Brainy Box - Polar Kit, A Guest Review Post

Brainy Box - Polar Kit, A Guest Review Post by KD

Miss Amanda has been a part of our lives for approximately 3 1/2 years.  During that time, she has exposed me to a variety of different teaching methods and styles.  I have utilized all of her tot packs and preschool packs for my four year old daughter. I was raised in Montessori and tend to be drawn to Montessori materials, Montessori inspired blogs, and Montessori curriculums.  When Miss Amanda asked me to review Brainy Kits (http://getbrainykit.com) I was overjoyed.

The Polar Kit arrived in a very organized and easy to use manner.  The teacher's manual was easy to understand and referenced the materials to be used for each lesson.

For lesson 1, I presented and invited my two girls (age 2 and age 4) to explore insta-snow and miniature animals according to the instructions.  The girls loved the insta-snow and the animal critters.  Even my two year old stayed engaged for much longer than usual (just over an hour).  My four year old answered the majority of the questions and the two year old parroted her.  They played together during the imaginative play portion of the activity.  The activity was intended to be an hour and my girls were engaged for a little longer than an hour.  Clean up with the girls was a bit challenging and messy, so I invited them to undress in the laundry room where their clothing could be put straight in the wash and invited them to dress themselves in new outfits while I cleaned up the insta-snow.

My four year old talked a lot about snow, cold, ice, melting, hibernation and caves.  Both girls enjoyed the animals swimming in a bowl of water and transferring snow from one tray to another.  My four year old didn't know the names of all the miniature animals and asked for clarification.  The Amazing Arctic Animal books and laminated cards were helpful in identifying the miniature animals and discussing facts of the various animals.

For lesson 2, my 2 year old often can be disruptive and distracted when doing Montessori mat activities.  To my surprise she was attentive and participated the entire activity.  She tried to pronounce the names of each of the animals and was totally engaged when I invited the girls to match the animals with the corresponding cards.  My two year old surprised me when she correctly matched all the animals to the corresponding cards.  The girls took turns.  My four year old enjoyed describing the similarities and differences between the various animals.

For lesson 3, the girls enjoyed holding the miniature animals as I read the story.  After reading about 3/4 of the book, my daughters asked if they could pretend to be the polar animals.  I invited them to put away the miniature animals and their Montessori mats.  The girls were very creative and played together as the arctic animals for about 45 minutes.

For lesson 4, my four year old participated in the directed activity.  I had my two year old utilize the penguin puzzle, so that she had an activity to do independently.  I asked my child what the animals were wearing and her initial response was that they were naked.  I mentioned the fur and features.  She sweetly responded with, "Mommy, that is the skin of the animal, it's just different than our skin." This was a wonderful place to start a dialogue.

Lesson 5 was approached differently with both girls.  It was a snow day, so the lesson applied to a real experience.  For my 2 year old, I set her up with the real snow in a bowl representing arctic land and a second bowl of water representing arctic water.  She placed the miniature animals in either the water or land bowl. Meanwhile, my four year old participated in the lesson as directed.  My two year old continued with the sensory activity as I moved my four year old into lesson 6.

Lesson 6 was completed by my four year old independent of her younger sibling.  I was surprised at how little I needed to say to get her to describe the animals in their arctic environment.  She enjoyed the landscape and applying the stickers to the terrain.

Lesson 7 was facilitated all together.  The girls worked nicely together to explore the North and South Pole.  My four year old began teaching the two year old various ideas from the previous lessons.  I chose to observe as they discussed.  My four year old took the Venn Diagram and immediately began sorting the laminated cards before I could facilitate instructions.  It was a great moment to watch and observe the content that my four year old had learned from the polar kit activities.  The conversations of arctic animals continued throughout their free-play. I found myself laughing when they began creating arctic terrain with their Duplos.

As a proactive parent who participates in various homeschooling activities and utilized various curriculums, I would be interested in discovering other brainy kits in the future.  It was a nice experience for our whole family and I appreciated the materials being easy to use and engaging for my girls.

