Disclosure of Material Connection:

Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and/or believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Friday, February 28, 2014

Field Trip #117 Friday Blog Hop

Field Trip Friday!
Photobucket
Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts

(does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)


Please stop by and visit my co-host’s blog and give them a shout out!
Lisa @ Our 4 Kiddos
 
We hiked Makapu’u Lighthouse. It’s a great place to see whale’s during the winter migration.  We also hit the nearby tide pools (directly across from the Sea Life Park Exit, enter parking lot and go to the left).
Had great company from some friends.
 
PicMonkey Collage
 
PicMonkey Collage

 

**NOTE:  Before linking up please review guidelines HERE

 
    Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
    or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

    Like what you read? Vote for me!
    Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

    Wednesday, February 26, 2014

    Review–Science4Us.com (TOS Review)

     
    Science4Us Review
     
    science4us
     
    It has been a great opportunity for us to review Science4Us.com and the Science4Us.com Online Subscription.  I had an account for both my 4 year old (almost 5) and my 7 year old.  My 4 year old, was not as interested in using it, though for the most part was able to navigate the site and do the activities without a lot of assistance.  It was perfect for my 7 year old, however.
     
    We used it mostly on my iPad with the help of the Photon Browser (Flash Player).  You need a device with Flash Player to use this system.  I prefer to use the iPad because of the touch screen, my laptop has a temperamental touchpad that can prove difficult for the boys at times.  An iPad app is advertised to be released sometime this year.
     
    Science4Us Review
     
    Science4Us.com has teacher controls which allow you to make assignments per student.  Then each individual student can log in and complete the assignments.  Worksheets, which are completely digitally, are saved in the system for the ‘teacher’ to go back and review later. Activities vary and include other subjects besides just science (but those subjects are on the same topic).  For example, Language Arts, using space words or Reading a space themed digital book.
     
    We used the Astronomy and Earth Science units.  The units consisted of videos, cartoon animated, that talked about space and the earth.  These videos were followed by a choice of activities to complete.  My children liked the Syllables activity, because of the play on the words to ‘Silly Bulls’.  This activity had them count the syllables in the various space related words.
     
    Science4Us Review
     
    After activities are completed they are marked with stars.  The parent can log in with the teacher function to check and see all completed assignments.   One worksheet had them circle the pictures of items found in space, another one had them draw a picture of a space rocket they design.  There are also math activities such as patterns, as well as social studies such as ‘my place in space’.
     
    Science4Us Review
     
    My children enjoyed this website.  Even though my 4 year old was not overly enthusiastic, he did enjoy it when he played.  My 7 year old did it more often, (about 3 days a week).
     
    I like that it’s all digital (no printing, no prep really).  However, the children are free to skip around the lessons and this caused my son not to finish several activities before moving on.  I would prefer a system where you have to finish A to move to B, and B to move to C, etc.  Also my son went into to several of the same activities repeated times.  Though I think the review can be good, having 3 worksheets where he circled the space items is not necessary.  Maybe lesson access could be limited.     
     
    Science4Us Review
     
    With a new baby and getting ready to move, our days are pretty busy.  We have been guilty of putting ‘school’ on the back burner a lot lately.  Science4Us.com was great for some structured learning, without needing a lot of my attention or direction.  Since some other subjects are also included (sort of a unit study format) if all we did that day was Science4Us.com I could still feel like we had accomplished something.
     
    This program can stand alone or be used as a supplementary program. It is recommended for Kindergarten through 2nd grade.  You can subscribe to Science4Us.com for $7.95 a month per student.
     
     
    Find Science4Us on Social Media:

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Science4UsSays
    Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/science4us/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Science4Us
    G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/112259351657747584252/

     
    Click to read Crew Reviews
    Crew Disclaimer

    Tuesday, February 25, 2014

    Review: KinderBach–Online Piano Lessons (TOS Review)

