TOS Crew: Reading Eggs

 

We were given the opportunity to try out an online reading program called Reading Eggs for the TOS Crew.  Reading Eggs was created by a team of educational teachers, writers and developers.  It is a phonetic based program, that also teaches sight words.  The lessons are taught through games, animation, song and golden eggs.

So far, Reading Eggs has about 100 Phonetic Lessons that are geared toward pre-readers aged 4-7.  Reading Eggs is also creating new lessons for their older users in the 6-8 year range, these lessons will include reading, writing, comprehension as well as spelling.

Reading Eggs is available online through subscription.  There are 3 Subscription Choices available:
Month to Month - $9.95
6 Month Subscription - $49.95
12 Months Subscription - $75.00

The subscription prices are per child.  If you purchase either the 6 or 12 month subscriptions your 2nd or 3rd child can get a 50% Family Discount. 

Ok, now you are probably wondering what we thought of Reading Eggs.  Well, to be honest, I really hoped that my boys (3 &5) would dig this program.  It is cute, it is colorful, it looked like oodles of fun AND on top of all of this it taught phonics.  What's not to love right?  For some reason my 5 year old kindergartner did not like this program and he normally loves computer games.  He currently plays another phonics game online like every day.  I just couldn't get him to really play Reading Eggs.  did have him give it another try today just to see if maybe something had changed.  I gave the game a break and them got him to try it again.  At first he was really into the game and then he seemed to get a little frustrated, the game had him repeat several things over and over.  These were not things that he previously answered wrong, I don't really know what had happened.


I feel like Reading Eggs is very repetitious, especially in the beginning, which I totally understand.  My son on the other hand, not so much.  I think that his first impression was that the game was a little boring.  In all fairness, I think he would have enjoyed it more if he would have stuck with it and got to another level.  He was so unhappy with it though that I didn't push it.

My 3 year old on the other hand loved it.  I sat with him a few times and we played.  He would probably sit and play Reading Eggs all day long if I let him.  He didn't mind the repetition one little bit.  He also loved the Ant character that taught the letters.

I did think that this was a cute program, and could be helpful as a supplemental thing.  I am not sure at this point that I would use it as my sole phonics curriculum, but it may be perfect for another family. 

If you would like to give Reading Eggs a try, they offer a trial version. 


We received a free trial of Reading Eggs for review purposes only.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Family Feasts for $75 a Week Review

I am very excited!  I believe I have found a new favorite cook book, yay meee!  I was blessed with a copy of Family Feast for $75 a Week, which was written by blogger mom Mary Ostyn, to review.

So far we have tried several of the recipes in this cookbook and they have ALL been WINNERS!  That is no small feat considering how picky my lovely little crew is. 

I love that Mary is a mom just like me, well almost like me - she has 6 more kids than I do.  I feel like the more kids you have the better cook you are : )  Being a stay home mom of many Mary has learned many tricks to pinch pennies and cut hundreds from her food bill each month.   

In the begin of Family Feasts, Mary shares her frugal wisdom, as well as many of her kitchen secrets to cut down on food costs and time spent in the kitchen.  I especially like her chapter on Menu Planning! 

Here are the chapters in Family Feasts for $75 a Month:

1. What Would You Do with an Extra $100 a Month?
2. Come Shopping with Me?
3. Guerrilla Shopping
4. Efficient Cooking, Good Eating
5. Breakfast & Lunch
6. Casseroles & Oven Meals
7. Stir-fries & Skillet Meals
8. Perfect Pasta
9. Soups, Stews & Chili's
10. Sides & Salads
11. Breads, Muffins & Desserts
12. Entertaining on a Budget
13. The Homemade Pantry
14. Metric Charts

Now for the mouth watering part of my little review, here are the recipes that we have already had and LOVED:

• Eggy Breakfast Muffins - The Lil Chef made these.  She doubled them so that some could be eaten and some frozen to eat later.
• Easy Pizza Rolls - These were pretty amazing!  Have you ever had cream cheese and pepperoni together?  If not, you are totally missing out.  I promise!
• Chicken Pot Pie with Cheesie Biscuit Topping - I think the title alone says it all!
• Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore - As you know, anything with slow cooker is right up my alley.  This was a yummy little comfort food dinner that everyone enjoyed.
• Chili Corn Pone Pie - I frequently write in my cookbooks because I can and because I am forgetful.  I will always write yuck next a recipe that is, well yucky.  Next to this recipe I have written, "Excellent1 Enjoyed by Everyone!" 
• Mexican Tortilla Skillet - This might be my new favorite meal ever!  It is totally company worthy and it's super easy.  It reminds me of the Taco Bake but much better!
• Baked Ziti Casserole - YUM-MEE!

