Weigl Publishers AV2 Books Review

My family had the privilege of trying three AV² books from Weigl Publishers 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.

Weigl Publishers started in 2010 with 53 AV² titles. Now they have close to 500 titles in their ever growing catalog. The AV² books have titles that cover science, social studies, language arts, visual arts, sports, etc. These media enhanced audio visual digital books have audio clips, video clips, embedded web-links for further research and interactive activities, 'Try This!' learning activities, key words activity interactive word matching to teach vocabulary, quizzes for self assessment, and slide show. This pairs books with online interactive content that brings the books to life and makes learning more fun. Each book has a digital code that unlocks the multimedia content. You will need internet access to get to the multimedia content. You have access to this content indefinitely, it is not a subscription. This is great for homeschooling for self directed learning.

The AV² Books We Received:

• Glaciers from the series "Earth's Water" published under their imprint Lightbox and intended for a grades 3-6 interest range.
• A Lion's World belonging to their “EyeDiscover" series, intended for a K-2 interest range.
• There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant, a fiction title, intended for a K-2 interest range.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We received a PDF for each eBook. Once downloaded this gave us access to the multimedia content associated with each one with instructions inside the eBook to go to a website and enter a code. These looked like so much fun with all of their interactive components. I checked out each of these books and their extra features with my daughters who aged are 7 and 10.

Lightbox Glaciers eBook cover.

The first book we checked out was Glaciers from the series "Earth's Water" published under Weigl Publisher's imprint Lightbox. This is intended for a grades 3-6 interest range. It is a 23 page eBook represented on 15 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. This showed us a Lightbox Glaciers Menu that has the same pages as the PDF eBook, but with more interactive content. You can flip through this like you would an online book using the arrows.

Lightbox Glaciers Menu online.

The icons are easy to follow. Each page has a diamond shaped button to go back to the menu and an audio icon that when clicked will have a computer voice read you the book at the top left of the book. You have the option of doing this or reading the book on your own. The voice is robotic sounding so it wasn't our favorite. Some pages have other icons as well at the top left of the book, for example: the triangle icon plays a movie, the earth icon goes to an external link, the pen icon is an activity PDF you can download, the stack of papers icon starts an interactive graphic/transparency, the icon that looks like rectangles lined up opens a slide show, the g icon shows where stuff is on google maps. At the bottom left there are icons for going to the home page and accessing the Lightbox supplementary resources. At the top right there is an icon that shrinks and grows an area of the page if needed to zoom in or out or magnify it. Throughout the book there are underlined bold vocabulary words you can click on and it will popup a definition. Close to the end there is an interactive quiz you can have your student so online or alternatively you can download it in PDF format for printing. At the end there is a key icon that gives you access to a online keyword quiz with multiple choice you can bubble in or you can download a PDF version. There is also a science experiment at the end that you can do. This book is fantastic and very interactive with the reader. My daughter Teela especially loved the interactive transparencies and this book was perfect for her since it was right at her 4th grade level. It is also packed with great content about Glaciers and we learned a lot. This would be a great book paired with a unit study of the same or similar subject.

EyeDiscover A Lion's World eBook cover.

The next book we checked out was A Lion's World belonging to their “EyeDiscover" series. This is intended for a K-2 interest range. It is a 24 page eBook represented on 15 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. The first page it brings you to tells the student what they are going to be learning in a pleasant woman's voice, then you can start reading by clicking an arrow. It also has a lion image that moves and roars silently. The woman's voice proceeds to read the book for you if you do not click the audio icon to mute. If you click on the book icon you can see thumbnails of the PDF pages of the eBook. In each page in this media enhanced book you have to mute the lady's voice in order to read the book on your own. You can also make the page full screen by clicking the square with arrow icon. Each page you come to of the online version of this book has high-definition moving pictures. They bring the book to life. The last pages in the PDF show us facts about lions by numbers and keywords by sight words and content words. This wasn't as interactive as the Glaciers book, but it is written for a younger age group so I thought that was fine. We did wish after we muted the voice on the first page it stayed mute when we turned the page, but it didn't. My daughter Zari loves the moving pictures on the pages of the lions and the text was just at her speed since she is in first grade. It had some great facts about lions that my daughter didn't know and it was easy for her to read or read along if she wanted. This would also be a great book paired with a unit study of the same or similar subject.

A Lion's World eBook shows features to the EyeDiscover AV² book.

AV² Fiction Readalong There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant eBook cover.

The final book we checked out was a fiction reader called There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant. This is intended for a K-2 interest range. It is a 32 page eBook represented on 19 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. The first page it comes to has a big start button to click and that will open the AV² book full screen.

