Learning at His Feet: giveaway

Showing posts with label giveaway. Show all posts

Monday, December 15, 2008

It's Not Over Yet!

**Please Note: I will keep this posted at the top of my blog until Wednesday. All new posts will appear below this one.**

Wow! I can't believe all 7 reviews and giveaways have finally been posted! Wasn't that fun?

Don't worry though, there's still time to enter. Just scroll through the posts or click on the links to each review below, then read the post and comment on any of the 7 reviews and you will be entered into that giveaway. Make sure you get all of your entries in by Wednesday, December 17th at 8pm(EST) because that's when the giveaways end. I will then randomly select all of the winners and contact them. They will have 48 hours to respond, before I draw another winner.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my reviews and I hope you come back often. As well as reviews, you'll find that I blog about our faith, our school, and our life.

To see Monday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Tuesday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Wednesday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Thursday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Friday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Saturday's review/giveaway, click here.
To see Sunday's review/giveaway, click here. Pin It Now!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

7 Reviews/ 7 Giveaways- Day 7

I'm writing today to tell you about two wonderful sets of products from Trigger Memory Systems. I'll be honest, I'll be a little surprised if you've never heard of them before, because I've had my eyes on them for quite some time now. They've elicited some pretty rave testimonials and though I always enjoy a good twist in the plot, you're not going to find one here. These are products that I totally recommend.

Most of you know that I have six kids ages 8 and under, and I am here to tell you that many kids make MANY messes. That is why our children start helping with chores from the time that they learn how to walk. (I'm not kidding...my one year old stands next to me while I'm changing the baby's dirty diaper and happily takes it to the garbage. He can also deposit sippy cups in the sink and wipe down walls with wet dish cloths.) However, like all kids my little ones still need lots and LOTS of guidance and this has been a source of frustration for me.

That is why I am so happy to tell you that Bedroom Cleaning For Kids and Zone Cleaning for Kids from the Clean N' Flip Series have brought me more relief than any chore chart, schedule, or reward system we have ever implemented. These sturdy, little flipcharts teach children to clean the rooms of their house by breaking it down into very...simple...steps. Once a step is completed, the child simply flips the page to see the next step. The detailed illustrations with each step make these flipcharts usable even for your non-readers.

Our kids use Bedroom Cleaning for cleaning both their bedrooms and the playroom, (Can I hear an 'Amen'?!) since the steps deal with picking up toys, books, and videos which are all mostly located in the playroom in our house. Zone Cleaning has steps for cleaning the Living Room, Kitchen, and Bathrooms including one special job in each zone each day (Monday through Friday) that does not need to be done daily. There is also space for you to write in additional chores with a dry erase marker. I simply hand the flipcharts to the kids and they can actually complete the chores without me!

Bedroom Cleaning for Kids is only $7.95 and Zone Cleaning for Kids is $17.95, but I especially recommend buying the set of two for $22.95. Besides the value, I really think you are going to want both.

When I began lesson planning for this year's school year, I asked G8, my second grader what he wanted to learn about. To my surprise, he said he wanted to learn cursive writing and how to do multiplication. Well, the math curriculum we use doesn't introduce multiplication in 2nd grade, but I figured if he wanted to learn it, then why should I say no? So when I received Times Tales Deluxe from Trigger Memory to review, I knew he was going to be excited.

Times Tales is a memory aide to help make memorizing the most difficult times tables easy. Below is an example:

First, the student learns to recognize that each number has a special symbol in Times Tales (for example: the number 9 is symbolized by a tree house). The numbers are clearly visible in the symbols and it took my 4, 5, 6, and 8 year old only a couple of minutes to easily remember these symbols.

Next you introduce the story pages one at a time (like the one above). You read the simple story two or three times and then ask the student to repeat it back to you. You can turn the page to show a page that has only the illustration without the words, so the student can repeat it to you several times by memory. You don't even explain the multiplication table at this point...the goal is just for them to memorize the story. Once they have memorized all of the stories (this took us less than a half hour), show your student the included flashcards. For the example above, the flashcard will show the Treehouse symbol times the Treehouse sybol. You would ask them what 9x9 is and they will immediately remember the story and be able to tell you that it is 81.