Castle Blocks - A Lakeshore Product Review

When is the last time you witnessed 4 boys, ages 4, 6, 7 and 9, play with blocks for hours on end?  Today happened to be one of these occasions.  We got this really nifty set of Castle Blocks from Lakeshore Learning and the boys are in heaven.  The blocks are high-quality wooden blocks that are printed on every side with realistic details.  The doors can be laid down and flipped over to make a bridge. There are cubes and cylinders, pyramids and cones.  Certainly enough pieces to make the grandest castle.

Upon opening the package, EMan was immediately enthralled with the blocks.  He was excited about the possibilities and focused on how many different ideas there were presented on the back of the box.  CJ quickly returned with the neighbor boys and all four of them really dove into exploring the possibilities.  

 It was interesting to listen to the collaboration and sometimes dictatorship that was unfolding before me.  I was simply a spectator intrigued by what would happen with this group of boys and the castle blocks. There were strong opinions about how the blocks should and shouldn't be used.

  "This is looking so cool!" says EMan as he jumps with excitement onto the sofa.  Apparently their game has now included Minecraft characters. They have built a castle and a barn and are utilizing their Minecraft toys to make it into a full game.  Each boy is responsible to be one character from Minecraft.  I'd highly recommend either small dolls or characters such as these Minecraft ones to make the building of the blocks into a game of creativity.

 I love how they put "Steve" on top of the castle with a sword.  He is the defender after all. Oh, and the skeleton is trying to get in but can't.  You best still watch out for him though because he might just shoot you with his bow and arrow.

 We were down in the basement (the dungeon of amazing stuff that is disorganized and slightly overwhelming) when EMan noticed the Lakeshore Learning catalog next to my desk.  It featured the castle blocks on the front and he excitedly said, "MOM! Is this where you got the idea from?" It was so cute.  He and CJ then spent the next hour taking turns flipping through the catalog and deciding what we should save our money for next.

Thanks to Lakeshore Learning for making such a fantastic product and letting us test it out for you!  If you want to head on over to get your own castle blocks or find something handy for your classroom be sure to use our coupon! 20% off your purchase good through 3/31/2015

Are You Ready?

We were given the fantastic opportunity to review the new "Are You Ready?" series of assessment games from Lakeshore.  We picked "Are You Ready for First Grade?" because it fit our current needs.  This game is a fantastic way to get a quick glimpse of what didn't sink in or what I accidentally forgot to teach CJ during the Kindergarten year.   It's set up like a game show and for each grade level you get 6 different games that let your child earn pretend cash for each math and language question answered correctly.  CJ and EMan LOVE money and were giddy with excitement as they learned the rules to the game.  In fact, before starting the game I overheard CJ say, "EMan, let's finish the laundry fast so we can play the earning money game!"  The put away their laundry in record time. 

We had a great time playing this game.  Each game has a set of 33 cards that you set up on the game board.  Your "contestant" gets to pick a card and if they answer it correctly they get the amount of money listed on the card.  This inspired CJ to pick the highest valued cards right off the bat.

If they get an answer incorrect you make note of the card number to reference later.  I'd highly suggest pulling out their journal or writing book to use for this game.  There are a few cards that specify to write something: such as their name, the alphabet or an answer. 

 We finished the first game quite quickly and CJ wanted to move onto the second game and earn more money right away!  There is only enough money to get all of one game's answers correct, then the money must be recycled for the next game.  There are, however, certificates for what they've won at the end.  The best part is that you get to fill in the reward to something that fits your family.

After you've played one or all six games you head to the game site here and start the Post Game Assessment on the right hand side.  Lakeshore makes it easy for you to type in the number cards that were incorrect.  The website then identifies Skills to Develop with a short description of what that skill encompasses.  It also provides free printable activities and additional Lakeshore products that target that skill.  I took pictures of my computer through this process, but they turned out terrible and unhelpful.  Just trust me that it's awesome to get immediate feedback and a few work pages to go over with your kid(s).  It's a perfect homeschool companion.   

