Zirrly Super Beads: A Low Mess, Low Stress Craft Review!

A fun craft that my ten year old can do independently and the three year old can do with a little help from the ten year old that also doesn’t leave my house full of glitter or paint? Sign me up! I recently had the opportunity to review Zirrly Super Beads and I was impressed. This was my first experience with Zirrly and I discovered that they have lots of different craft and art products. They came at a great time because we had just had our fourth child and I needed a few activities to keep the older children busy while I was focused on the baby. We have done other bead kits that required ironing but these attach with only water. We received the Super Beads Bird Set.

I had my ten year old daughter try it out first. I read over the directions with her but she was able to complete the first project without any additional assistance from me. Once she had gotten the hang of it with that first set, I had her help her three (almost four) year old brother with the second bird. He needed help getting it set up and staying on task but he was able to do most of the work himself. It was a great way for him to work on his fine motor skills and have fun with his sister. They completed the third bird in the kit together as well.

The process is very simple, you put your template under the plastic grid that is sent with the kit and then place the beads on top based on the colored template. Once the beads are in place you mist them with water, using the spray bottle included in the kit. Wait at least an hour and then you can carefully remove your object from the board and you have your finished product. The instructions said that if it broke you could fix it by placing it back and respraying it. My daughter wanted to be sure that was true, so she took the extra beads and made a random shape. She let it dry, removed it and promptly broke it apart. She then placed it back and resprayed it. Just as they had stated it went back together with no problems.

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One tip we found to keep things together and make it a little easier was to put the beads you are working with into a small bowl or muffin tin. This kept them from rolling onto the floor and made it easier for little fingers to grasp them.

The beads are small so I would not recommend trying to use it with a small child that still puts things in their mouths, but otherwise it is a great project for many ages. It is an independent project for most children that can read the instructions and a great family project for preschoolers. In addition to the Super Beads Bird Set they have several other sets including a 3D Jungle Animals set and a 3D Car and Truck Set. Don’t forget to click below to check out all of the other reviews of the various sets.

CursiveLogic Review

My daughter has been interested in learning to write cursive for several years. She has worked a bit on her own in several cursive programs but nothing really stuck and it was not something that made it onto the list of things that we require and work together on during our school time. But that is a discussion for another time! I recently had the opportunity to review the CursiveLogic program. She was very excited to try out the new program. We received the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack as well as the Art of Cursive coloring book.

Part of the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack is their instructional webinar. You can purchase the book without the webinar, but I highly recommend the webinar. It really walks you through their program and how it works making it so much easier to understand and explain. I went through the instructional webinar on my own at first to get a better understanding of the program before I introduced it to my daughter. The webinar is designed to ‘train the trainer’ and teach you as the parent or teacher how to teach cursive using their program. However, I felt that my daughter was mature enough to sit with me and watch the instructional webinar and then with some guidance from me begin working on the program. This worked very well for our family as it freed up some of my time to work on other things but still gave her the support she needed to be successful.

We watched the first section of the webinar together, I talked through it with her and then she was able to complete the first week’s assignments. I also noticed her practicing those first letters in her free time during the week. She even took the photograph below to show her dad how much she had learned after the first day or two. The program uses an innovative approach of teaching letters in a chain from the very beginning instead of stand alone letters. They also use some catchy phrases to help remember the letter formation and by the end of the first week they are writing real words. They learn a new letter string each week for four weeks to complete the lower case alphabet. After that first week we would watch a bit of the video each week and then she would complete the lessons for that week. There were four days lessons for each week. She was able to learn the entire lower case alphabet in one month including putting them together to make words! She starts on capital letters next week.

