Silly Sentence

 Elementary, Grammar, Language Arts, Preschool  4 Responses »
Apr 252012
 

 

I am sharing a game that has made learning easy, effortless and fun. Silly Sentence is produced by D.K. Games and you can find at: DK Games. Here is what the game is:

  • What: Silly Sentences
  • How Much: Around $8.99
  • What It Covers: All the basic parts of a sentence

Silly sentence takes apart the elements of a sentence in a fun and engaging manner. There is a playing board, a hexagonal shaped dice, a spinner, place markers, a sentence board that has an easy side with no prepositions and a more advanced side with a preposition place, and hundreds of cards that are labeled noun, preposition, adjective, adverb, and verb. Each card has a word, (e.g., run, hop, scared, the, a, over, under, etc) or a picture if it is a noun card: horse, girl, dog, or fox, etc.

On the player’s turn he will roll the dice. Depending on what is rolled, he will either move his marker, spin or chose a category and even sometimes both. The object of the game is to be the first to complete your silly sentence and then read it off laughing your head off!

My kids LOVE this game. My five-year-old requests it almost daily and he doesn’t even realize that he is understanding prepositions as he repeats, ” Prepositions find the noun.” This game is very simple to play.

There are two minor things that I do not care for with this game and feel that it is important to bring to your attention. One is that the hexagonal shaped die is not sturdy at all. You have to put it together when the game arrives and it is very flimsy. I have ended up placing clear tape all the way around it so that it maintains its shape but if an unassuming toddler steps on the die, it is crushed. Also, our adjective and adverb spots on our dice are the same color, yellow, but on the board the adjectives are blue and the adverbs are yellow. This makes it a bit confusing for non-readers when they question which card to take.

Besides the issues mentioned above, I still feel that purchasing the game and its benefits far outweighs the die and color issue. I highly recommend this game and hope your family enjoys it just as much as ours!

Kids 1st Shape Puzzle App Review

 Apps, Preschool, Technology  No Responses »
Apr 112012
 

Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this review!

I am going to start with letting you know that I love this app! I appreciate the opportunity to review it.

Kids 1st Shape Puzzle offers eight different puzzles to choose from. There are animals, numbers, transportation, letters, and more! As the child manipulates each item into place, a little burst of stars shows that it is correct. When the entire puzzle is complete, the player is rewarded with applause (or other happy sound).

My first little reviewer, my two-year-old grandson, struggled to maneuver each piece into its place. That did not stop him from enjoying the puzzle. With a little help, he was able to play with it. He especially enjoyed the sound effects on the animal and transportation puzzles.

My granddaughter, also two years old, had more time to play with the puzzle, and after a little instruction was able to get each puzzle piece in its place with no trouble at all. If your child is experienced at using an iPad screen, moving the puzzle pieces should not be an issue.

Both of my reviewers gave this app a serious thumb up.  In fact, when I took my iPad to leave, my granddaughter started to cry. Sadly, not because I was leaving, but because she wanted to play some more!

I give it a thumbs up as for its colorful, interactive format! When moving a puzzle piece into place, its name is heard. The puzzles with transportation and animals also have sounds that accompany each piece. My favorite is the music puzzle- when a piece is dropped in place, the child is rewarded with the sound the instrument makes.

This app could be a lifesaver while waiting for dinner, doctor appointments, or on a long car drive!

Another bonus is that it includes the Hebrew alphabet and offers an option to play with Hebrew responses.

Now for the giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

-Laurie Duquette is mom to 7 children and a grandma of 3. Her family is beginning their 19th year of homeschooling. You can read more about their homeschooling adventures at Keeping It Simple.

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Reading Success Mini Books – Word Families

 Age, Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Preschool, Reading, Vocabulary  1 Response »
Apr 062012
 

One day, while doing phonics with my first grader, I realized that we needed a break from our regular curriculum – for both of us. My daughter understood the concepts in her phonics book but was just becoming tired of it. I wanted reading to be enjoyable and hands on! I searched our local teacher’s bookstore. I found a book that worked for us: Scholastic’s Reading Success Mini Books – Word Families.

