Schleich

After receiving a box of animals, I had no way of knowing at that time, that Thing 1 was going to develop a love for the Schleich collection that is very strong.

You have likely seen them, if you frequent places like Target, in the toy section.  Small animal figurines with a tag around their foot with a red S in a circle.  These are the Schleich figurines. 

The Schleich company was founded in 1935, and so currently celebrating their 75th anniversary.  You can find activities so you can participate in the celebration on their website.  While you are there, you can also look at the wide variety of figurines they offer, including animals from all of the continents, some plants, some historical figurines (like knights) and also some fantasy figurines, like elves.  And when you go to get more information on a particular figurine, you also get additional little tidbits of information

We received a total of 8 figurines for the purpose of our review: an Asian elephant calf, Przewalski’s horse, gnu and gnu calf, okapi, donkey, Swabian-Hall piglet, and Dartmoor pony.  Thing 1 has custody of all but the okapi, dartmoor pony and swabian-hall piglet.  I have the pony and piglet, and Thing 2 has run off with the okapi.  The amount of detail on these is AMAZING.  The Dartmoor pony even has horseshoes painted on!

You may notice that there are different colors on the tags (opposite the side of the S).  In all cases that I have come across (I totally went and looked for local retailers), these are used for determining prices

Like I said before, the younglings have run off with all but the Dartmoor pony and the Swabian-Hall piglet, who have a home now on my desk.  ♥  (minus their tags... I took all of the pictures before removing the tags because I knew once the tags were off and the animals discovered by the younglings, I would be lucky if I ever saw them again)

I love these figurines.  I love the attention to detail, the quality in craftmanship.  And while the tags all said 3+, I feel personally that the quality is enough that Thing 2 can run around with the okapi and play with it.  Thing 2 has made the displays at our local retailers a required stop so he can look at the animals (he's a bit upset that we don't have an adult elephant, for example)

Curious about how other Crew members feel about this product?  Check that out here!



Disclaimer: I received this product free from the vendor for the purpose of this review in exchange for my honest opinion and experience on it.  I received no other compensation for this review.

Salem Ridge Press

In a world where it is becoming more and more difficult to tell what the ACTUAL ratings are on things like movies, and so many books that children find interesting are actually based on those questionable movies, it is a breath of fresh air when someone comes into the publishing side of things with high standards of morality.

The company prides themselves on providing books such as this, which have wholesome, moral content.  Their philosophy is

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8)

Something very difficult to find these days when we are being desensitized to so much.

Before I continue, let me say this (well, I'm going to say it whether you let me or not, afterall, it is MY blog): I am not a reader of historical fiction, typically.  So when I was given the chance to review this company, I was a bit hesitant.  Afterall, I don't get to CHOOSE what books I am sent for the review, what if they send one that I just cannot stand?

So when I received Soldier Fritz, by Emma Leslie, I was already a bit skeptical about whether or not I'd be able to do this review without sounding completely mean and awful.  No need to fear though.  The book, which takes place in Germany during the Reformation around the mid-1520s, is a very uplifting, well-written story about a young man's desire to be a soldier of the Lord.  You can read the basic summary given by Salem Ridge Press (and purchase the book) at Salem Ridge Press's website.  This book is 10.95 for a paperback version, and 20.95 for hardcover.  Given the quality of the book, how sturdy it is even as a paperback (let's face it, there's some pretty flimsy paperbacks out there), the quality of the pages and the print, it is worth every penny.  While you're there, check out the other books available, which you can also get in paperback, hardcover, and in some cases e-book!

You can read more about founder Daniel Mills and his parents, his choice of books, and find additional retailers on the website.  And you can read about my fellow Crewmates' experiences on the TOS Homeschool blog.

Disclaimer: I received this product free from the vendor for the purpose of this review in exchange for my honest opinion and experience on it.  I received no other compensation for this review.

Pyramath

What do you see when you look at these cards?



You may see numerals, as well as the words for those numbers in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Roman numerals.  They don't appear at first glance to be all THAT exciting.

Until you have the entire deck in your hands, and are playing a game of Pyramath.  This game is addictive and fun to play, while helping to reinforce math facts.