CursiveLogic

Whether cursive is an important focus for your homeschool or just something one of your children wants to learn this is a great program. For younger students (they recommend the program for ages seven and above) you will need to spend more time walking them through the process and teaching them how to make the letter strings but older children can work more independently with the help of the webinar and some guidance. My daughter has enjoyed the program thus far and is looking forward to the work she is starting in capital letters. She also has the Art of Cursive coloring book sitting on her dresser just waiting until she finishes the program so that I’ll let her start the coloring book. The coloring book is not a necessary component to the program but is a great addition to reinforce the skills once they have been taught or for the parent to use to freshen up on the cursive and enjoy the stress relief of coloring.

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After

If you are looking for a thorough but easy to use cursive program that allows for an early feeling of success, I highly recommend this program. The webinar makes it very easy to teach and the workbook gives enough practice to help achieve mastery without being tedious. Check out the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack for your home or co-op and use code CREW2018 for a 20% discount through March 31, 2018.

When you sign up for our free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Pencil Grip Magic Stix Markers

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You may be thinking, why is she reviewing markers? I mean a marker is a marker right? Well Magic Stix Washable Markers from The Pencil Grip, Inc. are a bit different from most other markers that we have used. The first thing I noticed was the nice plastic case that they came in. The markers are all laid out in it so you can see the colors and so far the case has held up well to the wear and tear of my children using them. Next, I know I’m not the only mom that has found markers without caps all dried up and unusable. While I do work with the children to remember to put caps on them, it still happens and ruins otherwise good markers. So when I heard that these markers were guaranteed to not dry out even without their cap for at least seven days I was interested in checking this out.

My daughter picked out a color to help me test the seven day guarantee and because she knows that typically a marker would dry out she picked a color that she wasn’t as fond of (brown) so that if it did dry out she would still have her favorite colors. At the end of the test (which actually ended up being eight days because life was a little crazy on day seven) the marker was still just a dark and sharp as it had been on day one.

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One thing that stood out to me when the children were using them to make some Valentine’s Day projects is that the colors were very bright and vivid. Some markers give dull or muted colors but these were some of the brightest we have used especially considering they are washable and non-toxic. I will note that if the paper is very thin there was a little bit of ‘bleed through’ so if you have important papers underneath or ‘valuable’ surfaces you may want to be careful. However, it wiped off of the kitchen table without any problems and didn’t bleed through the thicker paper. Due to the ‘bleed through’ issue we did decide that in our family these were great markers for my 10 and 11 year olds but probably not the best choice for the three year old.

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Each year we try to send Valentines to some widows that we know to help brighten what might otherwise be a sad day. This year my daughter used the Magic Stix Washable Markers to color the Valentines and they turned out beautifully. Next, my daughter did a beautiful Easter picture that we had printed on card stock. The colors turned out wonderfully and we are using it as one of the decorations in our home.

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When we first received our set they stayed at my desk so that I could try them out, test one, and see what I thought. The children had to ask to use them (which they did and were able to quite often). They are excited that now that I have finished my review they can keep them in the art cabinet to use anytime they want. We may get an extra set so that each of the older children can have their own set at their desks.

As an added bonus, The Pencil Grip, Inc. has agreed to give away another set of these wonderful markers to one lucky reader! Enter below for your chance to win a new set mailed to you! This giveaway is for US addresses only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Resource Library

Drive Thru History Review

When the opportunity came to review Drive Thru History Adventures I jumped on it. We had seen a few of the videos before and knew they were something we would be interested in. We have been working our way through their Bible History course, The Gospels as a part of our one year subscription Drive Thru History Adventures. This program can be used as a full course for students with videos, discussion questions, scripture, worksheets, and other articles and information to help students dig deeper into the topics.

Each lesson has a video and discussion questions to get you started. They also include a worksheet that could be used to guide a student through the lesson if they were completing them independently (with a separate answer key). There are articles and updates included at the end of the lesson to allow students to dig deeper into what they learned about in that lesson. There is a lot included and they are continually adding various things to this component. Even while we were reviewing the product we saw several articles added to various lessons.

screenshot Drive Thru History

Most Christians have read about the many places that they visit in the Bible history course and know that they are real. However, when you have not seen them it can sometimes be really hard to conceptualize. I love that these videos are taken in actual places giving our whole family the opportunity to see the places where Jesus actually walked, the palace (or remains of) where King Herod lived, and other places that were important parts of Jesus’ ministry.