AV² Readalong Navigation.

You will have two options to choose from in this book: Read to Me and Read by Myself. The Read to Me version is a lot of fun. My daughter Zari loved this version. It had wonderful narration and fun sound effects. It also highlighted whole sentences/paragraphs as it reads. You can also pause it if needed. The Read by Myself version lets you read the words on the page to yourself or if you mouse over them it will read them as they would be in the other version. My daughters loved the cowboy's voice and even though the pictures weren't animated the sound effects made it more fun. This book was definitely farfetched, but very entertaining and is an spinoff of The Little Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly story. We enjoyed it very much.

Weigl Publishers AV² books are interactive and fun. We are very glad we got to review these and hope to be able to review for Weigl Publishers again. We highly recommend these books for homeschooling or just to purchase for reading.

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#LIGHTtheWORLD In 25 Ways Over 25 Days Advent Calendar

“During Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. This year, we have an amazing opportunity to share that light by resolving to do the things Jesus Christ did. Every day leading up to Christmas, we will focus on a different Christ-like behavior and provide suggestions for ways we can emulate His example....” mormon.org

The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints has provided each of us a way to #LIGHTtheWORLD from December 1st through Christmas Day. The Worldwide Day of Service is on December 1st and kicks off this Advent Calendar. For the Worldwide Day of Service people were given the opportunity to "serve anyone you want, any way you want" and "find a way to serve others as Jesus did". Just like this Christ-like day, each day following in the advent calendar has a theme and follows with suggestions of different ways you can get involved with small, but meaningful acts of service.

“When people think of Christmas, they often think of lights,” said Bruce Muir, director of emergency response for the Church. “Christmas lights, lighted store windows, tree lights. Christ taught ‘Ye are the light of the world,” and we hope that through small and simple acts of service, we can spread the light of Christ—helping others to feel the love of the Savior through genuine kindness.”

This Advent Calendar helps us get into the Christmas spirit and follow Christ's example this holiday season as we go about our busy daily lives. Just one act of kindness each day can make someones day or brighten their future. You can also see each video that goes with the theme as it posts each day. Videos and printables, including the advent calendar, are available in multiple languages so people from all over the globe can participate. Go download the advent calendar today!

BE SOCIAL
Please visit mormon.org for more information.
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Also, here are some fabulous FREE printable kits to help you too.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this post to let my readers know about this opportunity of service. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else.

FREE Herbal Training and Downloads! Never Feel Lost, Alone, or Confused About Herbs Again!

Have you ever felt lost or confused when learning about herbs?

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Go get this training now: learning-herbs.com/t?orid=240373&opid=40

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post because I thought you might be interested in knowing this information and taking part of this deal. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for doing this post. Affiliate links can be found in this post. Thank you for your support of this blog!

The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today DVD Giveaway & Blog App

Sony Home Video provided me with some of the materials I used in this Blog Post/Giveaway. The opinions I share are my own.

The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today is out on DVD September 6 from Sony Home Entertainment!

In the brand new original animated film, Princess Alise is training to be the perfect royal but in her heart all she wants to do is sail the seven seas as a swashbuckling pirate! After setting sail, Princess Alise is shipwrecked and washes ashore on an island where she meets Lucas, a young boy who has been living there by his self. They have to work together to survive and get back to civilization!

Buy The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today! http://sonypictures.us/swan
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Are You Fit to be a Princess or a Pirate Blog App:

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Prize: A copy of The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today on DVD!

Each household is only eligible to win The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today! DVD via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

I run giveaways with 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!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Because I am posting about the Are You Fit to be a Princess or a Pirate Blog App I am getting a The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today DVD free for my readers as a giveaway. Thanks to PartnersHub/Tether Group and Sony Home Video 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.

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online Review

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online.

My family has always had a love for science. We love doing science experiments at home and love learning about the world around us out in the field. The more interactive and hands on it is the more my kids love doing it. Ever since my children were very, very little they have been extremely inquisitive. My kids love to explore everything and find the answers.

I believe that teaching science is very important. It helps us unlock the mysteries of practically everything. Visual Learning Systems is an online based educational science publisher that has top of the line visual curriculum from kindergarten though twelfth grade. We have been given the chance to use both their Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5) and Digital Science Online: Secondary Edition (Grades 6-12) if we wanted to.  We also have access to ALL the levels with Admin, Teacher, and Student accounts for a full year. For this review I have already used it for 3 days per week for 6 weeks with my children. This curriculum is great for teachers in public school as well as homeschooling parents.

