Mama Jenn is one of my wonderful blogging buddies and I am SO excited to share a learning tool that she has put together that is hands-on and makes learning FUN for kids! While Jenn was trying to find some dice for her daughter with the numbers 5 through 10 on them to use for a math assignment, she looked around and found some photo stacking cubes that she could repurpose. That one need started her thinking about what else she could do with the cubes and she began creating different learning inserts to fit inside…and Education Cubes were born!

Once you join the Education Cubes Members Only site {on special for $10 until the end of January 2011}, you will have access to over 100 sets of insert cards for the photo stacking cubes as well as any cards that are added after you join!

Here’s a peek at what she has already added to the site:

• Early Learning: Alphabet, Calendar, Colors, (Numbers & Shapes coming soon)
• Language Arts: Alphabet, Dolch Site Words, Word Families (SWR Spelling coming soon)
• Math: Addition, Subtraction, Measurement, Numbers, Ordinal & Roman Numerals, (Multiplication, Division and Shapes are coming soon)
• Science: Earth Science (Biology & Chemistry coming soon)
• Geography: US Geography, US History (World Geography & World History coming soon)
• Electives: Bible & Spanish
• Misc: Christmas

Jenn is constantly adding new educational inserts. She recently added inserts to go along with Carisa’s Raising Rock Stars Preschool Program and also with Erica’s Letter of the Week curriculum.

We printed of a bunch of the inserts to use with the kids {and still have more to go!}. The younger two kids and I spent most of the time playing together with the cubes, but it is going to be something that the girls will use more in the near future to practice multiplication, division and more.

Kaleb and I rolled the number cubes back and forth to each other {numbers 1-10 on two cubes  and then he would name the number that was rolled to me.  We also did the same type of game, but with the letters of the alphabet in the photo stacking cubes.

Zachary and I worked with several different sets: Addition {+2, +3, +4}, word families, and also money. With the money, I put the pictures of the coins into two of the photo cubes and then he would roll the cubes and add the money up together and tell me the total.

For the word family cards, I filled one cube with 6 of the different word family cards {the endings} and then the other cube with 6 of the consonant cards. He rolled each one, put them together to make a word, read the word, and then told me if it was a ‘silly’ word or a real word. Below he is reading the words ‘lin’ {a silly word} and ‘rap’ {a real word}.

The boys have loved the hands-on aspect of the cubes and think it’s great that they can throw/roll the cubes as part of school. :) The cubes used with the Education Cubes are soft-sided cubes/dice. If you are wondering WHY that is important, I’ll let you borrow Zachary for 5 seconds so he can drop-kick one in your living room. You will quickly understand the beauty of the soft dice. :)

Don’t forget that the Education Cubes membership is on special for $10 until the end of January 2011, so grab a set of the photo stacking cubes and join in the fun before the special ends!

I was provided product in exchange for my honest opinion and review. All opinions expressed in this review are solely mine.

When The Good Book Company contacted me about looking at some of their devotionals to use with our family, one of the first things that caught my eye were the Beginning with God devotionals they have for preschoolers. Kaleb has been the one that I feel misses out on much of the in-depth things that we do, so it was one of the first things that I requested from them. They also sent me devotionals for different age groups to use with our other kids and overall I am very impressed with their products.

About the Company and Products

Our name says it all: The Good Book Company. We are convinced that authentic Christian experience and ministry always starts and grows with the hearing of God’s Word – the Bible. So we are passionate about putting ‘The Good Book’ to work in people’s lives.

The Good Book Company offers a wide variety of products, but I’d like to introduce you to three specific devotionals for children in the preschool to early teen years. For several of their series they also provide a ‘subscription’ where new issues are mailed to you periodically throughout the year ~ LOVE that idea {especially the mommy-brain part of me}.

Beginning with God {preschool age}

Beginning with God goes along with the Beginner’s Bible and is a simple devotional that helps introduce children to a ‘study’. Each daily devotion is divided up into sections: a main course including the Bible story, an appetizer of an activity before the lesson starts, a snack of a conversation to have with your child, and a ‘make it/munch it’ hands-on activity to remember the story. There is also a Christmas devotional in this series.

