Harlem Globetrotters 2022 Spread Game World Tour Offer

US Family Guide provided me with this promotional information and giveaway to share with my readers. I am getting tickets for free in return for posting this information.

Bringing world-class basketball showmanship to arenas all over the U.S. SpreadGame is what the Harlem Globetrotters do best; it's what they've done best for 95 years. Bringing light, laughter and love on the court that extends off the court in the smiles families bring home or the stories fans tell their friends. SpreadGame is excellence shown through basketball wizardry night after night, and demonstrated through years of commitment to unsurpassed entertainment. The Globetrotters SpreadGame through every slam dunk, killer pass and magic fadeaway; and through every smile for a child and every achievement within the communities they visit. 

Light, laughter, love. Hope. SpreadGame.

I can't wait until they come to Portland, Oregon on January 22nd to the Moda Center! We love to watch the Harlem Globetrotters play ball.

Don't miss out - Save up to 20% with Promo Code: USFAM

Here is the coupon: https://www.usfamilycoupons.com/coupon.php?regionid=75&bid=13043&dealid=2964

You can see their World Tour Schedule here to find a game in your area: https://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/world-tour/schedule

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Because I am posting about the Harlem Globetrotters I am getting 4 free ticket vouchers for my family to go to the Harlem Globetrotters next showing. Thanks to USFamilyGuide.com for providing me this promotion information and free tickets. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this promo.

Byron's Games Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers Review #ComlimentaryProductReceived

 

Disclaimer: I received this complimentary 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.

My family had the privilege of trying the Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers from Byron's Games for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

While having an extended stay in a hospital a 6 year old boy named Byron was inspired by Mrs. Ellen Donovan, of the Family Life Center and the Olympic games that were going on at the time. To pass the time, he created his first board game, Continent Race. He wanted to help other kids avoid boredom during their hospital stays and brush up with their geography skills. Now Byron's Games has 3 games: Continent Race, Math Sprint, and Maestro Mastery. They also have the Connections stationery kit, Trailblazers Oasis Blanket, Trailblazers Travel Pillow for Kids, Kids Golf Set, The Family Journal, and 100 Kids Books - Scratch-off Poster, products.

Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers is a great game for learning about famous composers. Byron created this game to help kids learn 52 masters without monotonous memorization. There are 52 cards with music masters, from medieval musicians to more contemporary composers. Each card has names and depictions, country of origin, years lived, fun life facts, and music era (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary.) This card game is for ages 5 and up, you can have 2+ players, and a game takes about 30 minutes.

You can enrich your child's musical learning with Byron's Games online listening tool and educational ebook that go hand-in-hand with this game. The online listening tool features your composers' compositions, providing to music to develop your player's ears. Since the memory cards don't have room for all the facts Byron's Games made a companion ebook called Maestro Mastery: Learn and Explore Great Composers where the lives of the 52 composers featured in the game are explored in more detail.

 

Game Contents:

• Instructions
• 104 matching composer cards (2 decks with 52 color - coded cards each)
• 1 music timeline card
• 1 poster to continue learning and hang on the wall
  

How to Play:

1. Start with one deck only (unless playing with a large group).
   
2. Lay one deck (52 cards) face down in rows and columns.
3. Take turns going clockwise around the table, turning only 2 cards over at a time to find a matching pair.
4. State each composer's name and make sure all players see the cards, before flipping them back over.
   
5. Once a match is made, the player reads the composer card aloud (Composer's name, years lived, country they are from, era of music, and the text description). Adults can help younger children read their cards.
6. The match is laid face up on the table in front of the player who made them, grouping matches by era of music, (e.g., Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary). The eras are color-coded and can be found in the upper right-hand corner of each card.
   
7. Once you match all maestros, the player with the most matches wins. This is the overall winner.
   
8. The player with the most matches in a specific era also wins. This is the era winner. (There can be multiple era winners.)
   
9. The winner of each era reads aloud the era's description from the music timeline card. Read in chronological order. Again adults may assist in reading.
   
10. As each era's time-frame and description is read, go around the table for players to call out and lay down the composers they have within that era.

Optional Listening and Extra Challenge:

Optional Listening: A website is included in the instructions to enhance learning. On this website you can hear a sample of each composer's work. You can make this fun by doing this during game play when a match is made or alternatively after the game has ended. Extra Challenge: After multiple games and gets more familiar with the music selections you may play a sample for the group to place in which era it is from. You can also lay 3-5 different composer cards, face up and have one person play a selection from one of them for the players to guess who it is by.

● Increases concentration and cognitive function
● Augments attention to detail
● Increases vocabulary
● Maximizes memory 
● And more!

 

Maestro Mastery in play with three players.

 

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

It has been cold outside and so my kids have been playing a lot indoors. We have been enjoying a lot of board games, card games, and puzzles. One of the games that we have been playing on these chilly days is Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers by Byron's Games.

 

Maestro Mastery in play with two players.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are ages 12 and 10 have been playing this game with me. The first time we played we just did it with one deck and 3 players. A different day Teela and I played together with the other deck. Teela won both times as overall winner and the first time Zari won as the era winner and Teela won as era winner the second time. The third time we played we played it with the optional listening website. It was fun hearing the music of the composers, but some of the links wouldn't play because it said that the video was unavailable because it was private or that an error occurred. Hopefully they go back and fix those.

 

Maestro Mastery optional listening.

