TOS Review: Time Timer

Ok, nifty gadget alert!!  Have you ever seen something at a store and thought, "Of course!  Of course someone has not only patented THAT but produced it as well!  I've thought of that very same gadget a hundred times!!!!!!"  This is one of those gadgets....the Time Timer.

About a month ago I received this timer in the mail (the 3' model/smallest). 

 My first thought was, "How am I going to use this with the kids?  It's just like any old kitchen timer!" Ohhhhh not quite!  You see, later that same evening, my precious girl got in the shower.  Approximately 52 minutes later, she got out after much fussing and needless hot-water running in the kitchen! (Yes, I am THAT kind of Momma!  I also opened their pjs when they were babies to get them to stay awake for me to feed them!  There- now your opinion of me is completely ruined!)  This has been an ongoing battle with Precious for about 3 years now- when she started taking showers.  We've begged, cajoled, and just plain yelled.....to no avail.  Hmmmmm.....

The smaller timer was perfect for me to sit on the mirror ledge where Sweets could see it while she was showering.  The ingenious thing about this timer is that, with a red panel, you actually SEE the passing of the time.

The red diminishes as the time passes.  Abby knows now that she has a quarter of a "red pie" when she starts her shower, and when she's down to a sliver- that means its time to rinse the conditioner out and turn the water off.  She's doing much better with the timer!  There is also an alarm that will sound at the end of the set time period. 

The timers come in three different sizes and range in price from $30-$40.

Thoughts and opinions:
  I can honestly say that the Time Timer has alleviated a smidgen of my being "the bad guy"!  I no longer need to fuss for Abs to get out of the shower!  I'm also starting to use the Time Timer for lessons and reading time- so I look forward to the same results in those areas as well.
 There are two tiny things I do want to make sure to mention.....One is that the alarm is barely audible.  It sounds once and often we never hear it.  The other is that the battery resides in a deep covered well in the back of the timer.  It doesn't take much jarring at all to dislodge it so if your timer suddenly stops working, please check to see if your battery needs pushed back in.
  As always, if you purchase a Time Timer, please let me know your thoughts!  And certainly pass on any other ideas for incorporating it into the day!

Disclaimer: As part of The Old Homeschool Crew, I was given a 3' Time Timer in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I receive no compensation or commission.

Sweet Exhaustion....

There comes a point when a fainting couch is in order.......

Darlings, NOW is that time!  And it's not the children or the husband or the house that's causing such fatigue.  No it's three simple letters...

O........C.......C........

THIS is why I do this every year (for the 15th year!)  Look at that smile! Operation Christmas Child collections for 2011 end tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will spend a FULL day at our Birmingham Collection Center (Mt Brook Community Church) accepting cartons of boxes received from all over the metro area this past week- watching volunteers load semi trailers to the brim. Hopefully Prayerfully, 35,000 shoeboxes. This year has a twist, this year I'm the Captain of the ship.  Praise God I have one FABULOUS crew to help me out!  My area team co-ordinators are phenomenal.....just thinking of them makes me smile.

For now, I am going to go do laundry, read to my kids, and pack our stuff up so we can be out of the house before the kids are usually out of bed.  I'll post again tomorrow with some pics of the joy that causes my sweet exhaustion.

TOS Review: Keyboard Town Pals

I had the opportunity to review a children's typing program, Keyboard Town Pals, recently.  Here's what the website had to say about their program:

The Keyboard Town PALS Learn to Type program teaches your child to type in one hour.

Today, typing properly is a lifelong, necessary skill for success in school and at work.

■Our Mission: Our mission is to teach young children to type on a Qwerty computer keyboard in the fastest, easiest, and least stressful way. In only one hour Keyboard Town PALS’ “Learn To Type”software is able to achieve that goal.


■Stress-Free: We have eliminated the stress normally associated with learning to type and replaced it with adorable puppets who sing songs and tell stories in a relaxed learning environment. Our system has no boring drills or exercises. No mindless games. No nerve-wracking timed-speed tests. We have even deactivated the delete and backspace buttons since mistakes are never counted and scroll right off the screen. Learn more about this method.


■Wholesome: We are dedicated to developing educational software that you can depend on; wholesome products that will help you do your job as a parent – the most important and rewarding job anyone can have.


■Self Motivated: Your child will become an eager participant in the learning process and will be self-motivated to learn and complete the program.


■6 and Up: Keyboard Town PALS is best for the beginner audience of kids ages 6-12 and those with learning differences. All you need is a kid, a computer and an hour.

These are some of the characters introduced:



The main character is "Sunny"


Prices range from $30-$45

My thoughts and opinions...........

