Have you ever thought of where your name comes from? I’m not talking about your first name, the one your parents chose for you when you were a baby. There are hundreds of books on the market that explain what your first name “means.” Some names are symbolic of flowers or trees, a certain personality trait, a physical trait, a blessing, a saying, etc. Most people are aware that their first name has a “meaning” and often, they know the meaning. I’m wondering if you’ve thought about where your last name comes from.

When humans first began walking on this earth, they typically had one name, such as “Adam” and “Eve.” With so few people in various communities, it was easy to recognize everyone by one name. Even if someone in another community had the same name, this wasn’t an issue since there was not constant contact. After all, it might take days to reach another community and there was no communication through telephones or e-mail. Even the earliest peoples had names and our earliest recorded writings indicate that throughout history, we gradually developed the use of a second name as our communities grew, the population expanded, and contact between communities became easier and more developed (with the development of roads, the invention of paper, etc.)

Here are some ideas to discuss with your children in regards to the development of last names.

Patronymic Names
Patronymic names are names that come from your father or “pater.” MOST names were created this way. Take the name David Johnson. A few hundred years ago, this person would have been called “David, son of John.” It was shortened to “David, John’s son.” Then it was shortened to “David Johnson.” What about “David Johns”? This is simply a more shortened version of the same name.

If you see a name with “son” at the end of it, the name originated from the idea of “the son of…”. Usually, if you have a name with an “s” at the end, it has the same origin. Someone along the way has shortened the “son” to simply “s.” For example, “Williamson” has been changed to “Williams” in many cases. It still has the same origin – “son of William.”

Take Haskins, for example. I knew that Chris’ family was of Norwegian origin. I only recently discovered that the name Haskins actually originated from the first name “Ásketil.” This was a first name that was converted to “Haskin” in English. So where did the “s” come from? Again, take Chris Haskins. This would have originally been, “Chris, son of Ásketil,” which was converted to “Chris, Ásketil’s son” and then eventually converted to English “Chris, Haskin’s son” and then it changed to “Chris Haskins” over time as the “on” was dropped from “son.”

Since patronymic names are common in every culture, we have borrowed many of these from other cultures. I have given one example above from our own family. Think of these names: “Petersen,” (Peter’s son in German), Williamson (William’s son in German), Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo in Spanish), O’Conner (son of Conner in Scottish or Irish), etc. Each language has its own way of expressing patronymic names, but they all have a way. It’s very fascinating!

Descriptive Last Names
There are also large numbers of last names that developed as a result of description. Descriptive last names would include names that describe an occupation (Baker), where the person lives (Hill), characteristics (Short) or even a personality trait (Doolittle).

Occupation
Smith is one of the most common names for a reason. When people began to assign surnames as populations grew, around the 15th century, almost every community – whether large or small – had a blacksmith, often known as the “smith,” “smithy,” “smither,” etc. All these names originated from the same occupation of blacksmith. As communities grew and became more complex, the names Baker, Carpenter, Miller, Cook and Taylor began to appear.

Sometimes we see names that like “Brewer” and we know this originated from the town brewer. When we see a name such as “Brauer,” however, many people might not realize that this is the SAME name, simply in a different language. Most cultures have last names that equate to the most common English names because those were the occupations and even the descriptions that were the most popular.

What about if there was more than one blacksmith in a town? That’s where we developed such names as “Goodsmith” (the blacksmith who is a good man).

Location
Names that developed as a result of where people live are easy to figure out. If your name is “Field,” “Feld,” or “Fieldman,” this originated from someone who lived near a pasture or open country. If your last name is Lake, you can use the same reasoning.

It was very common in Europe to name families after the family where the fathers were from. Thus, you have names such as “Berlin” or “Moscow.”

Characteristic
What about names such as “Black,” “Longfellow,” or “Lytle.” These people would be (in order) dark-skinned, tall, and short. Names such as this are based on obvious physical characteristics. Some are a little more difficult. Take the name “Redd.” This would have referred to an ancestor with red hair. If this was a unique trait to the community, it would have been an easy way to identify someone.

