushered in the final dispensation, the fullness of times, also known as the last days. It is the final dispensation in mortality, before the great millennial day when Christ reigns on the earth for a thousand years.

 

I echo what Elder M. Russell Ballard said in this January 2020 Ensign article that  accompanied the timeline. Here is a quote from that:

I testify that in the very beginning, the Lord’s hand prepared the world for the Restoration of the “true, pure, and simple gospel” of Jesus Christ, the “saving doctrines of Christ” that are available to all God’s children.¹⁸ I also testify that the Lord’s hand is in our individual lives inviting us to follow Him, serve others, and love Him as He prepares the world for His glorious Second Coming.

Elder Ballard gives basically the same content in speech format over here.

Spurred on by my sister’s blog here, I have put together my own list of books for goal-setters for the New Year of 2020. Enjoy!

I read the first book, above, The Toothpaste Millionaire, about ten years ago to my older children, after finding it listed in the Sonlight Catalog.  (That’s a trick I often do, finding books from catalogs or word of mouth and then getting them at the library.) Just mentioning the book stirs up fond memories of all my children at home, with my husband taking turns with me, reading it aloud. I remember the electricity going out, which drew us all together to the living room to listen to the book being read. It was summer so the swamp cooler couldn’t work with the power out. We were too hot to move much and just relaxed listening to this book. Great times! Here’s what Amazon says about the book:

Sixth-grader Rufus Mayflower doesn’t set out to become a millionaire. He just wants to save on toothpaste. Betting he can make a gallon of his own for the same price as one tube from the store, Rufus develops a step-by-step production plan with help from his good friend Kate MacKinstrey. By the time he reaches the eighth grade, Rufus makes more than a gallon — he makes a million! This fun, breezy story set in 1960s Cleveland, Ohio contains many real-life mathematical problems which the characters must solve to succeed in their budding business. Includes black-and-white illustrations by Jan Palmer.

This 35th anniversary edition includes an exclusive author interview and reader’s guide with book summary and discussion questions.

I am jealous of all of you who get to read it for the first time!

Brave Irene is one of my absolute favorite picture books of all time! I love how it shows the reverse of mother-bear chemistry, maybe we could call it “girl bear cub” chemistry? It’s the love that Irene has for her dear mother and her mother’s beautiful work that gets her up out of the snow to complete her quest through the raging storm, to complete the task her mother gave her. So sweet!

Wilma Rudolph was amazing!

These books above and below will take away any excuse you have for not hitting your goals!

from amazon:

Nobody could capture the Phantom. She was the wildest mare on Assateague Island. They said she was like the wind, that the white “map” on her shoulders was her mark of freedom.

Paul and Maureen Beebe had their hearts set on owning her. They were itching to buy and tame her, and worked hard to earn the money that she would cost. But the roundup men had tried to capture her and for two years she had escaped them….

Pony Penning Day holds a surprise for everyone, for Paul not only brings in the Phantom, but her newborn colt as well. Can Paul and Maureen possibly earn enough to buy them both?

People made a movie out of it in the 60s that I love to watch with the kiddos, about every two years, to remind them of the power of setting goals that involve money and working your heart out to achieve them. Hey, it’s time to watch it again!

again, from amazon.com:

After World War II there is little left in Katje’s town of Olst in Holland. Her family, like most Dutch families, must patch their old worn clothing and go without everyday things like soap and milk. Then one spring morning when the tulips bloom “thick and bright,” Postman Kleinhoonte pedals his bicycle down Katje’s street to deliver a mysterious box – a box from America! Full of soap, socks, and chocolate, the box has been sent by Rosie, an American girl from Mayfield, Indiana. Her package is part of a goodwill effort to help the people of Europe. What’s inside so delights Katje that she sends off a letter of thanks – beginning an exchange that swells with so many surprises that the girls, as well as their townspeople, will never be the same.

This inspiring story, with strikingly original art, is based on the author’s mother’s childhood and will show young readers that they, too, can make a difference.

 

Read about the above one here.