Now we'll be ready for 1st grade for sure!  Will you?  We're giving away our set and would love to see it go to a family who will love it like we did.  Scroll down and enter to win today!

This great game is available in levels K-5.  To get $10 off any Are You Ready? Game Show(R), enter code 9141 at checkout or click here for a store coupon!  Expires 7/31/14.

Head to Nexus Homeschool to enter to win the giveaway! 

TouchMath Pre-K - Learning Our Numerals

We've finally reached the point in our school year where we start talking about numerals.  I believe it is important that other skills such as number sense, sorting, classifying, graphing and patterning are developed before we talk about the written symbol of numbers.  I'm so glad that the TouchMath  Pre-K curriculum follows this same development of skills. 

Our preschoolers are LOVING learning about the numerals.  The TouchMath Pre-K curriculum covers them very well and it adds so much fun when we utilize a few extra tools as well.  One of these extra sets we utilize are called Numeral Texture Cards.  They are so awesome!  They have a large printed numeral with different textures on the touch points (the circles that help us count).  The opposite side is a printed black numeral with the standard touch point(s).  My preschoolers (and toddlers) have loved sorting through these cards, feeling the different textures, tracing the shape of the numeral with their fingers, counting the touch points, and saying the numeral.

Another set we use is called TouchNumerals with Base 10.  These are great 6 inch foam numerals with foam TouchPoints to put on the numerals.  We count, place TouchPoints, mix them up and do it again.  I don't let my toddlers play with this set as they could easily be ruined by biting, but it's such a versatile set that I use it with my Kindergartner doing addition and subtraction and will easily use it up through multiplication and division.

We also utilize the TouchMath Adventures Touching/Counting app for the iPad.  It is a very simple app designed to teach a very basic (but sometimes not so simple) concept.  It simply teaches each numeral name and how to count the TouchPoints on each numeral.  We spend one day focused on each numeral 0-9 and this app is fantastic reinforcement of what we're learning.  It's not rocket science, but it is perfect for preschoolers learning the numerals.

We have been having so much fun learning this year and look forward to finishing out the year strong with a sense of representing quantities and numbers with the written form: Numerals.

*Please note, I was not paid for this review and I have purchased all of these products myself.  They are simply items I love!

Lakeshore Giveaway

Have you heard the great news?  Lakeshore Learning has been a long time supporter of classrooms and they just launched a new line of products specifically for homeschoolers.  Yay!  Check out their home education products at http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/home



Need more great news?  Readers of Little Adventures Preschool also get a special coupon offer for 20% off any nonsale item!  Just head here to utilize the coupon: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/7413 (Expires 10/31/13).

A few things I LOVE from the Lakeshore Learning at Home catalog:

Trace and Write Alphabet Center
Seriously, EMan hasn't put this activity down yet.  He keeps it in his Elmo backpack and LOVES playing with it.  For more details you can check out the full review here.

Add-It-Up! Archery Set
This in on the list of items to get CJ for Christmas.  He LOVES archery and broke his bow a few months ago.  This item will give him a target to shoot for as well as a great math activity that I'm sure he will love!

Telling Time Teaching Clock
We are rapidly approaching the telling time part of CJ's Kindergarten Math Curriculum and I can't wait.  He's been so interested in knowing what time it is and how long he has to wait for something to happen.  I love this little clock and look forward to how it will seamlessly enrich the curriculum we're already working on.

Count, Sort and Play Keys
My kids love keys.  Every set of baby keys I ever bought are still being played with.  They disappear into the baby box every once in a while, but when the box reappears the keys come right out and are played with all the time.  If we could also work on counting and sorting loose keys I'm sure they'd be a toy that would never have a chance to be put back away because they'd always be in use.

Bright Giant Washable Color Ink Pads
I use these every week in tot school, preschool and in our Kindergarten curriculum.  Unlike other brands that say they're washable but aren't really, the Lakeshore brand is completely washable, won't stain hands and are perfect for all giant ink pad needs.  I've owned mine for about a year and a half and only recently have I noticed they are starting to dry out and I need to get another set! You can't go wrong with these!