Friends, I do not endorse this product.  I could not MAKE Ben sign on after half of the first lesson and he was 6!  It is geared more to 4 year olds in my opinion, possibly even 3 year olds!  Certainly NOT the 6-12 age group suggested.  The characters are far from "wholesome", as you encounter a character VOMMITING in lesson 3!  Also, in lesson 5 the characters taunt and tease some unknown character which disgusted me. Also, just so you know, Ben firmly believes that Sunny would scare small children.

Hard as I try, I can not find one thing positive about this product- which may end my reviewing career- but honesty is, and forevermore shall be, the best policy.

Getting in the November mood.....

Ahhh....after a much needed blog break (Weren't all of those reviews INSANE??!!)  I am back to share with you a few crafties I am pondering.  Now don't get me wrong- our handy craft this month is leather tooling (Anyone seen my leather tooling kit??? Just a few tubs left to unpack...) so I'll be working on that with the kids, but I have found some super cute ideas that I am interested in trying with the kiddos.

Wanna see 'em???

 Love this Berry Wreath over on Martha Stewart.  The fabulous part is the berries are pom poms you "dye" and glue on to a willow wreath!  Easy peesy!  And those trivets?  They're just wooden blocks covered with velvet!  Genius!

Check out how adorable these are!  Mel over at One Crafty Mumma has done it again!  I swear I wish she were my neighbor!!  You can catch the tutorial here!


Now I don't think this one would be for the munchkins to attempt, but it is just so lovely I had to post!

Jessica over at Sew Homegrown whipped this beauty up!  It cost her less than $20 to make!!!!

Birds speak to me.  Christmas, Easter, Independence Day- you can use them for any holiday.......well ok, maybe not Independence Day so much. ;o)

And now.....the icing on the cake!  Or pie, as it will be!  Get ready to drool my friends......

Do you know what this bit of loveliness is?  This, Dearies, is Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake!  (Who would have thought of putting all of that yumminess together?  They need a pat on the back.......maybe even a kiss right on the lips- but seein' as how I've yet to taste it, we'll hold off on that one!)  This little delight is brought to you by the girls over at Our Best Bites. (Though they say they got it from the cover of the Betty Crocker Holiday Mini-Mag!)  Oh...must....try....this....one!!!

I hope you're a smidge inspired!  I hope we can unearth our crafting supplies soon and get started on some holiday projects.  Nothing soothes my soul more than a good craft, a cozy Cainberly, and a nice cup of cider.

TOS Review: Say Anything

Whew!  This has been a marathon of reviews!  I hope you've hung in there with me and enjoyed seeing some of what's out there that you may not have been aware of.  This will be my last review for week or so.....and it's a great one!

The folks at Northstar Games bring us another fun family entertainment golden opportunity with Say Anything Family Edition!  This game is much like Wits & Wagers (see previous review here) in how it is equipped.  You receive a scoring board, dry-erase markers, dry-erase boards, a box of questions, player tokens, and the ever so "state-of-the-art" SELECT-O-MATIC 6000.

(You see that little cardboard spinner thingy? Yep, SELECT-O-MATIC!)

The judge draws a card and chooses which of 3 questions they would like to ask.  Here are some examples for you:

What am I most likely to be doing in 20 years?

If I could have any musician play a private concert for me, who would it be?

What does the world need less of?

Players (recommended for ages 8+) jot down their answer on their boards, judge chooses which one they like best on the S-O-M and turns it face down.  Players then place their tokens on the answer they believe is most likely to be chosen by the judge, judge flips over S-O-M and VOILA!  Tons of fun and laughter!

Time for thoughts and opinions!

My kids LOVE this game!  They think it is so incredibly fun to guess what everybody thinks.  They felt a real satisfaction from knowing each of their family members so well- and I have to admit that I felt a littleproud of them.  They were thrilled when they had their answer chosen, but they also were happy to hear each other's thoughts and opinions.  It really is a great game for promoting a good dose of family unity.

Now, having said that- I must repeat my only concern which I expressed in my Wits & Wagers review-

" I love the concept, but I see buying more dry erase markers in the future- and what about the little boards once they become stained like dry erase boards tend to do?" 

You can purchase Say Anything Family Edition at Target for $19.99.

TOS Review: Wits & Wagers Family edition

My family loves nothing more than a good game.  I think the only rival to our book collection is our board game collection!

Northstar Games has produced a challenging game of, you guessed it, wits and wages!  A great trivia based game, with numbers as answers, that challenges you to bet on which guess comes closest to the true answer of a question.



Included in the Wits & Wagers box is your scoreboard, 300 questions with answers, dry erase markers and boards, and Meeples!  Yes, Meeples!  What are they, you ask?  Apparently they are a fun little wooden person that has been popular European strategy gaming but are now being introduced to board games!

Would you like to try your wits at a question?  I'll post the answer at the bottom so you won't be tempted to cheat!

How many total Disney princesses are there?

What percent of U.S. households have at least 1 pet dog?

OK, time for thoughts and opinions.....