This is one of the sweetest movies ever! I love that it involves culture, the Jewish religion, extended family, and romance! It’s clean and wholesome. For being a Hallmark Channel movie, it’s not cheesy at all. Here’s the official summary from the Hallmark Channel:

When Leah’s husband Benjamin dies suddenly, Benjamin’s brother Jake is stunned to learn he is expected to marry the childless Leah to carry on his brother’s name. Jake suggests to Leah that they get married and maintain a secretly platonic relationship. The harder they try to disguise their “pretend” marriage, the more their appreciation for each other’s worlds grows, and out of understanding, a real love develops.

Here’s the full movie…Enjoy!

Roses from my wonderful husband for Valentine’s!

Sorry for the lull in blogging about gameschooling, and tracking my book and game a day for the #aboookandagameaday challenge at thewaldockway.com. My trip to Utah interrupted my streak.

During my Veggie Gal lunch on Friday in Utah, we saw deer in the backyard!

Above picture: Utah the morning I left to go back to AZ.

Below picture: Arizona, after I got back, the same day as above. What a difference lines of latitude make!

We’ve had lots of fun gameschooling, I just haven’t had as much to blog about it what with getting ready for the trip and then getting back into the swing of things afterwards.

We celebrated Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s birthday on Feb. 6 in my Hero class, right before I left to go to Utah, with the chocolate cake above. It’s so providential that my Thursday class was on his very birthday, right after we read and discussed the book in my class! If you don’t know who he is, you are in for a treat. Read the graphic novel based on his life below. It’s so cool! He was an amazing, unselfish man.

I’ve had fun prepping and giving lectures and activities for my Hero class, mentoring my own children, celebrating Valentine’s with two parties, fulfilling my church job, and the normal mothering and housewife stuff.

Here are the games and books we’ve enjoyed the past three weeks. If you have any questions about the games or books, put them in the comments and I will answer.

This Book of Mine is so perfect for February! It showcases one of my first loves: books! Oh book of mine, be my Valentine!

I found this geography game, Where in the World?, for $3 at a thrift store (haha, where else?). It has six different levels of play. We played the first level, Crazy 8s, just to get the kids more familiar with country names and regions they are in.

The above book has to be the perfect book for winter! So delightful!

We played Cadoo for Family Home Evening. It’s a delightful version of Cranium for kids, basically, Cranium Jr. I love that Cranium games combine trivia, word, Pictionary, and sculpting with clay charades all into one game, combined with the Connect 4 idea of getting four in a row.

The above picture’s laughs and smiles came from the game below. It’s Cranium WOW. We played kids vs. grownups.

I won the game with my two wonderful sketches that I drew, below, with my eyes closed, to get my hubby to guess the words, “skate park” and “Spongebob Squarepants.” I love that my husband gets what I am communicating! These sketches should definitely be framed!

Pretty good for me being blindfolded, if I do say so!

For an adult gameschooling night for my homeschooling group, we played a love letter game with conversation hearts. So fun!

The above and below pics show the Liebrary board game that I adapted to use with picture books and children’s chapter books for my kids’ gameschooling group. I call it Liebrary Jr. You can get the directions for making a DIY version here in my PDF about “How to Build a Gameschool Collection on a Budget.”

The Cookies game is explained here. We played it for Christmas and again for Valentine’s Day, this time using Sugar Cookies by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, instead of Christmas Cookies. We also played it at my adult gameschooling night. Very fun! My husband won among the group of 8 of us!

The above is the Worst Case Scenario Jr. game. I picked it up for $2.40 while thrifting. It’s fun for learning about survival skills and involves logic, reasoning, and science.

Jane Addams was amazing! I learned more about her from reading this book than from my high school history class. A great book on friendship for Valentine’s month.

Speaking of great books on friendship for Valentine’s month, I love the books above and below. Both are illustrated by my sister Emily’s BYU roommate, Fumi, who hails from Japan. They were also roommates in New York City post-college, breaking into the professional art world.  You can read an interview that Emily did with Fumi over on Emily’s blog here. We love Fumi’s cheery style!