Washable Tempera Paint
We love the Lakeshore washable tempera paint and use it all the time.  The only thing I'd recommend is getting the pint size (not the 4 oz size) and also have a gallon back up of your favorite colors (we go through green really fast).

Last, but not least, the Arts and Crafts Supply Center
For all families who really like to have the arts and crafts supplies all in one spot and not over taking your house this is the perfect solution.  A box of drawers to hold everything you need close at hand.  The added bonus is that it comes already filled with hundreds of creative craft supplies.  There are 20 clear-view drawers that are overflowing with fuzzy pom-poms, colored wiggly eyes, sparkly pipe stems, craft glue and much more!  There is also an activity book with ideas to use all these awesome supplies.  The best part about it is that I HAVE ONE TO GIVE AWAY!

To enter the giveaway all you need to do is click on the green buttons on the Rafflecopter Giveaway below. There are a possible 35 entries per person: Like Little Adventures Preschool on Facebook, Like Lakeshore Learning on Facebook, Let us know what your favorite item from the Learning at Home catalog is, spread the word any way you like, and make Little Adventures Preschool Shop one of your favorites on Teacher's Notebook!  Best of luck to you all!  The giveaway ends 9/16/13 at 12AM.  The winner will be announced after that.

Don't forget that you can also utilize our special reader coupon at Lakeshore by clicking here: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/7413.

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Trace and Write Activity Center - A Lakeshore Product Review

I'm so excited to be able to do another review for Lakeshore Learning.  I love their products and when I was given the opportunity to pick something that was on CJ's level (My First Science Experiments) and something on EMan's level (this Trace and Write Activity Center) I was delighted!

As EMan is getting ready to join the ranks of preschoolers in August I'm being more proactive about his summer learning.  I want him to feel prepared for preschool activities and confident that he can do it!  What I'm currently working on with him is letter recognition for the letters in his name. In general, that's a fantastic place to start with preschoolers. 

 This engaging trace and write activity center comes with 26 double sided alphabet cards.  They have the capital letter on one side and the lowercase letter on the other.  The font is a bubble font with dashed lines, directional arrows, with a green dot to represent the starting location and a red dot to represent the ending location.

 You place the letter card on the left side of the board and practice tracing the card.  Then you move to the right side of the board where there is an orange transparent plastic sheet that you can "write" on with the pressure from your finger.  The white board underneath is a squishy board that the orange flap makes a connection with as you write.

EMan loves it and takes ownership of it.  He has requested to take it to church to work on quietly during sacrament meeting, we've taken it on the airplane to keep us busy while traveling and it was the first thing he showed off to his Oma and Opa upon arriving to their home for vacation.

I love it because it prompts engaging conversation about the letter name, sound and how to write the letter.  We are successfully working and playing together.  One of the things I have noticed is that CJ struggles with some letter formation and didn't know how to make the "s" in our last name until a few weeks ago when I specifically taught him that.  How to form letters is something I've missed along the way in the preschool years.  I'm so excited to have a product that makes such and important concept easy to practice.

Inside the Box:

*Sturdy wooden 8x12 inch board

*26 double sided tracing cards

Cost: $24.99

Link: Trace and Write Activity Center

Known as the "Summer Slide", children experience a loss in learning throughout the summer.  Engage children with intentional experiences to boost their summer learning and keep their minds sharp until official (or unofficial) "school" starts again.  Enjoy, and Happy Learning!

Be sure to check out the Lakeshore Learning Back to School Sale going on now with 20% off some of our favorite products!


*I was given a copy of this product from Lakeshore to review.  All opinions are my own. 

ABCmouse.com Review and Giveaway!

I am so excited about this review today.  My kids have been playing on ABCmouse since about March 2013 and they love it.  EMan always asks to play the "mouse game" and I think it makes them feel so grown up to play a computer game like daddy.

