Top 10 Reasons I Enjoy Writing and Reading Reviews

I have been very busy and had taken a few weeks off from doing anything but my review posts. But things are slowing down a little bit so hopefully I will be back to my normal posting routine.

This week I want to share 10 reasons I enjoy writing reviews and reading them too!

Why I enjoy writing reviews:

1) Its a great way to provide for our family. Reviewing products helps us get homeschool curriculum  and other things (toys, art supplies, games, etc) for the kids that we wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.
2) I enjoy sharing with others. By sharing our thoughts on products (especially curriculum) I hope that we are helping others with their decision making process. Especially when it comes to deciding whether or not a curriculum is a good fit for their family and children.
3) It's something I am good at. I worked as a retail manager for over 11yrs so marketing, promoting, selling and customer service are in my blood.
4) It's a great self-expression activity for my kids.  I always try to include Gwyn and Rowyn's input on reviews. I type word for word what they express to me. Sometimes Gwyn will even do a Vlog on a product.
5) It's a great way for our family to earn a little bit of money. Many of the companies I review for also have affiliate accounts. So I can put my affiliate links in my reviews and earn a little bit of a commission if my readers choose to make a purchase.
6) It's a way to bless another family with FREE products. Often times the companies I work with will allow me to host a giveaway. I love how excited people are when they found out that they won.
7) Writing is an outlet and hobby for me. I enjoy blogging very much and by having a line up of products to review I never have to worry about not having something to blog about.

Why I enjoy reading reviews:
8) I like to stay up do date with the newest, latest and greatest curriculum, toys, games etc.
9) I like entering giveaways. Entering giveaways takes only a few minutes and if you are lucky enough to win you can get some great things. Last year (and this year too) the majority of our kids Christmas presents are items I won through giveaways.
10) I like to find more great potential companies to work with.

To browse through all of our reviews click here.

Thanks for stopping by!

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with:
Top Ten Tuesday

RoseArt Scraps Review and Giveaway

 

There's am urban legend about characters that exist,

They are fuzzy, magical and hard to resist.....

Scraps which are Gwyns NEW favorite item from RoseArt are plush toys where you can mix and match parts to create your own custom Scrap. She couldn't RESIST tearing open the package and dress her new nighttime buddy Denver. Each scrap comes with detachable accessories, legs and faces. As well as an adorable mystery Pom Pal too. Scraps are recommended for ages 5 and up. They are great for helping children work on fine motor skills since they are assembled using buttons, loops and ties. Gwyn thought it was super cool that she could attached her Scrap Denver to her pajama shirt. You can learn more about the Scraps on their website.

   
There are currently 12 adorable Scraps toys:

*more coming next year
 
Gwyns review (6 yrs old):

Gwyn likes Scraps so much she decided make a vlog review to share with you. I know its a little long but she worked very hard and I know she will be super excited if you watch it. 


Links to follow:
-Scraps Website
-RoseArt Facebook
-RoseArt Twitter
-RoseArt Pinterest

Where to buy:Retail price is $9.99 and they are available at Target, Kmart and Toys R Us. Scraps makes a fabulous gift for any birthday or holiday.
 

Now time for the giveaway:  

Rose Art has graciously offered to let me host a giveaway. 3 separate winners will be chosen and each will receive a Scraps Prize Pack. Only the first entry is mandatory. Other entries are optional and give you extra chances. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. The winners will be posted on the blog and will be emailed. Winners must reply within 48 hrs with their contact information or another winner will be chosen. Prizes will be mailed by Rose Art. Giveaway is only open to US Residents.

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*Disclaimer - I received a Scraps in return for my honest review. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Samson's Classroom Review - Reading and Spelling Online Learning

Samson's Classroom is an engaging online learning program great for children in Kindergarten - 5th grade. There are three areas of learning that Samson's Classroom focuses on three core building blocks: sight words, spelling and reading comprehension. 

A moms review: 

Meet Samson (below) the adorable dog who guides children on a learning adventure. Samson is lots of fun to learn with because he is silly, encouraging and engaging. 
 

Getting started with Samson's Classroom was very easy especially since there are several helpful videos to get you started. We received a family subscription so I was able to set up two accounts one for Gwyn (age 6) and one for Rowyn (age 5). And I also have my own teacher/parent account. However only Gwyn ended up utilizing the program because Rowyn found it too difficult since he is still working on mastering the alphabet and only just starting to learn some words. 