There are other characteristic names based more on personality. The name “Fox,” for example, would have been assigned to someone who was “sly as a fox.” Others might have been given names that mean “handsome,” “strong,” or “brave” in their language, which have come down to English with foreign names.

Additional Thoughts
Some religious names are taken from our ancestors’ occupations or their heritage. Take Levi, Bishop, Priest, or Abbot as examples.

Some names are more difficult to figure out simply because we don’t know the meaning of the words any more. Cooper, for example, is a common English surname, but many people today do not realize that the word “cooper” means “one who makes barrels.” In medieval society, this was an important occupation.
While many freemen began to take surnames around the 15th or 16th century and those have been passed down through the generations, some cultures didn’t begin to take surnames until later. Africans who were brought to the states and Europe as slaves, for example, lived in a culture where they still used first names or the patronymic names such as “Kamili, son of Ebo” (of course it wouldn’t be said that way in the African language, but this is for your understanding. The two names I’ve given are real, however. “Kamili” means “perfection” and “Ebo” means “born on Tuesday.”) As slaves began to integrate into American society, they began to take on surnames that were usually affiliated with their owners. A slave that belonged to “Davis” took the last name “Davis.” Some slaves or former slaves took on descriptive names such as “Black” or “Brown,” based on their color. Other slaves choose their own name, such as “Booker T. Washington,” who named himself after our nation’s first president. For many descendants of slaves, it is difficult to trace their roots due to the lack of surnames. Some descendants, however, have wonderful oral histories that have given them clues to their background.

Exceptions
There are exceptions to the above “rules.” In our culture in particular, you have many names that developed from other languages so the name might have one of several meanings. Take the name “Bell,” for example. This last name could mean “the one who rings the bell in the tower,” “the one who lives beside the bell tower,” “one who makes bells,” or it could even originate from the French, “belle,” which means beautiful.

Another example is the last name “Moreland.” In our language, we might assume that “Moreland” means a person who had more land than other people in the community. The word “more” in English developed from the Anglo-Saxon word “moor,” which was an open, frequently grassy, sometimes wet area of soil that is usually uncultivated. The surname “Moreland” literally means “dweller by the moor-land.”

Discussion Questions

Here are some things to review with your students.

1. If last names were largely created based on occupations, why do we not see last names like “Electrician,” “Podiatrist,” or “Cashier”? These occupations didn’t exist during the centuries when we were developing last names.
2. Why do you think “Smith,” “Farmer,” and “Carter” are common names? (“Carter” means “one who drives “carts.”) These names are all related to work that would have been necessary in every community.
3. Look up the definition of “patronymic.” This is a terrific vocabulary word! Make sure students can spell it, say it, and know what it means.
4. Research the origin of your own surname and discuss this with your family.
5. If you didn’t already have a surname, what would be some names others might assign to your family?

For example, in my family, my son Micah, might be known as:
Micah, son of Chris… Micah, Chris’s son… Micah Chrisson
Micah, son of writer…. Micah, son of author….. Micah, author’s son…. Micah, Authorson

Christopher has the same name as Chris so it would be odd to call him “Chris, Chris’ son.”

He might be known as:
Christopher, the tall one… Christopher Tallone… Christopher Tall
Christopher, the tall fellow… Christopher TallFellow
Christopher, the darker skinned child… Christopher the darker… Christopher Dark

Here are some more ideas:
Daniel, from the homeschool family in Gray … Daniel in Gray… Daniel Gray
Hannah, the youngest child… Hannah, the youngest… Hannah Young

The point here is to see the development of the names. Help your children think of names that would work for your family based on these same ideas.

Since most families are struggling financially these days, many are seeking alternative forms of entertainment that won’t cost a fortune. Additionally, it seems that a lot of people are re-evaluating their priorities and realizing that they would like more family time. While there are lots of great activities for family time – going on hikes, riding bikes, passing ball, etc. – one of the best ways to have great family entertainment, save money, and spend time together is to play games. Some people do Family Game Night.

