The Pencil Grip, Inc. Ultra Safe Safety Scissors and 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit Review

Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog. My family had the privilege of trying The Ultra Safe Safety Scissors and The 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit from The Pencil Grip, Inc. 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.

In 1992 The Pencil Grip was invented by an educational therapist by the name of Dr. Lois Provda. The Pencil Grip, Inc. bloomed from there and now has hundreds of ingenious products for home, school, and office. There are so many neat products to choose from and a lot of kids school supplies.

The Ultra Safe Safety Scissors are scissors made primarily for ages 3 and up. These safety scissors have a permanent plastic shield to safely keep fingers away from the blades. These do not have blunt, dull blades like most children's scissors. To cut with them you slide the paper into the thin gap and cut the paper like normal. The sharp blades are enclosed providing optimum protection from kids being able to cut themselves. The scissors are ergonomic and easy to hold by little hands. These safety scissors for kids have a flexible, spring-loaded training lever that automatically opens the blades after being squeezed closed so that a less experienced user or one with limited strength or coordination can use these with ease. The lever can be folded in to give the child more control.

The 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit comes with three pencil grips. These help the child to learn how to properly hold the writing implement in three consecutive steps: The Crossover Grip, The Pinch Grip, and The Pencil Grip. The first grip is The Crossover Grip. This grip has two finger guards on either side in the design of a "super hero cape" to place fingers in the correct position on the grip while holding the pencil. These finger guards stop the fingers from crossing over. This grip is best to be used with adult supervision for proper training. The Pinch Grip is used next after The Crossover Grip is mastered. It is used as a transition piece with writing implements to provide a gentle guide. It has special partial "wings" allow more freedom, but still has structure. Finally, the graduation grip, The Pencil Grip, has the famed tripod grasp for preventing bad habits from forming during pre-writing and writing instruction. All grips are made for both lefties and righties. These are latex and phthalate free.



How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Zari using The Ultra Safe Safety Scissors.

 The Ultra Safe Safety Scissors are great for preschool age children or those that don't know how to operate scissors well. Since my children are older and know how to use regular scissors they really didn't care for these much. You really have to feed the paper through while cutting at a weird angle. I would suggest them only for very young children or these might be great for children with disabilities. These would be great preschool, daycare, and/or childcare training scissors!

Teela using the different grips in The 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit.

The 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit came to us on promotional pens with The Pencil Grip, Inc. printed on them. My 9 year old daughter, Teela has had an awful pencil holding position from day one and I have tried to get her to stop holding the pencil with a fist when she writes. This 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit looks like it will definitely do the trick and hopefully get her in the habit of holding the pencil correctly. We had Teela pose in the picture above with each grip, she had more trouble positioning the last grip herself. This proved she was not ready for The Pencil Grip. We will work with her more with the first and second grips before moving onto this last one.

Teela holding the pencil correctly with The Pencil Grip.

I like that you can also use this for a number of other writing, drawing, and painting implements as shown in the picture above. These feel pliable like silicone and are comfortable in the hand and on the fingers. These are great for people who need to have more reinforcement for proper writing position and also work well for those that have arthritis.

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BUY IT
You can purchase the Ultra Safe Safety Scissors for $4 and the 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit for $8.81 on Amazon.



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Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Spanish Educator's Collection from Whistlefritz 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.

Whistlefritz is a great foreign language curriculum with videos on DVD, music CDs, lesson plans, matching cards, etc. Whistlefritz’s award-winning French and Spanish products teach children these languages using the immersion method. This means the child is taught by the exclusive use of the language by hearing and speaking only that language without translation. This is one of the most effective ways to teach a language.

The Spanish Educator's Collection from Whistlefritz is a wonderful Spanish curriculum for ages 1-7. This collection includes a lesson plans book, Spanish videos for kids on 5 DVDs, 3 Spanish music CDs, and some Spanish matching cards. These work together to provide a complimentary program that appeals to all types of learners.

Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection.

  
The Educator’s Spanish Collection comes with:

• Whistlefritz Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids book
• Whistlefritz Ultimate Collection Spanish for Kids DVDs & CDs
• Whistlefritz Spanish Matching Cards

Whistlefritz Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids is a 273 page book of 40 reproducible lesson plans. This manual doesn't rely on drills or memorization to learn Spanish. Instead, it uses a multi-sensory approach with projects and activities like: crafts, sorting, playing games, drawing pictures, coloring, etc. to go along with each lesson. This helps the child learn the language easier because they are actually learning by doing and making as well. The lesson plans start with the lesson number and title with: a short description of lesson, goals, objectives, vocabulary, materials needed, and time taken. Then it has activities and their: focus and review (if any), teacher input, guided practice, independent practice, closure, and extension activities. This lesson plan book also has over 50 flashcards and other pages to copy, print, and use for use with the lessons. This can be used as a stand alone lesson book to teach Spanish, but it does reference the other products in it as well for the some of the extension activities. These lessons build upon each other and come back to words and themes that were previously taught to reinforce the vocabulary. You can also find Translation Guides and extra Lesson Plans to download on the website.

Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids book and some pages. Zari with her puppet.

Whistlefritz Ultimate Collection Spanish for Kids is a compilation of 5 DVD videos and 3 music CDs. This educational and fun series is a blend of animation and live-action with Latin rhythms to get kids dancing and singing. These programs have fun characters: Maria, Jorge, Fritzi, and the rest of the gang that engage the learner with enjoyable themes, songs, and stories. It also features live, native-speaking adults and children so the child learning can hear the language spoken in complete sentences. This helps teach the structure and cadence of the language. The child learning the language learns the vocabulary by actually using it too. You can listen to a Spanish music sample here. The videos can be watched in any order, but recommended to be watched in order in which they were created if you have a child 3 and under and if you have a child older than 3, start with Adentro y Afuera, then circle back to the earlier videos. The videos were created in the following order from first to last: Los Animales, Vamos a Jugar, Adentro y Afuera, Las Estaciones, and La Fiesta de Fritzi. Each video focuses in depth on specific themes and vocabulary. All teach greetings, introductions, and numbers.

Some images from the Spanish DVD videos.

Whistlefritz Spanish Matching Cards are a set of 50 fun memory cards. These are made up of 25 cards with a match to themselves. These show a illustrated fox that has been drawn to be doing different commonly-used action words. At the bottom of each card is the action word or phrase in only Spanish. These cards introduce new vocabulary and reinforce words that are introduced in the DVDs, CDs, and Lesson Plans.

Zari found her first match!

  
How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I used the Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection with my daughter Zari who is 6 years old. She knew a bit of Spanish from me teaching her at home. I had taken 3 years of Spanish in high school and so I remembered how to pronounce the words well, but I was still not as fluent as I would have liked to be. I am glad we got this program to try together.

We started watching the videos first. We started with Adentro y Afuera like they suggested. Even though Zari can't read yet, I still thought it best to turn off the subtitles so that it could be viewed without translation. We found that this video was about directional terms, rooms in a home, and foods. The lady named Maria was trying to find the animated mouse named Fritzi with the help of children and audience. She also showed foods by asking a dog puppet what he liked to eat...then later she asked a mouse puppet, and in the credits a horse puppet. They are educational, fun, entertaining and Zari learned quite a bit while watching. I loved all of these. They are very pleasant and can be watched over and over for repetition without being irritating.

After we got done with the videos she did some lessons out of the lesson plan book. The first lesson she did had an activity to make a paper bag puppet and then make it say phrases in Spanish about personal identity and greetings that she learned in the lesson. Each lesson takes about 30-40 minutes depending upon if you do all the extension activities as well. These lessons had great hands-on activities and Zari liked the projects and playing the games and seemed to learn Spanish better when engaged with making and doing something with the vocabulary.

We also tried the matching cards out. First we set them all upside down on the table and she flipped two over trying to match them. Since there were 50 cards total it took a while for her to finish finding all the matches. She had fun anyway and as she matched up two cards together I would tell her the action on the cards reinforcing the learning from the videos and lesson plans.

I highly recommend this foreign language program. We love Whistlefritz! The Spanish Educator's Collection is great for teaching Spanish to children ages 1-7. These programs are a wonderful multicultural homeschool curriculum for a child to learn to be bilingual.

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BUY IT
Now you can purchase Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection for $165.00! Save more than 20% (regularly $202.90) by ordering the Educator’s Spanish Collection of Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids + 5 Videos + 3CDs + Matching Cards!
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My #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Party and a Chance to Win a Dream Walt Disney World Resort Vacation for Your Little Ones!

I received free products to facilitate my party from Disney Parks and MomSelect. 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 post.

I was so worried that no one at all would show to our #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Party that I scheduled on Saturday March 19, 2016. The schools out here were having Spring Break the week after and I didn't think that scheduling it on the 26th would be any better because of Easter being on the Sunday after. I was so nervous that no one would show up at all because of people being out of town for vacation to visit family and friends.

Teela, Joey, and Zari at the party.

We had one little girl show! I am so happy someone did! My older son's best friend has a little sister, named Joey, that was invited by my girls and he saw the invitation when he was over at their house visiting his friend. He took it upon himself to email the family before the party and ask if she was coming. The parents I guess didn't put two and two together that it was us that was throwing the party. So, naturally after he asked they said yes. Thanks to my son, Jaedan, the party went on. We put up the decorations and prepared the food. Then we partied! We had so much fun showing our #DisneySide!

#DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Party Food

The food turned out to be a big hit. I made 24 Mickey Cone Cakes the night before to frost with chocolate icing and have two round dark chocolate melts put on the top like Mickey ears. These were quite fun to make and the kids enjoyed them too. I also provided a veggie tray with onion dip that I mixed up for something healthy. The Sofia's Seashell Mac and Cheese turned out well too. I also had Teela help make the Disney Peanut Butter & Jelly Pinwheel Skewers. Instead of Mickey dimensional stickers ours had Disney Fairies puffy stickers on them. To drink we purchased some Donald Duck orange juice and also had the Nestle Nesquik Chocolate Flavored Drink Powder that came in the kit to mix with milk if they wanted that instead.

Disney Craft with Tulip Puffy Confetti Glitter Paints

We played some games and made a craft after we ate. We played the Pin the Smile On Mickey Game and
made puppets with the I Love To Create Live On Stage! Puppet Show Kit (paper bags, Disney Junior Puppet Print-Outs, Alene's Tacky Glue, 3 Tulip Puffy Confetti Glitter Paints). Although, everyone making one wanted to be Sofia the First, so the puppet show didn't really take off. Oh well.

Pin the smile on Mickey Mouse

The time came when our guest had to go home. I gave Joey her gift bag full of goodies to take home and remember the party by. I also handed out an HP Photo Card Pack to the parents that I had left over from an old #DisneySide party pack and told them about MyPrintly, a HP website where you can create DIY projects and print them to share. We also talked about Disney Parks and why we love them so much! They shared with me that Joey had gone to Disney World last year when she was 4 years old and she enjoyed it so much.

Fun with Disney Lion Guard Tatoos and Disney Parks Posters.

My daughter Zari didn't want the party to end and was sad. I promised her we would go outside and play on the play set and continue the celebration even though Joey had to go home. So we did and as soon as we got back inside I had Teela and Zari pick a Disney The Lion Guard Fake Tattoo and we placed them. We did a few more games together and called it a very successful day.

Playground fun Disney style!

The #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Party turned out to be a hit! Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Thank you Disney Parks for giving me the opportunity to do another Disney party! Also thanks to the other sponsors: HP, Banfield Pet Hospital, Glad, Nestle, All, and I Love To Create!

Enter for Chance to Win a Dream Walt Disney World Resort Vacation for Your Little Ones!

Grand Prize (Enter from now through April 3):

• 5-day, 4-night Walt Disney World Vacation for 4
• 3-night stay at a Walt Disney World Resort, plus a 1-night stay in Cinderella's Castle Suite
• 5-Day Magic Your Way Tickets with Park Hopper Option, plus Water Parks & More Option
• $500 Disney Gift Card

Get all the details of the Disney Junior My Magical First Sweepstakes and enter here.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: This post is in conjunction with Disney Parks and MomSelect. I received a party pack complimentary to throw a #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate to promote Disney Parks. 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 post.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital and Physical Pack Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Pack and Primer Physical Pack 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.

With Math-U-See Digital Packs you can have access to which ever Digital Pack you purchase from any web browser for 12 months. These contain streaming instruction videos along with other items you can also access online for helping your student learn the math they need to. However, Digital Packs do not include the student workbook or tests, these can be purchased separately from the Math-U-See Catalog. I received access to the Primer Digital Pack.

Primer Digital Pack Contents:

• 12-month Access to Primer Streaming Instruction Videos
• Instruction Manual PDFs
• Lesson Solutions PDFs
• Skip Count Songs MP3s and Songbook PDFs
• Other Online Resources
• Math-U-See Digital Manipulatives, using Chrome or Safari browsers

Getting to and using the Digital Pack after it has been purchased is easy. Once you have purchased the Digital Pack you can login to your account on Demme Learning's Catalog homepage by clicking the Login link at the top of the page and entering your email and password. Use the password you used when you registered. You will automatically be directed to the My Dashboard page which you can view order information and recent account activity as well as update your account information. Once there you will see a link that you can click on named, "View Digital Packs" or alternatively you can click on the link at the top of the page called "My Digital Packs" while you are anywhere on the website. After you get to that page you can select the correct digital pack you will want to work on in the pull down menu under Select a Level. Once that is done another pull down menu will pop up to Select a Lesson. Before you do this; however, you should watch the Digital Manipulatives Demo so you can get the hang of using this interactive program. After the demo you can open the Digital Manipulatives by clicking the link above the demo. The Digital Manipulatives will open in a new page. I want to mention that I use Firefox and I had no problems while using the Digital Manipulatives. Once you select a lesson you can play the Streaming Instruction Video and/or click on printable PDF links for a Lesson Summary and Lesson Solutions. There are also Additional Resources that you can also listen to or print out.