Produced by I See Cards, this game takes on hand-eye coordination (picking up and placing cards), learning to count in multiple languages, and math drill.  54 cards are in the deck, and these cards are able to be used starting as early as KINDERGARTEN, if not sooner.  As an adult I love to play a few rounds myself (when Thing 1 and Thing 2 are out of sight of course, or else I'd have to share!)

While you can play the game online, I feel that there is just something about having the cards in your hands that makes it soooo much more fun.  It also is more helpful to have the cards in hand when you have a child who does not know all of the math functions yet.  Thing 1 only knows addition, so the online game does not really appeal to him since it takes into account playing with subtraction, multiplication and division as well.  At $6.95 per deck (plus shipping and if applicable, tax), it's not too far out there to even purchase multiple decks.  (Something I am contemplating doing in the future, so I have a deck to hand the boys so I can still play)


Doesn't that look FUN?!

If the "regular" play of this game doesn't interest you, I See Cards' website actually links to additional game rules you can use.

One disadvantage we did come across with trying to play the traditional game with just addition facts is that we tended to end up running out of a particular number.  The one round that sticks out most in my mind is the one where everything kept ending up as 5 and 10 (which uses the 0 card).  Thing 1 thought it was hilarious though since I decided to just pull cards that had already been "played" and place them in the new spots.  I highly doubt this is an issue if you are using more than one type of function at a time though, since you aren't restricted to 5+0, 5+5, 0+0, for example, partway through your game.

I am looking forward to using this product for a long time, as well as looking into I See Cards' other games which include working with fractions and learning prime numbers.  This is something I foresee using as something to keep one child busy (while drilling math facts!) while I am working with another.

How did other Crew members feel about this (highly addictive) game?  Go take a look and find out!

Disclaimer: I received this product free from the vendor for the purpose of this review in exchange for my honest opinion and experience on it.  I received no other compensation for this review.

Such a Long Way Already

My darling Thing 2, today you are ONE YEAR OLD!  You are such a little bruiser now, and it's hard to imagine you were ever a tiny little newborn.

So I am sharing a number of pictures from during my pregnancy to your first birthday ♥

And here you are, your first birthday giving Momma a dirty look because you're playing and don't want your picture taken.

Peterson Directed Handwriting

I very distinctly remember in elementary school, having to do handwriting practice.  I HATED IT!  It was boring, and repetitive and just all out dull.  So I have been very leery of using any sort of handwriting curriculum with Thing 1.  Funny story, I had selected a handwriting program for Thing 1, and then had a flashback of being forced to do all of that inane tracing in school and changed my mind.  That program was Peterson Directed Handwriting's regular program.

Well, I received as part of the TOS Review Crew a copy of Peterson Directed Handwriting's PDF-By-Hand.  I reviewed only the print portion of the program, since Thing 1 is not anywhere near learning cursive right now, which you can purchase yourself from their website for $75.00.

PDF-By-Hand uses a Wacom input tablet.  I happened to already own one that I purchased a few years ago for around $100.  (I actually talked about it in a previous post!  This is what he's working on in the picture on that post)  Thing 1 LOVES this aspect of it.  For a few reasons.  He loves to use anything that allows him to "draw" on the computer (his favorite program is Paint), and especially loves it when he gets to be on MY computer.  He didn't seem to believe he was doing school work while doing this, and often ASKS to do his handwriting because he finds it sooo fun.

Before we started, I did do a brief assessment with him, and discovered we have some reversal issues with letters like N, and while we haven't gotten to that point quite yet (we're working one letter or number at a time) he has had some of his more minor issues corrected.  One of the major things with Peterson is that you are practicing to get things into muscle memory, rather than visually memorizing.  There is no TRACING in this program, and instead each new letter or number, you start with "drawing" it in the air, using verbal cues (like "tall down" for the number 1).  This has been wonderful for Thing 1.

Aaaaaand, I can also print out the pages for Thing 1 instead of having him work on them on the computer, if I so choose.  I haven't done so yet, because I want him to get to where he truly enjoys the handwriting practice first (almost there), but the option IS there.  There is also a "blank" page for drawing in the files, which Thing 1 also found awesome and drew me numerous pictures using.

