Do Technical Skills Improve At a Higher Rate In a Digital-Forward World with Online Education?

Disclaimer:  I was financially compensated for this post.

If you want to make sure you are getting the best technical skills possible, one of the best ways to do that is to immerse yourself in the technical world. One way of doing that is by choosing ELearning online classes. This way, you are put in a situation where you must learn how to use the system properly in order to complete your online education. When most people are able to figure out any way of postponing something, they do, but when you are fully immersed in the environment, you give yourself no choice but to adapt.

What You Learn By Taking Online Classes

One thing that people have to pick up on very quickly when taking online classes is the ability to communicate effectively. Not only do you have to type, you also have to proofread, learn to send emails, use instant messengers, and use the forums to post to people in your online classes. This is how you communicate most of the time, including with your professors and online tutors, so you need to get up to date on the process very quickly.

You also get access to the most up to date information and technology when Elearning, so that can help you keep up with current changes that would make your learning easier. Take the time to ask questions and get familiar with the system you are using, and don’t be intimidated about making a mistake. The entire class is there to help, so experiment and give it a try! If you want to go into an immersive Elearning environment, you may want to try going to FutureSchool. Give them a call and find out what types of options they can offer you in terms of getting yourself technologically in the loop.

Disclaimer:  I was financially compensated for this post.

Dinner and a Movie Deal makes a GREAT GIFT! @Restaurant_come #DinnerandaMovie #ad

 Disclaimer:  I received a Restaurant.com gift card for the purpose of this review. This post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own.

Specials by Restaurant.com Presents Dinner & a Movie

2 Movie Tickets + $100 Restaurant.com Card ONLY $30

Looking for an inexpensive gift idea for someone in your life?  How about Dinner and a Movie!  For $30 you can get them $100 in restaurant discounts AND 2 Movie Tickets!  It's a great deal!  Great for a stocking stuffer, a teen, a married couple....anyone that likes to eat and watch movies!  (Isn't that about everyone???)

The holiday season ushers in festive foods, decor, and winter's highly anticipated movies of 2015. You can the galaxy, sing with the Chipmunks or solve a Sherlock mystery—and dine out with Special by Restaurant.com’s Dinner & a Movie deal. Now through December 20 for $30, you’ll receive two tickets PLUS a $100 Restaurant.com eGift card to redeem for a star-rated restaurant.

Spend family time discovering the perfect table and flick. Use your movie tickets to see any winter blockbuster hits here. Hurry – this offer ends Sunday, December 20 at 11:59 pm CT or when it’s sold out.

Restaurant.com and Specials by Restaurant.com make great gifts for everyone on your wish list. Connect with Restaurant.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and never miss their next great deal!

 Disclaimer:  I received a Restaurant.com gift card for the purpose of this review. This post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own.

Book Rentals and Operation Smile!

*Sponsored Post*

The cost of textbooks can be so expensive, college texts or books for homeschooling.  Many times they are books you will only use once.  Need a way to save money?  Consider renting from campusbookrentals.com.

With Campus Book Rentals you:

-will save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-get free shipping both ways
-can highlight in the textbooks
-have flexible renting periods
-donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

Operation Smile is a great non-profit organization that provide cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to children around the world. They also deliver postoperative and ongoing medical therapies to children in low and middle income countries.  Since they started in 1982, they have provided more than 220,000 free surgeries to children and young adults throughout the world. They help children have confident smiles!

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for 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.

Gymboree Gives Back with a New Line!

*This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links.

Kids move. Kids groooove. And what better way to help them get their bee-bop, hippity-hop play on than with Gymboree's colorful new Hop 'n' Roll™ collection! Hop ‘n’ Roll is a new line of mix & match styles inspired by creativity, comfort, and the rhythm of play, and is now available for boys and girls, sizes 6 months to 10 at Gymboree stores and on Gymboree.com.

From black, white, red and brown, to purple and yellow, pink and blue - kids can mix & match these styles and play their socks off too! Your readers will also be excited to hear that they can get up to 50% off this new playwear, plus kids will love all the bright colors, unique prints, and fun, comfortable styles in this collection!

With every purchase of Hop 'n' Roll playwear, 1% of the proceeds will be donated to KaBOOM! - a national non-profit that inspires communities to support play and creates great places to play for kids in underserved communities across America. You can also donate directly to KaBOOM!on top of their online or in-store Hop 'n' Roll purchase. Now that calls for a happy dance!

To celebrate the launch of Hop 'n' Roll and the power of play, Gymboree has planned the following activities from April 7 – May 31 with the goal of raising enough money to build better places to play for 10,000 deserving kids:

• Gymboree Play & Music partners will be taking over the Gymboree Play Date page on Tumblr to include creative fun-filled playtime tips and ideas and to foster creativity and confidence. Definitely encourage your readers to check it out!
• PBS KIDS®: Gymboree (proud sponsor of Jim Henson’s “Dinosaur Train” on PBS KIDS) will support PBS KIDS’ “Explore the Outdoors” campaign via special in-store programming on Gymboree TV, giveaways on Gymboree’s Facebook page, and participation in local PBS member station “Explore the Outdoors” events.
• Pinterest Playdate Map: Partners and top bloggers will continue to contribute to Gymboree’s Pinterest Playdate Map – an incredible resource for families to discover new and exciting places to play, whether on a trip or in their very own backyard.

Do You Need Graduation Announcements?

*Sponsored Post*

It’s that time of year!  Spring is here and soon Seniors will be graduating!!  Whether your baby is graduating from High School or College (or Kindergarten), basic Invite has inexpensive, easy to order, professional and personalized graduation announcements for your graduate!