 

All in all we liked Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers. It is a great game to learn about who some of the composers were and stuff about them. I love that it is educational and teaches while playing. I would recommend this to families that homeschool and others that are looking for games that teach as well. This matching game is great for family game night and music education.

 

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://facebook.com/byronsgames 
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/byronsgames
• Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/byronsgames
  
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqc5skcLby7XPMPubub8CRw
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #byronsgames #maestromastery #musiceducation #playmatters #playtolearn #classicalmusic #familygames #familygamenight #musicforkids #gamestagram #gamesofig #kidsgames #kidinventors #boardgames #musicgames #gameschool #gameschoolers #roadschool #homeschool #learningathome #homeschoolmom #homeschoolkids #learnandexplore

BUY IT

You can purchase Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers on Amazon.

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Byron's Games Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary 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.

My family had the privilege of trying the Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game from Byron's Games for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

While having an extended stay in a hospital a 6 year old boy named Byron was inspired by Mrs. Ellen Donovan, of the Family Life Center and the Olympic games that were going on at the time. To pass the time, he created his first board game, Continent Race. He wanted to help other kids avoid boredom during their hospital stays and brush up with their geography skills. Now Byron's Games has 2 games: Continent Race and Math Sprint, the Connections stationery kit, and Trailblazer products.

Math Sprint  - The Mental Math Game is a great game for helping with math mastery. Byron originally created this game for a local game inventor challenge. It too was inspired by the Olympic games, especially the running events. All you have to do to advance your piece is to solve a subtraction, addition, multiplication, division, or word problem. It is a race against other players to solve the problem first. There are also different skill levels with 3 race lengths and beginner to advanced level cards. Each color coded athlete playing piece has a profile picture with different hobbies and interests to go with it that you can pick from. This gives the players to have something they might relate to in the game. This math game is for ages 7 and up, you can have 2-8 players or teams, and a game takes about 30 minutes.

 

Game Contents:

• Instructions
• 258 cards: 92 Addition & Subtraction, 106 Multiplication & Division, 30 Wild Cards, 30 Challenge Cards
• 1 marker
• 1 running track board
• 10 dry erase cards
• 8 runner playing pieces

How to Play:

1. Base on the age and level of your group, determine which card types to include in the draw pile, shuffle those into a deck, and place them face down in the middle of the board. The challenge cards should not be in play when playing with younger kids.
   
2. Select your runner piece.
   
3. Choose the race distance: 100m (shorter game and beginner level), 200m (intermediate level when have a bit more time to play), or 400m dash (advanced or older players or when the group has more time to play).
4. Line your piece up on the starting line on the board running track where the race distance is you are running and pick one of the lanes numbered 1-8. The Coach should be in lane 1.
   
5. Each player takes a turn being the Coach going clockwise, draws a card, and reads the math problem aloud or the adult or oldest can be the Coach the whole time.
6. Each time a player answers a question correctly they can move their runner forward 2 spaces.
7. If there is a tie in answering correctly, both players advance 2 spaces.
8. If a player doesn't answer the question correctly they don't move.
   
9. The first player to get the correct answer advances and is on the way to the finish line!
10. If the Coach draws a Wild card, then  the Coach moves his/her piece as directed.
11. If a Coach Tip card is drawn the Coach reads it aloud so all players can learn.
12. If playing with a large group you can play in teams instead of individual players. Teams can discuss quietly and raise their hands when their team has the answer.
13. Use the blank dry erase cards and dry erase marker to make up your own problems or work out solutions.
    

 

● Improves your kid's reasoning and logic skills
● Helps kids practice processing, analyzing, and calculating
● Boosts your own mental math abilities
● Provides precious time for you and your family to grow together

 

Zari, Teela, and I playing Math Sprint.

 

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

It has been cold outside and so my kids have been playing a lot indoors. We have been enjoying a lot of board games, card games, and puzzles. One of the games that we have been playing on these chilly days is Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game by Byron's Games.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are ages 12 and 10 have been playing this game with me. I was the Coach in the first game we played. Teela chose the yellow playing piece which is Mary Matherina, Zari chose the green piece which is Mya Marcher, and I chose the blue piece which is Crystal Reaction. I liked Crystal, well, because she shares the same name as me and seems to like science. Zari and I started on the 100m level and Teela started on the 200m level. At first we shuffled all the cards together, but then Zari was having trouble with the division problems, so we took all those cards out so that we could level the playing field. We should have just picked out the appropriate cards to include in the game with all the wild cards to make it fun and unpredictable and make it a acceptable number of cards--not the entire deck.  Zari still didn't like that it was a math game because she doesn't like math and Teela was dominating the game because she was faster at getting the answers. Next time we play I think that I will play with Zari and be on her team so maybe she will have a chance at winning or maybe she can play with a friend that is at her same level.

All in all I liked Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game. It is a great game to brush up on your math and also help with learning new math skills for younger students. My kids had mixed feelings about the game and this is probably not going to be a game they turn to on their own off of our game shelf. I love that it is educational and teaches while playing. I think that I would still recommend it to families that homeschool and others that are looking for games that teach as well.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://facebook.com/byronsgames 
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/byronsgames
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqc5skcLby7XPMPubub8CRw
• Hashtags: #familygamenight #kidinventors #gamesforkids #byronsgames #exploreyourworld #mathgames #homeschoolgames #mathsprint #learnandexplore 

BUY IT

You can purchase Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game on Amazon.