Note: Times Tales is a memory aid to help with fast recall of the most difficult times tables, not all of them. It also does not teach how to multiply. Nonetheless, even my four year old could easily memorize the stories and both my 6 and 8 year old were immediately able to do the flashcards. (None of them had prior introduction to multiplication.) Times Tales Deluxe includes a 2 Part Story Flipchart, Trigger Memory & Regular Flashcards (multiplication & division), Roll 'Em Cube Game, Easy Instruction Manual, Memory Story Discussion Guide, and Various Tests & Challenges. You can purchase it for $29.95 from the Schoolhouse Store.

Okay, it's Giveaway time again...

Today, I am giving away a copy of the Original Times Tales.

This book teaches the upper 6, 7, 8, & 9 times tables and includes :

Story Flipchart

Trigger Memory & Regular Flashcards

Mix & Match Game

Easy Instruction Guide

Memory Story Discussion Guide

2 Practice Test

2 Test Challenges

Entering the giveaway is easy. Just leave a comment with your email or blog address in this post and you are entered! If you'd like 2 extra entries into ALL 7 of this week's giveaways, just grab the 7 Reviews/ 7 Giveaways button from my sidebar and paste it on your blog. You have until Wed., Dec. 17th at 8pm (EST) to enter. Good luck!

For more reviews of Trigger Memory, visit the TOS blog.

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

7 Reviews/ 7 Giveaways- Day 6

In case you haven't figured it out already, I am always a little overambitious. As I was finishing up the school year last spring, I decided that I wanted to use the summer to teach our children about US Geography. I had recently discovered that when I asked the children what state we lived in, they would promptly answer with the name of a neighboring city...yes, neighboring... not even the city we lived in. So, I created an entire US Geography unit complete with story books, notebook pages, lapbooks, puzzles, games, flash cards, and even an inflatable globe. We were ready to learn all about the 50 states and their locations. There was one tiny problem however. I was due to deliver our sixth child at the beginning of June. Well, the kids did finally learn what state we lived in, but that was pretty much all they learned about US Geography this summer.

Fast forward to about a month ago and you will find this happy Mama jumping for joy over a colorfully illustrated storybook that had just arrived in the mail. The Little Man in the Map by E. Andrew Martonyi makes learning to recognize and locate the 50 states easy...no joke, easy. Want proof? I just quizzed my two oldest (ages 8 and 6) with a blank map this morning. We've casually read The Little Man in the Map about 4-5 times and the only state they could recognize before reading this book was our own. This morning they were able to identify 31 states! That's pretty incredible!

Watch this short video to see how it works:

MIM is the name of the Little Man in the Map, which is short for his full name MinIow MisArkLou...you really have to say it a few times to get the pronunciation straight. It's the first three letters of each of the five states that make up his frame. I'll be honest, the first time I read it I was quite skeptical that my kids could remember a name like that or what it meant. But the kids picked it up right away and have no problem locating and rattling off the names of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

The entire book is written in rhyme with fun pictures to use as memory aides to help remember each state. You and your children will have to stretch your imagination a bit to "see" some of the memory aides, but my experience is that this isn't such a hard task for the kids to do. The kids will catch on to some of the states immediately, while others will take a bit more work.

The Little Man in the Map is decorated with the Moonbeam Children's Book Award, Foreward Magazine's Book of the Year Award Finalist, Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist, and an Independent Publisher's Book Award. It retails for $19.95 and can be purchased at several places including the Schoolhouse Store. If your children do not know the shape, names, and location of the 50 states then I encourage you to put this book on your wish list....or better yet under your Christmas tree!

So what would you like me to give away today?

Any suggestions?

Oh, okay....YOU GOT IT!

I've just ordered a copy of The Little Man in the Map from the Schoolhouse Store and its ready to be shipped out next week to our winner! Andrew Martonyi, the book's author, is even throwing in a free Downloadable Teacher's Guide and MIM Word Puzzle to the winner!! The Teacher's Guide is not even available for purchase yet, so our winner will be one of the first people to have it!