Explore the Bible {XTB ~ ages 6-10}

The Explore the Bible devotionals are each 3 month studies full of puzzles, pictures and solid teaching for elementary aged children. These also have companion family devotionals called Table Talk that focus on a few verses from the go-along devotional. The XTB devotionals have 12 books in the series.

 

Discover {ages 10-14}

Each book in the Discover devotional series is a 3 month study of God’s word that includes a Bible passage to read, vocabulary, a prayer, fun facts, and challenges for the daily reading. There are also puzzles and more to keep kids interested. The Discover devotionals are also available in a yearly subscription.

A few more things to love:

• Subscriptions keep you ‘on top’ of things. If you order one of the full year’s subscription to a devotional, they will mail them to you before it starts…so you don’t have to remember to order it.
• LOVE the devotionals that go along with the Beginner’s Bible. Stickers make it a huge hit with little ones, along with hands-on activities such as coloring and suggested go-along activities/tips.
• Great graphics and layout that are appealing to children of all ages ~ appropriate for the children they are targeted toward.
• Wonderful for parents who are looking for a study with ‘structure’  and want something that guides you through the teaching process.

Over the last few weeks, Kaleb has really enjoyed doing the Beginning with God at Christmas book that we’ve been doing together and I am excited to start the new year off using the rest of the Beginning with God series with him after the new year.

Laurianna is in LOVE with her Discover devotional ~ which is exciting for both of us. We had been trying to find something that really ‘fit’ for her personal devotion time and this is exactly what we were looking for!

If you are looking for devotionals that your pre-teen can do independently, searching for something fun to introduce your little one to the Bible, a parent who doesn’t know where to start in doing devotions with your children…you may want to browse around The Good Book website.

As a bonus, The Good Book Company is offering my readers a 25% discount on their first order {good until December 31, 2010} if you use the coupon code hscreations10 during checkout!! With the new year coming up, now is a GREAT time to order some of the subscriptions that they offer so your devotionals will be delivered throughout the year!

was provided product in exchange for my honest opinion and review. All opinions expressed in this review are solely mine.

Ahh Products bean bag chairs have been the biggest hit at our house ~ with everyone {including Daddy}! Since their arrival they have visited every single room of our house and are in constant use.

Initially, I was a little concerned about having a bean bag chair and a certain 6 year old in the same room together, but after seeing the bean bags in person and the quality of them, I have no more concerns! The quality of the construction is solid: double stitched seams, heavy-duty fabric and hidden zippers too! The fabric is a very soft cuddle brown and cuddle blue ~ perfect for keeping you nice and cozy while curled up to read or play a game together.

Or just play in general.

I love that they are easy for the kids to lift and move around the house. When we’re upstairs, they are in the living room for the kids to use as a reading spot or just as a place to rest and relax.

Our basement family room needed a little extra seating, especially for family movie night, and the Ahh Products bean bag chairs have been the perfect solution. The fact that I don’t need to worry about drinks or food spilling and getting the fill wet is a huge bonus!

About the Bean Bags

Each Ahh Products bean bag chair has a removable outer shell that is completely washable. Inside there is a water-repellent liner, so if something is spilled it won’t soak through into the filling. They also have a self-locking zipper to keep curious children from opening up the inside liner and getting into mischief. They can even be refilled or recovered if necessary.You can read full product descriptions here.

The Ahh Products bean bag chairs are something that I can really recommend based on their quality and durability. The covers that we chose bumped the price of each bean bag up a bit, but I can honestly say that they are worth every penny.

Customer service has been exceptional and our bean bags arrived by Fed Ex within a few days of our shipment notification. Our Fed Ex guy was also happy to carry the boxes into the house because they were so light. :) Ahh Prods also has a flat $22 shipping rate, a 365 day no-hassle return policy and they also offer a 10 year warranty on their covers and liners!