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Brain Blox Fun Family Chess Review

My family had the privilege of trying Fun Family Chess from Brain Blox for this review to use in conjunction with our own games at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Brain Blox is a family-owned company that makes educational games and toys that can be enjoyed by the whole family. They believe that kids should be free to play, explore, and express themselves in a way true to who they are inside. They want to empower families to have more meaningful time and relations with one another, without electronics devices...to engage more with the real world together.

Fun Family Chess is set up the same as traditional chess. Board has icons where you place the pieces other than pawns.

Fun Family Chess is a 2 player chess game with double the fun because there are two ways to play, Fun Family Chess and traditional chess. The game of Fun Family Chess is said to have been invented by a dog named Chesster. The Fun Family Chess game uses a chess cube or die that has all the symbols of the pieces color coded to match the reference card. The light side goes first and rolls the chess cube. Then you match the colored symbol to the reference card. If you roll a star you can move any piece that can move. You must roll a star to move the King because there isn't a King symbol on the cube. If you cannot move the piece indicated on the chess cube how it is stated on the reference card you get to roll again! You can capture pieces by landing on top of your opponent's piece. Once you capture it you can take that piece off the board. You win by capturing the other player's king instead of trapping it in a position it can't escape (checkmate in traditional standard chess).

How to Play Fun Family Chess:


Go here to watch more videos on Fun Family Chess!

5 ways traditional standard chess is different:

• no chess cube: instead choose any piece you can move legally.
• winning is different: you win by checkmate.
• pawn superpower: if a pawn reaches the other side of the board safely it can change into another piece (except a pawn or King)
• en passant: means your pawn gets another superpower...a special capture that is only used in specific situations. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.
• castling: in some situations, the Rook and King can do this special swap-move-thing. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.

Brain Blox Fun Family Chess pieces store inside the foldable wooden case that doubles as the board.

Includes:

• Folding Wooden Chess Board with Velvet Lining and Chess Icons on the Board for Easy Set up.
• 32 Wooden Chess Pieces with Velvet Bottoms in a Soft Pouch.
• Full Color Chess Book, teaches both Fun Family Chess and Standard Chess.
• 2 Color Coded Reference Cards, shows how each piece moves.
• Chess Cube/Die, when playing Fun Family Chess, simply roll the die to see which piece to move.
• Plus...Video Tutorials and 2 Months Gold Membership with ChessKid!

Zari and Teela playing Fun Family Chess.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Chess improves problem solving, concentration, memory, strategic thinking, planning, foresight and intelligence. Sometimes though it can be a bit overwhelming to learn because of all the moves and plays you need to remember. My oldest son loves chess, but he can be a bit intimidating to my daughters who are younger because he is good at playing because of practice. The Brain Blox Fun Family Chess makes it easy to learn how to play chess and it has the piece icons right on the board to help you with setup and reference cards to know how each piece moves. You can start with the Fun Family Chess game and move up to traditional chess once you have learned the basic moves the pieces make.

I also love that the Fun Family Chess set is beautifully made. The pieces and the board are made of wood. The board folds up and is its own case for the pieces, cards, die, and booklet. It latches shut so nothing will fall out. The inside is velvet lined so that the pieces will be somewhat padded and their are two velvet pouches for all the light and dark pieces to go into. The pouches help you not loose the pieces and keep them all together. The pieces have felt on the bottoms of them too so they won't scratch the surface of the board as you play.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are 11 and almost 9 loved playing with this chess set. They thought it was a lot more fun to play the Fun Family Chess game with the chess cube because the cube told you which piece to play if you could play it and if not you could roll again until you could play a piece. My girls also loved that the cube had a star symbol on it which meant they could pick what ever piece they wanted. The Fun Family Chess game definitely gave a new perspective to the game of chess. They also loved that the moves of each piece was laid out for them on a full color reference card so they could see the piece and how it moved on the board. Even my youngest daughter said it wasn't as complicated because of the way it was presented. Both of my girls said that this chess set, even when playing traditional chess, was easier to both set up and play.

I am very glad we got to review the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess because it is a great way to learn to play chess or help someone like me who is very rusty at chess because I haven't played in a while. I recommend it very highly, especially as a chess for kids!

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybrainblox 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainblox 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpUttakNtthj_haX8LwRlwA
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #FunFamilyChess

Also, on the Brain Blox website there are some awesome free resources. We love the free printables for the Conscious Kids Journal! Don't miss those.

BUY IT
You can purchase the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess from Amazon.



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Reading Eggs Online Learning Games Review

My family had the privilege of trying the online learning games from Reading Eggs for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Reading Eggs is an online program that helps kids learn better literacy through reading lessons, activities, and ebooks. Reading Eggs is made up of  5 different kids learning programs: Reading Eggs JR for ages 2-4, Reading Eggs for ages 4-5, Reading Eggs for ages 6-7, Reading Eggspress for ages 7-13, and Mathseeds for ages 3-9. These self-paced educational games are recommended for kids ages 2 to 13. They are created by a team of qualified teachers, educational writers, animators and web developers. These online reading programs will engage your child or student to keep learning.

Student Menu

Reading Eggs JR is a brand new online reading game that teaches toddlers ages 2 to 4 words, sounds, and letters. These pre-reading skills are the first step to literacy. This has games, videos, and e-books to help motivate the younger child.