Mouth watering yet??  Mine is : )  We have several other recipes on our Menu Plan for the week that I am sure will just add to my love for this cookbook. 

You can get your own fabulous copy of Family Feasts for $75 a Week right from Amazon, which is currently on sale for around $11.50 (with free super saver shipping I might add). 

I can given a free copy of Family Feast for $75 a Week for review purposes only.  I was not compensated in any way for my opinions.  The opinions expressed in this review are truly mine. 

Menu Plan 2/27/12

I am trying to get back on track and post more faithfully.  Life is just busy, isn't it?!   I usually do have a Menu Plan hanging on my fridge, it just doesn't always make it's way to my blog : )

I have really, REALLY been enjoying a new cookbook lately.  I will be posting a review about it's wonderfulness tomorrow.  Several of the meals that we are making this week are from my new favorite cookbook.  Be sure to check back tomorrow to check it out.   This is about the time the during our read alouds that my oldest would say, "Mom, that is a total cliff hanger!  You can't do that to us!"  Like I tell her, "Yes deary it is, you are just going to have to wait until tomorrow." 

On with the Menu...

Monday
Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs, Fruit and Toast
Lunch - Grilled Cheese, Apple & Carrot Slices
Dinner - Baked Ziti Casserole, Green Beans

Tuesday
Breakfast - Baked Oatmeal w/ Fruit

Lunch - PB & Honey Sandwiches, Baby Cucumbers and Oranges
Dinner - Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday
Breakfast - Baked French Toast topped with Bananas

Lunch - Chicken Salad on Crackers, Celery Sticks
Dinner - Spinach-Cheddar Quiche w/ Salad and Steamed Spinach

Thursday
Breakfast - Peanut Butter on Toast w/ Fruit Smoothies
Lunch - Mac & Cheese Shells, Fruit
Dinner - Beef Stroganoff, Mixed Veggies

Friday
Breakfast - Waffles, Fruit
Lunch - Mini Tuna Pitas, Carrot Sticks and Apple Slices
Dinner - Easy Pizza Rolls and Sliced Cantaloupe

Saturday
Breakfast - Oatmeal, Fruit
Lunch - Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Oranges
Dinner - Spaghetti, Salad, Bread

Sunday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch & Dinner - Left Overs

Desserts
Easy Apple Turnovers
Homemade Vanilla Pudding

(All of the Meals in Bold Print are recipes from the new cookbook I am reviewing)

TOS Crew: Who Am I? by Apologia

Let me just start out by saying that I love Apologia.  I have used and read several of their products and not once have I been disappointed.

So we were very excited to find out that we were going to be reviewing for Apologia again.  We received the "Who Am I?" book from Apologia's "What We Believe" series.  Along with the book we also received the "Who Am I?" Audio CD, Notebooking Journal and Coloring book.

The "What We Believe" series was created when Apologia teamed up with Summit Ministries to create a family friendly apologetics series to teach our children the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith.  This series is directed towards families with children aged 6-14. 

Like the Apologia science series, the books in the "What We Believe" series books are hardbound and have wonderful pictures inside.   

 

 

The Lessons in the "Who Am I?" book are:

1. What are we doing here?
2. What will you make today?
3. What's on your mind?
4. Can you trust your feelings?
5. Will you choose wisely?
6. How will you run the race?
7. What kind of fruit are you growing?
8. Who do you think you are?

Each lesson is about 30-40 pages long and is broken down into about 15 or so very manageable parts.  There are very specific instructions in the front of the book as to how they suggest you go about teaching the lessons.  I really appreciated them laying out a structure for me.  They also have made the lessons very flexible to meets the needs of individual families. 

The lessons are structured so that they each give a main idea, learning objectives, a short story (we really like these), thought provoking questions, vocabulary words, memory verses, character traits to follow, prayer suggestions and discussion questions.  These lessons are spread out through several sessions. 

Apologia has a sample lesson, as well as the table of contents, for the "Who Am I"? book available for viewing, right on the Apologia website.