This book turned reading into fun by helping my daughter make her own Word Family Mini Books. Now, I could have developed this activity myself but I liked the way this book made the whole thing easier for me and fun for my daughter! All that is needed to make the Mini Books is a pair of scissors, some crayons and felt pens, if desired. There are 20 Word family Mini Books to make in all.

Benefits:

  • Builds your child’s reading vocabulary through learning word families.
  • Includes all the pages that you need to make 20 Interactive Mini-Books to read aloud, color and collect.
  • Each book features the same sounding word ending, such as ack, ag, am, ape, ing, ink, ug ump, etc, thereby teaching the concepts of word families.
  • This offers practice in writing and reading word families, with lines to write in.
  • Includes illustrations of each rhyming word, ideal for students who like to color.
  • Builds self-confidence through hands-on learning.

My daughter not only enjoyed making her mini books, but also loved sharing them. She prided herself on her writing, and enjoyed reading it out loud all to her family – especially to her dad at dinner!  This gave her a feeling of confidence in the sometimes difficult process of learning to read. And being the author of the book herself didn’t hurt! My favorite experience with this book was when my daughter would read her word family mini books to her dolls! (I think they must have learned a lot too!)

When we returned to our regular phonics curriculum, my daughter had not only gained new vocabulary words but also brought with her new confidence to the whole process of reading!

For more information, please go to www.scholastic.com.

If you are looking for a nice, hands on break from the usual, I recommend Word Families – Reading Success Mini-Books for any of your early readers.

Look for more reviews of other Scholastic books for young learners by this author.

~Betsy lives with her husband, daughter and two cats near Puget Sound in the northwest.  A waldorf-inspired and unit study-loving homeschooler, she offers Homeschool Consulting to new families at Jane Sproger.

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Discovery Toys “Busy Bugs”

 Age, Hands On, Mathematics, Nature Study, Preschool  No Responses »
Mar 262012
 

We LOVE Discovery Toys! Ever heard of them? They’ve been around for many, many years and they have a bunch of fun, educational toys for infants to adults. One of our most favorite is Busy Bugs! They make learning so much fun!

The set consists of 35 bugs and 23 cards. There are several ways you can use it. You can have your little one match colors:

Match color and type of bug:

There is also sequencing and practice in addition.

The bugs are made of soft rubber so they are fun to hold and manipulate while the cards are made of durable stock that is laminated – both perfect for little hands and little people!

Since I have a boy (not to say girls can’t or won’t like it!) bugs are right up his alley! So, not only is he learning but he is having a ton of fun doing so! Another thing I personally like about Busy Bugs is that it is quick and easy – not a lot of mess. My son’s attention span for any particular item is about three minutes (if I’m lucky) so when I spend a lot of time preparing something and he’s done with it in about one minute, it can get frustrating for me. However with this I simply open the box, dump out the stuff and he has fun! Then we just pick it up and put it away. LOVE IT!

The set sells for $22.50 plus shipping and handling and is recommended for age 3 to primary school.

If these look good but you don’t think your little one would like the bugs, they also offer “Busy Farm” which basically the same thing but with farm animals instead of bugs (although the set is a small step more advanced than this set ~ it has children do things like: pick which animal would go on the pond, or in the stable along with picking which animal is different).

Here’s praying you have fun learning!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Stepping Stones Together

 Elementary, Preschool, Reading, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Mar 212012
 

I am so happy to introduce you to a wonderful curriculum to teach your child how to read, Stepping Stones Together. This is a beginning, online, reading program which claims to teach your child to read in 90 days.

Stepping Stones Together can be used by any child who knows the alphabet, (out of order, both upper and lower case) most of the sounds, and who also shows general interest in reading.

 

This reading program utilizes themed stories, using 220 high-frequency words and text illustrations – to teach your child how to read. There are three levels of reading and while your child can pick which book they prefer to read, (which is fabulous for a finicky child!) they may only choose from the level they are currently in or lower. Higher levels become available as your child finishes the previous one. There are three levels in all.

While each lesson only takes 15-20 minutes each day, the lessons are designed to make all of those minutes count. Each story is read twice before completion is awarded, to ensure mastery.

