Enjoying the Chaos

We love to read books. Well all but Little J he would still prefer to be read too. He also loves getting mail so he was very excited to receive two new books in the mail from Kinder Cottage Publishing . We were sent two of their Peter Rabbit books to review and I couldn't have been happier. Who are  Kinder Cottage Publishing I hear you ask. To read more about how they started you can click  here . Basically a Mom and Dad (Howard and Ann) started the company in 2012 to ensure that their children (and ours) can be educated with the best books available. I let Little J choose what titles he wanted to review, and he was very pleased to find out he had gotten the ones he wanted out of the set of 10. He chose number 2 Peter Rabbit at the Farm and number 4 How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea . The books themselves are a very nice shiny hard back and each set of pages has one side that has a really nice picture on it. I think everyone has read these books to Little J. He i...

My kids LOVE Chess, so when I was given a chance to review the Starter Chess Learning Kit from Chess House I jumped at the chance. My kids jumped too - up and down like crazy when I told them. Jam already has a chess set that he bought with his own money. My husband has a really nice chess set too, so Boo claimed this one as soon as it came in the door. We received everything that is shown in the picture above. Elliott's Chess School #1 PAWN Level on DVD An odor free roll-able chess board A full plastic chess set (with two Queens). (Boo loves these large pieces - she says it's easier to focus than with a tiny set). A handy carrying bag that fits everything (we got the dark green color showed in the picture.) The set retails for $39.95 plus shipping and is suitable for ages 4 and up! Jam and Boo get really excited when they get to play chess. They were ecstatic when we were on vacation and the house we were renting had a huge chess set. Jam challenged ever...

Little J loves coloring and activity sheets. I love activities that help him learn - without him realizing he is. That's just what we found in the Fundanoodle books. I was so excited to get this review and so was Little J. You can tell by his face how excited he is with his creation. These books have been used daily by Little J and his tracing shapes has really improved. He has gained a lot more control over his pencil. We received two different books; I can do Math Level 2  $5.99 ( Age 4-5 Pre K - K) Out of the two books this was Little J's least favorite, we still had fun with it though. I like the way that it helps reinforce counting, numbers, and writing. It also covers concepts like less than/greater than and sets. Some of the examples of his handwriting. A lot of the time the level of concentration makes a HUGE difference with the outcome. We find '5' particularly hard. Little J liked what he called the 'fun pages' better. I lik...

When I was offered to review  Homeschool Spanish Academy I was SO excited. Homeschool Spanish Academy has been so much fun. We have been having lessons with Luisa from Guatemala. You can even sign up for a free trial here. I promise you won't be disappointed. We used the Early Language Program that costs $59.99 for half a semester (1 class a week for 7 weeks), $99.99 (1 class a week for 15 weeks), $104.99 for half a semester (2 classes a week for 7 weeks), $174.99 (2 class a week for 15 weeks). You can check out the details here . Home school Spanish Academy is an online Spanish program classes are taken via the Internet using Skype. You choose your instructor and the date and time, and after a quick call from tech support to make things run as smooth as possible for your first lesson you are good to go. There are a few technical requirements. * You need a Internet connection (Fast enough to video chat - there is a minimum requirement however they can help you with t...

Jam loves history, especially American History. We have also been using some lapbook products from Hands of a Child . So when we were asked if we wanted to try a NotePack I was very interested. Jam loved the NotePack for  Battle of the Alamo from Hands of a Child.    We have done a lot of Lap books before so I was very interested in the NotePacks and the fact that they were for an older age group. This NotePack is designed for grades 7-12. Jam actually worked on this all by himself. The pack includes a 6-day Planning Guide, Related Reading List, 16 Hands-On Activities, a 9-page Research Guide, and an Answer Key. Jam loved it, and commented that he did prefer it over the regular Lap books we have done before. It was a case of "I think I am too old for all the cutting and pasting."  Jam already knew quite a lot about the Alamo as he is a history buff and seems to remember anything historical he reads. However in this pack it covers the event...

Little J was recently given the opportunity to review a brilliant online reading program called Reading Kingdom . Reading Kingdom is a fun easy, to use reading program suitable for ages 4-10 to help them learn to read to a third grade level. The program uses Dr. Marion Blank's patented "6-SIM" Six Skill Integrated Method that teaches all the reading and writing skills in an integrated fashion so that they complement and reinforce each other while fostering comprehension at every level. The program is designed for children to use with very limited assistance. Little J loved that from the very first day he could use this program by himself. While using the program Little J had the choice of using the online click and point keyboard or the actual keyboard on my laptop. We tried it both ways but Little J preferred the real keyboard. There is also an option to increase the time allowed for the child to answer. We had to do this for Little J because al...