Just leave a comment to this post no later that 8pm (EST) on Wed., Dec. 17th (making sure to include your email or blog address) and you are entered! You can grab the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways button and paste it on your blog to get two EXTRA ENTRIES into EACH of the 7 giveaways as well.

Oh, I hope you win!!!

Our last giveaway will be tomorrow, so don't forget to come back and check it out. You can also read more reviews of The Little Man in the Map at the TOS Crew blog.

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Friday, December 12, 2008

7 Reviews/7 Giveaways- Day 5

Sometimes I wake up in the morning at the time I intended to. Sometimes breakfast and breakfast clean-up go very smoothly. Sometimes we start our lessons on time. Sometimes there are minimal interruptions and lots of learning occurs around here....sometimes. On the other hand, sometimes from the moment I wake up nothing goes right and nothing gets done. And while I truly believe that as homeschoolers its okay to set aside the books for a day every once in a while to teach our children that sometimes life just happens...I can't help but feel guilty for not "getting school done". Anyone out there know what I mean?

Our kids have had the opportunity to use the online curriculum from Time 4 Learning for a little more than a month now. Time 4 Learning offers a full curriculum for Language Arts and Math. Plus, they throw in science and social studies programs for most grades at no additional costs. They even keep track of all the lessons your child has completed and the scores they made. You also have the ability to access lessons a grade higher or a grade lower so that the program is tailor made to fit your child's need.

So are you following where I'm going? Time 4 Learning does the teaching for you all through an animated, interactive and safe website. So on those days that the baby won't let you put her down, the toddler is sick, the preschooler is whiny, you can't walk from one room to another because the house hasn't been tended to in weeks, and this wonderful life has suddenly become all too overwhelming...school is taken care of with a click of the mouse.

It is $19.95 per month for your child to join Time 4 Learning and $14.95 per month for each additional child. For that price, your child will be able to log into the site and receive new lessons everyday as well as assessments and printable worksheets. Our kids enjoyed the lessons and thought they were fun, asking often when we were going to "do school online" again. They also especially liked the reward of getting to go to the "playground" once they had finished the lessons. The Playground is essentially an extensive list of direct links to safe sites with online games and activities. As the parent, you can log into the Parent area and set an amount of time you would like for your child to work on their lessons. A counter at the top of the screen counts down the amount of time. Then the child is free to go to the Playground to play (again for an allotted amount of time).

The website states that you can use Time 4 Learning for enrichment, as core curriculum for homeschooled students, or as part of an overall homeschool program. I am pretty certain that our family would not use this program as core curriculum simply because I want the majority of our curriculum to be taught by me and not by the computer screen. However, I think it is wonderful enrichment program in addition to our core lessons. There is one note that I feel is important to state...this is a secular website and there is content that includes the teaching of evolution. As the parent, you have the ability to preview all the lessons your child would be doing and I would certainly recommend doing this. Also, you have the option of completely removing the science programs from your child's access.

The cost of this program would certainly be an issue for us being a large family. However, if you were planning on using the program as your core curriculum, than twenty bucks a month really isn't all that bad. Plus, I can think of seasons in our lives when it would be quite beneficial to invest in Time 4 Learning...for us, it would be the 3 months or so that we are welcoming a new little one to the family. It is always a bit of an adjustment (and not to mention exhausting!) to have a newborn in the house. And when this blessed event occurs in our household, I take the help wherever I can get it!

Check out Time 4 Learning and see if it would be a good fit for your family. Don't miss these free lesson demos as well.

Giveaway: I contacted Jennifer at Time 4 Learning last week and she emailed me back to say that she would love to give a Free One-Month Membership to Time 4 Learning to one lucky winner!

So here's what you need to do:

Leave a comment to this post to enter. MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ME YOUR CONTACT INFO (EMAIL OR BLOG ADDRESS) IN THE COMMENT SECTION.

Seriously, its that easy. You can get two extra entries into each of the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways by grabbing the button at the top of my sidebar and pasting it on your blog. You have until Wed., Dec. 17th at 8pm (EST) to enter. I will then randomly select a winner for all seven of the giveaways and contact the winners. The winners will have 48 hours to contact me back before I draw again. Good Luck!