Reading Eggs is an online reading game that teaches kids ages 3 to 7. There are two parts: the lessons for ages 3 to 5 and the lessons for ages 6 to 7. The first teaches phonics, sight words, and essential reading skills needed to get ready for school. The second part gives the child practice with bonus activities and lessons that teach spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

Reading Eggspress is an online reading game that teaches kids ages 7 to 13, grades 1 to 6. This game continues the online learning from previous Reading Eggs lessons. This teaches structured comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and grammar with live games, an online library, and more!

Mathseeds is an online math learning game that teaches kids ages 3 to 9. This program teaches early math skills. Great for beginners and young children in their first years of school.

Teela and Zari on Reading Eggs.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I have two young daughters. Teela is 9 years old and Zari will be 7 on October 19th. They are in 4th and 1st grades. My daughter Teela has done Reading Eggs before in 2013 because we got a free trial to try it out back then. Teela has grown to love reading and is doing so roughly at a 6th grade reading level now. My daughter Zari hadn't tried Reading Eggs at all and is just starting to read. We hadn't tried the other programs that came with our subscription.

Reading Eggs Navigation

We received a six month subscription to Reading Eggs this time around. This included access to Reading Eggs Junior, Reading Eggs, and Reading Eggspress. We also got a six month subscription to MathSeeds. Both Teela and Zari worked on this educational game an average of three days per week since we got signed up.

Both started with a reading assessment to see where they needed to be. Since Teela had already done one in 2013 she needed to redo hers to see where she was now. They both started with Reading Eggs. I believe Teela made some mistakes on her assessment because she was trying to plow through it...so she was put at a lower level than she should have been. When she went on to the games in Reading Eggs at lesson 111, map 12 they gave her she said the games were boring and that she already knew this stuff. I agreed with her that she already knew it and asked her if she wanted to redo the assessment for a second time and she didn't. So, she just did the rest of the Reading Eggs games and then moved onto Reading Eggspress. Zari was placed in the right place. She started on lesson 41, map 5. There are 120 lessons total in Reading Eggs with about 6-14 games per lesson.

Reading Eggs Lesson Maps

Reading Eggs Lesson Map

• Step 1 Starting Out in the Zoo (Lessons 1-40, Map 1-4): For children ages 4-6 that have little to no reading skills. Children will learn first reading skills, including: learning sounds and names of the alphabet letters, reading their first sight words, and phonetics to read three letter words. Includes simple stories to read featuring Sam the Ant.
• Step 2 Beginning to Read in The Playground (Lessons 41-80, Map 5-8): Builds on skills learned in step 1 focusing on short vowel words and constructing reading skills. Children will learn more high frequency sight words, make word families, and read 40 more books that build vocabulary.
• Step 3 Building Confidence at the Theme Park (Lessons 81-120, Map 5-12): These lessons cover long vowels words and focus on reading for meaning, comprehension, and understanding of longer words and sentences.

Reading Eggs Lesson Parts Examples

Reading Eggs Lesson Parts Example

• Parts 1 & 2 The Main Lesson: interactive animations that are led by a character modeling the concepts. Students need to get 7 correct responses to move on.
• Part 3 Dot to Dot: Students learn correct letter formation with dot to dot.
• Part 4 Letter Recognition: builds letter recognition of upper and lower case letters.
• Part 5 Vocabulary: activities that build vocabulary to be able to read the books.
• Part 6 The e-book: electronic book with audio support so kids can read along.
• Part 7 The Egg Hatches: students are rewarded with creatures that hatch to add to their online collection.

With each reading program there are colorful graphics, characters, and designs to engage the student to keep going. There are fun games, videos, and e-books to also teach the concepts. The students are awarded golden eggs to be later used in the store to buy things for the house and avatar, etc. The navigation around the program is fairly simple. My daughters liked that they could change the look of their avatar, buy things in the shop with golden eggs they acquired through doing well in the lessons, and see their certificates in the My Awards section. I loved that I could see their progress at a glance.

Program Guides for Homeschoolers

Also, in the Parent Dashboard (the home page after signing in) under the menu that has "Bonus Material" you can find Program Guides for Homeschoolers. These are free and downloadable once logged in. These colorful, detailed week-by-week overviews help homeschooling parents to see learning outcomes for children in Kindergarten through 2nd Grade. Each guide contains a 36-week teaching and learning sequence for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. These map out online lessons, books, quizzes, and assessments.

This is an excellent interactive game that teaches kids better reading skills. I definitely saw improvement in my daughter Zari's literacy skills. My girls loved Reading Eggs and I recommend it to anyone who homeschools or wants a reading supplement for their children or students.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingeggsUSCA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readingeggs @readingeggs
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/readingeggs @readingeggs
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/readingeggs
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABCReadingEggs
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #readingeggs #learntoread

BUY IT
My readers get 4 weeks FREE trial access to the program to try for themselves! This offer expires on November 30, 2017.

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Harlem Globetrotters 2017-2018 Tour Offer

US Family Guide provided me with this promotional information and giveaway to share with my readers. I am getting something for free in return for posting this information.

With a star-studded roster featuring Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, Hi-Lite Bruton, Thunder Law, Bull Bullard and Cheese Chisholm - plus female stars TNT Lister, Ace Jackson and Hoops Green - the Harlem Globetrotters' show is unrivaled in the world of family entertainment. Their 2018 World Tour will showcase incredible ball handling wizardry, rim-rattling dunks, trick shots, hilarious comedy and unequaled fan interaction. After the game, Globetrotter stars will sign autographs and take photos with fans.