We play games several times per week and on the weekends, we typically spend several hours playing games. ANY family can and should have terrific fun playing games, but as homeschoolers, we count most of our game time toward mandatory school hours. Many of these games are quite educational.

I’ve divided the games into categories for board games, dice games, card games and action games. I’ve also added the games from my previous “game list” so that you’ll have them all in one place. There are also notes about the difficulty of the games, recommended ages, recommended number of players, which skills are necessary to play the games (reading, counting, etc.), etc.

I hope you’ll find the following list useful as you decide which games to play with your family. There are definitely some great suggestions!

Have fun!
Sonya Haskins, author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us (Bethany House, 2010)

Dice Games

Yatzhee
Ages 8 and up
For one or more players
Time: time increases depending on how many players. It takes about 10 minutes for one player and add an additional 5 minutes for each player.
Yes, this is the classic we played as kids! It’s still a great game. Younger children can learn to play, but they will need help filling in their score pad. I prefer to wait until the child is a “reader” before letting them play Yatzhee. We do, however, let younger children participate by pairing up with an older player and being the “dice roller.”

Backgammon
Any age, but it’s a complex game – recommended for 8 and up
2 players
This is a strategy game that many people play before transitioning to chess. Daniel (8) says it involves “strategy and luck.” It encourages thinking skills. It’s actually on a “board,” but it’s more of a dice game.

Farkle
Just about any age if player can roll dice and make decisions based on their roll.
Players – two or more (We’ve played with almost a dozen people at a time. You can go up as high as you want.)
Time: depends on the number of players you have.
This is a true dice game. You get scores based on the combination of dice you roll. The tricky part of the game is that you have to make choices (gamble) about whether to KEEP your score or continue rolling and risk losing ALL your points for that round (that’s called a Farkle). This is a very fun game! We especially enjoy it since even the oldest of us enjoy it and even the youngest are able to play it. As a matter of fact, she usually gambles less and ends up beating us!

Card Games

Set
Basically any age could play if they’re able to match cards.
Various numbers of players, most fun with two to three players
This is almost like the old “matching games” for little kids, but it’s a more adult version. The matches are VERY difficult to make. Also, the cards are face UP where you can see them, but you have to match three colors with different shapes, all the same shape and color or all different colors… There are several combinations you can make, but I never play this game well. Our kids almost always find the sets before Chris and I can find them. Christopher (10) says this game is “the funnest game on earth.”

Zigity
Ages 7 and up (need to be able to read)
Best with three to four players
a Cranium game
This is somewhat like Uno, but you have various “activities” to do while you play: Creative Cat, Star Performer, Data Head, and Word Worm. You have to match items on the cards and try to make sets to get rid of all your cards first.

Uno
Ages 7 to adult
2 to 10 players
Time: 15 minutes
I think most everyone has heard of or played Uno at some point in time. This is a classic card game. Younger players can practice identifying numbers and trying to use beginning strategy skills to get rid of all your cards first.

In a Pickle
Ages 10 and up
2 to 6 players
Time: 20 to 30 minutes
Gamewright

Maya Madness
Ages 10 and up
2 to 4 players
Time: about 20 minutes
Gamewright
This is a card game that encourages math skills. My two youngest boys especially enjoy it. Players have to add and subtract the right combination of cards to claim the secret number token. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up in the world of “negative numbers.” You collect tokens to win. (My only caution about this game is that the game is based around “the ancient world of Maya numerology.” This isn’t

Mille Borne
Ages 6 and up (Players need to be able to read.)
2 to 5 players
Time: approx. 15 to 20 minutes
This is a very fun game that involves a lot of luck, but also strategy. Basically, the premise of the game is that you’re “traveling” and the cards tell you what to do. For example, if you have a flat tire or other thing that would stop you, you have to wait for a gasoline card, a “go” card, and a mileage card. The objective of the game is to get to “mille borne” – a “thousand miles.” For families interested in bringing in an educational component, many of the cards use French words and the very basis of the game is centered around stone mile markers used every thousand miles on French roads. Chris and I have had this game since before we had children. We enjoyed playing it alone and then taught the children to play as soon as they could read. It’s a great game.

