randomnings

 

I (occasionally) *heart* Speech Delay

Like when Trevy calls his high tops high heels.

 

*****

 

Bristel and I had some alone time in the car after dropping Tobin off at his engineering class. The conversation inevitably went to romance. Because clearly that's what 8 year old girls think about.

 

Bristel randomly broke the silence with a sigh: Sometimes I think I may never find a husband.
Me: Well, honey, it's better to wait for the right guy rather than settle for the wrong one.
Bristel: That's a good point. (pause and then giggle) Daddy looked so silly in those circle glasses he used to wear! Did you think he looked silly even though you married him?
Me: They were pretty silly! Buuuuuuut...your dad made me laugh. So that balanced that out.
Bristel: I have really high expectations, I think.
Me after choking on the fact that she's EIGHT: Well, what are your top five expectations?
Bristel: He has to love Trevor. He has to love God. He has to love me. And he HAS to love my sense of humor! Also, he needs to be funny too.

 

I thought that was a pretty good list.

 

*****

 

Evidently a 5 day vacation just wasn't cutting it for Trevor. When it was time to go to school he flopped on Bristel's bed and started incessantly crying, "Not enough time!!!"

 

*****

 

Trevor was chasing the dog around with a pair of play-doh scissors saying, "I doctor! I doctor!"

She was NOT amused. Even if the rest of us were.

 

*****

 

Jonathan schlepped our tree up from the basement and is in the process of trying to get it all set up. Trevor has been fascinated.

He just came up to me and asked, "Little People?"

We have a Little People nativity set that we bring out with all of our Christmas gear. He hasn't seen that thing in a year!!!

That boy has an amazing memory!

 

*****

 

I just told Trevy to open his mouth and when he obeyed I surprised him by spraying whipped cream into it.

 

The face he made was PRICELESS!

 

Now he's following me around with his mouth hanging open like a little baby bird.

 

*****

 

Bristel loves FaceTiming her friend, Jamie. Trevor didn't quite catch her name once and called her "James" instead of Jamie on accident. It was cute but the girls tried to correct him. Big mistake. He thinks it's funny when he says things wrong and it annoys people. And when you correct him it only makes it that much more fun.

 

So now, every time Bristel is on FaceTime he's always hollering, JAAAAAMES! And Bristel always hollers back, "IT'S NOOOOOT JAAAAAAMES!"

 

This situation happens dozens of times a day and always ends in Trevor laughing hysterically. LOL

 

*****

 

Random Bristel

 

I'd rather be bitten by a vampire than be surrounded by spiders.

 

 

…danielle

free app(s) of the day!

 

 

 

ABC apps by Preschool University are FREE right now!

 

 

Click here to see a list of all their apps with direct links to the app store.

 

 

Great education apps in English and Spanish!

 

 

If you love your “pab” (as my kiddos call it) as much as we do…you might wanna like me on FaceBook.  Because I have a posting-free-apps-addiction! 

 

 

…danielle

Thomas Jefferson Education’s - This Week in History (a TOS review)

 

 

Because I have this thing about honesty.  The thing where I always have to tattle on myself.  To my own hurt, my mom used to say.  Because I have this thing about honesty…

 

 

I must confess right up front that I was totally unprepared for just how much I was going to LOVE…

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was definitely some “like I really need someone to do this for me” inward eye rolling happening.

 

 

I mean, I have Google.

 

 

And an iPad.  Surely there’s an app for that.  Right?!

 

 

The thing is…

 

 

This Week in History (Thomas Jefferson Education’s subscription program; $9.99 month) is just so darn AH-mazing and rich and well done and…!  I was totally not prepared to be so twitterpated!  I left my homeschool mommy heart unguarded and I just keep falling more in love!  Read some samples before you snicker at me too much!  Or how about Thomas Jefferson Education’s 7 Keys of Great Teaching article.

 

 

AH-mazing, right?!