The program does a great job of combining theology with history. The Bible is a historical account but it is also so much more. Drive Thru History does a great job of showing the historical aspects while not leaving out the important theological implications. That said it does not delve into denominational theological issues, making it appropriate for most Christian homes.

For our family, based on the ages of my children and our current needs we watched the videos together in the evenings and then discussed them using a combination of the discussion questions provided and any thoughts or questions from the children. I consider this part of our school; however, the children think we are having more family movie nights than normal. They enjoy each lesson and request to watch one almost every night (though we are only watching about 3 per week). As a bonus for me, they do a great job helping get the kitchen cleaned up after dinner so that we will have time to watch an episode.

I have an 11 year old, 10 year old, and 3 year old that watch along with my husband and myself. We all enjoy the episodes although my three year old does not fully grasp the content. I can tell he is paying attention though because in talking about it one morning at breakfast he chimed in with, ” I like how he just changes cars”. He had noticed that he was driving two different vehicles in one episode. He also knows that they jokingly call one of the main cars that Dave Stotts drives the “Holy Land Rover” and will start talking about that the minute I turn on an episode.

In addition to going through the curriculum videos, we can go into the Adventure TV section or download the Adventure TV app and stream both the curriculum videos and some additional content. The app is available for both iPhone and android devices. Some are short videos talking about various holidays (the Groundhog Day one was a big hit in our house). There are also some great behind the scenes videos as well as some that dig deeper into various topics covered in the curricula.

20180124_195815 — We use a cable to stream the videos from our computer onto the television.

The Bible History Program starts with the historical background that was pertinent to the time around the birth of Jesus and then goes through his life, crucifixion and resurrection. We enjoyed all of the episodes but one of our favorite’s was Jesus Travels the Sea of Galilee. I have always loves the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just one little boy’s lunch as it is such a reminder that He can use even me. The children really enjoyed the historical information about the ‘Jesus Boat’ which while not actually linked to Jesus himself is an archeological find dating to the time of Jesus that shows us what a fishing boat would have really been like and helps us to better understand what the disciples were using to fish when Jesus called them to be ‘Fishers of Men’. I am also really looking forward to using the lesson on the Resurrection of Jesus as we move into the Easter season.

As you are working your way through the programs they are fairly self-explanatory but they do also offer a Facebook group where you can ask questions or get ideas to go along with the curriculum.

Once we have finished up the Gospels series it is my intention to have us work our way through the Ancient History curriculum. We love that the curriculum allows us to incorporate education into our family movie nights. While I have been a Christian for many years and have studied the Bible, I am still learning things as we watch each episode. It really is good for the whole family. I recommend this series for both entertainment and education. For older students it could be a curriculum or like our family it could be something you work through together in addition to whatever you are already using. For more information check out the Drive Thru History Adventures website or ask in the comments.

Resource Library

Starfall Home Membership Review

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I am so excited to be able to share with you our review a one year subscription of The Starfall Home Membership by Starfall Education Foundation. Years ago I used the basic version of Starfall with students when I was teaching in the public schools. I enjoyed the program and used it some when my oldest two children (now 11 and 10) were younger. However, at that time they did not have the subscription program available and I had not used the program since they were younger. During that time it was almost exclusively phonics and early reading. I was excited to see that it has been expanded to a variety of early skills including math up through second grade.

Registration was quick and easy and then I was able to download the app onto our Kindle device. While my three year old does not have his own Kindle he enjoys getting to occasionally use his sister’s Kindle. Once it was downloaded I pulled it up and let him choose which activity he wanted to try. He is enjoying colors at the moment so he chose the Colors! activity. After spending just a few minutes doing the activity with me, he understood what he needed to do and how to navigate with-in the program. The program can also be accessed from a computer if that is your preferred method. We have found that the kindle is easier for our family but the program works well on either device.

