Leap Frog is already one step ahead of him with that one: http://www.leapfrog.com/gaming/didj/ http://www.leapfrog.com/gaming/didj/ You can plug it in to the c

Leap Frog is already one step ahead of him with that one: http://www.leapfrog.com/gaming/didj/ http://www.leapfrog.com/gaming/didj/ You can plug it in to the computer and personalize the learning content, i.e. enter your kid's spelling words for that week, or a specific set of math problems, etc. Doing good in the games unlocks points they can redeem to earn custom game backgrounds, characters, and so on. There are a handful of games for the system, Spongebob, LEGO, Star Wars, maybe even a Harry Potter. It's kind of a neat system (but a bit buggy). I don't think it works particularly well for teaching, but for doing drills on the stuff that just has to be memorized, like basic math facts and spelling, I think it serves its purpose. What made my 3rd grader love math (it's her favorite subject) was understanding the hows and whys behind it and seeing some practical application of it. The more complicated it is, the more she likes it, and so she memorized the basic facts in order to get to the good bits. I'm not entirely convinced, though, that this is typical 8yr old behavior.