Gwyn enjoyed being on Samson's Classroom and found it very fun but she was really only able to utilize the Sight Words portion of the program on her own. The Spelling portion she found too difficult and the Reading portion she needed me to read to her. She really liked having her own account where she could easily log into the desired learning area she wanted to work on as well as view her own scores. She found navigating between each learning area, step, list, level, etc very easy. To encourage children to continue learning there are several award systems in place like: Belt Color advancement for achieving Stars (children obtain stars by getting 5 green checks on each list). Printable certificates which pop up after successful completion of each list step. And printable level certificates which can be printed here. Samson's classroom is very consistence and uses the same learning games throughout each learning area so children will always know what to expect.

It is so wonderful to have a separate teacher/parent account. I am able to log in and see each child's progress and scores on each learning area. There is also a fabulous spelling list creator. There are 5,000 words in the Samon's database (if you wish to add a word that is not in the database you will be prompted to send a request for it to be added in a future upgrade. This is necessary because words are spoken and spelled throughout the various games). We have a reading and spelling curriculum that we absolutely love but Samson Classroom was a great supplement on days we weren't able to get to our curriculum. With the spelling list creation function I was able to go in and create lists specifically for the words we are currently learning with our curriculum. I also was able to create lists of vocab words to go along with our unit studies. 

 

Are you ready for a breakdown of each learning area in Samson's Classroom along with our thoughts? 

 

Sight Words:
As indicated above this is the section that we used the most. There are 5 great activities for each list of words. I really liked that there was an option to "hear again." Gwyn is still working on her memorization skills and it takes her brain awhile to compute what she just heard so having the "hear again" feature really helped her not get frustrated and angry. There are 4 levels all together each containing 7 lists...that's 28 lists in all. Yup hours of fun!

1) Learn Words -  For each list children will learn 8 sight words. The words are spoken, spelled and used in a sentence.
2) Build Words - In this game children pick letter tiles to spell each word.
3) Identify Words - In this game children select the correct spoken word.
4) Spell Words - In this game children spell the words with alphabet letter tiles.
5) Missing Words - In this treasure chest game children select the correct word to complete the sentence. Words with similar sounds and spellings are used to make children really think about their choice.  This game may be frustrating for children with dyslexia.

 

Spelling:
Gwyn found 2 of the 3 games too hard in this section and was getting very frustrated. The time limit was too quick on one of the games and the other had difficult controls. So for this section of Samson's Classroom I just encouraged her to go through the Spelling List and Missing Letters game. Again you can either choose to use the supplied sight word lists (there are word family lists, grade specific lists, sight word lists and more) or you can create your own. Gwyn did much better with the lists I created since they were words she definitely knew.

1) Spelling List - Children go through the list and click on each of the words. For each word they can hear the word, listen to the word in a sentence and have the word spelled. 
2) Missing Letters - This was Gwyns favorite game. Children hear a sentence and then find the missing letter (s) to correctly spell the word. Samson karate chops the board in half if the child selects the correct letter (s). If they are wrong the board doesn't break and he hurts his hand. 
3) Spelling Scramble - This was one of Gwyns least favorite games. The controls were very difficult for her and she began yelling at the screen. I tried to help her and also became frustrated. The game uses the left and right arrow keys only and the object is to collect the letters and then use them to spell the words. Apparently the game uses Samson's perspective view which is a hard concept for children (and even some adults) to understand. Samson's Classroom did indicate to some other TOS Reviewers that they are trying to work on a "fix" for this game.
4) Crunch Time - Gwyn didn't even make it past one word on this game. Children are initially given about 10 seconds to type the spoken word correctly in the blank space. If the child doesn't complete the word the Walrus eats the iceberg and Samon falls into the water. More time is given though for remaining tryies if students don't break down in tears after the first attempt. This is a difficult game for children who don't do well with thinking fast and time limits. I do like that it incorporates typing skills though.

Reading:
There are four levels of reading in this learning area. Because this section is for developing reading comprehension it is not auditory.  There are fiction and non-fiction passages that can be read and students can pick and choose what passage they wish to read. I am a BIG advocate of reading comprehension and we actually do it with our primary reading curriculum. Neither of my kids is reading completely on their own especially passages this large so I read it to them and then read the comprehension questions and answers and let them answer. The comprehension questions (there are about 7 in each passage) are wonderful and cover lots of details like feelings, colors, word meanings, numbers, purpose of story, etc. If a question is answered wrong children may try a second time. The second time the paragraph where the answer can be found is highlighted in red so the child can easily re-read to find the answer. When children master a passage they earn Hammer Time Swings to play Hammer Time a fun arcade game. If a child wishes to go back through a particular passage that they did not obtain a 100% score on parent may clear the score from the teacher/parent account.