    Kinderbach Review
     
    kinderbach
     
    The online membership is an online video course which includes a PDF workbook to go along with the lessons.  The Teacher Corner contains MP3s and printable colored PDF materials which can be laminated for repeated use, as well as a lesson plan book.
    Kinderbach Review
    The video course is useable on mobile devices, without the need of a special app with flash player!  All you would need is an internet browser and WIFI!
    The lessons require very little prep (unless you want to laminate the teacher materials, but that would be an easy one time thing).  All you need to do is print the student workbooks and play the videos.  It was so easy to implement these lessons!
    The lessons are short and engaging.   The lessons are recommended for ages 3 to 7 years old.  Older children may find them slightly juvenile, but they are not over the top.  The lady in the videos is obviously talking to small children, but that makes them great for younger kids.  (My 7 year old didn’t seem to be bothered by it.)
    Kinderbach Review
    We did the majority of the lessons using my iPad and typically were just on the living room floor, though sometimes at the group table as well…the lessons can be easily done anywhere.
    Other than an internet device (computer or tablet) no special device is required.  The workbooks and teacher materials do need to be printed.  A printable keyboard is available in the teacher materials, but I would recommend a keyboard or piano; however, they are not a must have.  We also used some rhythm instruments, but those can be easily made from household or recyclable materials.  The workbook pages ask for coloring, so crayons (markers or colored pencils) would be needed, and also scissors for some lessons.
    Kinderbach Review
    My kids and I enjoyed these lessons.  The lessons were short so sometimes we would do more than one on a given day.  We completed level one during the review period and plan to continue with the program after our move. 
    The cost for the program is typically $130 per year; however, there is a limited time offer of only $95.88 a year.  This is a great price, averaging only $7.99 a month, you cannot get piano lessons anywhere else for that price, (especially if you have more than one child)! 
    Kinderbach Review
    The lessons are easily used with one child or multiple children.  I used the product with my 3 boys, ages 3, 4 and 7 years old.  My 3 year old did not always participate, but always enjoyed it when he did.  I would definitely recommend this product to parents or teachers looking to offer piano education to young children.  It is a great way to instill an interest of music playing and theory at a young age before pursuing professional lessons in an instrument. 
    As I previously blogged, we have difficulty squeezing music into our daily schedule.  KinderBach made this so easy!  Not a lot of time required, little preparation.  It is definitely a winner! 
    You can try the first couple lessons for FREE and see for yourself!
    There is also an iOS app available for on the go lessons when WIFI is not available!  How great is that?? 
    Find Kinderbach on Social Media:
    Facebook:  www.facebook.com/kinderbach
    Facebook for Teachers:  www.facebook.com/classroomkinderbach
    Twitter: @KinderBach
    Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/KinderBach/
    YouTube: KinderBach Preschool Piano

    Click to read Crew Reviews
    Crew Disclaimer
    Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
    or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

    Like what you read? Vote for me!
    Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

    Monday, February 24, 2014

    Poppins Book Nook–Presidents and GIVEAWAY

    Picture of What Does the President Look Like?
    Available in hardback or as an interactive story via the Storytime iOS app

    The interactive app for this book is really neat.  It is not only about the Presidents of the past, but also media throughout history. 

    How did people know what the president looked like before there was TV? What about before there were cameras?   Several presidents are featured, including timelines of how the media evolved during these times.

    Recommended for ages 5+

    PoppinsBookNook

    Next month start’s a new series

    Poppins Book Nook Themes 2014 - 2015

    Visit the other participating blogs:

    Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God's Grace - Royal Little Lambs - Life with Moore Babies -Teach Beside Me - The Usual Mayhem - Fantastic Fun and Learning - Kathys Cluttered Mind - Toddler Approved - Growing Book by Book - Adventures in Mommydom - Edventures with Kids - Learning & Growing the Piwi way - A Gluten Free Journey - Preschool Powol Packets - To The Moon and Back - Our Craft ~N~ Things - Fresh Farm Adventures - Are We There Yet? - Afterschool for Smarty Pants

    Have a related post?  Link up below; below that enter the giveaway!

    This month we are giving away one copy of So You Want to Be President?

    Enter the Giveaway Below, Good Luck!

    Jill R. Ehm-Creator's photo.

    a Rafflecopter giveaway
    Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
    or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

    Like what you read? Vote for me!
    Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

    Sunday, February 23, 2014

    U is for - How We USE Tablets in our Homeschool

    tablet

    We have two types of tablets in our home.  I have an iPad, and my husband and two oldest each have a Kindle Fire HD.

    On my iPad I keep all my PDF manuals, as well as unit studies (such as Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett).  It is a great way to save on paper, and have access to them all at once.  I have them saved on SkyDrive, and open them in iBooks as I need them.  I love that iBooks also holds my place, so it’s easily found next time I open the book.

    Homeschool Helper app helps me keep track of attendance days.  It can also be used for grading (but at this point, we don’t grade) and planning assignments for each child.

    We use Discovery Streaming, accessible via the web browser, and watch short films of various topics (coinciding with our studies) during circle time.

    Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Streaming are also places we visit to watch theme related movies, shows or documentaries.

    We use Brain Pop Jr (app) during circle time as well.

    We use the app Photon Browser for websites that need a Flash Player, this allows my kids to easily use the systems via a touch screen instead of trying to use my very temperamental laptop touchpad.  We have used starfall.com, abcmouse.com, science4Us.com and more with this app. 