I love it because it's a full interactive online curriculum for preschoolers and kindergarteners.  It is customizable to each child with 6 different academic levels.  As the parent it was really easy to sign up for an account and create a user for both of my children that was set at their individual level.

I started CJ on a "Level 3" because I knew it would be easy enough for him to learn the program and be really excited about completing the games.  CJ had already learned to use a mouse and how to navigate computer games, so it only took a few minutes of us working together to learn what he could do. He enjoyed playing on it while I was doing Tot School with EMan and our toddler friends.

One of the aspects that the kids find really exciting is the Tickets and Rewards System.  Each time they complete an activity they get an amount of digital tickets.  They LOVE counting the tickets as they come out of the ticket dispenser.  They also love choosing their digital prize at the end of each lesson.  These digital prizes are like aquariums and lamps that they get to put in their digital room.  They can then spend their tickets on fish to add to the aquarium, etc.  They love all the choices!

The activities in the Learning Path consist of books, puzzles, games, songs, art, and printables that relate to a specific topic.  Right now EMan is working on recognizing his alphabet.  He's currently playing with letter C on ABCmouse.  Some of the activities include a puzzle of the letter C and a cat, a song about the sounds letter C says, a coloring letter C page, etc.  

In addition to the Learning Path (see the whiteboard below) my boys love the different options provided to them.  They can visit the farm or zoo to complete activities relating to those animals.  They can also visit the Classroom (pictured below) and click on anything within it to interact with it.  They can buy fish for the aquarium, play with the clock and digital/analog forms of telling time, the calendar tells them the day of the week/month/date and allows them to put stickers on different days.  There are so many activities right from the classroom that are engaging and teach about the world around us. There is also the option to pick a subject along the top of the page so kids like EMan who LOVE puzzles can click on that tab and play all the puzzles that relate to his learning level. CJ, on the other hand, LOVES science and "The World Around Us" is his favorite stop.  Lately he's been telling me all about what he's learned about salmon, a topic I wouldn't have even thought of to share with him. 

 

 If you click on the top left "Home" page you'll find a few extra resources that are worth mentioning.  Our favorite is the "Mouse and Pointer Tutorial".  CJ has learned how to use a mouse with great accuracy, but EMan always needed me to play right by his side manipulating the mouse where he wanted it to go.  When I discovered this activity we got right to work and now I'm excited that he's able to start doing it on his own.  In such a digital age it isn't a surprise that kids are learning to utilize computers so early in life.  Remember that even though we have a such a great resource for our kids, to a child LOVE is spelled T-I-M-E.  So, whether on ABCmouse our outside exploring nature give your child your full undivided attention as often as possible (yes, turn off those text messages - you can get to them later). 

There are so many things about this program that I wish I could tell you.  For example, the Parents Section has a curriculum overview so you can know what your child is learning and why/how they are learning.  There is a lesson builder to set up specific lessons for your child and there is a progress tracking page to quickly see what you're child has been working on. There are so many fantastic elements that I simply cannot go over them all, so I'll leave you with this: CJ enjoying a little ABCmouse music:

In these first 5 years of life children learn more than at any other time in their lives.  I am so glad to have a resource like ABCmouse that provides quality exposure and information to children about the world around them.  Being a mom of 2 I know that they are safe and enjoying the experience while I'm working with the other child.  They are developing a joy in the process of learning and a love of reading.  I enjoy the time I get to spend with them exploring these games and discussing topics in further detail.  Overall, I'd highly recommend exploring this online learning tool with the little ones in your life. 

And now, for the part you've been waiting for, the GIVEAWAY!  The great people over at ABCmouse have given me one year subscription to give to a lucky reader.  The good news is that you can win even if you already have a paid subscription!  It will just add a year onto your current membership.  So scroll down a little and enter to win it today!

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My First Science Experiments - Product Review from Lakeshore Learning

The brightest and hottest days of the summer are approaching.  Why not stay cool inside while learning some new and exciting things in cool ways?