Ruckus
Ages 7 to adult
2 to 4 players
Time: “less than 4 minutes per hand”
This is a game that involves taking other players’ cards and trying to take matches, but then other players can take those cards back if they have another card to play on the set. It’s a fast paced game that involves luck and paying attention. There are also beginning strategy skills and patience since you have to learn to wait before you take cards.

Rook
Ages 8 and up
2 to 6 players
Time: 15 minutes
This is a great game to practice “strategy” skills. You have to be careful not to bid to high or too low so you have to pay attention to the cards and learn to play it safe.

Dutch Blitz
Ages 8 and up
Two to four players
Time: approx. 5 to 10 minutes per round, but you’ll play several rounds to a pre-set winning point based on how many points each player receives.
Some friends of ours introduced us to this card game a few years ago. It’s a terrific game, although I’ve come away from many games with scrapes and scratches across my hands. It’s a difficult game to describe in writing, but basically your goal is to get as many cards as possible before everyone else gets them. The game is multi-tasking to the extreme and teens/preteens seem to particularly enjoy it.

Hoopla
Adults and teens
Two or more players (more fun with more players than two)
Time: 20 minutes

Board Games

Sorry
Ages 6 to adult
2 to 4 players
Time: 30 minutes
Hasbro
This is another classic from when we were young. This is another game that younger children can play as long as they have a little help reading the cards (which aren’t very difficult). This is a great game to reinforce counting skills in younger children.

Go to the Head of the Class
Ages 7 to adult
2 to 5 players
Time: approx. 45 minutes
Hasbro
This is an older classic and you’d probably have to find it at yard sales or on e-bay. My children love to play this game. This is the kind of thing we would do in lieu of schoolwork. The premise of the game is that you start at “kindergarten” and work your way through each grade level to the head of the class. There are three different levels of

Cadoo
Ages 7 and up
2 or more players
Cranium Game

Blockus
Ages 5 and up
2 to 4 players
Time: 15 minutes
Mattel
I love this game! It’s a strategy game where you try to put down pieces in such an arrangement to block your opponents, but allow yourself an “escape route” so that you can go to other areas of the board. It’s a lot of fun and requires you to think. I enjoy brain games best.

Mancala
Ages 6 and up (Younger could play if they could count well enough.)
Two players
Time: 25 minutes
This is an old game that Chris and I started playing when we were dating. It’s an African stone counting game and it will really test your math skills. Even though it’s a very simple game, it requires strategy and counting.

Apples to Apples, Jr.
Ages 9 and up
Four to ten people
Time: less than 30 minutes
Mattel Games
You play cards with vocabulary words or “concepts” on them and then each player tries to play other cards that are similar to the other card. For example, if one person plays “cloud,” another player might play “storm” or “puddle” for a comparison card. It helps kids learn vocabulary and have fun at the same time.

Apples to Apples
Ages 12 and up
Four to ten players
Time: less than 30 minutes
Mattel Games
This is an “adult” version of the kids Apples to Apples game. I do like the premise of this game – have fun with vocabulary words, but I prefer the younger kids’ version. This edition, even though it’s supposed to be for ages 12 and up, has material that we would consider inappropriate for a 12-yr-old. For example, some vocabulary cards have “sexy,” “sultry,” “AIDS,” etc. That’s just not something we want exposure to when we’re playing a GAME. Even my oldest children prefer the Junior version.

Othello
Ages 8 and up
Two players
Time: 10 or 15 minutes
Chris plays Othello with our children all the time and they love it. I do know it is a strategy game and also encourages math skills. It reminds me of a precursor to chess or something like that, but my children just love it.