If you are looking for a family Christmas gift, an Ahh Products bean bag chair would be something that your whole family could use and enjoy. We have the Premium 37” bean bag as well as a Giant 52” bean bag ~ perfect for two people to cuddle up together in or for a dad to take a Sunday afternoon nap {ahem}. They have a variety of bean bag sizes too so each member of the family can find the right fit.

I was provided product in exchange for my honest opinion and review. All opinions expressed in this review are solely mine.

Our house is littered with dictionaries for the kids ~ all ages and stages. One thing that we didn’t have until recently was a great Bible dictionary for them. A little something that would help them {and maybe me as a mom} find the definition or significance of things in the Bible that they don’t understand.

Because I don’t always have quick answers to their questions about what a denarius is…or what the names of the twelve disciples are. With the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids we have a great resource on hand to help answer some of those questions that do come up.

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids is based on two other great resources: the Holman Bible Dictionary and the Holman Pocket Bible Dictionary and has a wonderful cross between real pictures and illustrations to help bring Biblical terms and places to life for kids.

Additional features of the Bible Dictionary include illustrated charts of Bible animals, insects, and plants; reconstructions of Biblical cities and buildings; charts of the names of Jesus and apostles; definitions of key Bible terms and pronunciation guides to those hard-to-say words.

Our Thoughts

Laurianna has been the one primarily using it and when I asked her what she liked about it, these were a few of the things that she said she really liked about the Holman Bible Dictionary for Kids:

~ nice pictures that are bright and colorful

~ pronunciations of the words so she knew how to say them

~ easy to find words with the letters alphabetized on the side of the page.

~ references along with the entries, telling you where you can find more about that topic

Overall, this is a book that we’ll keep handy on our bookshelf because it will definitely be useful in our studies.

Find Out More

You can get a sneak peek inside the book at the B&H Publishing site and download a pdf sample of the book. You can also purchase the book {$14.99} directly from their website.

Target age: 5 to 10 years old

Recently Susan Lemon, author of Homepreschool and Beyond, asked me to review her book. I’ll admit that I let her email sit in my inbox for a few days before agreeing to review it, mainly because I have a hard time reading books that are non-fiction. I do, however, have a preschooler and after reading this statement from Susan, something clicked and I wanted to review her book:

“Many parents struggle to know what to teach their preschoolers. Some take a “hands-off” approach, providing little in the way of educational activities. Others emphasize early academics, drilling their youngsters on colors, numbers, and letters while overlooking play and other experiences that are vital for normal development.

Preschoolers thrive somewhere between these extremes. They need a balanced, faith-based, developmentally appropriate approach that emphasizes relationships, simple daily routines, readiness and reading aloud.

They need parents who make the main thing the main thing.”

Susan Lemon

The subtitle of Homepreschool and Beyond is A Comprehensive Guide to Early Home Education and Lemons provides exactly that throughout her book. While the majority of the book focuses on preschool aged children, additional resources are provided for children beyond the preschool age.

Lemons focuses on providing all children with activities that are developmentally appropriate, not forcing activities on children that they are not ready for academically or even emotionally. Her emphasis is on the 4 R’s: Relationships, Routines, Readiness, and Reading Aloud.

The last ‘R’ is the one that struck the deepest with me. Our preschooler, {as the last of four children} generally gets the ‘mommy leftovers’. This year I am focusing on general themes through literature as the base for all of his learning, so chapter six of her book ‘Teaching Through Reading Aloud’ really hit home for me {you can see a detailed chapter list here}.

Overall, Homepreschool and Beyond is FULL of book lists, recommended resources and would be a wonderful resource for parents of young children to have on hand. Please see Susan’s website for tips, hints, articles and more!

About the Author

Susan Lemons is a homeschooling mother of four. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and taught preschool for eight years. She is committed to helping new and prospective homeschool families get off to a great start. Be sure to stop by and read her blog at susanlemons.wordpress.com.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Susan @ Homepreschool and Beyond for providing the review product. This review is based on my own experiences and gives my honest opinion.