We still have two more days of reviews and giveaways so make sure you come back tomorrow. For more reviews of Time 4 Learning, be sure to check out the TOS Crew blog!

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

7 Reviews/ 7 Giveaways-Day 4

From the moment I received the first email from Terri Johnson at Knowledge Quest, I have been excited about Homeschooling ABCs. Homeschooling ABCs is a 26 week online class designed specifically for new homeschooling moms and delivered directly to your inbox. If you are new to homeschooling, you must sign up for this! If you know someone who is new to homeschooling, you must tell them to sign up for this! But can I let you in on a little secret...this great product isn't just helpful for new homeschooling moms, but for the veteran homeschoolers as well.

Each week one of the 26 lessons are emailed and gives you step by step instructions on how to make your first homeschooling year a successful and memorable one. As a matter of fact, the first lesson teaches you how to get your homeschool up and running in 48 hours. Remember all those questions you had when you first began homeschooling? Remember how you just wanted to sit down with a veteran homeschool mom and pick her brain for a couple of hours? Homeschooling ABCs lessons are filled with the answers to every question you ever had about homeschooling and its delivered to you in bite-sized peices. Just a little bit a week so that you can mull over it and have time to apply it. Other lessons cover:

Determining your philosophy of education
Understanding your children's learning styles
Learning the in's and out's of buying and selling curriculum
Finding out how to get and stay organized
Learning how to teach multiple ages at the same time
Making the most of field trips
How to handle the "S" question - socialization
How to start each day WELL and keep it going that way

Plus, you'll receive over $200 worth of downloadable FREEBIES over the six months of instruction. Talk about putting a cherry on top!

The cost to participate is $10 a month for six months. Plus, when you sign up now you will also get 10 free bonus gifts (in addition to all the freebies throughout the course). I have to tell you, I think this is an incredible value and whole-heartedly recommend this e-course. I look forward to each new lesson written by Terri and finding a freebie attached to the lesson is like discovering a Christmas present waiting to be unwrapped.

So...any guesses on what the giveaway might be???

Oh, I was nearly jumping for joy when Terri emailed me to tell me she would like to give away
1 free class membership to Homeschooling ABCs - $60 value (plus over $200 in free curriculum from participating companies). One of you blessed readers will be the winner of this very grand prize! So here's what you need to do:

1. First, check out the Homeschooling ABCs website.

2. Come back here and leave me a comment telling me what you think looks most exciting about this program.

And that's it! Just be sure to leave me an email or blog address where I can contact you if you win in the comment. Don't forget that you can earn extra entries by pasting the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways button from my sidebar on your blog...I'll enter you TWO times into EACH giveaway for doing so in addition to your entry for commenting.

You have until Wednesday, December 17th at 8pm to leave to enter into this and all 7 of the giveaways. The winner will be randomly drawn and I will announce the winners that evening. See you tomorrow!

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

7 Reviews/7 Giveaways- Day 3

Mary Jane: Her Book is a charming and simple tale all about the activities of five year old Mary Jane. We joined her as she mourned for a broken doll, performed an errand for her mother, helped a nest of baby robins, visited with her aunt, and more. My girls especially liked listening to her sweet stories and laughing at her antics. She often reminded me of my three year old and we enjoyed reading this book set in a simpler time. This book was originally published in 1918 and has a sequel as well.

You will find three brave heroes in the young twins, Sally and Roger, and their mother Mrs. Priestley in The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Originally published in 1926 and set in 1776, this book is based on a true story of heroism directly from our own American history. Why in the world would anyone teach history from a textbook when there are such wonderful living history books such as this one? Sally and Roger along with their mother and two loyal slaves brave British spies and soldiers while traveling to deliver gold and supplies to General Washington and the American soldiers. The suggested ages for this book is age 8 to adult, but I plan to read this aloud to all of my children when we study the Revolutionary War in the Spring.

