TOS Review: The Person I Marry

When I was a kid I never thought about what it would be like to be married.  Like little girls do, I dreamed of my prince sweeping me off my feet and a fairy tale wedding.  But I never really spent any time thinking about that prince.  Who would he be?  What would he be like?  What qualities to look for?  These seem like pertinent questions to ask, but they never really occurred to me as a little girl.

Gary and Jan Bower's book "The Person I Marry" answers these questions marvelously.  "What makes a princess? What makes a prince? It can not be riches, hair color, and height, or any externals I think are just right."  The book then beautifully puts into words all those qualities that make a person a "keeper" - kind, generous, thoughtful, optimistic, too many to list really. 

You can see a short video preview of the book by clicking below.  Warning: may cause you to tear up a bit.

The Person I Marry from Bower Books on Vimeo.

After watching that video I couldn't wait for our book to come.  We received an electronic copy of the book shortly thereafter.  I have to admit that although the words were beautifully written and the illustrations were stunning, reading the book on the computer left something to be desired.  I envisioned being able to snuggle with the kids on the couch while we read the book.  Instead we tried our best to pull chairs up to the computer desk. Little M is three, he liked the rhyming and the pictures.  Ms. Q was a little confused as to why I would read her a book about marriage.  I tried to explain that recognizing the good qualities in a person should be a lifelong pursuit, not just when you're ready to get married.  By the second reading of the book I think she got the idea.  

The Bowers have been married for 30 years and have 12 children and 4 granchildren.  They write for a Christian audience and consider themselves a Christian Publisher, however as non-Christians we still received a great deal of inspiration from this book.   The qualities illustrated are important for a successful marriage (and a successful life really) regardless of religious affiliation  There are only three pages of 32 that directly refer to Christianity.  I read the book in it's entirety then Ms. Q and I discussed the references to God and the Bible separately from the characteristics highlighted in the book.  

"The Person I Marry" is sold in hardcover format for $11.99.  I haven't seen the hardcover book in person but it's on my holiday shopping list.  I haven't decided who will receive this gift however.  I thought it would make a wonderful gift for my husband for us to share.  It would make a wonderful addition to our family library, so we could finally get that snuggle on the couch.  Or maybe a gift for my newly married cousin, or my best friend with two young children?  Maybe all of the above?

"The Person I Marry" is part of Bower Books Bright Future Series which includes "What Do Heroes Wear", "There's a Party in Heaven", and "The Jingle in My Pocket".  It was awarded "2010 Book of the Year" by the Christian Small Publisher Association.  Regardless of your religion, if you are a parent who wants to develop positive values in your children or you want to instill in your children the importance of choosing a life partner who will treat them the way they deserve to be treated then I highly recommend "The Person I'll Marry" by Gary Bower, and illustrated by Jan Bower.  Don't just take my word for it.  Check out what the other TOS Crew members have to say HERE.


Enjoy!



Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

TOS Review: Ooka Island

Want a really fun way to help your children learn to read?  Then you need to check out Ooka Island.   Ooka Island is a mission driven adventure designed to teach young children to read.  For children ages 3 through 7 (Pre-K - grade 2), Ooka Island is a virtual game world where young children navigate through the island playing games and learning essential pre-reading, reading, spelling, and writing skills.  Each child registered gets his or her own log-in account that tracks performance and tailors each days activities to their mastery of previous skills.  With fun games (and names) like Alphabet Mountain, The Cake Facotry, and Cave of Sounds your child will hardly know he's learning.

The adventure begins when your child creates his or her very own avatar.  Little M chose to create himself as a hero - complete with cape and mask.  As each game is played and each skill mastered, little readers are able to unlock books to read in the island's Popcorn Library.  They also earn currency to spend in the island's store, The Mist Mart, on things like avatar accessories, toys, and music. 

Ooka Island uses The OokaMethod of literacy instruction which combines phonological development and language-rich text with comprehension activities so that children have the opportunity to achieve effortless reading.  From the website:

With the OokaMethod^TM, children progress to the most sophisticated phonological level. First, they must understand that words are made up of individual sounds (or phonemes) that they can hear and manipulate. Second, they learn to associate these sounds with letters and blend them together to make words, thus breaking the code that speeds them through the foundational levels of reading development and beyond.

  

Little M has just started learning to read this year and I am really excited to have found a program that provides more than random alphabet/phonics games or videos and less than leveled readers.  Ooka Island games progress at Little M's pace, leading him step-by-step through necessary literacy skills.  Little M is an avid computer user (it's the only way I can get Ms. Q's lessons done with her).  He is able to power up the computer, log on, and use his desktop shortcuts to visit any of his approved websites.  The Ooka Island shortcut by far, gets picked most often.  He knows it's his "reading work" but that actually makes the game that much better for him.  When I asked him his opinion on Ooka Island for this review he stated that it is "really fun."  He said his favorite game is "all of them."  Not the most helpful review granted but when a three year old asks to do his reading work on the computer because he thinks it's fun I say that pretty much speaks for itself.