 

 

  Once a week, I gathered my kiddos (ages 5, 7, 11) on the couch with the iPad and we scrolled through This Week in History’s email digest together.  Learning together.  Enjoying classics like Louie Armstrong together.  Imagining what it would be like to be Neil Armstrong or climb the hills of San Francisco together.  Found ourselves feeling cultured by listening to Fiddler on the Roof together.  Or discussing the heaviness of the life of young Anne Frank together.  Our favorite…laughing at the humorous stuff together.  Serenading each other with poetry together.  Pretending to be Annie Oakley together!

 

 

One of my very favorite things about keeping my children at home is the beauty of learning together!

 

 

This Week in History makes learning together so rich, interactive, beautiful and easy (gosh, I need easy)!   Also, there is just something exciting about knowing that really cool stuff happened on this very day many, many years ago.

 

 

I know it may be a bit on the pricey side for some of us homeschool moms.  We live on a single income too.  But when I think about all the printer paper and ink (and precious TIME!) I’ve wasted trying to make up my own version of This Week in History?  I might actually save money!  Maybe think about just subscribing for the summer break?  It would be a fun and unique way to keep learning!

 

 

What can I say?  I’m in love with This Week in History!

 

 

 

 

 

…danielle

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given a This Week in History subscription in exchange for my honest review shared on my blog.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a smidge helpful.  Because my voice is just one, I highly encourage you to read what my fellow TOS Crew friends thought about this product.**

math made easy (a TOS review)

 

 

 

The NutShell

• $24.95
• Workbook includes:  Lesson Plans, Pre-Test, 6 weeks of activity sheets, Post-Test, Flashcards and Games
• The program is designed for mastery of facts to be achieved (finger free) in 6 weeks
• Target is 1st – 2nd grades, although like most resources it is adaptable

 

 

 

 

The Review

 

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m always game for trying out Math-ish stuff!

 

 

My hope for Math Made Easy Homeschool Addition package was that it would be a good summer bridge/review for the going into 2nd Grader and maybe, just maybe…fun to use with the Kster.

 

 

I really like the overall concept.  And the flash cards. 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been needing flashcards!

 

 

 

 

I like how the worksheets and flashcards are divided and marked according to each week.  Nice and organized. 

 

 

 

 

Even though I like the idea of this curriculum, it just didn’t click with our family. It was over the Kster’s head, developmentally, though I’m holding out hope that it’ll come in handy as he progresses.  The going into 2nd Grader was too advanced for the addition program.

 

 

She did like reviewing her flashcards on the swing though!

 

 

 

 

 

…danielle

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given Math Made Easy Addition in exchange for my honest review shared on my blog.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a smidge helpful.  Because my voice is just one, I highly encourage you to visit this link and read what my fellow TOS Crew friends thought about this product.**

school lite: the one where we listened to Fiddler on the Roof and pinned the capitals

 

 

Every Fall I convince myself I’m a year round school kinda girl. 

 

 

Then every Summer…I totally change my mind!

 

 

I’m so wishy washy!

 

 

I just can’t mentally handle year round hard core school.  But.  I also can’t handle being bored.  Boredom just begs for bickering.  And I can’t handle bickering either!  And since we’re broke and can’t buy our way out of boredom…School Lite it is! 

 

 

We don’t do anything crazy heavy though.  While Trevy is off to Summer School (he goes three days a week during the month of July) for a couple hours we might…

 

 

Listen to Isaac Stern’s Fiddler on the Roof violin solo.  But don’t be too impressed cause it wasn’t my idea…it’s just something we’re reviewing!  I have to say…it was a beautiful way to start the day!

 

 

We’ve also been talking about and reviewing the 50 States.  As postcards come in from the swap we’re participating in…we talk about that State and fill in the corresponding page of a coloring book I picked up from Target in last year’s dollar bins.

 

 

The kiddos take turns reading the info on the back.

 

 

We’re hanging the postcards on the wall as we study that state.  To review, I wrote the capitals on little sticky notes and hid them around the house.  I then asked the kids review questions and if they answered correctly they could go find a sticky note and stick it on the correct state!

 

That was fun and we’ll definitely do it again!

