A Stable Beginning: game schooling

Showing posts with label game schooling. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Building confidence in Reading with The Reading Game ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who struggled to learn to read. Many nights her Mama would stay up researching curriculum and how to implement reading strategies to get her girl to finally read. Then one day she was placed on the review for The Reading Game, 1st Edition, and her little girl began to take off reading with confidence! Said little girl is not so little anymore and is a voracious reader of all things, making this Mama a happy camper!

As a huge fan and proponent of gameschooling, I was thrilled to receive The Reading Game, 2nd Edition from Allsaid & Duun, LLC to use with my son, Micah, who is 6.5 and in the first grade. Thankfully he has never really struggled with reading or learning his sight words. Using this fun game he has gained so much confidence and fluency in his reading over the last six weeks.

The Reading Game which was created by Kenneth Hodkinson, the author of the popular vocabulary curriculum “Wordly Wise 3000” series. It is a fast-action memory card game that will get your kids’ reading from the very first lesson. The Reading Game is a supplemental learn-to-read program for beginning and/or struggling readers. This learning to read game also correlates with most standard curriculums and uses a whole language approach to learning to read, i.e. looking at whole words and memorizing them. It works well with the traditional phonics method of reading by learning to sound out the individual letters. The Reading Game also meets the criteria of the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts, Foundational skills, and Reading skills needed for both kindergarten and first graders, if that’s something you look for in a learning to read curriculum.

The Reading Game comes with six black and white illustrated storybooks: Skunk, Snake, Bear, Penguins, Unicorn, and Zebra. It can be played with two or more players. Memory games are played in six stages for each book, learning five words in each stage. So by the end of your first book your student will be able to read 30 words. By the end of the entire game, your child will know how to read 180 words from the Dolch Pre-K through First Grade list and also words from the Fry List.

The complete game comes with:

 6 color-coded Memory word matching card game

 6 color-coded Captioned Picture Flashcards

 6 Storybooks

 Parent/Teacher Guide

 Plus Word Family Activities

To play the game you start out with the first ten red cards. These contain five matching sets of words. As in traditional Memory, flip over two cards and read the words without hesitation. Once your child has mastered reading the first set of cards, you more on to the next set of 10 words. Now, once this next set of words is mastered, pull out the red picture card labeled 1-2 and have your child read the caption under the picture. All of the words on this caption card are from the first two sets of word cards already mastered. If reading the caption card is easy for your child, move onto the third set of cards and proceed in the same manner as above for cards 1-2. Finally once all six sets of cards are read with mastery it is time to read the corresponding storybook. The back of each book includes a handy word list as well.

Game play should be done over the course of several days but each book follows the same method:

Memory game for card sets 1 – 2

Read the picture card for 1-2

Memory game for card sets 3-4

Read the picture card for 3-4

Memory game for card sets 5-6

Read the picture card for 5-6

Read the corresponding illustrated book

Overall, I am just as pleased with this new edition of The Reading Game as I am with the first edition I used back in 2011. The major difference that I can tell from each edition is the addition of the Captioned Pictured Flashcards to check for mastery.

I am so pleased with the way Micah is learning through play with this curriculum! I have already told several of my friends about it. Also, I am looking forward to Micah progressing into The Magic Stories curriculum, for grades 2-4, after he finishes Book 6 of The Reading Game. At the rate he is progressing we should be using the new program by mid-April.

Do you want to win a copy of The Reading Game for your student? Head over to the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to enter the giveaway to win one of 5 games! Also, definitely click the banner below to read my CrewMates thoughts on this educational game that builds confidence in reading.

The Reading Game, 2nd Edition {Allsaid & Duun, LLC Reviews}

Our personal rating:

Company ~ Allsaid & Duun, LLC

Product ~ The Reading Game, 2nd Edition

Format ~ physical game

Price ~ $34.95

Ages ~ 4 & up

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter @thereadinggame2 -

Instagram @thereadinggame ~ Pinterest @TheReadingGame YouTube

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Friday, March 5, 2021

Enjoy family game night with Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers from Byron's Games ~ a TOS review

Happy Friday guys! Today I am excited to share with you a fun boardgame from Byron’s Games. As a game-loving, music-loving family, we have enjoyed playing Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers over the last few weeks. Let me tell you more about it.

