My Home School Grades ~ A Mosaic Review

The most intimidating part of homeschooling through High School, for me, is creating a transcript that colleges will find acceptable. Well, I am no longer intimidated by transcripts thanks to My Home School Grades! My Home School Grades is a user-friendly, family friendly, cost efficient way for homeschoolers to track grades and create transcripts!

In a Nutshell

~Lifetime Membership $49.99

~14 Day FREE Trial

~EASY to use (add a student, choose a grading scale, select/enter curriculum and you are ready to go)

~Portable (Web App works on Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones)

~Track Extra-Curricular Activities

~Export Professional looking Transcripts

~Ability to "go back in time" to add past years grades (you can also plan for the future)

~Courses can be credit or non-credit

~Add Grades for each lesson (it will calculate overall grade) OR just enter a Final Grade

~Easy to edit students, courses, lessons and grades

~Website (Contact and Request for Curriculum to be added Forms)

~Blog

~Facebook

~Twitter

Use My Home School Grades on the Go!

Easily Add a Class!

Add Lessons, Quizzes and Tests!

Enter Grades!

My Thoughts

I LOVE My Home School Grades! The program is vary intuitive and easy to use. One of my favorite features is that you can "time travel" and add courses and grades (1994-2016)! Another great feature is that the creators are also constantly adding curriculum and features to improve the program. If you are planning on homeschooling through High School then I highly recommend you sign-up for the FREE Trial and check it out for yourself!

Link will go live soon!

Waterproof Bible ~ A Mosaic Review

OK...today's product is really cool! 

I am reviewing the Waterproof Bible by Bardin Marsee Publishing!

In a Nutshell
~Available in 5 Versions: English Standard Version (ESV), King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), New King James Version (NKJV), New Living Translation (NLT)
~Available as Old and New Testaments (712 pages, 5 7/8" x 8 3/4", 8 pt font) or New Testament with Psalms & Proverbs (376 pages, 4 1/4" x 7", 7 pt font)
~Priced from $24.95-$44.95
~3 Styles (Blue, Pink and Nature/Camo)
~100% Waterproof
~Durable Synthetic Pages
~Stain Resistant
~Clear Text (easy to read and write on)
~Dry Highlight
~Write and Underline with NO bleed thru
~Website
~Facebook
~Twitter

My Thoughts
This Bible is so neat! It is easy to hold, read and even mark. But the waterproof feature is really the best! You can take this Bible ANYWHERE and not worry about ruining it! Imagine taking it on a camping trip. I don't know about you but it ALWAYS rains when we camp and our tent ALWAYS leaks! This Bible would survive a leaky tent! Know a soldier? Perfect gift! How about a Boy Scout? Yep...awesome gift for a scout too! Like to read in the bathtub? or in a pool or hot tub? Like to hike? or just sit out in the rain? Yep, now you can read your Waterproof Bible and not worry about it getting ruined if it gets wet! You can even leave it on the kitchen table and not worry about someone spilling their milk on it!

Link live in a few days! ;)

Happy 7th Birthday Ladybug!

Seven years ago today I woke up early, went to the hospital, got checked-in for my scheduled C-section, had the monitors put on (to make sure I wasn't having too many or too strong of contractions), got prepped, chatted with the doctor, got my spinal and at 7:30 am (right on time) Ladybug entered the world. She was born at 38 weeks.

After Unicorn's scary entrance this was a welcome change (little did I know that this was going to be my only "normal" delivery as Monkey's entrance was going to be an adventure as well).

Ladybug's Favorites

Color: Pink

Sport: Bowling

Game: Star Wars Angry Birds

Season: Summer

Meal: Oatmeal

School Subject: Math

Book: Junie B. Jones

Sweet Snack: Hot Tamales

Salty Snack: Chips

Ladybug Today

I am 7.

I believe in Jesus.

I wish that we could go camping.

I have Star Wars Lego Tree House.

I know 6 + 6 = 12.

I can ride a bike.

I hope I get lots of toys.

I want money.

I will learn to read really well this year.

I remember how to tell time.

Ladybug's Stats.

At birth: 6 pounds 4 ounces and 18.5 inches

At age 5: 35 pounds and 3 feet 8 inches

 

 

Ooka Island ~ A Mosaic Review

Today I get to review Ladybug and Monkey's FAVORITE learning game! They absolutely LOVE Ooka Island. We had the chance to review it a couple years ago and they were so upset when it ended. A few months ago (before I knew we were going to review it again) I found a great deal on a subscription and purchased it! Now...on with the review!

  *Note: The Ooka Island website is PACKED full of information and videos. Please click all the links in this post to truly SEE what Ooka Island is all about! What is Ooka Island? From the website:  The Ooka Island Adventure is a downloadable hero-mission in 3D designed to teach young children how to read fluently and well. The Ooka Island Adventure combines the highly engaging components of a state-of-the-art virtual world with the scientifically proven OokaMethod that builds literacy skills.