We received the Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) which has everything to teach an introduction to mathematics for preschoolers through kindergartners. It teaches major concepts and skills that include: counting objects and developing numeracy, understanding place value, recognizing number names and symbols, reading and writing numerals, understanding addition and subtraction with concrete and representational models, understanding and writing the symbols +, – and =; and addition and subtraction of select numbers. It also covers additional concepts and skills that include: telling and writing time by hours and minutes, recognizing & drawing rectangles, squares, and circles; measuring length by repeating units, introducing halves and fourths, counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 100s; learning basic geometric shapes, and reading, writing & interpreting word problems.

Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) Contents:

• Instruction Manual with Complete Solutions: Physical instruction manual with lesson-by-lesson instructions for the teacher and answer keys.
• Instruction DVD: Lesson-to-lesson video instruction on DVD.
• Student Workbook: Physical workbook for students with lesson-by-lesson worksheet pages, review pages, and application & enrichment pages.
• Integer Block Kit: 133-piece plastic manipulative block set that includes 20 ones and tens, 13 fives, and 10 each of twos, threes, fours, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, and hundreds blocks, plus the Decimal Street™/Block Clock poster all in a box with handle to keep them tidy. Use from Primer through Algebra 1.
• 12 months of access to the new Primer Digital Pack: See above.
• Skip Count Songs MP3s and Songbook PDFs: Help your student learn skip counting. Two versions of the songs available on the MP3, one with Christian lyrics, and the other with the lyrics taken from science and literature. Song lyrics and music in the PDF.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I thought Primer would be nice to start this program with my daughter Zari who is in preschool since I was unfamiliar with it. She has been learning to recognize and write her numerals and count to higher numbers. I thought it would be a great introductory math for her too.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Workbook using the Physical Integer Block Kit

Because we have never used Demme Learning's Math-U-See programs we received the Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) to compare to the Digital Pack on its own. I wanted to see for myself how these were different. Also I thought that having a set of the actual manipulatives would help us with the hands-on aspect better than the online version. The Digital Pack doesn't come with the student workbook or tests even in PDF format, so I am glad I received the Primer Universal Set in addition because it does come with those and oddly enough includes the Digital Pack with its purchase as well.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Instruction Videos

We loved that the Digital Pack was all online. You have everything except for the student workbook at your fingertips online so that it is easier to take everything on the go if needed. The streaming math instruction is the same as what is on the instruction DVD that comes with the Universal Pack. These along with the instruction manual were helpful in Primer, but I could use the student workbook without them. However, I could see that these would be so much more helpful in the older math packs and why visual people would love the streaming video better than the manual. The Digital Pack has PDFs of the Instruction Manual and solutions instead of the physical book that the Universal Pack comes with. I do like using the physical integer block kit better than the Digital Manipulatives. I also wish the Universal Pack came with the CD and physical music book to the skip count songs because these are offered to purchase separately, but it only came with the MP3s and PDFs that the Digital Pack comes with to listen to by streaming online and look at.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Manipulatives

The physical integer block kit that the Universal Pack has is a lot easier to use with the text than the Digital Manipulatives. The Digital Pack streaming video and Instruction DVD which are basically one in the same in different formats refer to the physical integer block kit a lot in the teachings. I like having a more hands-on tactile experience while teaching my very active preschooler. She learns better when she can touch an object and the manipulatives can go over the empty squares or pictures of blocks in her workbook too. I, however; didn't like that the physical integer blocks in the kit weren't made of very good quality. They did not want to snap together and stay that way until you took them apart like some I have seen. The Digital Manipulatives were fun to play with though. You could drag them into a snap grid on the screen, click twice on them to flip them over, and right click to turn them. I used these in addition to the physical ones to show Zari how to manipulate them on the screen by herself and let her draw pictures with them and the mode that it could be switched to draw or write with colors. I liked to enforce the written numerals with the blocks so I had her use the mouse to draw the number with a color I chose and put how many ones blocks it was on the screen beside it.

I am excited to use more of the Digital Pack along with the Universal Pack. In my honest opinion though I think that it would be better to purchase the Universal Set or Level Up Set (if you already have blocks) than just the Digital Pack because it comes with everything in the physical format too. But if you do get the Digital Pack and Student Workbook only you will have everything you need on-the-go with internet access from any browser, so it might be just the ticket for you. This digital math is great for homeschool math especially!

BUY IT
See the individual prices and descriptions for Primer here. The Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) is $131. If you would like to get the Primer Digital Pack it is a very affordable $31, but does not include the student workbook or tests. You can purchase the Primer Student Workbook additionally for another $33. If you already have the physical Integer Block Set ($80) I suggest that you purchase the Primer Level Up Set which is $62 to save some money.