As you can likely tell, this curriculum was a WONDERFUL fit for our techie family.  Even my husband was impressed.  I am looking forward to continuing this with Thing 1.

One downside of using this program is that the tablet device can sometimes have issues.  In our case, if Thing 1 gets the stylus too close to "laying" on the tablet itself, it quits working.  Also, it doesn't quite show what he's actually writing.  There is a bit of a learning curve with making sure the stylus is far enough from the surface so it doesn't draw extra lines.  These are not issues with the handwriting program, but moreso with the input device and the learning curve involved with THAT.  Thing 1 is doing better about it, but still sometimes has random lines across the screen.



 I reviewed just the program with the print part of the program bundled in, but you can also purchase JUST the cursive for $75.00, or for the $125.00 for a personal license, you can get all of it together.  OR if you need a BUILDING license because you are a school, you can purchase the entire bundled program with a building license for $300.00.  If you would rather purchase the program, and then get one e-workbook at a time, you can do that as well.  The program itself is $29.95, and each of the e-workbooks can be purchased separately based on whether you need a building or individual license.  Peterson Directed Handwriting also has more "traditional" handwriting curriculum items available in their store.

Be sure to check out more reviews of this product from my fellow Crew mates.  Don't just take my word for it ;)

Disclaimer: I received this product free from the vendor for the purpose of this review in exchange for my honest opinion and experience on it.  I received no other compensation for this review.

Exercise *ahem*

Remember a whiiiiile ago I committed to wanting to do at least a small amount of exercise every single day?

Yeah, that didn't work out so well timing-wise.  Our A/C was broken, and so any thought of doing something other than sitting around sweating went RIGHT out the window.

Then all of July I was a lazy bum.  I'm quite good at that.  Thing 2 has started walking a LOT and so I've been go after him a LOT.  We purchased an elliptical, so I've been getting on that for a few minutes at a time at least once a day.

A couple weeks ago, we picked up Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.  I did it once, to Link saying "You can do it honey!" and then couldn't move for a week.  Yeah, that did not go so well LOL

Saturday of this past week though (July 31) I put it in and tried again.  Even though it had been about 2 weeks since my previous attempt, I found it to be easier.  Link did it with me, as well, and wanted to die by the end of it.  (He didn't appreciate the reminders of his behavior when *I* did it the first time, lemme tell ya!)  So Sunday I did it by myself.  I do well until the third cycle strength and abs when I just want to fall apart.  It's because of my KNEES though.  I guess it might be my weight and lack of fitness combined, but jumping jacks KILL MY KNEES!

Thing 1 tried to help on Sunday.  He crawled onto my chest while I was trying to do crunches.  Over 20 pounds of baby does not a pleasant crunching experience make.

Buuuuuuuut I'm going to be doing my third consecutive day today!

Go ME!

Dewey's Showcase

This week I'm sharing another one of the tools we use in our homeschooling adventures.  BANKER BOXES.

I know that sounds weird, but I really DO use banker boxes as part of our homeschooling.  We started out with workboxes, which worked alright, but Thing 1 resisted finishing all of the boxes, wanted to skip boxes sometimes, and the shelves we were using were bending the books >.< 

Soooo now we use the banker boxes for my modified system!

I wrote each of our major subjects (with a box for all of the other manipulatives because I have a LOT of them!) and put them into a shelving thing that I have owned since high school.  Each box has all of the books for that subject, and the math box has the Math-U-See bars in it as well :)

Thing 1 enjoys things being like this since we typically don't do every subject every day, and he can more easily CHOOSE what he wants to do.  I need to get some handwriting stuff into the language arts box, but he's resistant to handwriting still.  Perhaps once we finish our next product review that will be overwith...


Have a tool you'd like to share?  Head over to The Stay at Home Librarian and join the showcase!  On top of that, Manda is currently running a GIVEAWAY of one of HER tools!  A set of Magna-Tiles!  So go, join the showcase, and enter her giveaway.  (joining the showcase gives you extra entries!)  The contest is open until August 21st, and even if you don't enter, or don't win, you can use the discount code she gives for 15% off your entire order!  MORE INCENTIVE TO GO OVER THERE!  GO GO GO!

