Hideaway Country Kitchen {Guidecraft Mom Review}

One of my favorite toys when I was growing up was a kitchen set.  I remember playing with it everyday ~ daydreaming about growing up and having a family of my own to fix meals for someday.   My kids and I were beyond excited when we received Guidecraft’s Hideaway Country Kitchen!

Pretty isn’t it! 

About the Hideaway Country Kitchen

This beautiful wooden kitchen measures 30"W x 15.25"D x 38"H once it is assembled.  What makes this kitchen so amazing is the ability to fold it it up.Once folded it measures a depth of  just 6”, allowing you to store it easily.

The kitchen, which has white bead board on the back wall and doors, also has an adjustable clock, hooks to hang hot pads or cups,

a wooden shelf, and knobs that make a clicking noise when you turn them.  The kitchen is recommended for ages 3 and up.

My Thoughts

I placed the kitchen on a small wall right beside our kitchen so the kids could “cook” while I am working in the kitchen.  The colors of the kitchen are neutral and go with any decor. 

We have a small house and I rotate our toys so the kids don’t have too much out at one time.  This kitchen is easy to fold up, just lift the locking bars and remove one bolt, then fold it and hide it away in a closet.

Both of my kids (Emily who is almost 8 and Aiden who is 4) have played with the kitchen everyday since I put it together. 

I will say that it took me about 1 1/2 hours to put the kitchen together.  The instructions were easy to read and my only problem was attaching the 7 knobs on the front.

Find Out More

The Hideaway Country Kitchen is available from both Amazon and the Guidecraft website.  If you are looking for a kitchen set with pink, blue and yellow, check out the Hideaway Playtime Kitchen instead. It features a pink, blue and yellow color scheme and is also available from Guidecraft. 

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, I was provided this product to review. I was not paid for this post and all opinions expressed in this post are mine.

 ~Cindy

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready Giveaway

I am joining the Curriculum Clean-OUT! hosted by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.   This is a great way for new or gently used products to find a new home!

The following giveaway is for the book Slow and Stead Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander.

 

The book contains weekly activities to do with our child from birth to age 5.

To enter:

Leave me a comment and you will be entered to win!

For extra entries:

• Twitter or blog about this giveaway and then come back to let me know by leaving an additional comment.
• If you follow my blog, leave a comment and let me know.

Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry!

US Residents only, please!  This giveaway will be open until Sunday, May 1st until 8pm and I will announce the winner by Tuesday, May 3rd.  Please be sure there is a way for me to contact you.

Check out the other great giveaways during the Curriculum Clean-Out.

~Cindy

Managers of Their Homes Giveaway

I am joining the Curriculum Clean-OUT! hosted by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.   This is a great way for new or gently used products to find a new home!

The following giveaway is for the book Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell (not sure how I ended up with two  copies of this). 

The book is filled with practical "how tos" for scheduling your family and making the most of your time.  The book is like new and includes the Schedule Design Checklist and all of the Worksheets you need to set-up your schedule.

To enter:

Leave me a comment and you will be entered to win!

For extra entries:

• Twitter or blog about this giveaway and then come back to let me know by leaving an additional comment.
• If you follow my blog, give yourself an extra entry.

Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry!

US Residents only, please!  This giveaway will be open until Sunday, May 1st until 8pm and I will announce the winner by Tuesday, May 3rd.  Please be sure there is a way for me to contact you.

Check out the other great giveaways at the Curriculum Clean-Out.

~Cindy

The Nature Corner Giveaway

 

I am joining the Curriculum Clean-Out hosted by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.   This is a great way for new or gently used products to find a new home!

The following giveaway is for the book The Nature Corner ~ Celebrating the year’s cycle with seasonal tableaux.

Seasonal nature tables are an invaluable way of making young children aware of the changing cycle of the year. With simple materials, and basic knitting and crocheting skills, a series of colorful and effective tableaux can be made at home or in school for depicting the seasons and major festivals. Instructions and diagrams are provided for making the figures and objects, along with basic tips for setting up the table and involving children.

To enter:

Leave me a comment and you will be entered to win!

For extra entries:

• Twitter or blog about this giveaway and then come back to let me know by leaving an additional comment.
• If you follow my blog, leave a comment and let me know.

Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry!

US Residents only, please!  This giveaway will be open until Sunday, May 1st until 8pm and I will announce the winner by Tuesday, May 3rd.  Please be sure there is a way for me to contact you. 

Check out the other great giveaways during the Curriculum Clean-Out.

~Cindy

Interlox {Guidecraft Mom Review and GIVEAWAY}

Guidecraft has created another amazing building toy ~ Interlox 96 piece set.  This set has sparked creativity and imaginative play in my 7 year old daughter and my 4 year old boy.     

About Interlox 96-Piece Building Set

Interlox building set contains 96 brightly colored translucent pieces, in 6 different colors;  yellow, blue, purple, green, orange, and pink.  Each block has a design inset on it (heart, square, circle, diamond, star, octagon, or flower).  The building pieces slide and clip together ~ no tools or small pieces required.  The set is recommended for ages 3 and up.

What We Thought

Finding toys that my daughter and son can both use to create and build with is a struggle.  I often hear that something Aiden likes is babyish, and Aiden gets frustrated with small pieces that are hard to put together.  Not with this set, each of the kids used the building pieces to create things that interested them.  My daughter created things for her Polly Pockets, including a Mall,

sitting area bus stop

and bed.

My son had no problem sliding the pieces together.  He made an airplane

  and lots of tall towers.

Mommy was please because I could throw in some educational activities.  Aiden counted the pieces and Emily skip counted by 2’s,  3’s, 4’s, etc.

We worked on patterns and naming all the shapes.