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My #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Kit Arrival & Unveil

I received free products to facilitate my party from Disney Parks and MomSelect. 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 post.

Here is the moment of truth. My #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Kit for Zari, my daughter who is the preschooler, made the journey to my home safely and the moment to unveil the contents has finally arrived! Are you as excited as I am!!?? My girls couldn't really contain themselves either.

My girls, Zari and Teela waiting patiently for the opening of our #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Kit.

As soon as we opened the large box that the kit came in we found a cute Princess Sofia American Tourister (official luggage of Walt Disney World & Disneyland) 18" suitcase that held the contents of the kit. My girls squealed in delight and jumped up and down when they saw the American Tourister Princess Sofia suitcase.

My girls are ecstatic about the Princess Sofia Luggage! Just look at their faces!

As I opened the luggage I was overwhelmed at how much awesome stuff they threw in!  We are certainly going to put it all to good use in the party planning. I can't wait for my party! It is going to be GRAND!

Look at all the goodies!

What's Inside My Kit:

• Disney DesignWare Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Swirl Decorations (12 pieces: 6 foil swirl decorations, 3 foil swirl decorations with 7 in cutouts, and 3 foil swirl decorations with 5 in cutouts.)
• Disney Hallmark Party Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Fun & Friends Table Cover (54 x 96 in)
• Disney Hallmark Party Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Fun & Friends Plates (2 sets of 8, 7 x 7 in)
• Disney Hallmark Party Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Fun & Friends Napkins (16, 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 in)
• Disney Hallmark Party Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Fun & Friends Cups (2 sets of 8, 9 fl oz each)
• Disney Junior double-sided hats (one side Sofia the First Crown and the other Captain Jake and the Neverland Pirates Pirate Hat, 10)
• Watch Disney Junior drawstring backpacks with card holder.
• Disney The Lion Guard Fake Tattoos
• Disney The Lion Guard Posters
• Disney Junior Walt Disney World Attractions Posters (8)
• HP Photo Booth Strips @MyPrintly #CMYK
• Banfield Pet Hospital "My Very, Very Smelly Breath" Scratch and Sniff Children's Book #Banfield #DoggyDental #Banfieldlife
• Glad Disney Cars Zipper Sandwich Bags (40 count) #MagicofGlad
• Nestle Nesquik Chocolate Flavored Drink Powder (9.3 oz, makes 19 servings)  @NesquikUSA #stirimagination
• All Liquid Free Clear Sample Packs (2 of 1.78 fl oz packets, cleans 1 load laundry each) #all_laundry
• Walt Disney World Resort Bingo Cards
• Walt Disney World Resort Attraction Matching Game Cards
• Walt Disney World Resort Four Parks Game (Four Parks Signs)
• I Love To Create #DisneyKids - Live On Stage! Puppet Show Kit (paper bags, Disney Junior Puppet Print-Outs, Alene's Tacky Glue, 3 Tulip Puffy Confetti Glitter Paints) @ilovetocreate #Ilovetocreate #createincolor #puffypaint #gluestufftostuff
• Kilimanjaro Safari Game (Disney Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari Animals)
• Walt Disney World Resort Character Charades Cards
• Pin the Smile On Mickey Game Board
• Walt Disney World Welcome Kit (includes about the partners, party menu recipes, and activities)

The unveil: My #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Kit contents.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: This post is in conjunction with Disney Parks and MomSelect. I received a party pack complimentary to throw a #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate to promote Disney Parks. 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 post.

Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set Review

My daughter and I had the privilege of trying the Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set Review 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.

Alpha Omega Publications (AOP) has developed some of the best Christian based curriculum available. Their award winning products include: Switched-On Schoolhouse (SOS), LIFEPAC, Horizons, Monarch, and Weaver. AOP has online, print and computer based homeschool curriculum formats to fit the different styles of just about every homeschool.

Horizons is AOP's Christian based teacher-led workbook curriculum. The Horizons workbooks all have brightly colored illustrations and engaging material that is filled with consumable lessons that uses a spiral method of learning to help them master core concepts. The spiral method has your student keep revisiting the same skills over and over with increasing difficulty over a period of time, gradually expanding upon the skill level to build new understanding. They also have hands-on activities included with the workbook lessons to make the learning more exciting.

Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set

The Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set is an all in one kit. You can use this kit in a homeschool or classroom setting. The kit comes with the Horizons Preschool: Student Workbook 1 & 2, Teacher's Guide Book 1 & 2, Resource Packet, and Sing Along Music CD. It is everything you need wrapped up in a all inclusive kit so you don't have to do an exhausting search for lessons or lesson plans.