I'm Featured at Live, Laugh Love :)

I am featured this week on Homeschool Feature Friday over at Live, Laugh, Love :)

I am very thankful to Julia for the opportunity to ramble on on her blog ;)

If you want to be featured, you can go on over to her post and click on the link at the bottom for information on how to get featured yourself!

♥

Dewey's Showcase

I am joining Manda over at The Stay at Home Librarian this week on her new meme Dewey's Showcase.  Featuring different tools that are used for learning.  And this week I'm going to feature something that I have had for MYSELF for a while that I have just recently been introduced to the concept of using for a learning tool.

Thing 1 LOVES to use the computer, and one of his favorite things ever to use it for is drawing.  He usually isn't allowed on MY computer (it is, afterall, MINE and he has his own with his parental controls and such on it), but recently he has been on it in order to use this wonderful tool.

My WACOM tablet input device!

I have the CTE-440, in bluuuuue.  It's an older model, but it still gets to job done.  I use it when I am doing stuff with pictures that requires a lot of detail because I can better control the "pen" than my mouse.

Thing 1 uses it to draw, write, scribble... He's not quite AS comfortable with it as I am, but then I've also had it a few years and he wasn't allowed to touch it ;)

(I know he's not holding the pen correctly, we're working on it... there's buttons on it and he doesn't use those and so doesn't like to hold it down on the grip)

(Oh, and ignore my ridiculously messy desk...)

Go join Manda over at Dewey's Showcase!  Surely you must have something you can share ;)

Travel Kits Review

When going on vacation, whether it be by car or plane or train or boat, there are certain things that you have to take into consideration.  How long are you going to be gone?  What are you going to pack?  How long is the trip itself going to take?

One thing that doesn't always come to mind is how on Earth are you going to keep the children entertained during the trip?  If you're like me, and your road trips are generally 10 hours or more, there is a LOT of time to fill.  Sure, you can travel at night so the kids are sleeping, but even THAT doesn't last for long.

That is where something like The Old Schoolhouse's e-book Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others can come in handy.  For $12.45 you get 93 pages of ideas for special gifts to not only give your own children to make those trips much more bearable, but also to give to OTHER people so that THEIR trips run a bit more peacefully (perhaps even as a thank you if they're coming to visit you).

The 14 chapters take you all the way from determining how much and what needs to go into the travel kit, to ideas for giving it away and for opening the kits while on the road.

In the beginning they remind you of some things to consider, such as the size of the vehicle, gender of the child receiving the gifts, and whether each one should be unique or more of a "one size" sort of deal.

There are loads of ideas on what to put into the packages, keeping the items together, even all the way down to fun ways of storing different food items or craft supplies to help prevent complete backseat destruction zones.  (Not that those EVER happen on long road trips ;)  )

Loads of ideas for gifts, from practically free to more elaborate and sometimes pricey.  And as if all of THAT wasn't enough, and didn't provide inspiration to make with the giving, there are pictures throughout the e-book of sample travel kits and gifts within the kits to jump start you.

While we aren't making any big trips this summer, I will definitely be putting these ideas to use when we make our next long trek to visit family.

If I can get Link to ever take a vacation...

You can read about my fellow Crew member's experience with this product and many other products over at the TOS Homeschool Review blog.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this e-book for the purpose of writing this honest review.  I received no other compensation from The Old Schoolhouse or anyone else associated with this product.

"Travel the World" Planner Module Review

 

If you are looking for something to do a fun unit on basic world geography, you may want to consider The Old Schoolhouse Magazine LLC's "Travel the World" module for The Schoolhouse Planner (which corresponds with June 2010).  The module can be used independently of the planner (as I have done) and only costs $7.95.

Within the e-book, you get activities for learning about globes and maps, the water and land bodies and the continents.  Thing 1's introduction to geography was a couple months ago, and was only very basic, so I was pretty excited to get this to review.