Bryon’s Games is a company that was created by a 6 year old boy, Bryon, when he found himself hospitalized in the Children’s Hospital of Chicago for six months. During his hospital stay he was inspired to create something fun and educational for kids like himself during their hospital stay. From that stay his first game, Continent Race, was created. Like with his other games that Byron created, Maestro Mastery shows you that learning doesn’t have to be boring!

Maestro Mastery – Explore the Composers is the third game that Byron has created. While playing it your students will learn all about 52 classical music composers and discover the way each of them contributed during the Medieval to Contemporary era. Inside your game box you receive the following game play items:

> Instructions

> 104 color-coded matching composer cards (separated into two decks)

> 1 music timeline card

> 1 fold-out poster of all the composers * A link to listen to musical samples from each of the composers is also included.

To play the game use just one of the decks unless you have a large crowd of people playing. Set the game up just as you would like classic game of memory. Proceed to playing just like the game of memory, except with Maestro Mastery you want to try to match your matches by musical era.

The winner of the game is determined in one of two ways. You can either have an:

Overall winner ~ the player with the most pairs of composers

Era winner ~ the player with the greatest number of pairs from a specific era.

*there can be multiple Era winners.

Maestro Mastery also has a built in challenge to the game to make it more challenging. To take advantage of this portion of the game the players would click a link and be taken to a YouTube video to listen to musical compositions to try to match the card. Or you can match the cards by laying the cards out face up and try to identify the person who composed the musical selection.

I have played this game several times with Montana (8th), McKenzie (5th), and Micah (1st) over the last several weeks. Each time we play the kids are getting better and better at identifying the composer and eras. We always choose the winner by the one who gets the most pairs of composers. I think this game is an excellent supplement to any music/composer curriculum. I am excited to continue to use this game as we learn about the great classical composers of the Medieval to Contemporary era.

Check out what my CrewMates think of this boardgame or The Family Journal that was also reviewed by clicking the banner below.

The Family Journal / Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers {Byron's Games Reviews}

Our personal rating:

Company ~ Byron’s Games

Product ~ Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers

Format ~ Physical board game

Price ~ $24.97

Ages ~ 5 years old and up

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Educational Family Board Games: Continent Race ~ a TOS review

I don’t know about you, but our family loves to play board games. So even if you are cooped up because of the Corona virus quarantine learning fun can still happen. We love playing family board games and it's a plus when they are educational like Continent Race from Byron's Games. Today I am excited to share with you a fun educational game that the whole family can enjoy!

Continent Race was created by a 6 year old boy, Bryon, who found himself hospitalized for six months. During his hospital stay he was inspired to create something fun and educational for kids like himself during their hospital stay. Learning doesn’t have to be boring and with this game your children will learn the locations of countries in a fun way!

The Continent Race game includes:

~ 1 World Map

~ 5 Continent Lists with maps

~ 205 Country Cards

~ 3 Antarctica Wild cards

The game included two levels of game play, basic and advanced. The basic level is for beginners while the advanced level is for the geography buffs. The game was created for two or more players who are at least 7 years old. The object of the game is to race to be the first person to collect the most countries from each continent. The first person to collect 3 or 5 continent cards (depending on the game play level) wins! Typical game playing time averages about 30 minutes.

I love that this geography game is constructed of heavy duty material so that it will last. The continent cards also include a detailed map of the area on the back. The Country Cards are also made of a heavy card stock and include the countries flag as well. The Country Cards also include three special cards, the mystery card, the challenge card, and the wild card. And everything is color-coded!

Continent Race has won several awards, including the 2019 Creative Child Award “Game of the Year award! The game is economically priced at $34.38 on Amazon and Bryon’s Games donates a portion of the profits to benefit select children’s charities.

We have been studying different countries this year and learning about all the different cultures our world has. Continent Race has been a great way for us to review the continents as a family. I have played this family board game with my girls who are 17, 13, and 10. My son, who is 5, was also able to play with us as a partner player on my team. Continent Race has been a breath of fresh air as we learn, especially for my younger daughter who thrives with hands-on learning.

Learning about your world can happen whether you are public, private, or homeschooled! And with everyone currently at home, now is a great time to learn about our big great world. We definitely recommend that you check out this fun educational game! But don’t just take my word for it. Fifty-nine of my CrewMates also reviewed this family board game. So be sure to click the banner below and read their thoughts as well.  