Need more information? Read 10 Reasons To Purchase A Samson Classroom Subscription. You can also try a DEMO of Samon's Classroom. There is also a very good, short  video demo.

FREE stuff:
Samson's classroom even has some GREAT freebies like lesson plans, worksheets and articles. Both children really enjoyed the worksheets and sight word printable games.

Wrap up:
Samson's Classroom is a great supplement to our current reading and spelling curriculum. It was a fun way for Gwyn to work on her reading skills on days we were on the go, didn't have time to do our curriculum, etc. We will definitely continue using portions of Samson's Classroom. Because of the great auditory instructions Samson's Classroom is great for all 3 learning styles. I loved the consistency and ease of use throughout Samson's Classroom. The price for a subscription is very reasonable but I do recommend you check out the demos especially if you have a beginner reader because the program may be too difficult.

Gwyns review (6 yrs old):

I liked learning the words but the games were too hard for spelling. I like Samson he is cute and funny.

Links to follow:
-Samsons Classroom Website
-Samsons Classroom Facebook
-Samsons Classroom Twitter

Where to buy:
There are several pricing options: Home Plan (1 user) $30 per year, Family Plan (2-4 users) $50 per year, Classroom Plan (5-30 users) $80 per year and more.

Click here for more Samson's Classroom reviews from the The Schoolhouse Review Crew.

*Disclaimer - As part of the TOS Review Crew I received a 1 year subscription to Samson's Classroom in return for my honest review. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Incredible 2012 Voting Experience

I is for an Incredible Voting Experience.

It is such an important election year, even though I am sure you didn't need me to tell you that. Fulton County, Georgia offers Saturday family voting days which allows parents the opportunity to teach Americas youngest citizens about the election process. There were all sorts of fun patriotic goodies for the kids like pencils, activity booklets, crayons, bracelets and temporary tattoos. The kids even got to cast an electronic ballot in a mock election where they voted for their favorite cartoon characters, favorite patriotic color (red, white or blue) and even some major issues like should recess stop being offered at school and should students be required to wear school uniforms. Of course since we homeschool Gwyns reply to the last two questions was "NO". Because she likes playing outside and well PJs are always the clothing of choice when we don't have plans to go anywhere. Fulton County offered family voting day at 6 locations.

Another exciting thing occurred while voting, WE MADE THE NEWS!!!! Yup channel 2 WSB-TV was there and they got a shot of Gwyn casting her mock ballot and then interviewed me! You can watch it here or click on the picture below either way you will end up on WSB-TV's website to watch the video our part is close to the end. Of course I mentioned we homeschooled but that was cut : (

The day before I had mentioned to the kids (while driving daddy to work) that they were going to vote with us and then it began the moment I had been waiting for the kids showed interest in the Presidential Election and started asking TONS of questions. Up until then I had mentioned it a few times but they showed no interest. And I figured they were probably just too young to really dive into learning about the election process this time around. But after answering questions, explaining the process, why we vote, etc they were ready to go vote for Romney and quite bummed when I told them they had to be 18 years old to vote. When we got home I got out the Learn Our History Election Day DVD and put it in for the kids to watch! This is a FABULOUS DVD and if you're a new customer you can get it FREE just pay shipping and handling. *To get the FREE offer you will be registered in a program where you receive a regular priced DVD each month...but you can cancel at anytime. Even immediately after you receive the FREE DVD if you wish. I love how the DVD covers the election process and the history of why the USA implemented Presidential elections  It even touches on how women and African Americans could not vote at first.

So this week we will probably be heading to the library to check out some books on voting, elections, Presidents, etc.

