A Stable Beginning

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

TOS Review ~ GoTrybe

With the alarming rates of childhood obesity I make sure that our family keeps pretty active and makes healthy eating choices. Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 children and teens in the U.S. is overweight or obese? WOW, we as a nation need to get our kids moving and eating better. I recently received a 2-month subscription to the GoTrybe website which is an organization dedicated to trying to help combat childhood obesity by encouraging families to live a healthy lifestyle and get moving.

GoTrybe is an online fitness program that aims at getting the whole family up and moving by providing a web-based program that can be accessed anywhere internet is available. We received the 9th-12th grade group, the NexTrybe. GoTrybe has several features divided into 4 basic health sections:
1. Fitness
2. Nutrition
3. Motivation
4. Wellness

You can choose a pre-planned workout, or customize one for the day. The program is broken down into different age groups and each group has slightly different program features so everyone can be involved:

ZooDoos is for the elementary ages, K-5th grade
Trybe180 is for middle school ages, 6th-8th grade
NexTrybe is for high school ages, 9th-12th grade

This is a fun program that encourages movement. Something that is needed in our world today. Economically priced you can sign up for $19.95 for a year subscription. But wait, right now you can get a free trial. Go here and sign up — use the code GETFIT . We found this program to be a great reminder of the need to Get Up and Get Moving!!!

Check out what my crewmates thought of GoTrybe by clicking here.

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I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received a a 2-month subscription to GoTrybe, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Timberdoodle Co Review ~ Daily Word Problems & Daily 6-Trait Writing

This is my first review for Timberdoodle Co. and I am really excited about the opportunity to review for them. I was chosen to review the Daily Word Problems book, Grade 4 and the Daily 6-Trait Writing, Grade 3. Although I have purchased several Evan-Moor products in the past this is the first time I have used these workbooks. I was not disappointed with either one, they are fantastic!

Whether we like to admit it or not, we use math everyday in daily life scenarios. Daily Word Problems Math, Grade 4 is a workbook designed to give daily practice in solving real life math problems. The workbook is broken down into 36 weekly sections in which each week has a theme. Monday-Thursday contain a one- or two-step word problem while Friday’s format is more extensive and you may need to do multiple steps or use a chart or graph to come about the answer. Topics covered include fun themes such as school supplies, swimming, astronomy, sharks, and weather. All the while giving daily exposure to:

addition and subtraction facts

multiplication and division facts

multidigit addition and subtraction with and without regrouping

multiplication with and without regrouping

division with and without remainders

telling time

money

fractions

reading and interpreting graphs and charts

estimation

logic problems

The Daily 6-Trait Writing workbook packs 25 weeks of instruction covering Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Voice to provide your child enough practice and the skills necessary to become a competent writer, all in 10-15 minute daily lessons. This was such an awesome addition to our writing program this year. It was a bit of a stretch to use this with Mikayla as a 2nd grader, but I was able to feel confident that she was getting the necessary instruction she needed with a bit to tweaking and her writing has improved, which makes this Mama happy! You can preview the first 24 pages here.

I loved both of these products and highly recommend them! They are easy to implement into your day and they are fun too. I especially enjoyed the math word problems because Madison had to stretch her mind and really think out some of the problems. Another thing I liked was that it was just one word problem a day, so she didn’t feel bogged down in having to do several problems, just one. It makes the perfect addition to any math curriculum to get your child's mind churning.

Economically priced the Daily Word Problems Math, Grade 4 sells for $12.25 and Daily 6-Trait Writing, Grade 3 sells for only $21.75 on the Timberdoodle website. Daily Math Word Problems and Daily 6-Trait Writing are available for grades 1-6. Check out Timberdoodle for all of your homeschooling needs, and request a Timberdoodle catalog by clicking, HERE.

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I received a copy of Daily Word Problems Math, Grade 4 and Daily 6-Trait Writing, Grade 3 from Timberdoodle Co., in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Monday, May 9, 2011

Ranked in State

Posting a few quick pictures of the girls in action. We had a blast this past weekend and the girls performed great. They both are now ranked in our State in their age groups which is a huge feat, especially since this is their 1st year competing in the sport. They both scored the exact same thing on the Vault and ended up with the same All-Around score. Here’s to many more State meets!