The videos and information for the parent are quite impressive. I have never seen so much support offered to make you feel comfortable with how to present a curriculum before.

This program is so different from others that I have tried, even though we have not completed all of the lessons, our almost 4 year old has enjoyed using the program and I am sure you and your child will enjoy it as well. If you would like to see just how Stepping Stones Together looks in use please see this extremely helpful page. You will find a very detailed breakdown of how the program works there.

Cost: There are two options available, 90 Day Membership for $19.99, or Super Saver One Year Membership for $39.99. You can also take advantage of the free trial, which will give you a great taste of the program works.

Erika, the founder of Stepping Stones Together, would like to offer all of our readers 50% all full year memberships, just use code- “I want the deal” (omitting quotations), giving you a full year of instruction for the 90 day price! Thanks Erika!

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Evan-Moor Science Series – All About Plants

 Elementary, Nature Study, Preschool, Science  1 Response »
Mar 192012
 

When it came time to start our veggie garden, my six-year-old daughter couldn’t wait to help.  She was filled with questions about how things grew. I wanted a little book that would explain simple botany concepts, one step at a time. I found All About Plants, from Evan-Moor’s science series. It covers very simple botany principles on a K/1st grade level through hands on learning. It was lots of fun for my daughter.

All About Plants covers the following concepts:

  • types of plants
  • the parts of flowers
  • parts of a tree
  • seeds
  • plants that we eat

Many of the concepts are taught through coloring! When we finished in the garden, my six-year-old ran inside and did a page in All About Plants. She especially liked the cut and paste activities. I loved it when she showed me what she had learned in the garden the next day. Can’t get better hands on learning than that!

Benefits:

  • This workbook is written to the child.
  • The language is developmentally appropriate, clear and simply written.
  • It teaches through coloring, cut and paste, read alouds, and a simple experiment.

One day we planted corn seeds together. We planted the seeds inside to protect them from the cold weather in the early spring.  Waiting for the stems to appear was almost impossible for my daughter. But she kept busy studying the parts of the plant in All About Plants! Soon the early leaves appeared in our corn plant.

“That’s just like my book!” she exclaimed.

And as our seedlings grew in our garden, she could identify the parts of each plant. There is nothing like gardening with children! And All About Plants made it even better for my family. It helped my six-year-old to understand the true miracle of the growing and appreciate it all the more.

If you are looking for a fun, simple approach to science for your young child, check out All About Plants. For more info on this series, go to Evan-Moor. This title is also available in ebook format. Watch for more titles in this Science Series by Evan-Moor, for young learners,  in future reviews by this author.

~Betsy lives with her husband, daughter and two cats near Puget Sound in the northwest.  A waldorf-inspired and unit study-loving homeschooler, she offers Homeschool Consulting to new families at Jane Sproger. 

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Sing, Spell, Read and Write

 Age, Grammar, Handwriting, Preschool, Reading, Spelling, Vocabulary  2 Responses »
Mar 072012
 

Sing, Spell, Read and Write is a curriculum that I had the joy of being introduced to in the very beginning of our homeschooling adventure. Now, I am in the trenches of this program with my second child. This child learns 100% differently than my first and I am beaming at his success with reading and writing.

What type of program is this and how is it set apart from the others? Let me explain. Sing, Spell, Read and Write (SSRW) is a multi-sensory, song-singing, game-playing, colorful and very creative program. The curriculum focuses on the language as a whole while making learning exiting and fun. SSRW covers:

  • Grammar
  • Spelling
  • Reading
  • Vocabulary
  • Handwriting

The teacher’s manual details how each lesson should go and gives an estimate of how much time should be dedicated to that lesson. The author, Sue Dickson, has systematically laid out the various objectives for each lesson. Some of the lessons may take two days, others may take up to nine days.
The kindergarten curriculum is based on a train track. Each lesson is a section of the track and at the end the child will have completed the curriculum and is on his/her way to reading and writing!