Carefully embedded within the Ooka Island Adventure are dozens of interactive instructional activities that captivate the child and motivate them as they learn essential pre-reading, reading, spelling, and writing skills. After completing the Ooka Island Adventure, children will be on their way to reading fluently and well for life.

Ladybug and Monkey playing Ooka Island

In a Nutshell: ~Download and Install Game (high-speed required) ~Internet required for play ~Ages Pre-Kindergarten - 2nd grade (could be used for older children for remediation) ~Earn Ooka Mist (currency) to purchase goodies for the Pencil Playground ~85 leveled books ~Customize your Avatar ~First, follow Zobot around the Island (guided learning-20 minutes). Next, Enter the Popcorn Library. Then, Explore the island (free play-8 minutes). Repeat until the entire program is complete. ~The Cave of Sounds: Auditory recognition of sounds, letter-sound correspondence, identify initial and final consonants in words ~Popcorn Library: Reading comprehension and fluency skills ~Alphabet Mountain: Identifying and sequencing lower and uppercase letters ~Bubbly Trubbly: Letter-sound correspondence ~Cake Factory: Letter-sound correspondence, segmenting, blending and decoding ~Submarine Listening: Identifying vowel in initial, medial and final positions ~Word Ball: Auditory discrimination between syllables and words, decoding ~Pencil Playground: Social/emotional play-based learning ~Clumsy Wacky Moving Company: Blending onset and rime, blending sounds into words, rhyming ~Pricing is affordable (less than $20/month for up to 4 children). There are 3 ways to purchase (home edition, school edition and homeschool edition)  ~Website Contact Form ~Twitter ~Facebook ~Pinterest ~Blog

Monkey playing with his Zopet in the Pencil Playground

Our Thoughts: We love Ooka Island. Monkey asks to "do school" everyday (including weekends). He loves playing Ooka Island and is learning so much. We have had trouble getting Ladybug to enjoy learning to read. Ooka Island is the ONLY thing we have found that she doesn't fight and is actually willing to do. She is also making progress in her reading ability. I love Ooka Island because both my little readers enjoy it and Ladybug is actually enjoying reading. It has been quite a struggle with her.   

Click HERE for 30% off Ooka Island 

(in addition to the already 37% off Family Edition)!!!

Saving Memories Forever ~ A Mosaic Review

Today I am reviewing a neat little app called Saving Memories Forever!

This little phone App, when combined with their website, allows you to record, save and share voice recordings of your loved ones! Have you ever wished you could digitally record the stories that your grandparents told you of their childhood so you can share it with your children even after your grandparents are gone? I know I have. I remember my grandparents telling me stories of living on the farm when they were little. My dad also tells some pretty amazing stories about the antics he and his siblings performed when they were younger. With this app I am able to record my relatives (or my) stories and have them digitally saved for my children and grandchildren. I can even add photographs to supplement the stories (premium version).

In a Nutshell
~Free and Premium ($3.99/mo or $40/yr) versions available (click HERE for a comparison chart)
~Many Question Prompts to choose from
~App available for iPhone and Android
~App and Website are used together (although the website does explain how to upload MP3 recordings)
~Use Skype to record stories of relatives that you don't see often
~How-to guide and questions available for download (click HERE)
~Fairly easy to use (I did have to read the how-to guide to figure something out but it was really me over-thinking the app because the answer was very simple)
~Facebook
~Blog
~Website Contact Form
~Pinterest
~Twitter

Overview of How it Works
1. Go to the Website and Sign Up (there is a tab in the upper right corner of the site)
2. Get the App (you can also register from the App)
3. Add a Storyteller
4. Select your Storyteller
5. Choose a Category

 6. Choose a Question

 7. Record the Story (5-10 minutes tops)

 8. Playback, Re-record, or Upload your story

 9. Share with Facebook or Go back to the main screen

 10. Go to the Website to Listen

 

11. Click on "Manager" then the Storytellers name to upload photos or to share the recording!

My Thoughts
I really like this app! I love that I can record my family members memories in their own voices. I can also add a family member that has passed away and have other family members record memories of that person. I will be using this app at our family reunions this summer. Since you can also use Skype to record family members that are not local I think I will learn how to use Skype and take advantage of that feature as well! While the monthly fee is affordable I would LOVE to see an option to purchase a "lifetime" subscription. I did have a few technical glitches (like I am having trouble uploading my storyteller photo on the website) but nothing that interferes with the functionality of the recordings themselves. Overall this is a great app and we will continue to use it!

Happy Birthday Monkey!

I can't believe that is has been FIVE years since the adventure of Monkey's birth and I DO mean adventure! Let me give you the short version . . .