 

 

We work on a little Math.  Toby fractions.  Bristel addition/subtraction review.

 

We might watch Lets Make a Deal and probably wear our jammies most of the day.

 

Yesterday Toby read from Character Sketches.  Bristel never did read at all.  Oops.

 

 

But she did make Miss. May May (Trevy’s school aide) a chocolate sprinkled pretzel.  An idea she gleaned from flipping through my current Tastefully Simple Magazine.  It was all her own inspiration and she even modified on her own.  I didn’t have chocolate chips to melt so she asked if she could use frosting instead.  She’s totally gonna own a bakery or something someday!

 

 

We played a super fun Solar System review game and (I wanted to read a chapter too but we) had an impromptu play date.

 

There was a lot of down time!  Which was wonderful…

 

 

 

That’s how we did Summer Lite at our house yesterday.

 

 

…danielle

 

linking up to

 

exploring astronomy: solar system race to the sun hopscotch review game

 

 

I snuck outside while they were watching tv and drew the solar system on our driveway.

 

 

 

She noticed that I’d excluded Pluto and was highly offended.  Oops.  Guess she’s decided not to subscribe to the Pluto isn’t a Planet team.

 

 

I had a couple ideas for ways to use our chalk solar system. 

 

 

Race to the Sun review game.

 

I like to have them pick a number between 1-20 to decide who goes first.  It’s easy peasy and has eliminated the griping.  I’m a big fan of less griping.

 

 

Whoever wins the number pick gets the first review question.

 

Each correct answer means a hop to the next planet.

 

 

I know his feet positioning looks like he’s ready to run the other way…but he really enjoyed this game a lot.  Even if the eleven in him won’t let him admit it!

 

 

We also just hopped forwards and backwards down the solar system naming the planets in order.  In the direction we were going, of course. 

 

 

Another way we’ll play (an impromptu play date interrupted us though) is to use a squirt bottle to erase random planets and see if we can remember and name the missing one.

 

 

Just a little fun School Lite stuff we did today!

 

 

Other Solar-y System Stuff:

Space Rocks a Chapter by Chapter review

2 Super Fun Asteroids Games

My Solar System Pinboard

 

 

…danielle

jeepers peepers plus a special coupon just for you (a TOS review)

 

 

Allow me to introduce you to Jeepers Peepers.

 

 

What exactly, you ask, is this Jeepers Peepers?

 

 

Only, like, one of the best games ever!

 

 

 

 

Because any game that involves silly glasses and the whole family is a double thumbs up winner in our house!

 

 

(FYI: Trevy told me I look cute in my glasses.  I just thought you should know.)

 

 

The Jeepers Peepers Nutshell

 

• Jeepers Peepers is an awesome family (or class, playdate, anything involving people big and small) game!
• It includes 6 pairs of glasses, Cue Cards, 101 photo cards, spinner, bingo chips and instructions.
• $29.95 (shhhhh…I have a special offer just for you at the end of this post!)
• Super Duper Publications has gobs of other great looking games and resources. 

 

 

Tell Ya What We Really Thought

 

 

 

As soon as we opened the box we were in L-O-V-E…love!

 

 

 

I just adore everything about this game.  The glasses are silly-licious and fairly sturdy!  Trevy has attempted to break them every time we’ve played and so far no casualties.  The picture cards are simple enough that Trevy can play but complex enough that we can make it more challenging for the older kiddos.  We don’t use the bingo cards just because Trevy is in a very oral phase right now…but I’m sure they add to the fun. 

 

 

 

 

The first time we played we were laughing and having SO much fun that daddy couldn’t resist joining!  Especially when Trevy used his words to ask him!

 

 

I double dog dare ya to put the glasses on and NOT make a silly face…

IMPOSSIBLE!

 

 

 

We’ve played Jeepers Peepers often but my favorite is when Trevy asks for us to play during one of his home based therapy sessions (cause I get to snap pictures and clips)!  He always cracks us up with his peeking cheater ways and hints that are really answers! 