I finally gave in to the overabundance of Scene It? DVD-based board games “scene” while I’m thrifting, and bought the Sports version above, to bond over with my boys. It was still in the shrink wrap, for $4. I think I enjoyed it more than they did! I won, because of my random store of knowledge about pop culture while being a teen in the 80s. I answered correctly the final question: What team did Ted Turner used to own, based in Atlanta? Score! I did not know, however, the answers to most of the questions, that’s for sure. We’ll be playing it again.

Rory’s Story Cubes are so great for playing during lunchtime!

The Contender is such a fabulous game to learn about political issues and to spark conversation about voting Constitutionally. I plan on adapting this game for my Hero Class!

I picked up Art Shark yesterday while thrifting. Using my educator’s discount I got it for $2.40! It’s great for learning art history. And it looked never used! The cards were still in the wrappers! I think God knew I was disappointed with another art game I bought recently on amazon and is making it up to me.

I love the painting on the left by Rossetti! So beautiful!

Are you bored of winter? Get into more board and card games! I do believe God inspired people to make them to beat the winter blahs! Game playing and gameschooling help you get your kids off screens, so you can create community in your home. Yay! Here’s a great book about that:

You can buy it on amazon or read it for free by signing up for a free two month trial of scribd.com over here, using my affiliate link.

What is scribd.com? scribd.com is a collection of books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and sheet music that you can access using an app on your mobile device. Much better than Audible, because you have unlimited access to all those resources for a low flat monthly fee. I have Audible too and love them both!

Enjoy reading and playing!

I finally beat the little guy in Chickapig!

Last November, my Relief Society (the women’s organization at my church) had a game night. It was a nice change of pace from the traditional “Christmas Dinner in November” night where we have mashed potatoes, ham, green jello, somewhat awkward small talk, and too many sugary tempting desserts where I have to reign it in and remind myself that I have sugar-free keto treats waiting for me at home. The new Relief Society president who had been installed last spring when our ward (congregation) got divided had been serving in the Primary for so long she had forgotten that the Relief Society usually has a Christmas thing in November.  I, as her counselor, wasn’t about to suggest that we have one because I wanted a break from the formal R.S. Christmas parties I’ve attended for 25+ years. Instead, we got to play games!!!! Yes!!! Which fits right in with my gameschooling kick that I’ve been on this homeschool year.

I had a blast because I got to play three of my favorite games: Bananagrams, Qwirkle, and one another one I can’t remember now but whatever it was, I loved it, because I won, LOL. I had a great time with all those games and the sisters at my table, but… I couldn’t help having game envy. I was jealous of all the laughter going on over at the other table. The ladies over there were having a hilarious time playing the board game “Therapy,” as seen above in the very top photo.  All of a sudden I had a nostalgic blast from my past. I had played that game a few times and loved it! As a teen, I had seen it while gift shopping with my mom when I was in high school and convinced her to buy it at Christmas for a family gift to play together. (It ended up being a little risque, as it does have about a dozen question cards that I went through and threw away.)

OK, so now, I had the burning, sudden, driving desire to play this game again and have the same laughs (without the risque cards)! So I invited my R.S. president friend (Catherine) who had brought it to the game night to bring it over for an adult game night last month, in January. That way I could play it after 30 years, and have a game night with adults. (I get to play games every day, as part of my gameschooling, with my own tween and teen children and some homeschooling kiddo friends but, as I’ve learned, it’s important for my soul to get with adults and play all the games I have that are too hard for kids. Like Perspective. And Take 10. Original Trivial Pursuit. Games for people older than Millennials. Therapy is one of those, at least for the under 14s.) We did have a great time with it! I was so jealous of said friend finding it at a thrift store for $1.49 years ago! I was determined to get my own copy. Not only did I have game envy, but I also had thrifting envy!