What the side of the box for the curriculum says.

The two student workbooks cover each a half of the school year. Each print workbook has 90 lessons, so 180 lessons total. These workbooks have perforated pages for easy tear out. In the lessons within the two workbooks you will find Bible concepts, social studies, language arts, math, phonics and science, arts & crafts, music, story times, outdoor excursions, etc. The lessons are centered around a Biblical 7 days of creation theme.

Zari using the Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Student Workbook.

The Teacher's Guides also are set up to follow the workbooks, covering half a year in one and the later half in another. The first part of both Teacher's Guides are the same, covering: Scope & Sequence, Introduction (which gives you a suggestions on what you should do and how to start), Media Resources, Supplies, Memory Verses, Days of Creation Numbers, and Horizons Preschool Music CD Lyrics. The back portion of each book has the Lessons and plans for each, 1-90 in the first book and 91-180 in the second book.

The lessons are spelled out in the lesson plans of the teacher's guide. The worksheets in the workbooks are just a small part of each lesson.  At the top of each lesson plan it tells you the activities in the lesson. These could include: bible lessons, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Phonics, Reading, Writing, Memory Verse, Math, Shapes, Color, Story Time, Outdoor Activity,  Music, Arts & Crafts, Physical Education, and/or Homework or Homework Review.

The Resource Packet is filled with manipulatives you can use with the lessons. This packet is thick, printed on cardstock in full color, and has 284 pages printed front to back. The illustrations go with the lesson books. You can easily put these in page protectors in a 3-ring binder for easy access. These are wonderful homeschool resources.

The Music CD has 17 individual songs. This CD has children singing the songs on it plus the instrumental versions of each song as well. The songs are easy to learn and the lyrics are also in the Teacher's Guide too. You can either sing-a-long with the voice and instruments or just the instrumentals in the songs. These songs talk about God, Jesus, and the Disciples as well as biblical concepts.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I think that getting a strong start in learning before kindergarten is essential to having a good foundation in education. My youngest daughter Zari is 4 years old and turning 5 in October. We have been working with her on pre-kindergarten skills so she is prepared to start kindergarten and be successful in doing so.  I love teaching her because she is so eager to learn and she sucks up everything I teach her like a sponge. She has been doing preschool already, but I was quickly spending too much time in finding lessons and designing my own lesson plans to go with them. She has been excited to start working in an actual workbook like her siblings. Kids at this age are so impressionable and so I want to make sure I teach her the very best Christian curriculum around.

Alpha Omega Publications was unbelievably generous and sent me a complete Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set kit for my daughter Zari to work on. We were so excited when it arrived and had her dive right in to the pages of the workbook after reading the guide. The teacher's guide was very helpful in laying out everything that was supposed to happen for the day, media resources, and supplies needed for each week.

The lesson plans are structured so you can do a whole 5 days of preschool if you wanted, but you can also do a 3 day week structure by using days 1, 3, and 5, days 2 & 4 are for review if needed. It also suggested to only do 2 hours per day of actual academics for preschool. We chose a 3 day per week schedule. I am not as structured in homeschooling as I would like to be and found myself needing to pace myself so as to not rush things as we did the lessons together. Zari was definitely not used to working on so many subjects in one day. There is a lot to cover per day and fitting it all in was a little tiring for Zari. I let her take her naps so that she didn't get too overworked and she definitely needed them. I am glad that the guide says that you can pick and choose what you would like to do and that the lessons are fairly adaptable for many different situations and children's different learning styles. I love that it is so flexible.

Zari loved the colorful illustrations in the workbooks and resource packet. She is loving doing the pages and activities so far. I think she has already learned so much from when she started.

We were very pleased with the quality of the Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set. It has exceeded our expectations. We recommend AOP products to anyone that wants an exceptional Christian homeschool curriculum.

BUY IT
You can purchase the whole Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Preschool Curriculum Set for $125.95.

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WordsBright S is for Smiling Sunrise Book Review

My daughters Zari and Teela had the privilege of testing out WordsBright S is for Smiling Sunrise hardback book with audio CD, with MP3 available via download and Teacher's Guide to help me use this with my little ones. I received this free for this review to use in conjunction with my own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

WordsBright S is for Smiling Sunrise is a colorful hardback picture book that teaches the alphabet with rhyme, fun illustrations, and vocabulary words. This book isn't the typical "A is for Apple", "B is for Ball" ABC-book. It takes the learning one step further with a fair amount of complex and more interesting words to improve the English language and comprehension of the student while expanding their vocabulary. S is for Smiling Sunrise is perfect for a toddler, preschooler, kindergartner, and/or early reader. The bright eye-catching pictures and rhyme help hold the attention of the smaller children.