    I am also overloaded with a large variety of learning apps (most of which were found free from the website www.smartappsforkids.com)

    Now for the Kindle -

    Why I chose Kindle for my kids:

    I really wanted to get another iPad, mostly because I already had so many apps, which have get more for Kindle?  But I love the FREETIME app for Kindle.  It’s an awesome parental control feature (though I have had some minor issues with it).  It allows parents to control what time the kindle can be turned on, what time it has be be turned off.  How long they are allowed to read, how much they have to read before they can play games, how long they have to play educational games before they can play other games (though this is the part that has an annoying glitch they are suppose to be working on) and how long they can play games in all.   You can limit movie viewing, if you have movies installed.  You also control what apps, books and movies they have access too.  All of these features are FREE.  There is a subscription available that gives more access to features, but I do not subscribe. 

    The app availability for Kindle is much more limited than iPad, but I have been able to find some free apps through the website www.androidappsforkids.com.   Kindle also frequently has FREE books, and daily kindle deals for ~$1.99 (I got the first 6 books of Diary of a Whimpy Kid for $1.99 ea). 

    Also, the cost of TWO Kindles was cheaper than the cost of ONE refurbished iPad. 

    Some of the kids favorite apps are:

    Preschool:

    Curious George Zoo
    Available on Amazon Appstore
    (each section of the Kindle app is purchased separately)

    Endless Alphabet
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    Monkey Preschool Lunchbox (this is a great series of apps, we also like Monkey Preschool Math)
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    ABC Zooborns


    Kids Academy Number Tracing
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    ABC Ninja

    (Like Fruit Ninja but ABCs)

    Lego Duplo Train
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    Early Elementary:
    Where’s My Water? 2
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    Brain Pop Jr
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    Madagascar Math Ops
    Available on Amazon Appstore
    (If your child likes Angry Birds…this is similar, but with Math problems!)

    Stack the States
    Available on Amazon Appstore

    Math Town

    Math Slicer
    Available on Amazon Appstore
    (Like Fruit Ninja but with math problems!)

    For rewards or to change things up a bit, I’ll make assignments to play specific games on my iPad for specific subjects. 

    Kinderbach Review

    Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
    or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

    Like what you read? Vote for me!
    Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

    Saturday, February 22, 2014

    Share it Saturday!

    Chestnut Grove Academy Share It Saturday Blog Hop

     
    new share it saturday hosts
    Please visit my co-hosts:

    Karyn from Teach Beside Me
    Colleen & Leann from Sugar Aunts
    Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day
    Kate from Laughing Kids Learn
    and Tiffany from Life & Lessons From a Country Road



     
    Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
    or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

    Like what you read? Vote for me!
    Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

    Friday, February 21, 2014

    Field Trip #116 Friday Blog Hop

    Field Trip Friday!
    Photobucket
    Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts

    (does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)


    Please stop by and visit my co-host’s blog and give them a shout out!
    Lisa @ Our 4 Kiddos
     
    The hubby took the kids on a long, muddy hike (4miles round trip) to Ka’ena Point.  It’s a great place to go and see Hawaiian Monk Seals and Albatross.
     
    It was on his Hawaii bucket list, and our days here are numbered.
     
    PicMonkey Collage

    **NOTE:  Before linking up please review guidelines HERE

     
      Don't miss a single blog post! Register to receive them in your email by clicking HERE
      or follow via another social media (see Find Me tab)