The "What We Believe" Series consists of 4 books:

•  Volume 1 - Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?) which focuses on Biblical Worldview of God and Truth 
• Volume 2 - Who Am I? (And What Am I Doing Here?) which focuses on Biblical Worldview of Self-Image 
• Volume 3 - Who Is My Neighbor? (And Why Does He Need Me?) which focuses on Biblical Worldview of Servanthood
• Volume 4 - What On Earth Can I Do? which focuses on Biblical Worldview of Stewardship and available Later in 2012

"Who Am I" is actually the second book in the series that we have.  We also have the "Who Is God?" book, coloring book and notebooking journal.  After listening to the Audio CD for this book, I had to order the 1st CD as well.  Lord willing, I plan on getting the entire series.

I love that we can sit and listen to the Audio CD, the narrator has a nice soothing voice that is very pleasant to listen to.  I feel like I am always reading to the kids, which I love to do, but it is nice for mom to be able to just sit and listen too!

The Notebooking Journals and Coloring Books are awesome too!  The Notebooking Journals have so many awesome things in there, they are so cool I think I want one for ME!  There are questions to answer, cross word puzzles, places to copy scripture, lots of spots for writing your own thoughts down and mini books too.  The mini book pieces are in the back of the book that can be pulled out, created and glued into their appropriate spots - VERY COOL! 

You would think that the coloring book is just for my little guys but that is not so, my girls love to color as well.  All of my children (AGES 3-11) can use the coloring book but I feel that the Notebooking Journal is definitely for my girls (3rd and 6th graders).

I love the "What We Believe" series and I really think you will too!  It is a great family teaching tool.  A wonderful investment that your family will truly benefit from.   

You can purchase your own "Who Am I?" book, as well as other materials from the "What We Believe" series, directly through Apologia.  The "Who Am I?" prices are as follows:

• "Who Am I?" Book   39.00
• Audio CD  $19.00
• Journaling Notebook $24.00
• Coloring Book $8.00 

We were given the "Who Am I?" book, audio cd, notebooking journal and coloring book for review purposes only.  Please know that the opinions stated here are my own and I was not in any way persuaded by the company or the free product.

TOS Crew: Math Rider

We love us a good math facts game, especially one of the computer variety!  That is exactly what Math Rider is, a computer oriented math facts game.  BUT there is more....  Math Rider is a fun math game for kids that allows them to practice their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts while not being bored to death in the process! 

My girls really truly loved this game from day one.  I do not have to even say "go do your math drills," because usually they have already done them. 

 My oldest daughter, The Lil' Chef, really likes the idea of being timed.  She likes that Math Rider times her and keeps score for her, so that she can try to beat those scores the next time she plays.  She also likes that Math Rider shows her progress in mastery.  She likes to know that she has mastered 86% of her multiplication problems and 84% of her division.  This is helpful for mom to know too!  ; )

My younger daughter, Computer Girl, likes that Math Rider is cute, colorful and revolves around a story.  Computer Girl enjoys riding through the Land of Ray {as she completes her math facts} with her trusty horse Shadow in a race to rescue the Princess Fairblossom from the evil king!  She likes that she can see how far she has to go to reach the castle {master her facts}. 

As Mom, I like that they are enjoying Math Rider as well as learning their facts {WHOO HOO!} I really LOVE how Math Rider keeps track of all the statics for me.  Every so often I can check in to see what facts the girls have mastered, what facts they most struggle with as well as see their learning progression since they started.  These are all nice things that Math Rider does for busy moms like me. 

On the more technical side of Math Rider, is was created with gaming intelligence.  The Math Rider explains it better than me...

"While the rider is playing, the game learns what the rider knows and what he or she still needs to practice. Every single response (or non-response) is stored in an internal database and statistically analysed by the software. In this way the program is able to custom-tailor to each rider, which questions are asked next. No repetitive drilling of random number facts the rider already knows – but real practice of what actually needs to be practiced!"

 

Math Rider would be great to incorporate into your homeschooling as a math drill game or even for non homeschoolers who's children just need to brush up on their math facts!  Either way, my recommendation is for you to burn, bury or giveaway your flashcards and get Math Rider! You will not be disappointed! {and neither will your kids}

Math Rider is available for instant download for $47.00 but is on SALE for $37.00 up until February 15, 2012.  There is a 30 day money back guarantee if for some reason you are not satisfied. 

If you are still convinced that Math Rider would work for your kiddos please feel to check out their 7 Day Free Trial!

Please check out what others on the TOS Crew are saying about Math Rider!

We were given a trial version of Math Rider to try out for review purposes only.  I was not paid in any way for my opinions, they are indeed mine.