I can't wait until they come to Portland, Oregon on December 27th to the Moda Center!

SAVE 25% for ALL Harlem Globetrotters Games with promo code FUNFAM @globies http://harlemglobetrotters.com/tickets

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Because I am posting about the Harlem Globetrotters I am getting 4 free ticket vouchers for my family to go to the Harlem Globetrotters next showing. Thanks to USFamilyGuide.com for providing me this promotion information and free tickets. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this promo.

English on a Roll English Grammar Teaching Method Review

My family had the privilege of trying the English Grammar Teaching Method from English on a Roll for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

English on a Roll is a hands-on way to teach English grammar created by Linda Hopkins Koran. This is based on principles of Multi-sensory Structured Language (MSL). It concurrently engages the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile parts of the brain. It is color-coded and cube-based. This is a great teaching method to educate any age or level student about the proper use of English grammar and syntax, including all verb forms. Students can build unlimited phrases and sentences with the set. Recommended for teaching English language learners ages 5 to adult. Perfect for English as a Second Language (ESL), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), English Language Learner (ELL), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), beginning reading (K-4), literacy, speech therapy, special education, learners with Autism and/or Dyslexia, homeschooling, and adult literacy education.

The English Grammar Teaching Method is a starter set to teach English grammar for up to 6 students. It includes one instructors' manual and a cube set. The instructors' manual has 150 pages and 36 lessons. The cube set comes with 40 word cubes in a plastic case for storage. You can use this set with up to six students. You can get an idea of how they can be used in this video demonstration.

The instructors' manual is called English on a Roll: Book One. It is a soft bound book that contains 150 pages and 36 lesson plans, a teaching guide, games and conversation ideas, reproducible teaching materials and worksheets. This helps you teach with the cubes.

The instructors' manual starts out with a Cube Guide chart and About English on a Roll, then goes into the lessons with review at the end. The lesson pages each have a grey box at the top with Prep (what is needed for the lesson), Note, and Vocabulary for teaching the lesson. After the first grey box the lesson instructions start. There is another grey box with Teaching Notes and after that are Conversion/Games and Written Exercises. This is written for classroom use, but is adaptable for homeschooling. If you have purchased this you are also allowed to copy pages for multiple students from the manual for your use in your homeschool or classroom.

The cube set is a set of 40 cubes of which 38 are engraved upon. These word cubes are color coded with different colors being different parts of speech or word groups. Pronouns are blue, question words are green; nouns, articles, & prepositions are dark blue, verbs are red, adverbs are orange, adjectives are purple, punctuation & conjunctions are black. Also comes with two blank cubes to make your own with. It comes with 30 self adhesive labels to add vocabulary to the blank cubes. They also recommend using Avery 5/8″ x 7/8″ Self-Adhesive Removable Labels #05424 that you can purchase at any office supply store, or online if you get more blank cubes (these are also available to be purchased separately. These dice like cubes are made of solid plastic and are 1 inch (25mm) per side. These come in a durable plastic case that neatly stores all of them snugly so you know that you are not missing any.

With a few cubes you can make many sentences.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts: 
My family loves learning doing hands-on activities. We love science with labs, experiments, and projects; history with lap-books, cosplay, and role-playing; and math with its many manipulatives. But up until recently we hadn't found any hands-on approach to teaching and learning grammar and English. It is just one of a handful of subjects that I was unaware could be taught using a manipulative of some sort. I was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to the English on a Roll English Grammar Teaching Method

Initially I thought I could work through the material and lessons with my youngest, Zari, who is 6 years old and starting 1st grade this year, but on closer inspection I found that most concepts would be too advanced for her because she is only reading a handful of words. However; I did use the cubes with her for reading/sounding out the words on them and trying to make simple sentences with them. Some of the conversion/games in the instructors' manual also were less advanced and I included her in this instruction as well.

Teela playing with sentences.

My daughter Teela who is 9 and going into 4th grade came to the rescue to help me with this review. The lessons are right in line with what she is already learning in English and grammar. There is mostly grammar review and some new grammar for her that the book taught. I liked that the instruction could be with one to 6 people. That made it easier for both Zari and Teela to sit in on the lesson if needed and Teela could work on a photocopied page out of the book while Zari and I worked on her reading the cubes.

I liked how these cubes worked. You could change verb tense, punctuation, and many of the words just by flipping, replacing, and rearranging one cube or more. There are some words that are not on any of the cubes, but you can add them with the included labels and blank cubes. There are so many sentences you can build with these. My daughters liked making humorous sentences with these together.

I think these are a great manipulative and lesson set to teach English grammar. These are indispensable if you have a student that learns best hands-on. I highly recommend the English on a Roll English Grammar Teaching Method.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Website - http://www.englishonaroll.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/englishonaroll
Hashtags - #hsreviews #EnglishonaRoll #grammar

BUY IT
You can purchase English on a Roll English Grammar Teaching Method for $75 and other options on their website. Order includes shipping if you buy directly from them with their "Order Form" by email, mail, or fax. Also, you only have to pay tax if you live in WA state. If you choose to "Buy Online" through Amazon please click the "More Buying Choices" and buy from English on a Roll directly. Just understand that you do not save on shipping unless you use their Order Form on their website.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for English on a Roll...