 

 

 

I really can’t say enough about how wonderful this game is and how much we love it!  I’ve been blessed with the chance to review lots of wonderful curriculum and products this year.  If I had to choose a favorite – Jeepers Peepers would definitely make the top of the list!  I highly recommend adding it to your Christmas Wish List!

 

 

Or just go ahead and buy it now with this special offer just for my readers:

Use Coupon Code:   BLGJP30

and save 30%

but it expires 8/31/12 so you’d better hurry!

 

 

…danielle

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given Jeepers Peepers in exchange for my honest review shared on my blog.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a smidge helpful.  Because my voice is just one, I highly encourage you to visit this link and read what my fellow TOS Crew friends thought about this product.**

friendship can be a tricky business

 

 

Bristel has summer swim lessons 3 days a week at a cute little beach right around the corner.

 

(clearly this picture isn’t from the beach…but it still reflects her love of the water!)

 

 

She’s a fish and totally loves it.

 

 

Especially when it’s just the two of us girls.  Middle Child Syndrome.  Anything that involves alone time with mommy is a huge success.

 

 

But today Trevy (and an aide) joined us.

 

 

This is where I confess that I have a love-hate thing going on with “the help”.  I love that Trevy qualifies for special helper hours through the state.  I hate that sometimes it makes me feel dirty.  Mostly when the help is with us in public.  At home…it’s okay.  If they take him somewhere else…that’s okay too.  But together?  In public?  Where all of creation can watch me sunbath while someone else is sweating their booty off trying to keep him safe?  Where judgmental eyebrows can be raised (because some of them totally do)?  Or comments like “I wish I qualified for help” can be made.  Ooooh yes, it’s been said.  To my face.  More than once.  My response is usually something along the lines of, “Well, if your child had 100s of seizures a day and as a result of both the seizures and having half his brain removed had significant global developmental delay, you’d totally qualify too”.  I try to smile while I say so.  Not sure if it looks more like a grimace though.  Not that it really makes a difference, mind you.  Because the person that would say something like that openly is far too selfish to ever even come close to putting themselves in my (our family’s) shoes.  So yes, I feel very awkward watching someone else chase my child around.  And yet…if it weren’t for the help it’s highly doubtful that Bristel would even get to enjoy the swim lessons because I’d be too exhausted to even contemplate taking her.  Especially if it also involved Trevy chasing.  Even if my booty could use some sweatin’ off.

 

 

But alas, all of the above is a rabbit trail and totally not what was on my mind when I started this post to begin with!

 

 

Back to my point.

 

 

Bristel loves swim lessons.  She’s made little friends and is just in general having a blast.  I usually let her play for a few minutes with her fellow “fishy” friends while she dries off.  I did today too.  Or at least I was going to.  Trevy has two addictions.  Chicken nuggets and his family.  Especially his sister.  So as soon as she was out of the water, he wanted to be near her.  To play with her.  And of course, the other kids.

 

 

Only.

 

 

I watched as her little friends gave him the stink eye when he picked up their toys.  Even though it was clear he was Bristel’s brother.  Then one of them took a net away from Trevy and told him not to touch it.  Trevy may not be able to speak what’s on his mind with words, but that doesn’t mean he lacks the ability to communicate or understand.  He knew.  Right down to his beautiful core, he knew they were including his sister and excluding him.  The rejection dripped from his whole self as he turned around and wobbled towards me.  With a sad sad face.  And a heart that needed comforting.

 

 

Listen, I agree they have a right to not share their things.  Although for the record, I think there is unwritten etiquette that if you bring a huge plastic tub of beach toys – you should be prepared to share.  But whatever.  They can decide not to.  And their mom can ignore their exclusion of other children if she’d like to. 

 

 

But I’ll be darned if they snub Trevy and and get rewarded by playing with his sister.

 

 

Which is why I hollered that it was time to leave.  Now.