Teela and Zari enjoying the S is for Smiling Sunrise book together.

The S is for Smiling Sunrise book comes with an audio CD that takes the words in the book and makes them into sing-along rhymes to help follow along in the book and make it even more fun with song. Along with the book, this music CD is great to take on-the-go in the car, to Grandma's house, or left with a sitter. I wish; however, that the CD was actually a DVD...with the whole concept and song animated like they do with the first part of the preview on YouTube...



There are also parent and teacher guides that go above and beyond the book and CD to help you teach the child values and virtues that are very crucial in life. These values and virtues are interwoven within the book's pages to amplify essential moral and ethical principals. I love that they incorporate these important concepts in S is for Smiling Sunrise. In the guide it starts off with some general pre- or post-reading questions. Then for each letter of the alphabet it goes through and explains the concepts manifested in the book and CD in greater detail. It also poses questions to ask your child or student so it will become a more interactive thought process. Then it lays down the vocabulary words used and further activities you can do to enhance the learning experience.

My daughters love this book and CD. Teela, who is in first grade, enjoyed reading this to Zari, who is in preschool. My girls also liked singing along with the music CD. The new associations for the alphabet makes this book even more engaging. It isn't the boring repetitious ABC associations that we are used to. For example, B is for Breathe instead of for Ball and P is for Park and Playground instead of Pig, Parrot, or Pizza. This is a very refreshing change from the norm. The words virtue, patience, gratitude, wonder, etc. are also sprinkled throughout the text. These words encourage positive thoughts and behaviors to be learned for character development. S is for Smiling Sunrise is a great book and CD to teach growing minds beyond what is considered conventional learning. It is wonderful for parenting, preschool, and homeschool.  

TRY IT
To get a sneak peek you can look inside S is for Smiling Sunrise on the WordsBright website. You can also download the parent/teacher guides, a words poster, and a mp3 alphabet song for free.

BUY IT
S is for Smiling Sunrise hardcover book is around $14 to $17 depending upon where you purchase it. The WordsBright website has a list of places to buy the book.

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50% Off Melissa & Doug Toys on Amazon.com Today Only!

This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Today only, save 50% on select Melissa & Doug toys. It's their Gold Box Deal of the Day.

This one-day offer is valid on December 4th, 2014, or while supplies last. Discount is already included in the current Amazon.com price. Applies only to purchases made from Amazon.com and does not apply to products purchased from third-party merchants on the Amazon.com website.

Go here to get Christmas for your little ones early: Melissa & Doug Sale!


DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I did not receive any compensation for doing this post; however, this post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Preschool Rocks Curriculum Bundle Educents Deal and Sand & Water Sensory Activities Review

My girls, Zari and Teela, playing with water in the Sensory Table.

We received products free from Educents to facilitate this review.

Right now Educents is having a deal for the Preschool Rocks Curriculum Bundle! Get 19 Downloadable Products (982 pages) for only $29.99 (regularly $106)! That's a discount of 71%!

If you are doing Preschool with your little ones you should really check out this bundle on Educents for the awesome savings! These instant downloads cover letters, sounds, numbers, counting, colors, shapes, phonemic awareness, math, literacy, and much more! You will get printables, games, centers, and interactive activities you are sure to love! This is great for preschool teachers, homeschooling parents, and/or parents looking for supplemental activities.

I got to download the Sand and Water “Sensory” Table Task Cards and More by The Fun Factory for this review for free. These activities encourage imagination, observation, exploration, discovery, higher level thinking, problem-solving skills, building vocabulary, scaffolding learning, and small motor building. Retail price of $5 and 25 pages are included.

When Tatiana was still with us we received the Sand & Water Table we have now from a wonderful donor and now good friend of ours. Because Tatiana was blind she needed sensory activities to desensitize her of less desirable touch sensations: like gooey, sandy, or wet things. She was a bit tactally hypersensitive, but finally got to love bath time, eating yogurt, and the beach. It was a process of trial and error with the Sensory Table, but we are so very glad we had it to help her. I also made up a website of activities for totally blind babies, toddlers, and children while she was still alive to share what things worked well for my daughter.

The activities and ideas in the Sand and Water “Sensory” Table Task Cards and More are great to help you think of more ways than just water and sand to use with the "Sensory" Table. Some of the activity cards are categorized according to season, holiday or theme. I love themed activities and think that they are wonderful in teaching because they make learning more fun. These cards can be easily printed onto card stock and laminated for use over and over again with the table. We loved the hands-on ideas of filling the table with things to find and match with words or letter. The table could be used much like one of those eye spy games. We also loved the ideas of using small brooms/dustpans and mops so the littles can clean up their own messes when they are made. They also had ideas on what to use if you don't have a commercial sensory table. My kids love playing with the sand & water sensory table. It is great because you can use it so many ways. It is so versatile. You can also use it both indoors and outdoors too. I can't wait when the weather gets nice so that I can fully incorporate these into my homeschool lessons!

