My Animal Family Nanuq ~ Review

As part of the Homeschool Crew, I received a copy of My Animal Family Nanuq: A Baby Polar Bear’s Story from Smart Kids Publishing. 

There are currently four picture books available: Nanuq (polar bear), Ella (elephant), Leo (lion), and Korow (chimpanzee).

The books, which cost $12.99 each, are designed for children ages 3 to 9.

Each beautifully illustrated hardback book includes:

• A live-action DVD that contains real video footage, giving the viewer a glimpse into the baby animal’s life.  The DVD also has a song and fun facts about the animal.
• An Official Club Membership Card for My Animal Family (MAF) Kids Club.  The card includes a “secret password” that opens up the My Animal Family Club website.  

Our Thoughts:

My first thought was how beautiful the illustrations were!  The story is told by the baby polar bear, Nanuq, and while it is sweet and sometimes funny, it also shows the real life of polar bear. The DVD was really cute and my kids loved the song!  We were all very disappointed that our code never worked and we were unable to access the website.

Even though we were unable to access the online site I would still be willing to purchase the book and DVD for $12.99. 

Find Out More:

For more information about the books and membership click here.  The books are available on the website for $12.99 each.

To see what other members of the Crew Members thought click here.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

~Cindy

Corps of Re-Discovery Cornhusk Doll Kit {Review}

My daughter and I were very excited when we found out that we were going to be receiving a cornhusk doll kit from Corps of Re-Discovery to review. 

About Corps of Re-Discovery

Corps of Re-Discovery is owned by a homeschooling family and was formed after they took a 14 month journey, traveling through 47 different states learning and exploring. 

Working together as a family, we have found and created great project kits to enrich your studies of American Indians, Frontiersmen and Pioneer Americans so you, too can "re discover" America.

The Cornhusk Doll Kit

The cornhusk doll kit costs $4.50, and included everything we needed to make the doll, except for thread or glue to sew the apron and scarf.  Also included were detailed instructions with illustrations.  The illustrations where very helpful as I am a very visual person!

Our Experience

Emily and I worked on making the doll together.  I did most of the actual construction of the doll and she picked out the best pieces of cornhusks and helped me tie the pieces together. 

Here is the doll as she was drying (and being lovingly held).

I cut the fabric for the apron and scarf and let Emily glue the edges.  The directions suggested sewing, but Emily was much to impatient to finish the doll so we opted for fabric glue, which worked nicely.

 

Here is our completed doll. 

Our Thoughts

Emily LOVES this doll and wouldn’t put it down once we finished it ~ seriously, she didn’t even give it time to dry!  I am amazed at the cost, just $4.50!  We both had fun making the doll and when she isn’t being carried around the house, she is proudly displayed on our nature table.

Find Out More

Visit Corps of Re-Discovery to purchase the girl or boy cornhusk doll kit for $4.50.  Be sure and check out some of the other great kits they have for children {they would be perfect for Christmas}!  

Here is just a sampling of some of their other products (click on  pictures for more information):

   

See what other families have to say about Corps of Rediscovery at The Old Schoolhouse CREW.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

~Cindy

Animal Train Sort and Match {Guidecraft Mom Review}

I am always searching for fun, versatile, learning toys that will hold my son’s attention.  We received the Animal Train Sort and Match from Guidecraft, which helps teach color-matching, shape-matching and pattern-recognition, but would it keep the attention of a busy four year old? 

Animal Train Sort and Match comes in a wooden storage case that holds 43 animal and train piece, six double-sided pattern cards,  and a magnetic building board that props up inside the back of the box.  The animal pieces have a small magnet in the back to help them stay on the board.

Our Thoughts

Aiden really enjoyed duplicating the patterns on the cards.  My daughter also enjoyed playing with the set, although I did have a hard time keeping her from “helping” Aiden. 

We also found lots of other uses for the animals.  Sorting

and making an animal train.

We played zoo keeper ~ taking turns rolling a dice and counting the number of animals we each added to our zoo.

Aiden liked to see how many animals he could knock down each time he rolled the dice.

Since my little man likes to add some action to his learning, we also played jump over that animal.  I would call out a colored animal and he would find it and jump over it. 

I really love that the sturdy wooden box holds all of the pieces.   Overall, this is another high quality, educational toy from Guidecraft that definitely kept Aiden’s attention!  They also carry a Construction Truck set and a Flower set.

Find Out More

The Animal Train Sort and Match is available from Guidecraft or Amazon.

Carissa at My Life on a Taffy Pull is hosting a giveaway for an Animal Train Sort and Match.  The giveaway is open until midnight, Sunday, November 14th!

~Cindy

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Voting Has Begun for the Homeschool Blog Awards!!