If you are looking for a fun and engaging way to teach reading skills, I recommend that you check out Ooka Island's website.  

There are a few ways you can get started with Ooka Island.  You can try it free for 14days or you can jump rignt in by clicking below to sign up for a monthly subscription.   You can read what other TOS Reviews have to say about Ooka Island HERE.  Your child will be on their way to reading and you'll be amazed at how much fun that can actually be.

Enjoy and good luck!


 

Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: Week 2

In my life this week
My Grandfather passed away last week, so we spent a few days traveling out of state for the viewing and service.  He was 92 years old and lived a great life.  He accomplished many things in his lifetime and he will live on in the memories of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  He was so very proud of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and all their varied accomplishments.  He will be missed.

In our homeschool this week
We didn't really have official school this week.  After traveling we needed some time to catch up around the house so we worked on some life skills (i.e. cleaning up the house and getting caught up on the laundry).

I am inspired by
Veterans.  With Veterans day next week and my Grandfather's planned burial at Arlington National Cemetery in January,  I find myself thinking about the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. I am able to find great inspiration in the bravery, strength, and selfless service of these men and women.  To them I send a heartfelt thank you. 

Places we're going and people we're seeing
Thankfully we have a slow week planned next week.  We will be getting back on schedule and into our book work.  Hopefully we will be able to make our homeschool group's play group this week.  It's been ages since the kids have seen their friends.  We also have a homeschool mom's meeting scheduled next week.  This is one of my favorite nights of every month.  I just love sitting down to talk with the other moms without having to stop a conversation to chase a kid on the playground or patch up a boo-boo.  It's nice quiet grown-up conversation that provides a great sense of companionship and support.

My favorite thing this week was
Trick-or-Treating!!!  Here are my pirates and kitty cat.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share
I saw this quote somewhere on the internet this week and posted it as my Facebook status.  A few homeschooling friends re-posted it so I thought I would share it here as well.
 
"You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again." ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Till next time.

TOS Review: Wits and Wagers Family

We have had the privilege to review another really awesome game!  Our family game night options are growing but we seem to play the same game every week.  That one game?  Wits & Wagers Family from North Star Games.    The kids are totally obsessed with this one!  Wits & Wagers Family is an adaptation of North Star Games award winning Wits & Wagers party game for three or more players ages 8 and up





The game comes with 150 question cards, 5 dry erase answer boards, 5 dry erase pens, 1 dry erase score card, and 5 large and 5 small Meeples.  Meeples are the cutest things.  Forget being the thimble or the shoe.  We like the colorful, wooden people-ish looking Meeples.

Play begins with when the first player reads a trivia question aloud.  These are not trivia questions in the sense that you should be able to correctly answer.  An example: "What's the world record number of tennis balls a dog has held in its mouth?"  All players then write their guess on their dry erase board.  Next you decide whose answer you think will be closest to the right answer without going over.  Place your Meeples on your choice and wait for the answer.  The first person to score 15 points wins!

The questions are really fun and it is really funny to see some of the answers (like my husband's answer to the tennis ball question above - 23 lol.  Poor dog, can you imagine?).  The game goes really quickly so we often do best out of three or four to find the family champion.  I happen to be the reigning champ at the moment but I'm sure that will change by next week.

The North Star game family includes Wits & Wagers, Wits & Wagers Family, and Say Anything, as well as Say Anything Family, and Crappy Birthday both set to be released in 2011.  North Star games can be purchased online and at select retailers .  Price may vary according to retailer. We had so much fun with this game, I hope will check it out too!




To see what other TOS Reviews have to say, see the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog.

Enjoy!




Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

Weekly Wrap-up: Homeschool Journal

I thought I would try something a little different this week for our weekly wrap-up.  Every week Sue at The Homeschool Chick  posts The Homeschool Mother's Journal.  Since I seem to have lost the ability to focus my attention on anything lately (including housework, homeschooing, and blogging) I thought her ready-made format would be perfect.

In my life this week...

I am officially one year older this week than I was last week.  Not telling how old that may be, but I had a really great birthday celebration at home.  I got to sleep in and had coffee in bed while watching the morning news.  Darling Hubs did some vacuuming and Ms. Q cooked dinner.  It was a wonderful day of relaxing.

In our homeschool this week...

We started our week on Tuesday instead of Monday this week due to the above mentioned birthday celebrating.  This is really only a problem for me and my need for control and organization.  I felt like we were a day behind all week.  

