Brag Time Thursday ~ January 12 Linky

Come link up your Homeschool related posts to 'brag' about the great things you and your kids are doing! Browse around and see what others are up to as well!

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Link-up is live from 11:00 PM Wednesdays  EST to 11:59 PM Saturdays EST each week!

Brag Time Thursday ~ Cooking

Ladybug is really getting into cooking! She loves to "help" in the kitchen. On Monday she helped me make Tater Tot Casserole. Then, that evening, all the kids helped daddy make Dutch Cinnamon Bars for Family Night Dessert.

TOS Review ~ Maestro Classics

Do you struggle teaching music history and composers? I know I do. Maestro Classics may be an answer! Today I am reviewing The Story of Swan Lake CD from Maestro Classics. This has been a fun product to review. My children love music. They love singing, dancing and just listening to music. In a Nutshell~7 track CD or MP3~24 page activity booklet~website full of homeschool lesson plans~ages 6-12 (my 3 year-old LOVED the music...I would say the music is for families with lessons geared for ages 6-12)~$16.98/CD and $9.98/MP3~Maestro Classics Website/Contact Info.~Maestro Classics on Facebook (currently running a sweepstakes on FB ends Jan. 22, 2012)~Kids Club~Many other TitlesOur ThoughtsWe really enjoyed the music and the activities. Monkey and Ladybug would dance around the house and Ladybug and Unicorn would "act" out the story! It was a lot of fun. I really like that so many subjects are covered in the lesson guides. 
Click here to read what my Crew Mates thought about The Story of Swan Lake.
{Disclaimer: I received The Story of Swan Lake in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.}

Workbox Wednesday ~ January 11 Linky

Today I am sharing what Monkey has had in his workboxes this week!He has been working through a Curious George Preschool Pack from Living Life Intentionally. Please excuse his lack of clothing he REFUSES to wear anything but under ware when we are home (please tell me this is just a phase! LOL!)

Terrific Tuesday ~ MyMemories Freebie

Here is this week's freebie courtesy of MyMemories! Don't have their fabulous software (they just came out with Version 3)? Purchase it and save $10 using this code STMMMS80543. You will also receive a $10 coupon code for the MyMemories Store in your confirmation email after your purchase!

Click the image (or here) to download!

TOS Review ~ Z-Guide to the Movies (ZeeZok Publishing)

I love history! I love movies! I love movies that portray different times in history! I love it even more when someone takes the time to create ways to learn from said movies! I don't have that kind of time in my life (do you?)! Well, guess what?!?!? The people at Zeezok Publishing have done just that! They have these cool movie guides called Z-Guide to the movies!Unicorn and I were given the opportunity to review the Z-Guide to Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.The Z-Guide is a downloadable "packet" that you print and complete (CD's are also available). Included is a Topic Overview (the topic for Kit Kittredge is the Depression), Movie Synopsis and various activities to complete during and after the movie.
Activities for Kit Kittredge~Movie Review Questions~Research the Great Depression (open ended questions about the time period to be researched using the Internet or books)~I Need a Sign...(interpreting hobo signs)~Vocabulary Can Be Depressing~Something New, Fresh and Real (writing a newspaper article like Kit did)~Fashion Runway: Great Depression-Style (learning about depression era fashion)~Who Am I? (identifying the characters from the movie)~Literary Devices: Ironic Foreshadowing or Foreshadowing Irony~Worldview: Pride and Prejudice in the 1930's~The Filmmaker's Art and Dramatic License

Other Important Information

~Download (PDF) or CD format

~$12.99 (single-license) or $49.99 (co-op or classroom license)

~Elementary/Middle School Level (other Z-Guides available for High School)

~Movie NOT included in price (available to purchase on website, borrow from Library, rent from Netflix, etc.)

PROS

~Print and Go (little to no teacher prep)

~Easy to use

~Fun Activities

~Reusable (with-in your own family)

~Answer Key included

~Unicorn enjoyed it

~Many other Z-Guides and products (e-books, audio books, etc.)

CONS

~Price (I have trouble paying more than $10 for a downloadable product....but that is just me)

~One thing that I didn't like was that with a couple of the activities the questions carried over onto a second page and only used a couple lines and since it is a PDF I couldn't edit it. I feel like it was a waste of paper.

Final Thoughts

Kit Kittredge is a really cute movie to show what life was like during the depression. The Z-Guide is a great resource to help focus student's attention on the depression and understand what life was like during that time in our history. I will definitely be getting more Z-Guides!

Click here to read what my Crew Mates are saying about this and other Z-Guides!

{Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.}

TOS Review ~ Toydle

My kids LOVE to build forts! No really, they LOVE it. Ladybug is the queen of fort building in our house. Everyday she would take the covers off her bed and build a fort to play in and every night I would have to take the fort apart and make her bed...that is until we were blessed to review the Toydle fort!Toydle is an American Company (Boise, Idaho) that makes and sells quality forts (see photo).They have two forts: The Toydle Fort (shown above and also the one we reviewed) for $149 and The BIG Toydle Fort for $229.99 (click here to order).
From the Toydle website:

All Toydle Forts are constructed with:

• Hand made wooden blocks 3” sq. made with high quality, laminated poplar.
• High Quality PVC tubes 29” long & 1/2in wide.

All Toydle Forts include an industrial strength storage bag.

All Toydle Forts include clips to help secure your sheets and blankets.

Our Forts are the strongest, longest lasting, and highest quality forts you will find anywhere! And we’ll back that up with an Unlimited Warrantee! No one else even comes close to what we offer! 

PROS
~High quality
~Easy to use
~Fun for the ENTIRE family
~Don't have to take it down EVERY night
~Can be put together many different ways
~My kids LOVE it

CONS
~Price (but worth it)

This was the last present that we opened Christmas morning and immediately upon opening it the following occurred:

Final Thoughts
We had to take the fort down to bring it home but the very next day the girls built a fort again in Ladybug's room and it has been up ever since. It is the only "toy" from Christmas that has been used EVERY day since. They play dolls, games, everything in there. It truly is a hit!