MAX 2: White House Hero Blu-ray Combo Pack Giveaway & Run Game App

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I posted about in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

MAX 2: White House Hero is out on Blu-ray from Warner Bros Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack On May 23, 2017 & Digital HD

About Max 2

Man's Best Friend Is The Country's Biggest Hero
MAX 2: White House Hero

The All-New Original Movie Is Available on DVD, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack On May 23, 2017 & Digital HD Now. Duty calls again, and our hero dog Max returns to action in "Max 2: White House Hero." His new assignment brings him to Washington, D.C. to serve on the U.S. president's Secret Service detail. When a foreign leader arrives with his precocious daughter Alex (Francesca Capaldi), tensions arise between both countries. First Son TJ (Zane Austin), along with Max and Alex, uncover a dangerous plot that puts both kids and both nations in jeopardy. A highly-sensitive mission will push Max’s specialized skills, intelligence and loyalty to the test.

Visit the Max 2: White House Hero Website: http://max-themovie.com/
Follow Max on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaxMovie

My Thoughts:
This looks like a great family friendly film. I personally love dogs and have one named Prince. He is an extra special member of our very large farm family. I watched the trailer to this movie and think it to be a cute plot line. I am excited to be able to watch Max 2 with my 9 and 6 year old daughters when I get it in the mail. The game below is fun as well.

Blog App

Max 2: White House Hero RUN GAME Blog App:

• Help Max save TJ and Alex! Click anywhere on the game screen to jump over obstacles and make your best time. 
• Watch the trailer and buy Max 2: White House Hero on DVD & Blu-ray May 23. 
• Play the Max 2: White House Hero RUN GAME and share your best time on Facebook for a chance to win. 
• Tag me @finamoon on Twitter and tag me on FB for another chance to win.

WIN IT
Prize: MAX 2: White House Hero Blu-ray Combo Pack

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only! Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for Rafflecopter below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Because I am posting about the MAX 2: White House Hero Run Game Blog App I am getting an MAX 2: White House Hero Blu-ray Combo Pack free for my readers as a giveaway and one free for myself. Thanks to PartnersHub/Tether Group and Warner Bros. for providing me this promotion information and free product. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this blog app and giveaway.

Learning Resources STEM Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set Review #learningresources

Learning Resources STEM Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set is a fun toy that teaches sequencing, coding, and programming. This toy challenges players to sharpen their analytical thinking, critical thinking, logical thinking, and problem solving skills. For ages 5 and up and grades Kindergarten and up.

STEM

• Science: exploring the science of coding and programming with hands-on activities!
• Technology: building and using tools for amazing discoveries!
• Engineering: designing solutions for real-world problems!
• Math: measuring, recording, and comparing data to draw conclusions!

83 Piece Set Includes:

• 1 Robot mouse named Colby: has a switch on the bottom with 3 positions (off and two speeds: normal to use on plastic maze base grid pieces and hyper for use on carpet and other more uneven surfaces). Colorful buttons on top make him do things in the order they are pressed and are: forward (blue arrow that points towards his nose, makes him move forward 5"), rotate right (purple arrow that points right when he is facing away from you, makes Colby rotate right 90 degrees), reverse (yellow arrow that points towards his tail end, makes him move backward 5"), rotate left (orange arrow that points left when he is facing away from you, makes Colby rotate left 90 degrees), action (red circle that makes him either: move forward and back, squeak loudly, or chirp 3 times with lit up eyes), clear (yellow circle clears all coding if you make a mistake or want to do another sequence, has confirmation tone), go (green circle that is the last command to be pressed when the sequence (up to 40 steps) is completed and Colby is set down on the maze). Takes 3 AAA batteries, not included.
• 16 Plastic maze base grid pieces: connect together to form a larger board or any configuration that goes together.
• 22 Plastic maze walls: to be placed around the grids in the crevices so that the mouse can go through the maze to get to the cheese.
• 3 Plastic tunnels: can be placed on the grid or surface for the mouse to go under and through.
• 1 Plastic cheese wedge: to be placed at the end of the maze for the mouse to find. This is magnetic and sticks to the mouses nose when touched by it.
• 30 Double-sided coding cards: have one side with just the arrow and the other side with the mouse and the arrow. These help you plot and track the mouse's path and order in which the code needs to be pressed on Colby for him to get to the cheese in the maze.
• 10 Double-sided activity cards: help you build the mazes from pictures on the cards. These are made in order of difficulty, 1 being the easiest and 20 being the hardest.
• 1 Multilingual activity guide: is instructions and directions for how to play.

How To Play:

1. Pick an activity card with one of the challenge mazes.
2. Build your maze from the picture on the card or just build your own: by connecting the maze grid pieces together and adding the walls, tunnels, and cheese.
3. Use either side of the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for Colby to find the cheese.
4. Program the sequence of steps with the buttons on the mouse.
5. Set Colby down where he is suppose to start in the maze, press go, and watch Colby race to find the cheese.

Teela and Zari playing with the Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set.

What We Thought:
My daughters who are 6 and 8 tried out the Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set. This is a neat toy. It teaches some very important skills and I love that it is educational and that my girls enjoyed it so much. We love bringing this toy out for when we need a break from book work during homeschooling. The girls liked making their own mazes and figuring out what code to program into Colby, the mouse. They also thought that it was funny that the mouse made little sounds occasionally and loved that you could program an action into it to make the mouse do random things. Someday we'd love to get the purple mouse, Jack, that is sold separately, so we can have even more fun with this set and race the two!

The Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set is fun and educational! I recommend it to people that love games, puzzles, and educational toys! This is also a great addition to any homeschool environment. It is a great family centered toy and wonderful to teach and improve STEM and mental skills.