Downloadable Files Included in the Preschool Rocks Curriculum Bundle

• A Dab of Learning
• ABC and 123
• ABC Necklaces
• Frogs & Toads Letter Matching Game
• Getting Ready for Kindergarten
• I Can Read the Alphabet
• Kitty Cat Numeration & Ordering
• Letter Books
• Math Game and Math Centers
• Mega Sorting Bundle
• My Personal Information
• Name that Shape Geometry Games with Shapes
• Preschool Math
• Real or Not Real
• Rhyming Mega Bundle
• Sand & Water Sensory Table
• Time to Rhyme

Go get this deal at Educents now and save up to 71%! Click on the Educents button below and find the Preschool Rocks Curriculum Bundle deal! Hurry! It is only here for a limited time!


DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received products for free to facilitate my 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 and promo. Affiliate links may be present in this post. Thank you for supporting my blog.

Jim Henson's Pajanimals Play Date DVD Review and Giveaway

PAJANIMALS is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company, Sprout and Sixteen South Television. This cute TV series airs nightly on 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout® during its The Good Night Show and also airs on NBC on Saturday mornings as part of the NBC Kids programming block. This show follows Cowbella (the cow), Apollo (the dog), Sweetpea Sue (the horse) and Squacky (the duck) as they take young viewers on exciting imaginary adventures with song, dance, new friends, and lessons to learn in every episode. PAJANIMALS teaches important social and emotional skills that preschoolers need to move through their days successfully, especially during bedtime.

February is the month of love with Valentine’s Day (February 14), Celebration of Love Week (February 10 – 16) and Love Your Pet Day (February 20), and Pajanimals want to help you celebrate by offering free PAJANIMALS - themed Valentine’s Day printable cards available now at http://www.sproutonline.com/printables/pajanimals-printable-valentines-day-cards

In the PAJANIMALS Play Date DVD distributed by NCircle Entertainment you get to see 5 stories:

• I'm Sorry, Really Sorry (teaches the importance of forgiveness and the words, "I'm sorry")
• A Colorful Problem (teaches the importance of sharing)
• Game Day (teaches the importance of exercise and having fun with your friends)
• The Rocket Ride (teaches the importance of telling the truth and knowing that your friends will be understanding)
• Share Day (teaches the importance of knowing that everyone has been nervous at some point, overcoming shyness, and that with friends you can do anything)

Includes these songs:

• Pajanimals Bounce (an upbeat song to get the wiggles out before bed)
• Our Friendship Song (great song about friendship)
• Brusha, Brusha, Brusha (great song about brushing your teeth)
• Stick to the Plan (song about bedtime routine)
• Jiggle, Jumble and Jump (an exercise song)
• Pajanimals Freeze Dance (a song about a game called Freeze Dance)
• Octopus Huggle (cute song about hugs)

Approx 60 minutes long

I had my daughters watch this before their bed routine. My daughters loved this DVD! They danced to the songs and shortly after it was over wanted to brush their teeth, get their PJs on and go to bed. This DVD has cute Muppet characters that come to life with song and dance. Each story teaches great morals and lessons that are reiterated at the end. I enjoyed watching these with my daughters and seeing them enjoy themselves.

BUY IT
You can purchase the PAJANIMALS Play Date from NCircle Entertainment for $8.99

WIN IT
Prize: Jim Henson's Pajanimals Play Date DVD

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it 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: I received product to review and the opportunity to giveaway the same product for free. 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.

Baby Bible Christmas Storybook by Robin Currie FIRST Wild Card Tour Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Robin Currie

and the book:

Baby Bible Christmas Storybook

David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Karen Davis, Assistant Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

MY THOUGHTS:
This is a beautiful board book of the telling of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is wonderful for Christmas time to teach the true meaning to little ones. Since it is a board book this will last longer and the wonderful illustrations will keep your little one occupied. My Teela loves this book and wanted me to read it over and over to her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rev. Dr. Robin Currie is the Early Childhood Librarian/Preschool Liaison for the Glen Ellyn Public Library and serves on the staff of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. She is also the retired pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn. Before and during seminary she was a children’s librarian for public libraries in Illinois and Iowa. She holds master’s degrees in Library Science from the University of Iowa and in Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, as well as a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from LSTC. Her published books include seven resource collections for librarians and over a dozen children’s Bible story collections.

Visit the author's blog.


Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Board book: 36 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781403685
ISBN-13: 978-0781403689

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER (Click on pictures to see them larger):