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When you go to the website you will see that some activities are still available for free. This is a good way for you to get an idea of how your child would enjoy the variety of activities that are available with the subscription. However, the subscription has many more activities and a larger variety so the free activities are not a substitute for the home membership.

Some days my son would play on his own exploring the ones that looked most fun. His favorite was the colors activities. Some days one of my older children or I would work with him and encourage him to try activities that were different or slightly more challenging. My daughter enjoyed showing him the various holiday activities and the talking books. We were able to incorporate the Groundhog Day activity into our other fun activities on that day and the Valentine’s one for Valentine’s Day.

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There are some great activities to introduce phonics and reading as well as sections for math. While my son is not yet ready for the first and second grade math, I took some time to try them out myself to get an idea of how they worked and how we might be able to use them as he gets older. I liked that they were simple to understand but varied enough to hold the interest of a young child. They had activities from a variety of math strands including arithmetic, geometry, measurement, and place value.

While this program is not a full curriculum that will teach your child everything they need to know, it is a great resource. It can introduce or reinforce many phonic and math concepts for preschool through early elementary age children. We limit screen time in our home but have found this program to be a good use of screen time that is both fun and educational. It is also very reasonably priced with the The Starfall Home Membership being only $35 per year. If you have any questions about the program feel free to ask in the comments.

Resource Library

Math: A Love Hate Relationship

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For years I created our own math curriculum because I couldn’t find one that was a good fit for my kids. We had a system that worked very well for our family. I would teach a concept like fractions to both children but take them each as far as they could go with the concept. We used lots of hands-on manipulatives and living books with math concepts. Using the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for math, I made sure that each child was covering at least what was expected at their grade level and extending it where they were able. We did this successfully for five years, but with my oldest in middle school and a baby on the way we decided to try something new this year. One day soon I’ll post more about how I created our own math but today I want to tell you about the math program we are using this year.

Math for a Living Education by Master Books has been a great fit for our family. My son loves the fact that they tie in stories to the math. I have enjoyed that there is a review to help keep things fresh and lots of critical thinking and real world application. One of the biggest complaints I heard about math during my time teaching in a classroom and from my own children was that they didn’t need to know how to use it. This curriculum helps make the connection of the math problem to how it is used in real life.

In this season of our life, I also appreciate that the children can do this subject fairly independently. Each week their math assignments are listed on their weekly contracts and they work on one lesson a day with an extra lesson sometime during the week, so that they complete five lessons during our four day school week. I try to check their assignments each day so that I can go over any they had trouble with and keep them on the right track.

We have needed to do school on the road quite a bit this month with several trips to the state fair and some other business travel. Having their math all right there in the book makes it very easy for them to bring on the road and and do (mostly independently) while we are riding. In these situations, I do need to make an extra effort to make sure I keep up with checking them so that if they are doing them incorrectly I catch it before they have practiced too many problems.

I know that with the new baby coming in February, it will be really important for them to be able to complete as much as possible independently for a few weeks while I recover. This curriculum will allow them to continue on with their math uninterrupted and is set up where my husband can easily check it for them each evening.

In this season and time, this curriculum has fit in nicely and eased my work load. However, I truly believe that there are no one sized fits-all curricula. There are many excellent curriculum options. Math for a Living Education stops at grade six so next year I’ll be looking for other options. Knowing that my son is advanced in some areas of math, on grade level in some and needs a little support with critical thinking it can be difficult to find the right fit. We are currently considering SchoolHouse Teachers because for one price I can get several different math courses to use to find the right fit. They also have some that are extra helps to support him in the areas that he needs to work on.