A GREAT big ole’ THANK YOU to all of you who nominated me for the 2010 Homeschool Blog Awards!  I am shocked, surprised and very thankful to be nominated for Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog and Best Blog Design!  Jolanthe from Relevant Designs did a fantastic job helping me redesign my blog and deserves the credit for the look of my blog!  She is truly talented and we had so much fun redesigning my blog {I’m not just saying that because she is one of my good friend}!

In addition, Totally Tots, which I am a contributing writer for, was nominated for Best Family or Group Blog, Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog, and Best Variety Blog!

There are some amazing blogs nominated in all of the categories.  Have fun checking out all of the blogs that have been nominated and cast some votes! Thanks again!

~Cindy

Preschool Corner ~ Pumpkins

We have enjoyed a very relaxing week ~ filled with long walks, lots of reading, trips to two different pumpkins patches, and pumpkin carving!

Over the weekend we went to our favorite little pumpkin patch ~ which has become an annual tradition.

 

On Tuesday we headed to another pumpkin patch with Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations. There were lots of fun activities for the kids.

Big Wheels,

an airplane

So many photo ops and this is what I get ~ my sweet son!

 

Since I’m the one who snapped the pictures of Jolanthe and Kaleb on the go-cart style bikes, I just have to share them!  They were having so much fun!

 

Tea Party

The kids helped make pumpkin bread and then ate almost all of it while having a tea party.  Notice the level on the table?  I showed Aiden how to use it this week ~ that counts as math, right?

 

Carving Pumpkins

Aiden was not a big fan of scooping the pumpkins.

 

Not sure why he has no problem playing in mud but he makes this face when he touches the inside of a pumpkin?

Here are some of the books we read this week:

Not much traditional learning going on, but it was still a great week!

 

For more Preschool Corner posts, head on over to Homeschool Creations.

 

~Cindy

Our Pumpkin Patch Tradition

Every year we visit a small pumpkin patch, out in the country. 

It is owned by a local family who still relies on the honesty system for payment.  Going to this pumpkin patch has become a family tradition, which we started when Emily was one. 

I went past this pumpkin patch everyday on my way to work, before I had kids, and I always dreamed of the day I would be able to take my own kiddos out to find the perfect pumpkin. 

Emily loves going because she has fond memories of us tramping around look at all the different pumpkins.  If you ask her I’m sure she will say her favorite memories are when it was just her and I  ~  before her brother came along. 

 

Aiden loves going because they provide loppers to cut the pumpkins free from their vines, and small wheelbarrows.

I love going because now I have two kiddos to take.  Six eyes all searching for the perfect pumpkin to take home and carve!  Three people with entirely different ideas on what the perfect pumpkin is.  

 

Do you have a favorite pumpkin patch that you like to visit?

~Cindy

PG Key {Review}

Why would I need PG Key?  My kids are always supervised whiled on the internet!  That is what I thought until I came home late one night from a meeting and found my daughter playing a game on the computer.  What if she had accidently typed in the wrong address and pulled up something she really shouldn’t see?  We had a serious talk about when she can use the computer! 

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a simple way to monitor your kids computer use and set limits on the amount of time they use the computer?  There is with PG Key.

About PG Key

PG Key is easy to use!  Plug it into your USB Port and once it is installed, you create accounts for each person using the computer.   You can set up the following controls for each account:

• Time allowance
• Content filtering
• Site blocking
• Activity tracking
• Activity notifications
• Monitor chat and email use
• Allow access to only specific websites
• 60 hours of video recording ~ you see what your child sees!
• If the key is removed from the computer it can’t be used by the kids.  NOTE:  If you should lose the key, you can still access the computer by using your password.  Contact PG Key’s support department and if you’ve activated your PG Key and registered the product they will ship you a new PG Key for only $10.00 plus shipping and handling.

My Thoughts on PG Key

I installed PG Key, set up my password, and started setting up basic controls for my daughter.  Set up was easy!  I blocked access to two websites and let my daughter try and access the sites.  It worked ~ she could not get to the websites!   I also set it to notify me when certain words were searched.  The program sent me an email each time I searched using those words, but it did not block me from the search or accessing sites with the words.  What does this mean?  If I wanted to block a site, I would have to have know the web address.  It does not allow you to block using a key word such as ~ all pornographic sites.

Overall, this product is a great way to monitor what your kids are doing on the computer.  For my kids, just knowing that we are monitoring their computer use would be enough! 

Pros:

• Peace of mind knowing that I can see what my kids are seeing.
• Being able to limit use of the computer ~ if I pull out the key the kids can’t even use the computer.
• Being able to limit the sites my daughter can use.

Cons:

• Not being able to block sites unless I know the websites address.
• Not being able to block access to sites based on a certain word ~ such as pornography.

Find Out More:

PG Key costs $49.99, and is available at PG Key or Amazon.  If you would like to see more  they offer a Free Trial here.

To find out what my fellow crewmates thought about PG Key click on the banner above.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

~Cindy