My kids really enjoyed this game.  Ben, my 7 year old, had a hard time with the percentages but endeavored to persevere and really enjoyed the game.  My daughter, 9, loved it and was astonished by some of the answers! (Such as there are more than 100 feet in a mile!  Amazing!)  I wonder about the supplies though, if I were to be honest.  I love the concept, but I see buying more dry erase markers in the future- and what about the little boards once they become stained like dry erase boards tend to do?  Nonetheless, we loved it and will be enjoying another round with pizza on a Friday night soon!  Wits & Wagers sells for $19.99 on http://www.toysrus.com/ .  Northstar also offers Say Anything, which will be my next review! 


As always, if you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Oh, your answers!  9 and 37.2%

TOS Revierw: Educating the Whole Hearted Child

Honey. 

This book was sweet honey to my homeschooling soul!

Chock full of everything a homeschooling family needs to hear from how to get started to which picks of literature are ideal living books.  I began reading....then I began underlining.....then I began highlighting!  This book spoke to me- sometimes reassuringly saying "Good job!  Keep doing that!"  and sometimes "Oy Marla, was that the best choice for your homeschooling day?"  Can I just share with you some of my favorite passages from Educating the Whole Hearted Child?

• p.13  "Whatever else influences your decision, there is really only one reason in the end that should settle and seal it- that in your heart, before God and by faith, you know that being home with your children is the right thing to do."
• p.19  "Your child is made for and naturally longs for the home that you can provide."
• p.20 "Every Christian parents will readily affirm that their children are being raised in a Christian home.  Probe a little deeper, though, and you'll find that often what they really mean is that their children are being raised in Christian culture.  Let me state what should be obvious, but isn't:  Christian activities and interests do not make a Christian home  A Christian home is never defined by what the children are doing; it is defined by what the parents are doing."  

Ouch!  That last one stung a little- but definitely struck home.  You must understand that while this book is full of awesome homeschooling resources, the Clarksons' goal was to encourage the reader in three particular priorities: Home Nurture, Home Discipleship, and Home Education.  Below is the Table of Contents so that you can see the rich sweetness that awaits you....

Table of Contents



PREFACE: A WholeHearted Journey for Home
 INTRODUCTION: Christian Homeschooling — Taking a Step of Faith toward Home SECTION 1: HOME

Chapter 1: The Christian Home — Learning to Be at Home with Christ
Chapter 2: The Christian Homeschool — Learning at Home to Be with Christ
Chapter 3: Home Nurture — Shepherding Your Child’s Spirit to Long for God
Chapter 4: Home Discipleship — Shaping Your Child’s Heart to Live for God
Chapter 5: Home Education — Strengthening Your Child’s Mind to Learn for God

SECTION 2: LEARNING Chapter 6: The WholeHearted Learning Model — Living and Learning Together at Home
Chapter 7: The WholeHearted Learning Home — Creating a Home You Can Learn Within
Chapter 8: The WholeHearted Learning Child — Understanding Your Child
Chapter 9: The WholeHearted Learning Youth — Beyond the WholeHearted Child

SECTION 3: METHODS Chapter 10: Discipleship Studies Methods — The Study of the Bible
Chapter 11: Disciplined Studies Methods — The Study of the Basics
Chapter 12: Discussion Studies Methods — The Study of Ideas
Chapter 13: Discovery Studies Methods — The Study of Learning
Chapter 14: Discretionary Studies Methods — The Study of Living


SECTION 4: LIVING
Chapter 15: Family — Keeping the Vision Alive
Chapter 16: Structure — Keeping the Homeschooling Together
Chapter 17: Order — Keeping the Home Together
Chapter 18: Support — Keeping the Spirit Strong

POSTSCRIPT: The Challenge — Keeping Faith in the Family RESOURCES
A: Books for the WholeHearted Family
B: Books for WholeHearted Learning
C: Forms for WholeHearted Learning
Notes Pages

Educating the Whole Hearted Child is published by the very reputable Apologia and sells for $22.00 on their site.  (There's also a great wealth of other resources available on their site so head on over there and check 'em out!)

Time for my thoughts and opinions:
As you can tell, I loved this book and am so glad that I was chosen to review it.  It inspires, encourages, and even reproofs when necessary.  And I saved the best part to share with you.....those resource pages!!!  Oh my goodness!  Calendar planning, task lists, reading records and lists, family chore charts- all reproducible!  Uh-ma-zing!  There's also notes, resource lists, quotations, and supporting scriptures in the side margins!

This may sound like too much in one book but please let me reassure you- this book is an easy read.  Great, well-thought out ideas.  Definitely going to be a go-to book for me for the next eleven years of homeschooling!


Disclaimer:  I was given a copy of Educating the Whole Hearted Child through The Old Schoolhouse magazine in exchange for a fair and honest review.