BUY IT


DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links can be found in this post. Thank you for your support of this blog!

Chara Games Commissioned Review

My family had the privilege of trying Commissioned from Chara Games for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum and Bible study. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Patrick and Katherine Lysaght founded Chara Games in 2014 in hopes to bring Christian based tabletop games to the home that are fun for the family to play together. They named their company Chara which means unshakable joy in Biblical Greek. They created their first game, Commissioned, which was funded through a KickStarter campaign and a second game called 3 Seeds was also funded through KickStarter later on.

Commissioned is a board game that is for 2-6 players and is for ages 14 and up. This historically-based cooperative, strategic deck-building style game takes about an hour to play and is built upon how the Early Christian Church was spread. The game covers the first 150 years of church history. There is no need to know the history of Christianity to play.

To play you get to be one of the six Apostles: Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Andrew, Thomas or John. Each Apostle has specific characteristics, abilities, and ways they can help the game. Players in the game work together as a team with the other chosen Apostles to strengthen their individual decks of faith cards, grow the church, collect the books of the New Testament, all while overcoming trials, obstacles, and persecution. The game is played in three rounds: Arm (drawing faith cards), Live (taking action: trials, pray, share, move, and grow), and Mature (expanding faith decks). Commissioned has five separate scenarios you can choose to follow: Acts of the Apostles, Peter's Gentile Outreach, The First Missionary Journeys, Appeal to Caesar,  and To the Ends of the Earth. These scenarios make the game interesting every time it is played. The first scenario is the easiest and suggested for the first play of the game. Commissioned has two different difficulty levels of play and one adversary variant as well. Game ends when scenario victory conditions are met, 5 churches are extinguished, or the last Trial Card is drawn.

Chara Games Commissioned Contents

What Is Included In The Box:

• 1 Double-Sided Game Board: the board map you play on, has two sides for the two difficulty levels.
• 5 Double-Sided Scenario Cards: the first thing you choose in play to start the game. These tell important information, game board set up, victory conditions, and what failure means for each scenario.
• 6 Unique Player Boards: go with each Apostle player.
• 96 Faith Cards: six are drawn at first for each player, use these to acquire more faith cards after accomplishing 5 actions in the Live round the required amount of times. These have up to 5 components: Title, Faith, Point Value, Board Effect, New Testament Books (only on 2-Faith Cards), and Historical Reference.
• 27 Trial Cards: number of turns is limited by the number of these and when you run out it is the end of the game.
• 4 Wooden "Missionary Meeples": help populate the cities on the map with churches when there is less than 6 players.
• 75 Wooden Church Member Cubes: represent church members on the map.
• 1 Wooden Elder's Staff: is passed left along to each player on turn, Elder makes important decisions and rolls die.
• 6 Wooden Apostle Player Pawns: color coded to match the player boards.
• 30 Double-Sided "Stop" Tokens: stop things from happening, these are played during the Live round when indicated. One side is growth stop and other side is mission stop.
• 5 Double-Sided "Extinguished" Tokens: match the art of the board, these are placed when a city location containing a church becomes empty either by trial or choice. If 5 churches are extinguished, the game is lost.
• 1 "Converted City" Leader's Token: is played in the location with the Elder's Apostle pawn when this faith card is selected in the Share action. No trials except for Worldly Priorities and Mount Vesuvius Erupts can affect this area. If card is selected again, move token to specified city. Previous city looses protection. If played on a ship, move to city when the church leaves the ship.
• 1 Roman Legion Token: is played with the Adversary Variant.
• 1 8-Sided Die: rolled to know what to do next.
• 1 12-Page Full Color Rule Book: for teaching the set up, instructions, and rules of the game.
• 1 Theme Appendix: helps you learn about historical concepts encountered throughout the game.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

My family loves all types of games; whether it be board games, card games, video games, relay races, competitions, etc. We love testing our skill, wit, speed, and strategy. Games are great opportunities to get together with family and friends and have a great time. They help us learn how to: take turns, think ahead, make choices, have consequences for our actions, cooperate, work as a team, and be a good sport. We love family game night because it strengthens family ties & bonds, and builds memories. We also love educational and historical games for homeschool and we always like getting new games to add to our collection because it means a chance to try something different.

The artwork of the Commissioned box, game boards, cards, and tokens are superb and vibrantly colored. The game is beautifully made and constructed well. It is made of high quality materials and I could see this lasting a long time if properly cared for.

We found Commissioned to be a great board game of strategy and cooperation. Since it is a game for ages 14 plus I had my son Delbin who is 16 play the game with me. I would not recommend this game for really young children as it does go long and I would expect my 6 and 8 year old would get too fidgety and loose patience. This game is intense and I am so glad we watched the helpful "How-to-Play" video that is on the website because we would have been totally lost without it! I am so thankful that Chara Games made this, as it clarifies everything! We set up the game and played along using the demonstration video as our guide. The 12-page rule book is nice, but still a bit confusing and definitely made the game sound very complicated at first. I have never played a game this involved before although apparently it is similar to other strategy games of this type. It is definitely a game for the serious gamer.

We actually took longer to play and achieve the winning requirements than just the hour it says it should take, but we were also just learning how to play...so maybe this is why. Once we got the game down it flowed seamlessly. It has so many different ways of play with tons of neat pieces that I do not think we will ever get bored playing. We also loved how much we came to understand better what the Apostles actually went through to while growing the Christian church. What an eye opener.