Here are some books I plan to get (some we actually read earlier this year but I am sure the kids won't mind reading them again):
-If I Ran For President
-Duck For President
-Vote
-The Election Book: The People Pick a President 
-Today on Election Day
-If I Were President
-Grace for President
-Voting

And we will probably use a few of these FREE resources:
-2012 Election Teacher Resource Center - Pearson Education
-Election Day Lapbook from Homeschool Share
-Time for Kids - Election 2012 - lots of great resources, videos by kid reporters and more
-Scholastic - Election 2012 - games, printables, videos by kid reporters and more
-Free Election Unit Study from Build Your Library
-Schoolhouse Rock: Electoral College - YouTube - there are several others from Schoolhouse Rock as well so make sure you browse the channel
-How The President Is Elected from Enchanted Learning
-Make Your Own Election Book from Education.com - also be sure to check all the voting worksheets here too

We already have these hanging up in our homeschool room so snag yours now:
-Order a C-SPAN 2012 Electoral College Map Poster and other Special Offers FREE from C-SPAN Classroom
-Order a How to Become President of the U.S. Poster FREE from Kids.gov

Be sure to GET OUT and VOTE and take your kids along too!


*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with 3 Boys and a Dog, Educating Laytons, Ben and Me, Slowly Natural, Upside Down Homeschooling, I Can Teach My Child, Adventures in Mommydom, A Little R & R, JDaniels4Mom, The Momma Knows, Look What We Did, All Boy Homeschool, 1+1+1=1

FreeBEE Friday - Halloween and Fall Resources

Jen, from Gricefully Homeschooling, and I team up, every Friday, to bring you a list of freebees...on both of our blogs.

PLUS...with the added bonus of this being a weekly link up...where you can showcase your freebies, things you've found online, and also, things you've received in the mail, totally FREE in the last week...or so. 

FreeBEEs:

If you have homeschool FreeBEEs to share
please link up at the bottom of this post!
You can copy the button from my right side bar.

FreeBEEs:
Its been another busy week and I forgot it was the end of the week until Jen sent me a text. So this post is going to be another short post. Since Halloween is next week I am going to share a few fun Halloween/Fall activities, apps and eBooks. We do get dressed up and go trick or treating on Halloween. If you don't though I completely understand and am sure you are still having lots of Fall Fun!

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

H is for Halloween and Harvest Fun
-Printable Jack-O-Lantern craft
-Witches' Brew Android app game FREE right now
-Pumpkin dip recipe
-Currclick FREE or nearly FREE resources for Fall and Halloween: Franken-Blubber (science, literacy and craftivity), Take Me Home (pencil toppers, bookmarks and cards), Spooktacular Letters, Christian Fall Decorations for Young Children, Fall's Colorful Leaves (recorded class), Halloween Coloring Book

-Free eBook Book of Halloween
-Unique Fall centerpiece perfect for book lovers
-Have fun carving a pumpkin without the mess with this cool virtual carving game by BHG - you can also print your stencil when you are done
-Also from BHG find your perfect pumpkin stencil by taking a quick quiz

This year the kids decided to go as Myth Girl and Grant Man from episode 86 of MythBusters.

-Do it yourself - 39 last minute costumes ideas - We always make our own costumes. It is so much fun and best of all since we use stuff we already have on hand our costumes are virtually FREE. I think the most I have spent on costumes is $10 and that was for both kids.
-Halloween Rhyme Worksheet

-This Saturday Lowes is having their FREE Build and Grow Clinic - kids get to make a fun wooden monster project
-One of our most favorite resources is this pumpkin observation worksheet from Two Teaching Mommies
-Pumpkin Life Cycle worksheet

-Fun Fall leaf craft
-QR code Fall scavenger hunt w/giveaway (3 days left to enter)
-Lots of Autumn/Fall printables

I hope you find these resources useful. If you ever have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me. Also be sure to follow my FB page where I post FreeBEEs daily.

Link up: FreeBEE Fridays with Kathy's Cluttered Mind and Gricefully Homeschooling

Remember when it comes to FREE resources the internet and a good search engine are your best friend.

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with 3 Boys and a Dog, Ben and Me,

Wildlife Wednesday Giveaway

In support of the new Wildlife Wednesday  group created by Creation Conversations of Master Books/NLPG - we are having a GREAT giveaway. It is no secret that we love Master Books and use their books throughout our homeschool journey.

In case you missed it:
Wildlife Wednesday is brand new. Adventurez 'N' Child Rearing and I will be sharing posts about how to get out and explore creation with your kids - wildlife posts - nature studies and more! Exploring creation with your family can be a lot of fun and is a fabulous way for your children to learn more about the fabulous World God has created for us. 

Ongoing link up:
If you would like to share your nature posts - there is a brand new- on going Linky here where you can link up to share ideas and encourage other homeschool families.