Monopoly
Ages 8 to adult
2 to 8 players
Time: 2 days (according to my son! LOL)
Parker Brothers
I’m sure everyone has heard of this family favorite. Monopoly is a terrific game for teaching math skills, taking turns, dealing with stocks and money, buying and selling, and money-related terminology such as stocks, bonds, bank, bankrupt, and mortgage. We love to play Monopoly when time isn’t a factor and we can just sit around for hours and have fun.

Stay Alive
Ages 8 to adult
2 to 4 players
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
I used to play this game when I was a child. It’s a great game. You have to put marbles on a game board that has holes under it. As you pull the sticks on the game board back and forth, marbles MIGHT stay on the board or they might fall through the holes, depending on the placement of your marbles. It is a relatively quick game, but requires a lot of strategy. It’s great fun!

Life
Recommended for ages 8 and up (We play with children as young as five and just read for them.)
2 to 6 players (more fun with more players)
Time: 60 minutes
I remember playing Life when I was a young girl. I LOVED getting as many children as I could. I would fill up my car and then if anyone else didn’t want their children, I would pile their kids in my car as well. The cars seat 6 people - 2 adults and 4 children. I would always put the mom in the driver seat, dad in the passenger seat, then I’d end up with about 8 children in the back. They don’t have seatbelts for Life so inevitably my little plastic children would fall across the board each time I moved my vehicle.

Anyway, this is another great game to practice using math skills. You also have the opportunity to bring up discussions about goals, family, occupations, and how choices affect your real life. Like many of these great board games, let even your youngest family members roll their own dice or (in the case of Life), spin the spinner themselves, count their spaces, etc.

Cranium for Kids
Ages 4 and up
2 to 4 players
Time: 20 minutes
Cranium Games
This is a cooperative game (meaning everyone is playing against the game to open the “treasure chest”). Children pull cards, which then allow them to open doors and you might or might not get a ball behind the doors. Once all six balls are found, you win the game.

Clue
Ages 8 and up
3 to 6 players
Time: 45 minutes
Parker Brothers
Children learn to use skills of discernment while trying to figure out who murdered whom with what weapon. Reading and writing skills are also used in Clue. This was another one of my favorite games when I was a child and my own children enjoy it now. For some reason, this hasn’t received good online ratings in recent years. I wonder if people just don’t have the patience any more to play a game that requires much more mental skill and less physical activity (other than drawing cards and rolling dice). Anyway, we really enjoy it!

Risk
Ages 10 and up
2 to 6 players
Time: 2 hours
This is a very complex game. It’s a war game that involves cards, dice and placing your pieces on the board strategically. Our boys sometimes just play with the board (that’s like a huge map) and the pieces (little soldiers) and make up their own game.

Whoonu
Ages 8 to adult
3 to 6 players
Time: 30 minutes – more if you have a lot of people
The point of this game is to try to guess things about the other people playing the game and win little token chips. You’ll be surprised what you find out about those you think you know best, thus the name “Whoono.” You use cards to identify what you think the other person (who is “it” for that round) likes. For example, when I play, someone might give me a card for books and reading, but someone might also give me a card for “shopping.” That person wouldn’t get any tokens, though, because I would put “shopping” at the BOTTOM of my list! This is a wonderful ice breaker game or a good game to play with people when you just need to renew relationships and learn how to have fun together again.

Scrabble
Ages 10 and up
2 to 4 players
Time: 90 minutes
Even my youngest children enjoy playing Scrabble! Everyone knows you can learn vocabulary by playing this game, but did you know that you can also change the rules and allow dictionary use to encourage spelling skills, vocabulary skills, and reference skills? We also allow foreign words when we play so that also reinforces any foreign language vocabulary that your child may be learning.

Upwards
Ages 6 and up (Players need to know how to read and have the ability to spell.)
2 to 4 players
Time: approx. 30 minutes
This is a very fun spin-off of Scrabble. You put words on the board, just like you do in Scrabble, but then the fun starts. You can CHANGE the words that are already on the board by building UP. For example, if the word “box” is on the board and you have the letters f, e, s, t, q, b, you could change the “b” to an “f” and end up with “fox,” then add the “e” and “s” and end up with “foxes.” Then you could play your “b” in the next round and you’d have “boxes.” It’s a lot of fun. We always keep a dictionary handy so that we can verify spellings. When we play as a family, we also allow foreign words.