There is a wide selection of announcement designs to choose from, sure to fit any style preferences.  Each design is fully customizable:  color, font and text.  There are hundreds of color combination possibilities! 

Just a few of the many to choose from:

basicinvite.com is easy to navigate.  Making a personalized photo graduation announcement couldn’t been more simple! 

You can preview your announcement before ordering

You can order this style announcements (and many other styles) for as little as 79cents each (based on an order for 500 prints). 

SAVE BIG ON EVERYTHING!
15% OFF. Use code: 15FF51

basicinvite.com also has announcements and invitations for wedding, baby, and other events!

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for 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.

Have You Ever Considered Renting Your TextBooks?

*Sponsored Post* The cost of textbooks can be so expensive, college texts or books for homeschooling.  Many times they are books you will only use once.  Need a way to save money?  Consider renting from campusbookrentals.com.

With Campus Book Rentals you:

-will save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-get free shipping both ways
-can highlight in the textbooks
-have flexible renting periods
-donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

How Does it Work?


Operation Smile is a great non-profit organization that provide cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to children around the world. They also deliver postoperative and ongoing medical therapies to children in low and middle income countries.  Since they started in 1982, they have provided more than 220,000 free surgeries to children and young adults throughout the world. They help children have confident smiles!




Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for 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.

Gymboree–High Quality Children’s Clothes

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gymboree. All opinions are 100% mine.  Links used are affiliate links.

As a mom with 4 kids, I strive to find high quality, affordable clothing, that will last my kids throughout their childhood.  Hand me downs are a bonus! 

I have found Gymboree clothes to be exactly that!  They have regular sales, you can earn points and receive coupon codes, making these clothes very affordable and they last!!

They have the cutest styles for boys and girls, are great for holiday wear!  (Need an Easter Dress??)  I love that they have coordinating outfits throughout.  I can find something for my daughter and sons to match for holidays or family photos!  I got the cutest Christmas Sock Monkey Jammies from their site for all 4 of my children (ages 1-8)! 

Gymboree is also affiliated with Janie and Jack and Crazy8 clothing lines.  Even more affordable and quality choices!

I’m excited to become a new affiliate with Gymboree clothing and be able to bring you their sales and hopefully some reviews and giveaways in the near future!

If you haven’t checked them out yet, DO!  If you need some recommendations or tips, feel free to contact me!

Baby K in one of her many adorable outfits purchased from Gymboree!

3 out of 4 of matching Christmas Jammies from Gymboree!

Current Sales:

Get crazy good markdowns starting at $2.99 at Crazy 8 ends 3/26

Get 50% off dresses and 30% off everything else at Gymboree ends 3/18

TODAY ONLY!!
Get free shipping and an extra 17% off your order with code LUCKY17 at Gymboree!

Mentoring Minds

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mentoring Minds. All opinions are 100% mine.

Mentoring Minds has a wide variety of common core based curriculum tools.  These tools have been designed to help students excel, as well as helping teachers, by providing teaching tools and classroom management programs.

Their program is available in print form and online.  The classroom management tools associated with the program make it possible for assignments to be given for children to complete at home.  Assignments can be made specifically for each child, based on their level of learning and their practice needs.  The fact that both are available makes it possible for children to use the format that they are most comfortable with.

There are a wide variety of materials available, most geared towards Reading and Math, however other areas are also covered.

Flip charts are another teaching tool that helps teachers plan engaging learning activities that meet the common core standards goals.  There are several topic choices for flip charts.  Flip charts make guidelines easily accessible to helping teachers plan by having the standards visible.

Also available are Vocabulary Card sets.  These vocabulary cards introduce words with pictures and easy to remember definitions. 

You can find examples for each individual product, as well as a video demo of how to use the classroom management software that is part of the teacher package at the website.

These programs are designed for a classroom.  You can receive one teacher edition free for every 25 student editions purchased, or the teacher edition is available for purchase with a minimum purchase of 10 student editions.

Motivating Minds aims to provide tools to help teaching and learning easier for both teacher and student!  You can find a full list of topics and materials available at Mentoring Minds. 

OctoPlus Math, NEW by Zyrobotics, LLC

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zyrobotics, LLC for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

OctoPlus Math is new educational app by Zyrobotics, LLC.

OctoPlus Math was designed with the learning needs of young children and children with special needs.

What makes OctoPlus Math so great?

• Fully customizable settings can adjust math options based on the skill level of the student
• Enables parents and teachers to stay connected to the student’s progress through the Parent Zone
• Switch-accessible for children with motor limitations who use an external switch (connected through a Bluetooth switch interface such as TabAccess)
• Increases math confidence and helps kids master common core math skills
• Incorporates a drill/practice mode to provide a fun, engaging, and effective way to learn
• Incorporates a challenge/test mode to assess learning for monitoring math progress
• Fun for all, with additional settings to help children with special needs
• Beginner's options to help gain confidence during game play
• Helps in improving hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills for younger children and children with special needs
• Graphics and music can be graded to make this game suitable for sensory sensitive kids or for kids that are easily distracted, such as children with Autism or attention deficit disorder
• Can use this math app to reinforce Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals
• Covers Common Core Math State Standards in Operations & Algebraic Thinking Math Topics

OctoPlus Math takes place in the ocean.  Children will battle turtles with math skills and win points to purchase items in the OctoStore.  The games can be played in either drill or challenge mode.  This allows children to progress and learn at their own pace, based on their own needs.



Check out this demo video:


Give OctoPlus Math a try!  It’s available March 10th on iTunes
iTunes Download Link