I love the colorful books that are included in this set and the fun ways that the author teaches the child how to form the letters. There are two books in the kindergarten curriculum along with fun songs that teach short vowels, sounding out words and many other phonetic rules.

The first grade curriculum is a racetrack. As the introduction song goes,

“I’m going 36 miles so I can learn how to read, 36 lessons are just what I need, 36 spots to read, write and spell. So everyone rejoice I’ll soon be reading so well!”

My children run madly around in a circle pretending to be race cars each time this song comes on. Thankfully, the next song that goes through each letter sound a-z calms them back down! There are two books in the first grade curriculum as well.

I truly believe this is one of the most thorough and enriching ways to learn to read, write and spell. The first book has each letter broken up into four pages. For example, learning letter “c”, the child would color a cat, next page practice both lower and uppercase c, then there is a cut and paste page where they need to decipher whether or not that picture begins with the “c” sound and finally, a dot to dot.

The first book takes around a month to complete, while the second book, will take much longer. I am thankful that this is not a quick program. When my first child completed step 36, I was a few days away from having our fourth child and I could have cried. We had been diligently working for the past 10 months and had covered everything from the short vowel sounds, long vowels, silent k, l, g, g, h to reading comprehension and everything in between.

My son finished the racetrack a very confident reader, speller, and writer. He took his confidence to the library checking out more books than I can count and reading them to himself any opportunity he had.

My second son, is on step 12 as I write this. He is a very kinesthetic learner. He is a very independent child and loves going ahead on his own (which is very possible with mom close by, of course!). The songs grab his attention while the workbook pages change up the rhythm of the lessons so that your child will not become bored. Each lesson is followed up by a game that has a Bingo or a Go Fish theme to it.

My son who cannot sit still long is reading! Oh yes and not only is he reading but enjoys reading. He is comprehending what is read!

The program contains:

  • 17 story books
  • CD and 6 sing along tapes (do people still use cassettes?)
  • a raceway track
  • cars for the track
  • five games
  • a treasure chest of prizes and four books
  • an assessment book

In summary: Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about this curriculum. The curriculum is an investment at around $254.00- $306.00. This, however, includes both the kindergarten and first grade programs. You may reuse the resources for each subsequent child after and are able to purchase just the workbooks online for around $9-$14. After seeing how successful my children are learning and have learned to read and write I would pay this amount over and over again. I know others who have followed this program would state the same!

Finally, you can view the materials at Christian Book. Happy reading!

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Ooka Island Adventure

 Elementary, Hands On, Online, Phonics, Preschool, Reading  No Responses »
Feb 242012
 

Since I have a struggling reader, I am always looking for tools to assist her achieve  Ooka Island is not intended for struggling readers solely.  It is a computer game designed to teach early literacy skills.  The visual and fun way Ooka Island uses can appeal to preschool through Kindergarteners.  It even appeals to my struggling reader.  Her confidence grows in the area due to her achievements on Ooka Island.

Here is the breakdown:

Product: Ooka Island Adventure

Format: Downloadable Computer Game

Ages: 3 to 7

Focus: Literacy, Phonics

Use: Supplement to any reading program, extra practice, fun and learning game

Rating: 5 out of 5 golden pencils

What is Ooka Island?

Learning early literacy skills was never so much fun!  The game teaches phonics and letter/sound recognition. A friendly robot named Zobot guides your child in a mission on Ooka Island.  Your child will visit the Cave of Sounds, Alphabet Mountain, Bubbly Troubly and more!  Once your child visits Popcorn Mountain she will get the chance to read books.

What did I love?

  • An approach to teaching literacy that breaks the code of reading.
  • It may be fun but it does teach foundations that a child will use in reading development.
  • Each game centers on a skill that builds upon another skill until your child begins to read.
  • Build confidence in young readers.
  • The staff is quick to respond to customers and easy to work with.
  • My 6 year old asks to play daily alongside her 3 year old sister and both are learning at respective rates.
  • Improvement in my daughter’s literacy skills.

 

Richele is an eclectic homeschooling mom to four reflections of God’s love whose greatest accomplishment thus far was teaching physics, folding laundry, and playing Candyland simultaneously.  Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.