Glaucia The Greek Slave was written by Emma Leslie in 1874 and is the exciting telling of the story of Glaucia, a young girl sold into slavery to pay her father's debt after he dies. Her brother Laon is desperate to find her and free her. And they are both on a quest to find the God who loves even the slaves. The story is set in first century Athens and I totally agree with the age recommendation of age 10 to adult. Like The Twins book, I did not want to put this book down. It reminded me so much of one of my favorite series, The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers, that I had to wonder if Ms. Rivers had read this fascinating little book and been inspired by it.

I guess what I love about Salem Ridge Press, is that having read these three books and enjoyed them so well, I now feel that I have a trusted source to go to find quality literature for my children. They do not offer a very long list of books, currently only 23 titles. But their website offers you the ability to search alphabetically, by time period and location, by author, or by age range. The books retail for about $10-$13 for softcover and about $25 for hardcover. You can order them from your local bookstore or at other retail vendors including Amazon.

**Special Note-Salem Ridge book are available in the UK and Austraila as well as the States, so feel free to enter the giveaways!**

Giveaway- Daniel Mills from Salem Ridge Press has generously donated 3 Books from Salem Ridge. Each book will go to a different winner. Yes! That's right...today we will have 3 winners!

One winner will receive Down the Snow Stairs by Alice Corkran (Hardcover with dust jacket $24.95 value)- On Christmas Eve, eight-year-old Kitty cannot sleep, knowing that her beloved little brother is critically ill due to her own disobedience. Traveling in a dream to Naughty Children Land, she meets many strange people, including Daddy Coax and Lady Love. Kitty longs to return to the Path of Obedience but can she resist the many temptations she faces? Will she find her way home in time for Christmas? An imaginative and delightful read-aloud for the whole family!

One winner will receive The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins (softcover $12.95 value)- General Washington has no money to pay his discouraged troops and twins Sally and Roger are asked by their father, General Priestly, to help hide a shipment of gold which will be used to pay the American soldiers. Unfortunately, British spies have also learned about the gold and will stop at nothing to prevent it from reaching General Washington. Based on a true story, this is a thrilling episode from our nation’s history!

One winner will receive Soldier Fritz by Emma Leslie (softcover $10.95 value).- Young Fritz wants to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther and be a soldier for the Lord, so he chooses a Bible from the peddler’s pack as his birthday gift. When his father, the Count, goes off to war, however, Fritz and his mother and little sister are forced to flee into the forest to escape being thrown in prison for their new faith. Disguising themselves as commoners, they must trust the Lord as they wait and hope for the Count to rescue them. But how will he ever be able to find them?

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment in the comment section of this post telling me the following:

1. Tell which of these books you would like to receive. You may list one or all three, but I will only enter you into the drawings of the books you list.

2. Leave an email or blog address that I can contact you at if you win.

You can leave comments to enter until Wednesday, Dec. 17th at 8pm(EST) when I will randomly select three winners. The winners will be contacted and will have 48 hours to respond before I draw another winner.

If you'd like to earn more entries, grab the button at the top of my sidebar and post it on your sidebar. This will get you two extra entries into all 7 of the giveaways.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another fun giveaway and check out the TOS Crew Blog for more reviews of Salem Ridge.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Wow!

Wow! I can't believe the response that the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways is getting! I'm so excited that so many of you are participating and commenting. Just scroll down a bit for today's post ang giveawy, but first a wanted to give you a couple reminders:

-PLEASE make sure to leave some way for me to contact you (blog address or email) if you win. There were a handful of people who didn't yesterday. Also, check your blogger profile if you are assuming your info is there. Sometimes when I click on your profiles, it says that the profile is unavailable for viewing. Also, I had one person leave a blog address but when I clicked on it I needed an invitation from the blog owner to read or comment there...just letting you know a few of the problems I am running into with contacting you guys. I want to make sure the winners know when they win!! :o)

-Don't forget to check back EACH day this week (through Sunday)as I have some GREAT reviews and giveaways planned! You won't want to miss them!

Finally I wanted to let you know that The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at The Daily Planet. Click the button below to find links to some great homeschooling posts!

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7 Reviews/7 Giveaways- Day 2

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out the products and giving you my honest opinion. This week I will post one review and host a giveaway each day. Please read this review and make sure to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway.