We'd love it if you picked up a Wildlife Wednesday badge to help spread the word. Grab one here or from the Wildlife Wednesday site:
 

Grab a Wildlife Wednesday badge for your blog/website: Copy and paste the graphic below -

Or grab the html code below - <center><a href="http://www.creationconversations.com/group/wildlife-wednesdays" target="_blank"><img alt="Wildlife Wednesdays" src="http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h453/kbalman/Wildlife1.jpg" height='125' width='125' border='0' /></a></center>

Giveaway:
Each month Wildlife Wednesday will host a great giveaway for you to enter. Prizes will include fabulous wildlife and creation resources from Master Books. Giveaways will be updated each month on the Wildlife Wednesday Giveaway Page.

For November we will be giving away a copy of Marvels of Creation - Magnificent Mammals.

Did You Know?

• A camel can go without water 10 times longer than a human.
• A cheetah can run up to 70 miles an hour.
• 25,000 sharp-pointed quills cover the porcupine.
• It's two feet long and weighs 132 pounds the heart of a giraffe.

What an incredible design these animals have! The Master Creator made such wonderful and beautiful animals for our enjoyment! Children and adults both will delight in this illustrated guide to animals of the world. Filled with spectacular photographs and "creature classifications" - it is great for any home or school library.

And God created every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:21).

Now for the giveaway:
Only the first entry is mandatory. Other entries are optional and give you extra chances. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. The winner will be emailed and posted on the Wildlife Wednesdays group page.

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*Disclaimer - As part of Wildlife Wednesdays I may receive free books in return for mentions in posts and reviews. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Deals and Steals - Lots Of Great Discount Codes To $ave You Money

Passing along some great deals I have found. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom for a some great FREE stuff.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We had a blast last year celebrating Christmas and learning about the "REAL" reason for the season with the Truth in The Tinsel advent. I highly suggest you check it out especially since I have a great coupon code to share with you. Use the code CLUTTERED at checkout for 20% off! Read some of our post from last year to see how much fun we had. Get prepared NOW there are only 37 days until its time to start your advent.

Use discount code KBALMAN2 to get Spanish Empire library for free ($19.99) with the purchase of any curriculum (5 choices: Young Readers, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, British Middle Ages, and British Empire; each $24.99). Offer valid through October 31st.

Get your tickets to Teach Them Diligently now through November 6th and receive a 6 month subscription to World Magazine.

 

Unit Studies offers AWESOME specials each week. Right now you can get the Thanksgiving unit study for $6 and the Elections unit study for $6. The American Government library (5 unit studies) is only $25.

There are several great sales on lapbooks at A Journey Through Learning. Right now get the new Elections lapbook for only $5. And also right now you can get the Earth instant download lapbook for a discounted price of $8 (ends 11/9). Use code earth8 at checkout.

Now through 10/30 get 6 months FREE at Reading Eggs.

Receive 6 months FREE when you purchase a 6 month subscription to Reading Eggs. Purchase a 6 month subscription for $49.95 – that’s 12 months access for only 97c per week! 

To claim this offer TODAY, simply:

1. Login to www.readingeggs.com/login
2. Enter FAM45DAY in the ‘Have a Promo Code?’ field on the right hand side.
3. Click ‘Purchase Reading Eggs’ tab and select ‘6 Months Subscription’ – then follow the prompts.

Remember there are BIG savings and FreeBees on thousands of fantastic curriculum choices at Currclick.

We Choose Virtues is having several sales right now here are all the PROMO CODES (remember, only one code per order)

-All King James Version options are being offered at SPECIAL introductory prices!

-All cards are 20% off with CARDS20, and as always

-15% off your cart with VIRTUE15

Bright Ideas Press is having some great specials now on curriculum. Here are all the great deals you can snag right now. 

-October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Pastors and Missionaries enjoy 15% off your entire order the entire month of October. Use the code GOODANDFAITHFUL at checkout.
-The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28,1886. Enjoy 15% off anything All American History when you use the code LIBERTY. Valid 10/28/12 - 10/29/12.

Get Family Time Fitness for your homeschool PE curriculum here is a code that will get you 20% off the already reduced prices KCM20 (exp 10/31/2012). Read more about Family Time Fitness this blog post I wrote earlier this year. Also be sure to read these great articles:  

-Is there a difference between PE and playtime?
-Five ways Physical Education improves a child's school day
-Is your family physically literate?
-Why physical education is best at home

Use coupon code KUBSAVE at check out to save a min. of 20% on A+ Math.

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with:
Top Ten Tuesday