 

 

To be fair, Bristel was crabbing (looking for creepy hermit crabs to catch as opposed to fussing) and didn’t notice the way they interacted with Trevy.  So I wasn’t upset with her, though I was upset.  Bristel is (usually…though she has her imperfect moments too) pretty protective of him.  She hasn’t been in a situation often where he required protecting from other children.  Usually it’s from the snack-stealing dog or the big tease of a brother.  So we had a nice long chat on the way home about why I ended her impromptu play date so quickly.  That I expect her to protect her brother and other children too.  How picking friends can be tricky business but she needs to make sure her friends are kind to everyone.  Especially her brother.  That I expect her to lead by example.  I’m Italian-ish.  We’re clannish kinda people.  Maybe you’re thinking I totally handled it wrong.  And have ideas about how you could have handled it better.  Maybe you would have stayed and tried to create a “teach-able” moment for the benefit of the special needs community as a whole (insert choir of angels singing).  Maybe on a different day I would have chosen grace too.  But today, we left.  Today, I decided to teach just my children.  To teach Trevy that he’s important enough to make hard choices for.  That we’d give up play dates for him.  And to teach my daughter about the beauty of being a protector and IN-cluder.  Not of the stink eye shooting little urchins with their buckets of beach toys to be shared only with those deemed worthy.  Though if they change their stink eye ways…I might consider allowing her to befriend them again too.  In the spirit of inclusion, and all.  But more importantly (to me) I was trying to teach her to love the underdogs in this world.  The Trevys.  Those that are easy to reject.  Who maybe can’t communicate but can feel way down deep.  Possibly even more deeply than the rest of us.

 

 

I’m sure Bristel didn’t understand all of my crazy mommy ranting about loving and underdogs and stinks eyes on the drive home.  But that’s okay…because I’ll just keep ranting teaching until she does.

 

 

…danielle

board games that Trevy can play which means I think they’re worth buying (or gifting) and I’m cheapskate, soooooo….

 

 

We have gobs of board games. Too many if you ask me! But the Hubs is a fan…and he’s encouraging the development of little board game fans. The thing that’s tricky about board games though – is that it’s often really hard to include Trevy. A little Trevy backstory: He was diagnosed with catastrophic epilepsy at 7 months, lived with hundreds of uncountable seizures daily until he had almost his entire left hemisphere removed at 2 1/2 and is doing extraordinary now – but still struggles with developmental delays. He is chronologically 5 but functionally closer to 3. While it’s not realistic that he gets to do every.single.thing his siblings do - at the same time I like to have options that work for all of us. Many board game rules are too complicated. Also, those dang ants in his pants. If you think ADD is an imaginary disorder…I dare ya to keep Trevy for a day! He’ll convince ya!

 

 

:: wink ::

 

 

So I know this post would be great at Christmas time but I figured we’ve had lots of rainy days around here and maybe you have too. These games have been sanity savers while we’ve been stuck inside! Plus, we’ve used all three of these games during in home therapy sessions. I just know I’d love to stumble across a post like this…so I wrote one instead! Oh…and Trevy needs lots of supervision and help while playing these games. I usually don’t play myself but function as his helper…verbally coaching him and physically helping him participate. The great thing is – with help he totally can play these games!

 

 

Where is Sock Monkey

 

(photo credit)

 

Uncle Nathan and Aunt Tiffany bought the sock monkey game (at Target, I think?) just for Trevy and it’s so great that I would totally spend the mulah myself!  We all have fun with this one!  One person hides the monkey and the rest of us draw cards with picture prompts.  Example:  Picture of a couch means you ask “is the monkey in a room with a couch?”  There are yes (green) and no (red) spots to put the card to help you remember what is in the room where the monkey is hiding.  If you draw a Go Look card you get to race the sand timer to find the monkey!  Bonus goodie – no small pieces just beggin’ to be chewed!  Trevy is addicted to chewing things and he has chewed the sock monkey!  This is a great game for sibling bonding, problem solving, answering yes and no questions, remembering, following directions and just plain ol’ having fun!