Scattegories
Two to four players
Ages 8 and up
Time: 45 minutes
I just love this game. You are given a category (let’s say “kitchen gadgets”) and a letter (S for this example). Then you have to list words in that category, preferably with the given letter (you get points for words that start with other letters, but not as many points. Also, you don’t get ANY points if someone else guesses the same word as you. So I would guess spatula for this example and if no one else got that, then I’d get points.

Cranium
Ages 13 and up (Our younger children play this with no problem. Public votes give recommendations of ages 10 and up.)
4 to 16 players (You can play on teams.)
Time: 60 minutes
This is a hands-on, fun-filled, intellectually stimulating game for older children and adults. It’s meant for ages 12 and up, but we’ve played it with our middle children as well. It’s loads of fun and requires you to use many different skills to create clay sculptures, decide whether a statement is true or false, answer a trivia question, act out a clue, sketch a clue, imitate a famous person, etc.

Cranium Family Fun
Ages 8 to adult
Recommended 4 players teams
Cranium game
This is much like the regular Cranium games, where families build, sketch, sculpt, guess, etc. to get the correct answers.

Trivial Pursuit
Ages 8 and up
Two to four players or teams
Can be very long games – from one to two hours
Hasbro
There are a whole bunch of varieties of this game – including versions for particular years, versions for younger children, games that cover particular topics (like music, art, specific television shows, etc.), and other specialized games. We play the general Trivial Pursuit game, which includes questions on various categories. Players can play individually or break into teams. You try to get all the little wedges for each category before the other players / teams. When you get all the wedges, you win. This is a great game to test facts and knowledge.

Settlers of Catan
Ages 10 and up
3 to 4 players
Time: 50-60 minutes
You collect resource cards and try to “settle” on the board with roads, buildings, settlements, etc. You earn victory points when you make settlements or do some other good thing. If you have larger armies or develop your area better, you get special cards and more points. When you have ten victory points, you win.

Pandemic
Two to four players (We play this as an entire family. You can play with individual players or you can even have some groups. One “team” can have one player while another team has two players. It really doesn’t matter since everyone is fighting against the board.)
Ages 10 plus
Time: 45 minutes
Z-Man Games
Everyone playing the game is trying to keep diseases from rampaging the earth. This is a VERY difficult game and if you don’t like to lose, you shouldn’t play it. Christopher (10) says it’s “the hardest game on earth.” We’ve played numerous times and we’ve only beat the game one time so far! And you can play repeatedly because you have different diseases attacking different areas at different times so it’s always a new challenge.

Ticket to Ride
Ages 8 and up
2 to 5 players
Time: 30 to 60 minutes
You are supposed to get points by building train routes. We haven’t been incredibly impressed with this game.

Checkers
2 players
Even young children can play

Chinese Checkers
This is a lot like regular checkers, except that you have a board with holes and you play with marbles.

Action Games

Hullabaloo
Ages 4 and up
2 to 6 players, but it can be played with ONLY ONE
Time: 10 minutes
This fun action game is meant for younger players. Our children have most enjoyed this game between ages four and ten, but older children enjoy playing sometimes, too. Players have to wiggle, dance, hop, step, etc. to a colored pad. Players can share pads and while they are learning to share, there is also an element of cooperative play. Colors, shapes, and names of animals, foods, and musical instruments are reinforced during this action-filled game. I like the fact that children can play this game with friends, siblings or even alone!

Twister
Ages 6 and up
2 to 4 players (more fun with three or four!)
Time: ten minutes
This is an easy game most of you are probably familiar with. There is a mat on the floor with various colored dots. You choose a person to be in charge of the spinner – who does not play the game – and they will tell you where to put your hands and feet. As you try to find a place to put your hands and feet, you become tangled with the other players. It’s a great game for families.