Birdcage Press Art Ditto Game Review

 Art, Electives, Elementary, Fine Arts, High School, Middle School, Preschool  22 Responses »
Feb 232012
 

You are in for a treat! Not only are we offering a giveaway but you have nine more chances to win at the sites we are teaming up with…
We are all about adding in the joy of art in our homeschool. And what a fun way to view beautiful pieces of art – holding copies of them right in your hand. Playing a game? Even better! As a parent, I am very impressed with the quality of Art Ditto by Birdcage Press. The children are very impressed with the fun factor.

For ages 4 and up (all my children enjoyed it – from age 4 up to 14):

  • Brilliantly-colored cards. Glossy and thick – will stand the test of my rough and tumble household.
  • Simple memory game with benefit of learning famous pieces of art.
  • Includes 48 tiles – so younger ones can play with just a few and older children can be challenged by using the whole set.
  • Easy enough for children to play independently.

For a more advanced way of playing – pretend your are an art collector:

  • Eight (8) art collecting cards that show details on one side and full paintings on the other.
  • Cards include names of famous artists (hooray! A supplement to our homeschool studies).
  • Find the matching tiles and collect them on the cards.
  • The cards give a visual of how different artists depict birds, boats, cats, flowers, horses and more.

Need even more of a challenge? Learn words in 4 languages.

You might be interested to know:

  • Art Ditto won the Creative Child Game of the Year Award as well as the Parents’ Choice Recommended Award.
  • Art Ditto is also available in an American Art version. (Which Rachel at at Finding Joy is reviewing)
  • You can browse all the Birdcage Press art products here.

Conclusion: Playing Art Ditto over and over makes us interested in all the other products from Bird Cage press. Click over to their site for more detail and to browse other games in the art category. We loved Art Ditto so much that we ordered Go Fish for Renaissance Artists to compliment our Tapestry of Grace studies.

Happy faces! Play memory games! Collect your favorite art! And as a homeschool parent, enjoy a high-quality, educational resource for your homeschool.

Find Art Ditto and many more wonderful educational products via the Birdcage Press website.

*Special shipping discount code on all orders: IN12 is good until 3/31/12

Please note: I received this Art Ditto game in exchange for a review. I always give my honest opinion and love to share our family’s experiences when reviewing a product.

Now for the giveaway! The giveaway will only run through Sunday, February 26th. The winner will be announced Monday, the 27th. Birdcage Press is kindly offering one (1) Art Ditto game to our readers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More Chances to Win! The Curriculum Choice is joining with these wonderful sites in reviewing Birdcage Press products. Be sure to visit each blog to find out about more of these great resources. Plus enter to win a different game or product at each site!

Spell Outloud — Choice of Egyptian Art Cards or Battle Cards-Military Jets

Finding Joy — Choice of Wild Cards – North American Birds or Art Ditto Game.

Jimmie’s Collage –Choice of Impressionist or Renaissance Art Game

Mama’s Learning Corner — Renaissance Art Game

Handbook of Nature Study — Wild Cards-Backyard Birds

Harmony Art Mom — Choice of Go Fish for Art or Art Close-Up Cards

Hodgepodge — Go Fish for Wildlife – Sea Creatures

The Traveling Praters — Choice of Go Fish for Van Gogh and Friends or 52 Amazing Places-National Parks
Get Along Home — Choice of Wild Cards, Backyard Birds or Renaissance Art Game

Tricia has been homeschooling for over a decade now. She faces a daily dose of chaos balancing the needs of five children from preschool to middle school (and playing educational games) at Hodgepodge.

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Stack the States App Review

 Apps, Elementary, Geography, High School, History & Geography, Middle School, Preschool  2 Responses »
Jan 302012
 

The iPad has become a teaching tool. Educational apps abound, with an amazing variety of subjects available. In the geography category, we have Stack the States by Dan Russell-Pinson.

Stack the States is both fun and educational; a game that uses some of the best mobile features – interaction and manipulation. While learning about the 50 states by answering questions about them, this app requires critical thinking skills as well. Your brainpower is tested in your ability to stack your states successfully.

Continue reading »

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