Look for my upcoming review of 3 Seeds from Chara Games shortly after I receive it.

BUY IT
Purchase Commissioned for $28.92 + $5.99 shipping.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharaGames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CharaGames/ @Charagames
Hashtags: #hsreviews #ChristianBoardGames #StrategyGames

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Learning Resources Mental Blox 360° 3-D Building Game Review

Learning Resources Mental Blox 360° 3-D Building Game is a game of 3-D shapes that the player tries to stack and place in formation to resemble a 2-D picture. These brain-boosting puzzles challenge players to sharpen their spatial visualization, critical thinking, logical thinking, and problem solving skills. It takes concentration, attention to detail, logical thinking, abstract thinking, analytical thinking, and precision to build and solve 3-D shape puzzles from the different visual perspectives and points-of-view. You can play by yourself or with friends or family members for even more fun. For ages 5 and up.

Everything included in the box.

What Is Included:

• 15 colorful plastic blocks: These blocks are best played with on a hard flat surface is optimal with these so they stack well. These are sized well for little hands to grasp.
• 40 double-sided cards: These feature the puzzle on the front and the solution on the back. The picture cards show a 2-D viewpoint to be built in 3-D. The cards are language-free so players who do not read yet can still play. 3 levels of play: green cards are easy, yellow are medium, and red is difficult. Top right of the card has a cube that is representative of which point of view or angle is being shown (top, front, behind, sides). Left of the line on the card is all pieces needed t make the build. Right of the line is how the structure looks when completed from the point of view indicated in the above cube. Check accuracy on the back of each card.
• Activity Guide: This is the instruction booklet. It describes how to play the game.

Teela and Zari playing with the Mental Blox 360° 3-D Building Game.

What We Thought:
My daughters who are 5 and 8 tried out the Mental Blox 360° 3-D Building Game. This game makes them think outside the blox :) My eight year old daughter could do the green and yellow cards without difficulty. She was challenged on the red cards, but quite willing and up to the challenge without giving up. My five year old couldn't quite grasp the concept of the different viewpoints so she instead stacks the blocks in fun ways. Mental Blox 360° is a great boredom buster. It helps expand my kids' ways of thinking. I am quite amazed at how much attention they pour into this game. It keeps them very occupied for quite a while.

Mental Blox 360° is fun and educational! I recommend it to people that love brain games, puzzles, and other games! This is also a great addition to any homeschool environment. It is a great family centered game and wonderful to teach and improve STEM and mental skills.

BUY IT


DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links can be found in this post. Thank you for your support of this blog!

Enlivenze LLC Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle Review #ShakeStirSolve

My family had the privilege of trying the Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle from Enlivenze LLC for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Enlivenze LLC are the makers of the creatively fun and highly addicting FlipStir Puzzles. They were looking for smart active play and their ideas made something very unique. This is a great company with wonderful ambitions and an eye for innovation.

The FlipStir Puzzles are award-winning art-inspired handheld toys that challenge the mind. These all enclosed, self-contained puzzles are made up of ten plastic pieces that make up a picture when solved. These plastic pieces are three-dimensional (3D) and half-moon shaped with one of the flat sides having a piece of the picture. They are totally surrounded inside a tube that you can see through. This tube has a ball that is attached to a moveable wand on one end that allows the player to flip and stir the puzzle pieces within the tube. To solve the puzzle all you have to do is line up the pieces in the correct order to reveal the artwork. Then you can shake the tube to mix the pieces up once again and start the process over. There are 5 different puzzles, all of them require no batteries and are made in the USA. They come in two different difficulty levels and are designed for 7 and up.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I love trying new games and toys that look like they would give my family a challenge or have some educational properties. The FlipStir Puzzle is both of these things. It improves eye-hand coordination, problem solving, fine motor development, patience, and self esteem.

Rainbow Dash approves of the Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle :)

We received the Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle to try out. I chose this one because of its bright fun colors and that is was a level 1, so that maybe all my kids could try it out. I was very enthusiastic about this puzzle and wanted my kids to share my interest in this neat toy, but at first I was met with disapproving shrugs and shaking of heads. My kids didn't warm up to this inventive toy right away like I thought they would.

I love this puzzle because it is completely encapsulated. The pieces cannot come out of the tube and therefore won't be lost. I wish all my puzzles were like this because my kids are notorious for loosing pieces to things! I also believe these to be a perfect on-the-go travel game for this very purpose!

Yay me! I solved it!

After I myself sat down to try and solve the Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle the inquisitive eyes from my younger children came over to watch me in my endeavor. I solved the puzzle in about 10 minutes, noting that you could put the word "RAINBOW" reading from top to bottom or bottom to top depending upon how the pieces were positioned in the tube. I liked holding the tube sideways while I worked the pieces into position and found that working from one side to the other was the easiest for me. After showing that the puzzle was indeed solvable to my children they proceeded to try it for themselves. I guess they needed some inspiration and a little coaxing first although for them it was a good test in patience.

Teela trying to solve the Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle.

BUY IT
All FlipStir Puzzles are $24.95 as of this post. You can purchase them through the Enlivenze LLC website.

Follow Them on Social Media:
FlipStir Puzzle
Facebook: www.facebook.com/flipstirpuzzle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/flipstir
Enlivenze LLC
Facebook: www.facebook.com/enlivenze
Twitter: www.twitter.com/enlivenze 
Hashtags: #hsreviews #shakestirsolve


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