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online full screened video.

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online is an annual K-12 digital subscription online to a vast variety of visual tools for science education. This wonderful media includes: videos, animations, images, and activities. The videos are a wonderful visual aid. The live action footage from all over the world on these videos is colorful and engaging. Chapter video clips are indexed within the lesson. You can either play them individually or play all. If you choose to play all they will be about 10-20 minutes long per unit study or lesson. You can make the video full screen too. They have vocabulary words that show up on the screen to go along with the lessons. A video review quiz follows each video and there are "you decide" questions throughout the program. This can be paired with the worksheets in the teacher's guide section or just done aloud with your student. The animations are easily accessed within the videos or all on their own by clicking the tab. In the images tab their are images that are annotated to give you more information. These also are in the video as well. The resources for the student/teacher include: printable worksheets, lab activities, vocabulary exercises, reading activities, assessments, quizzes, and tests.

Vocabulary words to go along with the program show up from time to time.

Teela answering the question asked in the trees video for Life Science.

Navigation is pretty simple. Once you are logged in you can see that the lessons are categorized into subjects and grade level along the bottom left hand side for easy access. Once you click a grade level then you may also pick a subject. Under each subject there are lesson titles which show up in the mid-bottom part of your screen. Above those there is a search bar to search for keywords in their database. Up at the top will be the lesson title you have picked and the clickable links to the videos, animations, images, and teacher's guides off to the right. Under those you will see chapter video clips within the lesson that you can either play individually or click to play all. If you click on the teacher's guides it will give you how to introduce the video to the student, student activities, learning objective list, and the video script. This whole program makes for a wonderful well rounded science curriculum.

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition is geared to grades kindergarten through 5th. These lessons are split into two grade groups: Primary (K-2) and Elementary (3-5). My daughter Teela is six, going on seven in April and fits comfortably within the primary grades (K-2) under this edition. I don't have any children that fall into the grade group for elementary grades (3-5) right now.

Teela working on a tree worksheet for Life Science.

Teela worked through the Life Science units of study in the primary Elementary Edition section. We didn't want to skip around too much, but this subject interested my daughter the most and because it is Spring time I thought it was fitting to start there. The other science education subjects that are in this are Physical Science, Earth Science, and Health. We will be working through these at a later time, but I still wanted to mention them. The elementary grade level of this edition has Physical Science, Earth Science, and Life Science, but no Health.

Teela had lots of fun learning the lessons in Life Science. She learned about life cycles, food chains, classification and grouping, plants, trees, and specific groups of animals, etc. She loved the videos which were so informative and doing the worksheets too. We had her do a lesson per day, 3 days per week, for 6 weeks. This had her completely done with Life Science by the allotted time that I had to do this review. She said that her favorites were learning about the parts of the plant, about the rings on a tree, and the life cycle of a butterfly.

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online: Secondary Edition

Visual Learning Systems Digital Science Online: Secondary Edition is geared to grades 6th through 12th (middle/high school). My oldest son Delbin is 14 and his younger brother Jaedan is 12, going on 13 in May and they both fit comfortably within this edition. Besides Physical Science, Earth Science, Life Science, and  Health the secondary studies have Integrated Science and Biology. We have not started this with my boys yet, a lot of this for them is refresher. I do know they will also love it though and plan to have them do it in upcoming months.

I love that this is so accessible to so many. This is available for subscribers 24/7 as well as seven days a week for the student, teacher, and/or parent. It is also accessible to so many different platforms. You can use it on digital whiteboards, LCD projectors, iPads, handheld devices, and all computers. This integrates with all networks and no servers or software is needed. You can also have closed-captioned on for the visually impaired.

This whole program works really well for us and so far we absolutely love it. I can't wait to dive into more of the lessons with more of my kids.

Pricing:

$.90 per student (minimum $300/year). They have multi-campus discounts as well. Also, homeschool pricing is available for $99 per edition (elementary or secondary), up to 8 students.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook - http://facebook.com/visuallearningsystems
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Clip-N-Clamp Multipurpose Holder Review and Giveaway

I received this product for free to facilitate this review.

Clip-N-Clamp is a multipurpose holder that allows one to use cell phones, smart phones, cameras, MP3 music players, GPS, flashlights, and other small hand held devices hands-free. It is basically a heavy duty clip with a 12 inch long adjustable arm on it that you can move and rotate 360 degrees to your needed position. The clamp grips the surface tightly with silicone ends so to not mark up furniture or whatever stable, safe location you have clipped it to, up to an inch thick. This is great for use in your car, van, truck home, kitchen, workshop, office, work, stroller, bicycle, motorcycle, boat, or anywhere else you can think to use it. It comes with one Phone Clip, one Velcro Disk Clip and one Camera Clip.