 

 

Don’t Break the Ice

 

(photo credit)

 

I snagged it at Target on Black Friday for, like, three bucks or something crazy like that.  Don’t Break the Ice is a great turn taking, fine motor and problem solving game.  If you’ve never played it before, the idea is pretty simple.  Hammer out chunks of “ice” while trying NOT to knock down the skating bear.  While Trevy does enjoy this game, he also needs hand over hand help to be gentle with his hammer.  Otherwise he’s gonna crash the whole sha-bang in a blink!  He doesn’t really get (or like) the idea of NOT making everything go boom…but he does enjoy the hammering and even the setting up.  Bonus goodie – while these pieces do beg to be chewed they’re all plastic and non-choking hazard sized!

 

 

I Can Do That! 

(photo credit)

 

I get all sappy whenever we break this game out.  That’s because a very sweet-special friend bought it for Trevy as a get well gift after his surgery.  (If you’re curious about Trevy click here)  This is a great game for sibling bonding, wiggle worms (lots of movement), turn taking, following directions, simple math, problem solving, fine and gross motor play!  You have to pick three cards.  Each card has a prompt (direction) to follow. 

 

 

Example:  Put the cake, behind your back and hop on one foot

 

 

It’s fun and silly and we love it!

 

 

Hint:  could be a great gift for a speech therapist – especially if that speech therapist happens to practice therapy with your child!

 

 

If you have a Trevy in your house, I totally recommend adding these games to your toy closet!

 

…danielle

when you little give a girl a cardboard box

 

 

Bristel is my Kinesthetic.  My crafty girl.  Glitter lover.  Day dreamer.  She loves all things hands on and super creative.  So when she asked me, eyes a twinkle, if she could use the box I was getting ready to throw in recycling – I said sure. 

 

 

When you give a little girl a cardboard box…

 

 

She’s going to build a…

 

 

 

 

new Barbie house, of course!

 

 

 

 

I wish film could have caught the happy glow radiating from her.  She was SO proud of her creation.  She even cleaned up her mess!  And I have to say, I was pretty proud of her too!  It was too cute not to share!

 

 

…danielle

IXL (a TOS review)

 

 

Am I the only home school mommy ever on a quest to find the perfect online Math program?

 

 

 

That quest led me to a trial of IXL. 

 

 

 

 

The IXL Deets

 

• IXL is an online Math program that supports PreK – High School.  They are also in the process of developing Advanced Math and Language Arts studies as well.
• Membership gives you access to all levels of study.  This is a nice feature for kids who are advanced or may be struggling.  It allowed my 5th Grader to get his feet wet with Algebra…just because he was interested and my 1st Grader to fiddle around with Kindergarten work just for the warm fuzzies it gave her! 
• IXL is aligned to and offers State Standards references. 
• One of my favorite features about computer based learning is the immediate feedback!  Progress reports can be accessed immediately online but are also emailed weekly.  I loooooved this feature!  It even tracks minutes your child spends working on the program!
• The student works for “rewards”.  Personally, I thought it was a little cheesy.  But my kids were SO motivated by the little stickers they were earning!
• You can subscribe to monthly ($9.95) or yearly ($79) plans.  Click here for more membership information. 

 

 

 

 

Our Review

 

 

We have really enjoyed our time with IXL.

 

 

We’re already in the habit of spending 15 minutes a day doing Math-y stuff on the computer.  So we just slipped IXL into that 15 minute slot and wah-lah.  

 

 

The graphics are cheery.  My kids liked that they could choose a little avatar to represent their accounts. 

 

 

 

 

Both of the big kiddos surprised me with just how into the awards they were!

 

 

 

               

 

 

  Every time they won a new sticker in

their squares there was joy in the camp!

 

 

They also enjoyed the liberty of choosing which skills they wanted to work on.  When you click on the grade level you’re interested in a whole slew of study links pop up like so:

 

 

 

 

You then practice the skill of your choosing until you reach 100%.  Points are earned with correct answers and lost with incorrect. 

 

 

At times, it did seem to get tedious.  But I suppose when you’re working towards mastery there is bound to be tedium. 