Ms. Q has been doing really well with her writing assignments this year.  She still struggles with really putting effort into the assignment but this week's assignment "An Interview with Mr. Popper" was great.  She started out by creating a list of questions she would ask Mr. Popper (Mr. Popper's Penguins is the book she's reading for language arts) if she were interviewing him for a newspaper or magazine article.  Then she answered all the questions in a lovely article.

Little M is doing a fabulous job learning to read.  He surprises me each day with what he is capable of.  We were lucky enough to receive the first set of BOB Books through Paperback Swap a few weeks ago and he just can't get enough of these!  It's so wonderful to see how excited he is about learning to read.  I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to share this with my son.


I am inspired by...
My husband.  Last week he started a weight loss journey.  Losing weight has been on his mind for awhile.  He was displeased with his appearance and shrinking wardrobe but it was the effect the extra weight is having on his health that really pushed him to seek help.  I'm so very proud of him for taking these first steps.


Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We are going to visit my parents this weekend and kids will get to see their grandparents and their uncle.  We will have birthday celebration part deux.



We have a field trip with our homeschool group scheduled for Monday to the Absecon Lighthouse.  Ms. Q and I were there early in the spring with the Girl Scouts and had a great time.  We are all looking forward to this trip.


My favorite thing this week was...
Delicious chocolate birthday cake!


What's working/ not working for us...
We are having a bit of a hard time with our school schedule.  Baby C just can't seem to decide on a nap time.  Although he goes to bed and wakes up around the same time each day his napping is not consistent.  Some days he's exhausted by 9am, others he still won't go down at noon.  

Ms. Q does a lot of her work independently with only minimal assistance from me except for History and Science.  We try to schedule these subjects when Baby C is napping so we can have quiet but it's impossible to know when that's going to happen.  The problem is when Ms. Q finishes her independent work and gets free time then I have to reign her back in for a lesson.  She has difficulty transitioning and focusing and we both end up frustrated.  I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see what happens.


Things I'm working on...
I'm just about finished with Halloween costumes.  The boys are going to be pirates and Ms. Q is going as a black cat.  She was a tough sell this year on a homemade costume vs. store bought but I think she will be very pleased.


I'm cooking...
Pita Bread.  Little M and I tried using our regular bread dough recipe for pita bread and it worked out wonderfully.  They baked up fluffy and crunchy.  This is definitely a keeper.  See the picture below.

I'm grateful for...
the opportunity to be home with my children.  We had a little visitor to our homeschool this week because her mom had to work and her sitter was unavailable.  I was reminded of how difficult child care arrangements can be when you work outside the home.  When Ms. Q was small I worked full time and I remember the difficulties that arose when she was sick, her day care was closed, or her sitter cancelled.  I'm grateful that I no longer have those difficulties and I'm glad that I could help my friend when she needed it.


A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Yay for Pita bread!!!

 

TOS Review: E-Mealz

"Mom, what's for dinner?"  I hear this question at least three times a day.  My usual answer was always one of uncertainty.  Around 5 o'clock I would start the kitchen prowl looking in the freezer, the pantry, and the fridge trying to figure out what to make.  It usually worked out just fine but sometimes not.  It certainly was a stressful way to do it and pretty expensive.  Enter E-Mealz. 

E-Mealz provides you with a printable weekly menu plan that includes easy to follow recipes and an organized aisle by aisle grocery list.  You can choose a plan created for your grocery store that is centered around sales and seasonal produce or a specific diet (low-fat, low carb, gluten free, vegetarian). 

Now, each week I go to E-Mealz and print out the menu and shopping list for the week.  Then I write on the calendar when we'll eat each meal and check the grocery list to see what we already have and what else we need purchase for the week.   For the last month we have been using the Aldi meal plan.  The groceries included in the meal plan have cost between $65-$75 for the week.  And no wasted groceries and spoiled produce anymore.  The included recipes have all been easy to prepare in less than one hour.  My husband and three kids have devoured each and every meal.  I feel a little guilty taking all the compliments on dinner because E-Mealz has made it so easy for me.

If you want to save time on meal planning and save money on groceries, I highly recommend you check out E-Mealz.  You can see samples of their menus, recipes, and grocery lists HERE.  A subscription is $5 a month (that's only $1.25 per weekly plan!).  In case you're still not convinced, here are photos of some of the meals I've prepared from the weekly plans.

Baked talapia with scallions, rice pilaf, and cheezy cauliflower

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Slow cooker pork roast with apples, sweet potatoes, and steamed broccoli

Check out what other TOS reviewers have to say at the Crew Blog.

Enjoy!



 

 

Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.