2011 Level 4 State Meet Results:

in order of rotation

Floor ~ 9.050

Uneven Bars ~ 9.125

Vault ~ 9.075

Balance Beam ~ 8.850

All-Around ~ 36.1

Ranked 17th in the state among 8JR2

2011 Level 4 State results:

In order of rotation

Uneven Bars ~9.40

Floor ~8.525

Balance Beam ~9.10

Vault ~9.075

All-Around ~ 36.1

Ranked 16th in the state among 10SR1

TOS Review ~ MonkieSee

We received a video and book from MonkiSee a few weeks ago and McKenzie was the prime age for it. MonkiSee offers videos with entertaining music, puppets, real world scenes with 2 silly monkeys for little ones aged 2 months to 4 years old. The book is cute and includes 29 words that are demonstrated by the Monkeys, Skip & Howie. The video we received is meant to teach concepts like shapes and body parts. It also teaches the baby to read the words used on screen during the video. The video includes a 40 word slide show, as well as a Parents Guide.

I thought the book was cute and the video seemed interesting enough. I did like the slideshow effect and the flashing of the words/images, but my baby normally does not watch T.V. so it didn’t hold her attention for too long. On the other hand, we both enjoyed the book and read it several times a day. However, I not looking to “teach my baby to read”. Call me old fashion but this product would not be the best match for our family. If you are looking to “teach your baby to read” then this product may be a perfect fit for your family and a great addition to your library.

The DVD’s normally sell for $24.95, but are on sale for $19.99. The books are on sale for $9.95, normally $11.95. A reading kit is also available, that includes all the DVD’s, books and reading cards, for $139.95.

Be sure to check out what my crewmates thought by clicking here.

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I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received a copy of MonkiSee DVD and book, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

TOS Review ~ Yesterday’s Classics

Recently we added 225 new books to our ever growing home library. Did that scare you? I hope not because I want to tell you about Yesterday’s Classics. Have you heard of them? If not, head on over and check them out.

As a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received the Kindle and EPUB versions of 225 books to review. Jackpot!!! These are not twaddle books, but beautiful, rich stories of yesteryear from the 1880 to 1920’s time period offered in both print and E-book format. Yes, all 225 books!!!

Yesterday's Classics is dedicated to reprinting hundreds upon hundreds of classic stories so that we can pass them on to our children aged 5-18. They have compiled a 225 title E-book package to make storing and accessing these treasures easier! Many of the books can be found on the reading lists of curriculum developers such as Ambleside Online, Heart of Dakota, Living Books Curriculum and Tapestry of Grace.

Here is what you get:

all 225 classical children’s titles broken down into 22 genres
a guide to downloading the files to your E-reader
a general guide to E-reader devices
a list sorting titles by author, title, genre, and level for easy locating
a list of thumbnail pictures and descriptions of each title for better selecting titles for your children

Check out the entire set by titles here.

So, I know you are probably thinking that this is going to cost an arm and a leg. Well, you’re right, it would if you purchased all paperback editions individually it would cost $2495.75US. YIKES!!! I don’t know about you but that is not in my budget no matter how much we love books. I’ve got good news though, you can get the entire 225 collection for $99.95US until May 31st right here. Act quickly because this set will not disappoint and you don’t want to miss it!

We love this set and highly recommend it, 2 thumbs up! Below are some of the favorite titles that we have enjoyed so far. There is so much to choose from, that this collection will be enjoyed for many years to come! Thank you Yesterday’s Classics for compiling this great treasure!!!

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be—
I had a mother who read to me.
—Strickland Gillilan

Check out what my crewmates had to say by clicking here.

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I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received a copy of the E-reader and Epub editions of Yesterday’s Classics, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

4 short weeks

Can you believe that we only have 4 short weeks left until we are done with the 2010 ~2011 school year?! WOW, that went by really fast! The learning will not stop for summer though. We will continue to learn throughout the summer.
The 2010-2011 school year for A Stable Beginning Christian Academy will officially end on Friday, June 3rd. Marie will be graduating and moving on to high school, what?!? Yes, I know. She is currently brainstorming ideas for a new name for the high school program, more on that later. I am in the process of writing up our summer learning plans. We normally do a summer reading project but this year I am expanding on it to include Math, Science, and Grammar lessons too spread out over a 6 week period. Because of outside activities we didn’t get in nearly enough science (or art for that matter) for the girls or my tastes so we will really be getting into the thick of it over the summer.
During our summer session there will be defined academic lessons to be completed four days a week, M-TH. The daily work will be limited to 2 1/2 hours a day to allow us to enjoy the summer season and all that it entails including spending time with friends & family and field trips.

the schedule:

June 3rd ~ last day of 2010 ~ 2011 school year
June 6th ~ 10th free activities, I’m going to the HEAV convention :-)
June 13th ~ July 29th summer schedule, ***July 4th off, also Madison, Mikayla, & Montana will have gymnastics camp July 18th-22nd, no academics that week; Marie will have cheer camp tentatively scheduled for one week in July, no academics that week***
August 1st-12th ~ no academics, free activities
August 15th ~ 1st day of 2011-2012 School year!!!

the academics:

Monday-Thursday ~