 

 

:: smile ::

 

 

For my 5th Grader, IXL was mostly independent.  When he answered a question incorrectly a little box popped up to answer the whys of the mistake.  He was pretty capable of navigating any issues himself.  Understandably, my 1st Grader needed more help when she was presented with a new or challenging concept.  The Preschooler…well…we tried to work on some Math with him but his ADHD got the better of us.

 

 

Overall, we were really impressed with this program and both of the big kids benefited from our time using it!  In fact, it’s on my radar for a great summer supplement to keep them trucking in the Math depot.  Because it’s somewhere in the homeschool mommy rules that summer Math must have cute graphics and surprise reward stickers! 

 

 

…danielle

 

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given a six month subscription to IXL in exchange for my review.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a little helpful.  To read what others on the TOS Crew thought about IXL click here.**

ever feel like that?

 

 

 

Every time I sit down for a writing project with Bristel it goes like this.

 

 

She taps her lips with her pencil.

 

 

Looks around the room.

 

 

Scratches her head.

 

 

Wiggles. Hems and haws.

 

 

And finally looks up at me with her big blue eyes, shrugs and says,

 

 

 
I got nuthin'

 

 

I’m totally with her today.

 

 

…danielle

creation illustrated (a TOS review)

 

 

 

My hubby laughed when I told him we were reviewing Creation Illustrated.  It tickled his funny bone because his parents had a subscription to it when he was a kid!  Have I mentioned before that he’s a homeschool grad?  His parents are among those who paved the way for us today!  We’re so proud of the legacy they left us.  And I do think it’s pretty cool that my kids are reading the same(ish) thing their daddy did when he was little!

 

 

 

The Creation Deets

• *  Creation Illustrated is a nature journal/magazine.  The pages are filled with poetry, recipes, uplifting stories centered on God’s creation and even a lesson plan page on how to use the magazine in your homeschool.
•  

           (front cover pictured)

*  There are four issues a year. 

*  Purchase one year for $19.95.  Discounts apply when purchasing in bulk. 

*  I’m a sucker for the backstory.  You can read Creation Illustrated’s here.

*  If you’re a test the waters kinda girl like me, you can request a free issue here.

 

(inside view pictured)

 

 

The Review

 

 

I’m a magazine hoarder lover.  I have them stashed in baskets and drawers.  I’ve been known to pick some up from a Freecycle friend.  The new arrivals grace our side tables and the –ahem- powder room.  I love being gifted subscriptions.  And never visit my salon without one of the trendy hairstyle mags in hand.  Course, it might help me stay trendy if I carved out time to visit my stylist more than once a year! 

 

 

So needless to say, I was super excited to sample Creation Illustrated!

 

 

In the spirit of transparency, when the package arrived I found myself feeling let down.  I’m not sure that I can really put my finger on why exactly.  I just was.  I think it felt a little “dry” to me.  The recipes weren’t my cuppa tea.  I just wasn’t connecting.  And I wasn’t really sure how I was going to use it.

 

 

But as we spent time with the magazines.  Flipping through the pages.  Reading the articles.  Something happened – little by little Creation Illustrated grew on me.

 

 

I decided we’d use them as our afternoon read alouds.  And wouldn’t you know, the very first story we read we discovered Machias Seal Island in Maine.  Maine happens to be within driving distance of us!  We could go explore it ourselves if we wanted to.  The kids thought that was super cool!

 

 

And that was the beginning of my heart shifting towards this little creation magazine.

 

 

I do love knowing that information the kids are reading shares the same core values our family holds.  That Creation declares His glory.  Many of the articles that had seemed so “dry” to me on a cursory glance…were really interesting once I was cuddled on the couch with the kids.  Go ahead, call me a snob.  We enjoyed the conversations that flowed from our reading too.  There was just something refreshing and wholesome about it.  A nice change from our typical novels or picture book read alouds.

 

 

But by and far…my favorite part was the front and back cover.

 

 

 

The pictures are beautiful.  The poetry lovely.  The Scriptures poignant.