I co-owned a small business painting wall murals for five years and taught art for four at a cottage school for homeschoolers. Needless to say, art instruction is near and dear to my heart. For that reason, I was really looking forward to reviewing the K-8 Christian Art Curriculum CD Rom from Spears Art Studio.

In addition to their K-8 Program, Spears Art Studio also offers Christian Art Curriculum for high school, Calligraphy workbooks, and literature guides. All of their curriculum supports the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages of classical education.

As a busy homeschool mom art seems to be a subject that is often pushed to the side even in our house. Nevertheless, I feel there is true value in including art in our homeschools. Read what Diane Spears has to say in her article, Art is Good for my Brain?

"Our modern world of intense and rapid visual stimuli has programmed a great number of children to be primarily visual learners. Therefore we must have an abundance of visual aids with studies. There should also be the opportunities to interpret studies and to make them visually concrete in art. All curriculum materials should be rich with visual aids and suggestions for extending the learning visually. Students who are missing information about design, color, depth perception, how to cut straight, how to think the quickest, most economical solution, etc., will not progress to their potential. All the fine arts provide experiences that assist in the development of manual skills,problem solving, critical thinking skills, and perceptual awareness. They provide an atmosphere for applying new learning without the fear of making mistakes.

The fine arts are also a vehicle for introducing, developing, and reinforcing students to the important values of life. Students learn patience, perseverance, appreciation for varied expression, aesthetic awareness, respect for materials, and academic information. All of these help establish a foundation for personal goals, because they are learning a great deal more than just information. The arts are an opportunity to reach students who are otherwise unresponsive and unconvinced that a particular study is relevant to their own lives."

Click here to read the rest of this article.

Realizing the importance of art in education is just the first step. I'm often approached by moms who want to teach their children art but tell me they "just can't" because "they can't even draw a stick figure". Well, from a woman who learned how to draw and paint from her best friend while they were painting on other people's walls...I'm here to tell you that YOU CAN LEARN ART, TOO! And Spears Art is your new best friend!

My absolute favorite part about the K-8 Christian Art Curriculum CD-Rom is that for only $39.95 (shipping included) you will get EIGHT YEARS OF ART CURRICULUM! The curriculum is divided into months with seasonal themes. The themes stay the same regardless of grade, but each grade level has different art projects. So this means if you have a Kindergartner, 4th grader, and 6th grader your children will all learn the same theme but can each do their own age appropriate project.

During the course of using this program students will learn to recognize the basic elements of art and the basic principles of art. Each week's lessons also offer Theme Scriptures and study suggestions for Teacher Inspiration which goes along with the Spears mission statement to "help students make connections between the Creator, creativity, and personal maturity". You will also find art history and vocab suggestions with each lessons.

The program uses a wide variety of mediums, but not surprisingly most of the projects our family have completed are more of the "crafty" type since they are still so young (all 2nd grade and under). Instead of doing a different project with each child when we did our art lessons, I opted to choose one project in the general age range of all of them so that we were all doing the same project. You can scroll down to the previous post or click here to see some the Spears Art projects we have completed. The kids love, love, LOVE doing their art lessons!

Truly, the only downside of this program is when I first opened the lessons and began reading through them, there just seemed to be... so... much (because there is). It was a little overwhelming. But I found that when I just took it lesson by lesson, it really was easy to use. As with every curriculum we use in our homeschool, I have taken the liberty to skip over projects that wouldn't work for us right now and use the ones that do.

I highly recommend the K-8 Christian Art Curriculum from Spears Art as a wonderful art program and a tremendous value. You can find out more details about all of their programs as well as look at sample lessons on their website.

Today's Giveaway: Diane Spears as so generously donated the Beginning Calligraphy Workbook for Grades 5 through Adult on CD Rom!

I am so totally jealous of the lucky winner of today's giveaway because I have always wanted to learn the art of calligraphy! This CD ROM includes:

-easy directions to follow
-tracing pages for each uppercase letter, lowercase letter, and numeral
-tracing pages for passages
-62 pages

To enter, please leave a comment in the comment section of this post MAKING SURE to include some way for me to contact you if you win (blog address or email). It's that simple!