      Like what you read? Vote for me!
      Vote For Use @ Top Mommy Blogs

      Labels

      31 (2) 31 Days of Field Trips (31) 5 senses (6) abcmouse.com (1) adult education (1) advent (1) all about me (1) Alpha-Phonics (1) Alphabet Box (1) amphibians (1) animal trackers (10) ants (3) Artist Study (9) arts and crafts (16) Australia (2) award (4) baby (5) baby bird (2) baby food jar crafts (1) Back to Homeschool (6) balance (1) banyan tree (1) beach (1) bees (3) Being a Mom (2) birds (5) Birthdays (2) Blogging the Alphabet (28) bloom (1) boats (2) Book List (3) Book Nook (1) Book review (62) book sneeze (3) Boost your blog (1) Brag Time Hop (31) Broccoli (1) butterflies (5) butterfly (3) Butternut Squash (1) Campus Book Rental (2) Capybara (1) Capyboppy (1) Charlotte Mason (1) Cherry Tomatoes (1) Chestnut Grove Curriculum (22) Chinese Language (7) Chinese New Year (1) Chinese Worksheets (1) Chore Chart (4) Christmas (28) classical approach (3) cleaning schedule (1) close to my heart (7) co-op (2) Color Tablets (2) computer games (2) Continent Boxes (5) crabs (2) cricut (2) CSA (4) Cub Scouts (1) culture swap (2) currclick (2) curriculum (23) cursive (1) daily schedule (3) Deep Covered Baker (1) Digital Scrapbooking (5) dinosaurs (18) Dissection (1) diswasher detergent (1) dolphins (2) donuts (1) Earth Science (5) Easter (8) Easy Readers (1) education cubes (7) educents (2) Eggplant (1) Emeals (5) emotions (2) exploring Hawaii (127) fairy tales (1) fall (15) family (1) Family Home Evening (5) farm (3) Father's Day (1) feelings (2) felt board (1) FHE (5) field trip (278) Fifth Grade (1) first grade (37) fish (3) flowers (4) Free Printables (13) freezer meals (1) frogs (3) Fundraiser (1) games (5) garden (1) General Conference (9) geocaching (3) Geography (37) Getting crafty (20) gift ideas (4) Giveaway (101) guest blogger (13) HALLELUJAH (3) Halloween (14) handwriting (2) hanukkah (2) Health (6) health curriculum (2) Heart (1) heart parenting (1) hermit crabs (2) History (48) Holidays (26) Home School (55) Home school mother's journal (7) Home School Room (10) Homemaking (15) homeschool (1) Homeschool Blogging Network (5) Homeschool Swap (1) How to (1) Human Body (5) ice cream (2) informal learning (2) insects (6) IPAD (37) Japan (2) jellyfish (3) Jesus Christ (1) karate (1) Kauai (2) kids in the kitchen (16) kindergarten (36) kindle (11) Kwanzaa (1) ladybugs (2) Language Arts (6) Language Program (2) lap books (5) Latter Day Homeschool Blog Posts (3) lds (18) lego (3) lego club (3) lesson help (1) letter a (2) letter b (4) letter c (3) letter d (1) letter f (2) letter I (4) letter j (2) letter n (1) letter o (2) letter p (1) letter s (2) letter t (1) letter u (1) Library (1) Light box (4) Lighthouses (7) Little Passports (22) Mamapedia (1) mammals (2) Mango (1) Map Display (1) Marriage (1) Massachusetts (1) Math (44) meal planning (1) Memorial Day (1) Mexico (1) minecraft (1) Montessori (145) Montessori At Home Book (2) Montessori Print Shop (24) Monthly Subscription Program (1) Mormon (32) morning routine (1) Music (9) My Father's Dragon (1) My Groovy Planet (1) My Memories (8) Nature (23) nests (2) New Year (1) New Years Resolutions (1) Ocean (15) octopus (2) olympics (1) Operation Smile (2) Organization (14) Owl Pellets (1) P.E. (3) Paleo (5) Pancake Day (1) pandia press (23) parenting (1) Patterns (1) penguins (2) phonics (7) physical education (1) Picasso (1) pinterest (4) pirates (4) playdough (6) Pollock (1) pond animals (3) popcorn balls (1) Poppins Book Nook (35) pornography (1) preschool (95) President's Day (2) puffins (1) pumpkin (3) pumpkins (2) rain forest (1) Read Alouds (3) Reading (14) Real Life (1) Recipe (34) reptiles (1) Reverence (1) review (239) road trip (1) rockets (2) Sacrament Bag (2) safety (2) Saturday Adventure (1) schedule (3) scholastic books (1) Science (63) scissors (1) Scriptures (1) sea urchins (1) seasons (6) Second Grade (7) seed (1) sensory bin (5) Share it Saturday (84) ships (2) SimplyFun (3) skin care (2) snow (1) snow globe (1) Space (11) spelling (16) spiders (4) spineless sea urchins (1) sponsor (9) starfish (3) stitch fix (9) stocking stuffers (3) Summer Fun (2) Tell me more (1) Thankful (5) Thanksgiving (5) The Friend Magazine (1) The Giggler Treatment (1) The Road Not Taken (1) Third Grade (6) Thirty-one (2) thumbsucking (1) Titanic (1) tools (1) Top 10 (2) TOS Blog Cruise (83) TOS Review Crew (136) tot school (65) Totsy (1) Traditions (1) turtles (1) Unit study (18) unschooling (2) Usborne Books (21) Valentine's Day (8) virtual book club (1) We choose virtues (1) Week 1 (2) week 2 (2) week 3 (2) week 4 (1) week in review (62) Well Trained Mind (1) whales (3) What my child is reading (48) Whole 30 (9) why we homeschool (5) winter (3) Word (1) wordless wednesday (7) work boxes (104) Workbox Wednesday (49) world as classroom (3) worms (3) Wrap-up (3) writing (4) young women (8) Zero Grandparents (1) zoo (2)