I knew I would be going to Utah soon, so I planned on asking my mom if she would give me the game when I got there. I purposely didn’t pack as much as I normally would so I would have space in my suitcase to bring it home. I was absolutely positive it was there, lonely,  in her home in Utah. I could picture it my mind’s eye, languishing on a dusty shelf in her basement, untouched for over 30 years, never played all that time, a cousin to all the forgotten toys in Toy Story. I fantasized about finding it on the shelf, bringing it home, and playing it with my gal pals. My mom’s closet would be blessed by me dejunking it and the game would be happy to be played again. 🙂 So, when I stayed with my parents as part of my trip recently to speak on gameschooling at the Winter Homeschool Conference, imagine my complete shock and horror when I couldn’t find it after searching mom’s game closet and two other closets, after I had dinner with my parents and son. (I did find Wits and Wagers in the process, which we all played for the first time.)

My mom never throws anything out, she is such a packrat. I couldn’t believe it! I had forgotten that about six years ago she let my daughter, a teen at the time, help her purge her game closet and downsize. Sadly, Therapy must have been let go, not to the same fate as the forgotten toys in Toy Story 2, but to a thrift store.

But…thank goodness for seeds planted in the form of prayers! I had also prayed on and off for a few weeks before the trip, that I would be able to find the game while thrifting OR at my parents’ home. (I’ve also been praying for Liebrary, another fun game that Catherine found while thrifting. I came close to finding it a few weeks ago when I found the geography counterpart to it, called Locale, at my local Goodwill. Both are made by Discovery Bay Games, and both are out of print. They are both bluffing games similar to Balderdash so can easily be played with homemade, DIY versions.)

I adapted the Liebrary game to a Liebrary Jr. game for my homeschooling group. You can find the instructions in my free PDF guide to building a gameschool collection here. 

Anyway, so on this same trip to Utah, I was able to find Therapy at Deseret Industries, a thrift store, for $1.50! Yes, of course, I went thrifting on my trip, and I found it!  Victory! It was a tender mercy of the Lord, reminding me of the talk of the same name by Elder David A. Bednar that I’ve always loved.

It was just such a sweet little note from heaven, reminding me that God likes to bless me with little delights. He truly does “delight to own and bless me, when (I) strive to do what’s right.” (Hymns, no. 96) He answers my prayers with a “Yes!” when it’s best for me, even in the little things like a hard-to-find, not important in the eternal scheme of things,  psychology trivia-based on get-to-know-you board game that can be bought on ebay for $15! I know God is watching over each of us, and delights to own and bless each of us, as we strive to please Him.

So now I have the Therapy board game and can bring it to my adult gameschooling nights, and also play online with my son who is away from home, studying psychology in college. I look forward to fascinating, scintillating conversations about the mind, sparked by the questions from this game. Last week on the way home from our homeschool group’s Valentine Gameschooling night, my dear hubby drove so I could go through this latest thrifting treasure and vet the cards again. After all, I did wonder if maybe this was the same game that my mom had bought years ago and sent to the thrift store, continuously recycled. Turns out, it wasn’t! Those same cards that I remember tossing out decades ago were intact in this copy so I tossed them out again.

So here’s to some fun game nights about the mind! I’m thinking of pairing playing Therapy the same night with the game I got my teen daughter for her non-edible stocking stuffer last Christmas, pictured below. If you know of any psychology-based games to go with them, please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear about them! And, if you want the PDF of the slides about gameschooling, go here.

Welcome to the world of gameschooling! It’s so fun!

Check out this PDF of my slides about the “what, why, when and how” of gameschooling. These are the slides from my presentation that I gave at the Winter Homeschool Conference in Layton UT on Feb. 8, 2020.

Here is a PDF called How to Build a Gameschool Collection on a Budget. It also includes 7 educational games you can play right away with stuff you most likely have in your home already.

Happy gameschooling! I hope it brings as much joy to you as it does to me!

Game playing and gameschooling help you get your kids off screens. Yay! Here’s a great book about that:

You can buy it on amazon or read it for free by signing up for a free two month trial of scribd.com over here, using my affiliate link.

What is scribd.com? scribd.com is a collection of books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and sheet music that you can access using an app on your mobile device. Much better than Audible, because you have unlimited access to all those resources for a low flat monthly fee. I have Audible too and love them both! scribd is more abundant and flexible.