If you'd like extra entries, just grab the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways button (see my sidebar) and paste it on the sidebar of your blog. I will give you 2 extra entries into EACH of the 7 giveaways for doing so.

You have until Wednesday, December 17th at 8pm(EST) to enter. I will randomly draw a winner for each of the 7 giveaways at that time and then post and contact the winners. The winners will have 48 hours to contact me back with their mailing information before I draw a new winner.

If you'd like to see more reviews of Spears Art, head on over to the TOS Blog. See you tomorrow!

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Monday, December 8, 2008

7 Reviews/7 Giveaways-Day 1

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out the products and giving you my honest opinion. This week I will post one review and host a giveaway each day. Please read this review and make sure to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway.

"Her nose is always in a book." I can't tell you how many times someone made that comment about me as I was growing up. I love to get lost in a really good book. On a hot, sunny day you will not find me outside. I'll be inside in the air conditioning instead, under a comforter reading. Want to know where you'll find me on a rainy day? Yep...same place. And I have a great desire to pass my love of reading down to each of my children.

Rime to Read is an online program for beginning readers. It's a set of 20 readers that you can either print or read right from your computer screen. What makes this program unique is that each book introduces a new set of rimes...no, not rhymes. Words that rhyme simply sound alike, but words that are rimes sound alike and look alike, (for example: cat, hat, mat, etc.). The rimes are also color coded to give a visual reminder to your young reader.

I decided to try this program out with my 5 year old and my 6 year old. E5 can recognize all the letters, but is still learning the sounds. A6 has been reading words for more than a year now, but still struggles to read fluently. I opted to have them read the books from the computer only because I like to conserve my printer ink whenever possible. Plus, Rime to Read sets each book up as a two page spread so that you can see the illustration on one side and the words on the other. The kids can click the upper corner of the 'book' to turn the page. There is also a sound feature on all of the rime words. They can click on the word to hear it spoken.

A6 read through these books easily. The fact that words are rimes helped her with fluency. I think its so important to give a child simple readers even after they are already reading fairly well. It builds up their confidence and gives them much needed 'reading practice'. The Rime to Read program is perfect for this. In addition to introducing the 20 sets of rimes, or word families, they also introduce 35 sight words. You should have your students read these books in order since the previously learned words are reviewed in each subsequent book.

I'm also happy to say that the Rime to Read books were also the first books that E5 has ever read. How proud I am to have three of my children reading now!

I think that it is important to note that while Rime to Read calls themselves a 'reading program', it does not teach students the sounds of letters and they will need a prior knowledge of them. You can purchase four of these virtual books for $9.95 or the entire set of 20 for $44.95. Remember, you can also print them and bind them if you prefer a hard copy. I would suggest laminating them as well if you plan on doing this.

I have to admit, as a thrifty mom who enjoys frequenting used curriculum sales, I do cringe a little at this price tag. Nevertheless, these cute readers have been quite successful at helping me to teach my 5 year old to read, and what kind of price tag can you put on that?

You can purchase these books or read a sample book for free at the Rime to Read website.

Now for today's giveaway...I am VERY excited to be giving away the TOS 12 Days of Christmas Gift Pack. You can purchase it now from the Schoolhouse Store for $17.95 but it is actually a $71.80 value!!!

There are all kinds of goodies in this gift pack. Here's what's included:

NEW 1 Year TOS Magazine Subscription

Homeschooling with Heart Tote Bag

E-Book: Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter

E-Book: Amusing Mathematics Module - November 2008 Issue

E-Book: What About Socialization?

Oh, what a lucky winner one of you will be! And all you need to do to enter is to leave a comment, making sure to give me your email or blog address so that I can contact you if you win. Don't forget if you grab the button from my sidebar and paste it on your blog I will automatically enter you twice into all the giveaways (in addition to your entry for commenting.)

You have until Wednesday, December 17th at 8pm (EST) to enter this and each of the 7 giveaways. I will announce the winners and contact them that evening. They will have 48 hours to respond before I draw another name.

Good luck and come back tomorrow for another fun review and giveaway!