Here’s How To Win:

MANDATORY first entry:

• Visit the Guidecraft Website, then come back and leave a comment here telling me which is your favorite product.

Optional additional entries:

• Become a fan of Guidecraft on Facebook.
• Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway; @cindymomto2 is giving away an Interlox set from @guidecraft ~ http://bit.ly/fCtdiD. Giveaway ends 4/25.
• Become a follower of Along The Way, unless of course you already are. :) Just let me know!
• Blog about this giveaway and share the link here.

Giveaway Information:

• The give-away will be open until midnight Monday, April 25, 2011. The winner will be notified by Wednesday, April 27, 2011.
• Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry, winner will be chosen at random!
• Please leave a way for me to contact you in your entry otherwise another winner will be chosen.
• NOTE: This giveaway is offered to US residents only.

Want it NOW? If you can’t wait to win, you can head over to purchase the Interlox 96 piece set from Guidecraft’s website or Amazon!

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, I was provided this product to review. I was not paid for this post and all opinions expressed in this post are mine.

~Cindy

Science Weekly ~ Review

My kids love science and I am always looking for fun ways to add science lessons to our week.  Science Weekly is a 4-page newsletter that is written for grades K – 6th.  There are 6 levels available ~ each level comes with Teaching Notes with answer key.   The levels are:

Level Pre-A (Kindergarten) 
Level A (Grade 1)
Level B (Grade 2)
Level C (Grade 3)
Level D (Grade 4)
Level E (Grade 5-6)

A yearly subscription (15 issues) includes two newsletters a month September – November and one issue in December.

Topics covered include earth science, life science, physical science, and technology.  The topics covered for each edition are the same regardless of the level, however the reading and activities are geared toward the specific grade levels.

Our Experience

We had an opportunity to review issues on composting.  Aiden used level Pre-A and Emily used Level B.  The activities in the newsletter are suppose to be completed throughout the week but, we decided to do ours in one day.  Both of the newsletters gave basic information about composting and a list of new words.  The activities included writing, math, and our favorite part ~ a weekly lab.  For our lab we made compost. 

Emily’s lab focused on ~ Does compost need water and air?

She  divided the compost into different bags and provided them with different quantities of water and air during a 6 week period.  The newsletter provided a chart for her to write results from the Weekly Lab.

My Thoughts

Being able to get individual newsletters for each child, based on their grade, is a big plus!  Aiden was especially thrilled with having his own science “worksheets”.  The activities, at least for this newsletter, required no preparation other than gathering basic items we had around the house.

Pros:

• Specific to each grade level
• Little preparation required
• Comes in the mail (Oh how my kids love getting mail!)
• Each newsletter provides new vocabulary, writing, math and a lab
• Teach notes come with newsletter

Cons:

• I like a little more substance to my science lessons.
• Not sure if there is enough material in each newsletter to keep a child busy for a week.

Find Out More

Want to see a sample?  You can check out a sample issue about Coral Reefs. 

The cost for a yearly subscription (15 issues) is $19.95 per student.

You can read reviews by other TOS Crew Members 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

KinderBach ~ Review

I grew up surrounded by music.  My mom was a piano teacher, my sister and I both took piano lessons, and classical music was often playing softly in the background of our home.  I have tried to pass the love of music to my children.  Both of my kids participated in toddler music classes and my daughter started taking piano lessons when she turned 6.  I have grown up with more of a “traditional” approach to learning music so I was excited to learn I would be reviewing KinderBach. 

About KinderBach

KinderBach introduces children, ages 3 to 7, to music using a keyboard or piano.  Lesson are available online or DVD format.

KinderBach breaks down the various tasks and techniques of playing the keyboard and separates them into child portions.  For example:  Before playing a song, rhythm, note identification, note placement, and music patterns are presented as different items through discussion and games.  Learning is gradual and child-paced.  In addition KinderBach uses fun characters to teach ideas, making the process entertaining.

Karri Gregor is the creator of KinderBach and she teaches each of the lessons.  The lessons are broken down into short segments that holds a young childs attention.  In addition to the video portion there are printables and color sheets to go along with the lessons.

What We Thought

I used the program with my daughter (7) and son (4).  My son loved everything about the program ~ music, characters, and active lessons.  He frequently asked to watch more than one lesson and was able to demonstrate what he learned on our keyboard.  My daughter was not as thrilled about the program.  She found the program “babyish”.  I was not surprised by her reaction since she already knows the keys and has taken piano for over a year.  Overall, I think it is a fun program.  I do think it is geared more for the younger children ~ preschoolers.

Find Out More

KinderBach offers a free online trial.  A one year membership is $95.88 annually or $19.99 a month.  KinderBach At Home also offers DVD and CD packages starting at $40.45.

To read more reviews of KinderBach 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

Go Go Kabongo ~ Review

 Go Go Kabongo is an online site, for kids ages 4 –7,  that has games aimed to improve pre-reading and critical thinking skills.  Skills are developed by playing in three different habitats; Twister Top, Galaxy Gardens and Laughter Lake.

Each habitat contains 3 different games, with six different levels, that target specific pre-reading and/or critical thinking skills. 

Go Go Kabongo automatically sends progress reports via email each week, showing which games, skills used and what level your child has reached.

Our Thoughts

My son (4) and daughter (7) both love the site.  My son found some of the games challenging and became frustrated ~this had more to do with his mouse skills than the actual games.  There is such a wide variety of games to pick from, and with 6 levels for each game the site will keep them challenged and entertained for a long time.  I like that the kids are learning skills while having fun.  I was impressed with the brightly colored habitats and fun characters.

My only complaint is the wait time while loading new games.

Find Out More

You can sign up for two free habitats at Go Go Kabongo, with the third habitat costing only $4.95 for a lifetime subscription.

You can read other Crewmates reviews of Go Go Kabongo 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