Summer learning is is something I'm very passionate about.  I spent 4 years teaching 1st and 2nd grade and watching kids come back to school in the fall with such different summer experiences.  I was always delighted with the children who had the opportunity to grow and expand their learning over the summer and sad for those who didn't.  Exercising the mind is such and important thing to do all of the time.  I believe that as parents we are responsible for providing experiences and opportunities for our children to grow year round, whether or not they attend a formal school.

I am thrilled to be able to do a couple summer time product reviews for Lakeshore Learning.  They are one of my favorite places to visit and I always walk out having found everything I needed plus many things that I wanted.  I've even scheduled play dates to take my mom friends there to share the awesome.  Man, the teacher in me is all giddy now :)

We received 2 products from Lakeshore to review this summer.  The "Trace and Write Alphabet Center" geared toward EMan's ability will be featured on July 18th.  Today we're featuring "My First Science Experiments" geared toward CJ's ability.

When the box first arrived and I set the science kit on the piano the boys were immediately drawn to it.  I shared in their excitement and we set a time to get to work learning.

 When we opened it up there were immediately engaging elements that the boys really wanted to dive into right away.  We started with the step-by-step instruction guide and I was SO pleased to see that it was set up in a child friendly manner.  CJ was able to read much of the titles ("What you need:" and the language was interesting to him as I read aloud the instructions.

 He had so much ownership of the project after reading the instructions that he was ready to lead this exploration.  We got to work following the instructions and pouring the water.

 We dropped in one color tablet at a time and watched it fizz and bubble.  I wish that the instruction manual had an extended science section because the boys asked why the color tablets reacted that way in the water and I couldn't find the information online anywhere.  They did love watching the magic tablets dance in the water.

 I'm not too thrilled with the color coding of the color tablets. I *luckily* guessed correctly and we did end up with a red, yellow and blue square like we intended too.  I wish the packaging specified what colors where in there so you didn't feel so uncertain.

 This set is engaging our minds and muscles on so many levels.  We're reading, asking questions, and working on fine motor skills!

 EMan jumped at the opportunity to work on this project with brother.  We were mixing colors and experimenting with the outcomes.  I love the conversation that happens while we explore life together.
"I want to add some blue and see what happens." -CJ

"What would happen if we did a lot of red and a teeny bit if blue?" -me

"What if we add a lot if blue and a teeny tiny bit of red?" -CJ

"How about 2 scoops of red, 3 scoops of yellow and 1 scoop of blue? Mommy, it kinda turned into black!" -CJ

 For the second experiment we added some gel crystals and had to leave them in the water for 1 hour.  The boys sat staring at the timer.  What a great chance to learn about length of time!

 We learned some new vocabulary (primary colors and secondary colors).  We experimented with time to discover how long an hour is.  We explored different textures and discussed what changes had occurred.  We even applied math skills in counting out drops of color.  My First Science Experiments touched on numerous brain building skill sets all while being actively engaging, and that's merely in the first 2 experiments out of 13!  Isn't that what we all want in our learning?  Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for more posts of our engaging science fun!

"What's happening?" -me

"The crystals are changing into the same color as the water. They grew and sucked up the water. It is soft as jello." - CJ

Inside the Box:

*Step-by-step instruction guide

*Materials for 13 different experiments

*Plastic Test Tubes

*Eyedroppers

*Color mixing tray

*Color Tablets

*Gel Beads

Cost: $19.99

Link: My First Science Experiments 

Not only does Lakeshore have a great selection of items both in store and online, they also offer great customer perks.  They have free crafts for kids every Saturday, there are teacher workshops throughout the school year and a teacher's club available even for homeschooling parents (yay for cheap laminating!)!  If you follow Lakeshore on Facebook you'll have access to many things that may have gone unnoticed before. I love their July PreK-3rd grade daily activity calendar!

"Make this the summer of learning!" Stop by Lakeshore today and grab that something special to engage your child's mind this summer!

*I was given a copy of this product from Lakeshore to review.  All opinions are my own.