April 14, 2008 (34 weeks)

     I start having some really weird pains (*note 1 - I had never been in labor before - my first 2 children were C-sections). So I call the Dr. and they tell me that if the pain continues or worsens to come see them the next day.

April 15, 2008

     The pain is still there so I go to the doctor and they do an exam. I was starting to dilate but not soften so they told me to go home and rest but if the pain continued or got worse to go to the OB Triage at the hospital. (*note 2 - I was already on bedrest so more rest seemed impossible; *note 3 - I live an hour from the doctor and hospital so I drove 1 hour into the doctor, an hour home and...) As the day went on the pain/pressure continued and got worse. I decided to take a bath (under the assumption that it was false labor and a bath would slow/stop things)...OOPS...things started picking up so at 10pm or so we woke up the girls and called my mom to meet us somewhere between our house and the hospital. My mom took Unicorn and Ladybug to her house and hubby and I went into the OB triage.

After a call to my OB they got me into an exam room quickly and started monitoring me. Yep...34 weeks and in labor! They gave me a shot of terbutaline and my blood pressure dropped, they flipped the exam table  so I felt like I was on my head and whipped out the smelling salts and declared me allergic to the stuff. So much for stopping my labor and going home...I was now being admitted to the hospital and hooked up to magnesium. (*note 4 - I HATE MAGNESIUM! I was on it with my first baby and it wasn't any better the 2nd time around).

April 16-27, 2008

     Labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you",

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you", change IV, draw blood,

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you",

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you", change IV, draw blood, OVER and OVER again!

     Now, I know those AMAZING nurses were just doing their jobs but this got old real fast. I had already had a preemie (Unicorn 33 weeks, 3 pounds 11 ounces) and I was SICK of the magnesium.

April 27, 2008 (36 weeks)

     Dr. comes in and I ask him what it will take to have this baby ASAP! I didn't want him in trouble with the medical board but the nurses were not going to call him and I couldn't take another week on the magnesium. He said the only way he could justify it was to have an amniocentesis and check the baby's lung development.

April 28, 2008

     Amniocentesis done at 7:00 am and C-Section scheduled for 5 pm. They expected to have the lab results by noon. Results finally came in at 4:30 and the Dr. called and asked if I still wanted to do the C-section today or if I wanted to wait until the morning? UMMM...Really?...TONIGHT! So, Dr. showed up a little late but at 5:54 pm Monkey was born. 5 pounds 4 ounces and 18 inches!

Today:

    Monkey is a very intelligent and healthy LITTLE boy. He is 30 pounds and 3 feet 3 inches tall. He loves "Thomas the Train", "Dinosaur Train", "Cars", "Fireman Sam", "Bob the Builder", "Phineas and Ferb" and all the "Leap Frog" movies. He loves to play with his cars, trains, letters, animals and sisters. He is a VERY PICKY eater! He will only eat noodles, pancakes/waffles, hotdogs, Fruit Loops, Go-Gurt, graham crackers, marshmallows, macaroni & cheese, toast, tortillas, gatorade and milk (we are working on this)! He is a very good little boy.

Spanish for You! ~ A Mosaic Review

Today I am reviewing a neat Spanish curriculum, Spanish for You!, for grades 3-8!

I will admit that while we live in Arizona and are exposed to Spanish on a daily basis, we are learning Latin as a family. However, I have to say that I LOVE the way this program is set up and that is it for grades 3-8!

In a Nutshell
~Grades 3-8 (although with some minor modifications my 1st grader was able to participate)
~$64.95 per theme for grades 3-8 ($39.95 per theme for one level - 3/4 or 5/6 or 7/8)
~2 Themes currently available:
      Fiestas (Celebrations) and Estaciones (Seasons) with Viajes (Travel) coming June 2013
~Flexible (you can easily slow down or speed up the pace)
~Easy: just open, print and teach
~Full Year (24-30 weeks) curriculum that you can use for multiple children
~Comprehensive (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, verb conjugation and more)
~Includes audio files of a Native speaker  and a non-Native speaker (download)
~Includes self-checking worksheets (download)
~Includes lesson guides (download)
~Includes a soft-cover Spanish for You! book
~Includes audio of the entire book (download)
~Includes free pictures to use to make flashcards or use with other activities (PDF download)
~Excellent customer service!
~Facebook
~Website Contact Form

Our Thoughts
We reviewed the Fiestas (Celebrations) Theme and really enjoyed it. I used it with Unicorn (7th grade) and Ladybug (1st grade) and they both liked it as well. The only modification I made for Ladybug is that I helped her with the worksheets. The girls enjoyed listening to the audio files and didn't even mind the worksheets. I really enjoyed how EASY it was to use Spanish for You!, especially for someone like me who doesn't speak Spanish. The only problem I had with the program was that it was difficult to find the correct audio files and worksheets, HOWEVER, Debbie is AWESOME and she has organized the files by week so they are easier to find! Now I just need a program like this for Latin! ;)