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Friday, December 5, 2008

Giveaways Galore!

Wow! The 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways keeps getting more and more exciting! Want a sneak peek at what I'll be giving away? Well...a few of the products will come from these places...

A few reminders:

Where? Right here!!
When? Next Monday, December 8th to Sunday, December 14th
What? Each day I will review one homeschool product and host an awesome homeschool giveaway!!!
How do you participate? Just stop by to read my reviews each day next week. Leave a comment and you're entered to win that day's giveaway!
Want to earn extra entries? Copy and paste the above code onto your sidebar to display the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways button and I'll automatically enter you into each of the 7 giveaways twice!!

Good luck!!! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Update on Giveaways

I'm getting more and more excited about the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways next week! Scroll down or click here to read the original post about the giveaway. I won't tell you what the giveaways are yet... but I will tell you that Spears Art, Salem Ridge Press, Knowledge Quest, and Schoolside Press are all participating!!! This is going to be quite exciting!!!

If you have a blog, PLEASE pass on this giveaway info to your readers. You can grab the giveaway button from my sidebar and paste it on your sidebar. As a thank you for doing so, I will automatically enter you into each giveaway twice! (Make sure you leave me a comment to let me know that you have done so.)

Thanks so much for helping to spread the word! Pin It Now!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

An Entire Week of Giveaways!!!

Okay, so I have BIG news that I'm really excited to share!

As you know I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew and have been reviewing homeschool products since September. I have been SO blessed to be a part of this team and to receive SO many products for review. So far, I have received more than 25 products! Can you believe it?! It's been a real blessing.

Plus, I really enjoy sharing my opinions with you. One of the hardest parts about purchasing things to use for our homeschool is that there really aren't any "homeschool stores"...at least not in my neighborhood. I purchase practically everything online and have no way to physically thumb through the product before I purchase it. So I really appreciate finding reviews of a product that I am interested in written by another homeschool mom. This helps me to decide if the product will be a fit for our family. The biggest plus about the TOS Crew for YOU is that you don't have to just rely on my opinion. I'm not the only one reviewing these products. So if you see a product that I've reviewed here that you're interested in, just click over to the TOS Crew blog and find up to 100 other reviews on the same product!

So...here's where I need to admit a little problem. It seems that I have not adequately spaced my reviews very well. You see, I currently have 13 reviews that need to be written...during the month of December. SO I have decided to have a little fun.

Starting next Monday, December 8th I will be hosting SEVEN DAYS of reviews AND GIVEAWAYS!!! That's right, every day next week I will post a new review and a new giveaway!!! All you have to do to enter is stop by my blog, read my review, and leave a comment. Each day you do this you will be entered into the giveaway for that day. Leave a comment each day and you will be entered into all seven giveaways!

Also, if you grab my "7 Reviews/7 Giveaways" button from my sidebar and paste it on your sidebar, you will automatically be entered into each giveaway 2 times...that's in addition to the daily entries by commenting! So please grab the button...no seriously, please grab the button...it took me 2 hours to figure out how to make it and I will really be jumping for joy when I see it on your blog! Don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know that the button is on your blog so that I can enter you into all the giveaways.

I hope you win!

**UPDATE**
Vendors participating in giveaways so far...
Salem Ridge Press, Spears Art, Knowledge Quest, Schoolside Press, Time4Learning

The Reviews and Giveaways have started. Click here to go to the most recent post. Pin It Now!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

We have a winner!

Congratulations to......

CarrieJoy!!!!

CarrieJoy won my copy of The Missing Link: Found by Christina and Felice Gerwitz. I'll be emailing her tonight and if I don't hear back from her by Wednesday, I'll draw again.

Pin It Now!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

BFS is having a Back to School Giveaway!

I've just enrolled in the 2008-2009 Blogger Friend School and I'm looking forward to a fun year of blogging with other homeschool moms! To kick off the schoolyear, BFS is offering a Back to School Giveaway. They are giving away a nature journal and two nature books! How fun! And even though I REALLY wanna win, I thought I'd share it with you. So head on over and sign up!!! Pin It Now!

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