 

 

It struck me that they looked a lot like the posters my parents used to buy for me at the little Christian book store.  I remembered being so proud of the posters gracing my bedroom walls.

 

 

So I decided to make some for the kids by removing the magazine’s cover and laminating the front and back.

 

 

 

I then let the kiddos take turns choosing which ones they’d like to hang in their rooms.

 

 

Evidently, Trevy thinks his is hat!

 

 

:: grin ::

 

 

 

If you’re looking for a wholesome nature journal/magazine or a new hat – Creation Illustrated might just surprise you too!

 

 

…danielle

 

 

**This is my little space to disclaim that I was given 4 issues of Creation Illustrated in exchange for my honest review shared on my blog.  All opinions expressed are my honest own.  I hope that you enjoyed and found my review at least a smidge helpful.  To read what others on the TOS Crew thought about Creation Illustrated click here.**

Rainbow Sentences (a TOS review)

 

 

Have I mentioned the mad crush I have on my iPad?

 

 

I love my iPad so much that I don’t even care that she’s an ancient first generation.  My love is unconditional like that. 

 

 

It would only make sense that if I’m crushing on my iPad…I would also be a fan of apps.  I may or may not be known by my friends as an app hoarder.  I may or may not have jumped at the chance to review Rainbow Sentences by Mobile Education Tools. 

 

 

The Deets

• $7.99
• Basic function is aimed at helping students put sentences together in grammatical order.  There are visual color coded cues, voice overs, rewards and other built in features.  You should really read the beautiful backstory too – especially if you have a child with special needs!
• Settings page allows the teacher to add or remove features in order to target student’s strengths and weaknesses. 
• Set up to use with multiple students.
• Student can record and playback the sentence for added fun and skill boosting.
• Student earns reward puzzle pieces to encourage continued learning through play.
• Click me for more details.

 

The Review

 

I was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this app!

 

 

I appreciated that the Teacher functions were user friendly.  There’s nothing more irksome than not easily understanding how an app works!  I am not a read the instructions kinda girl and complicated apps drive me wonky.  I found Rainbow Sentences very easy to understand but they also have a handy dandy video tutorial just in case. 

 

 

I love that you can have more than one student account!  I do wish that all the settings carried over though.  For instance, it didn’t take me long to realize my 1st Grader needed me to remove the color coding to give her added challenge.  My little guy needed the colors though.  It was a little annoying that I had to manually go in and change the settings every time I changed the user.

 

 

Because kids love being movie stars, here’s a little clip of my 1st Grader in action…

 

 

He favorite part was recording her own voice reading the sentences!  For both of my kiddos, that was just as good a prize as earning the puzzle pieces.

 

 

I especially love how Rainbow Sentences reinforces sentence structure for my little guy (who happens to have significant speech delay).  Extending and proper sentence structure are goals we’re focusing on in school, therapies and at home.  This app is a great fit for working on those targets!

 

 

Okay, so would I buy it is the real question, right?

 

 

Ugh. I’m torn here.  I’m such a fan of the freebie stuff out there.  And there are gobs of free apps.  The trouble with free apps is that you get what you pay for (most of the time).  I find a lot of the free apps aren’t nice and organized like Rainbow Sentences.  I’m also a fan of organization.  I really really liked most everything about this app.  We used it daily.  And I can see us continuing to use it.  It’s just that…

 

 

$7.99 is just a touch pricey for me.

 

 

Blushing here, over my cheap-skate ways.

 

 

I would definitely add it to my “wish list”.  I’m certainly going to forward the link to Trevy’s Speech Therapist.  I totally give Rainbow Sentences two thumbs up as far as content goes.  And if you aren’t stingy with your iTunes budget like me – I would say go for it.  But the truth is – I’d probably wait to buy it until it goes on sale.

 

 

And then I’d live happily ever after…constructing sentences and listening to playback with my new favorite app!

 

 

…danielle

 

 

**Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product in exchange for my honest and timely review.  All opinions expressed here are my very honest own.  Click here to see what other TOS reviewers thought of this product.**