There is a little bit of something for everyone.  Puzzles, coloring pages, creative writing (poetry), lapbook elements, copywork and high school level materials.  There are even a couple recipes in there for the family to try :)  It is very easily supplemented onto, or used as a supplement to another study, and includes a large list of additional resources that are related to this module. This resource list also includes additional products available from The Old Schoolhouse, like their Download N Go unit studies and additional planner modules.

I will admit that while it is an awesome resource (including even activities for high school students, so you can use it with multiple levels at a time), it was not a good fit right NOW for Thing 1.  Afterall, he's only 5.  The concepts were a bit much for him (a bit too detailed), although he did enjoy naming the continents and oceans and coloring.  This is something that will work well for us though in maybe as little as a few months, depending on Thing 1.  Perhaps some repitition is in order for memorization ;)

This is intended for all grades, particularly K-8, with the additional high school activities carrying it all the way through high school.  The higher grades are likely to be a review, but quite thorough for these topics nonetheless.

Like I said, Thing 1 did not do well with this AT THIS TIME, but I anticipate that he will receive it a lot better in the future.

You can read about my fellow Crew member's experience with this product and many other products over at the TOS Homeschool Review blog.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this e-book by The Old Schoolhouse in return for my honest review of the product.  I was given no other compensation for this review from The Old Schoolhouse or anyone else affiliated with the making of this product.

Mid July Already?!

Can you believe we're already over halfway through JULY?!  The busy fall and winter is rapidly approaching and I want time to slow down juuuuuust a little bit so I can get my head on straight first.

September 2nd is Thing 2's first birthday.  We still haven't entirely figured out what we're doing yet, or what day or anything (since his birthday is on a Thursday) but we still have time for that, right?

Sometime the end of August/Beginning of September I have a wonderful friend visiting with her family (including her little baby  *squee*) in the area.

October is when my sister has her birthday (anything being sent to her has to be sent early, since it has to travel internationally!) and Link has his birthday.  Link never wants to do anything special for his birthday >.<

November is when my mom's birthday and Thanksgiving are (both around the same part of the month).  Hopefully this year I remember to send her a birthday card... We have done Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law's house the last couple years, so while I don't have to worry about cooking a turkey (can you imagine my scatter brained self trying to cook a turkey?) I should probably make something to take ;)

Then December hits like a ton of bricks.  Both of Link's brothers have their birthdays, Thing 1 turns 6 this year, I turn 26 this year, and then there is a small time to take a breath before Christmas actually hits.  And New Year's.  (and my baby sister's first anniversary!).


I want my beginning of the year back.

Wait...

No I don't.  We MOVED a few months ago.  I don't want to go through THAT again!

Blast from the Past!

I am rejoining the Blast from the Past over at Debbie's Digest this week.

This is from when Thing 1 was only 3 days old (so it was my 20th birthday ;)  )  He's nowhere near that little anymore and I miss it sooo much.

Thing 2 is almost a full year old and it's just killing me >.<

Sweet baby pictures to share?  Join up over at Debbie's Digest!

ACK!

So I just took a look at my blog and realized it's been a whole week since I last posted >.<

We've been busy busy busy with playing and schooling and cleaning and chilling out since our air conditioner got repaired at the beginning of last week.

Thing 2 has taken his first few steps, although he still prefers to crawl because it's faster ;)  He's still practicing new sounds and stuff as well.

Thing 1 has memorized his +0 and +1 facts!  I had him doing the test for the +0 and even though he fought me on that one, he went ahead and did the one for +1 as well and since he had that down pretty well I figured we may as well skip doing the worksheets on that.

I haven't been taking as many pictures either.  I'm seriously slacking here!

HOWEVER, I am working on a couple of reviews for the TOS crew, which will be posted later this month.

Want to Share?

My friend Julia, who I met over at There's No Place Like Home, is looking for homeschooling, blogging parents to showcase on her new Home Feature Friday.  Her first installment can be found over on her blog Live, Laugh, Love, with a note down at the bottom of how YOU can be featured.

At some point in the future I'll be there, too ;)

So go learn about Amanda from All American Family this week, and sign up to be featured yourself :)