The Phone Clip works with most smart/cell phones (iPhone, Gallaxy III, etc.) and is a great way to take hands-free calls or hands free pictures with your camera phone. You can clip it somewhere around your center console (usually cupholders, storage compartments, or console walls will do). Simply pull apart the side brackets of the Phone Clip and slide your smart/cell phone inside the clip. My phone was a bit too small so I need to get extra Phone Clip pads. I did try the Phone Clip on my Magellan GPS and I could fit it on one side of it if I turned the clip the opposite way. I liked that it worked this way, but didn't know how long it would last in that position because it was placing a lot of stress on the band that was being stretched in the back of the clip. I might play it safe and use a Velcro Disk Clip instead for my GPS, but I wanted to at least give it a try. I wish they had a wider clip for this purpose.

The Camera Clip is great for point & shoot cameras as a clip on tripod of sorts. My Flip Video Recorder Camera and my digital camera both use the screw on Camera Clip because they both have the handy dandy screw threading on the bottom to mount it to different things. It holds the camera and my Flip Video steady so that I can take pictures for my blog or do some vlogging. You want to tighten the Camera Clip with the thumbwheel as you don't want to loosen the screw on the Clip-on. For larger cameras, such as DSLR, or camcorder, it is recommended that you use the Pro Camera Clip which I didn't receive, but is included with the Mini Clip-N-Clamp.

The Velcro Disk Clip is the most versatile of the clips because you can use it for anything else that the Clip-N-Clamp would actually hold. Just slap the adhesive backed Velcro loop pads onto the back of your device, attach the Velcro Disk Clip to the Clip-N-Clamp, put the Velcro hook and loop pieces together and adjust the Flexarm as needed.

I love the versatility of this multipurpose holder. It helps me so much with my blogging and vlogging. It also is great to take on trips to use with our GPS and MP3 player. I love the hands-free phone option too. The only thing I had trouble with was sometimes finding something it would clip to (up to an inch thick). My kitchen counters and table are too thick for it to clip to. Also the clamp is really hard to open up to clamp it to something, but once it is clamped it is really tight. This is altogether a great product.

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You can purchase the Clip-N-Clamp for $24.95.

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Prize: 1 winner will win a Clip-N-Clamp.

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!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to facilitate my review and the opportunity to give another away to my readers. 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.

OHSU New Emergency Room for Kids Only

A while back Tatiana was at the ER at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon and they were filming for the new emergency room for kids that had just opened. We had been brought back to the new wing and were waiting for a room to open up. They asked me if it was alright to film her and I said sure. I signed a waiver and they started filming. She was there at the ER because she is medically involved and like many times before she had an episode of throwing up which we could not explain.

It was interesting because they made the ER for kids ocean themed and my husband, Brain, and I love dolphins and whales :) It was as if it was made just for us because Tatiana has been in a out of the ER so much. They have neat jelly fish lights hanging from the ceiling above the big check in desk, a sea creature on the floors outside each room, waves on the doors of the rooms, and other sea decor.

I was wondering when I was ever going to see the footage of what they shot when I ran across it today. Go to the link here and click on the image to begin the tour. Here are some clipped images from the video. If you don't know, Tatiana is my daughter with very red hair and she is the very first little kid you see in the video :) I am also in the video in my brown jacket. You can see me in the third picture standing at the foot of Tatiana's hospital bed.

While you are there you can also register to receive a free gift from the hospital. Gift includes a Portland Aerial Tram ticket, sidewalk chalk and a Doernbecher eco-backpack!

Ecostore USA Facebook 30 Second Video Contest Entry

Win a $500 Visa Card from Ecostore USA

If you haven't heard about Ecostore USA you should really go to their website and check their products out. They have baby, bath and body, hair, household, and pet care products that are all eco-friendly. They do not put any nasty chemicals in their products.

To promote their new Lemon Cream Cleanser, they're having a contest on their Facebook fan page. Become one of their fans on Facebook and then go enter the Facebook 30 Second Video Contest to win a $500 Visa Card from them. Just make sure to fill out the entire entry form AND post your link to your video on Facebook at the Ecostore USA fan page!! Follow all rules on their website. Do not try to enter here!! Although, if you do enter please post your link to your video here as well so that I may see them too :) Video Contest begins June 16th and ends June 29th, 2009.

Thanks to Mommy Go Green Blog Tours for this information.