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I believe that he will be ready for Pre-Algebra next year and they have a class that looks like it would be a great fit, but if it is a bit too much, we can simply switch over to one of the other middle school level courses. If you have a math program that is mostly working for your family but you want a little extra help, check out their Daily Math which is a collection of supplemental resources that you can use.

What has your family found that works for math? I’d love to hear from you in the comments what math curriculum your family loves or if you are still searching for the right fit.

Deals and Freebies for the Week

Diabetes Quick Study Freebie

The Green Ember is only $2.99 on Kindle or Free with a KindleUnlimited Trial

Check out the new Bible art course and from You Are an Artist. They have some great stuff coming out!

If you are looking for some maps to help extend your geography check out these from Knowledge Quest Map Trek (including a free sampler).

Free gratitude journal: https://writeshop.com/free-gift/ref/dawnpeluso/

Homeschool Buyers Co-Op is offering a great deal on Discovery Education Streaming right now. 60% off and bonus Smart Points redeemable for other products. We have used this in the past and enjoyed it.

Two Free Audio Books with an Audible Trial and if you aren’t sure what to start with I’d suggest checking out the Green Ember or The Penderwicks for good family choices.

Check out this fun idea for using Salt Trays for Writing Practice: https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/salt-trays/…
These are from All About Learning who created the Awesome spelling program that was a game changer for us, All About Spelling (https://www.allaboutlearningpress.net/go.php?id=1468)

Our Friends over at US History Through Flags are doing a great giveaway for a free flag! Check out their October 19th post, Giveaway ends October 31st.

HEDUA “On the Go” Planner & Family Magazine Giveaway!

I’m very excited to say that tomorrow morning we will have a lovely giveaway posted at Schoolin’ Swag! FIVE very fortunate winners will receive a bundle including a copy of HEDUA’s “On the Go” Planner for 2016!

hedua1 The On the Go Planner from the Well Planned Gal is a beautifully designed day planner and home management system perfectly sized to fit in your purse. Take it with you everywhere you go and stay organized at home and on the go! Look inside here!

Perfectly purse-sized (GENIUS, right???)
Space to create a daily schedule and to-do list
Meal Planning
Monthly Budgeting
One year Bible reading plan

These five winners will ALSO receive a year’s subscription to Family Magazine!

Family Magazine meets you at the intersection of your life and faith. Committed to engaging today’s homeschooling family in thoughtful discussions of relevant topics, we bring you the best articles by the best authors about the most important issues facing families today. No cookie-cutter answers here—only practical, current homeschooling advice and resources. Come join the most meaningful discussions taking place in the homeschooling community!

I will also be reviewing the “On the Go” Planner as well as the HEDUA “Well Planned Day” Planner for 2015-2016! Keep an eye out!

Specials: Be aware of these special prices, available right now on these products!

Well Planned Day Planner (reg $26.95) now $13.47!
On the Go Planner 2015-2016 (reg $15.95) now 7.97!
Family Magazine (reg $25) now $12!
These Great Sales and much more, at this link!

Go and “like” the HEDUA Facebook page here! Follow the “Well Planned Gal” herself, by clicking here. 🙂 You can sign up for their free newsletter right here, and find LOTS of freebies here!

“Learn With Homer” Review and Deep Discount!

Have you met Homer yet? Learn With Homer was born (well, it became public) in August of 2013. In the short time that has elapsed since then, this adorable pigeon and all of his buddies have gained quite a following…over 1 million children now learn with him! So what has all these prominent media, news, and educational sites buzzing? Stick with me, and find out!

What is Learn with Homer? Here is an infographic to help you understand the method:

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Learn With Homer accomplishes these four steps through beautiful, colorful graphics, gorgeous photography, engaging stories (a variety of history, myths, fables, folk tales, nursery rhymes), songs (from all around the world…and the vocabulary is linked to the lessons!), art, poetry, and games. There is so much to love about this site/app! This is not merely a reading program. It has such a wide scope of learning, including history, science, poetry, music and so much more (and they add new updates frequently)! Here is a screen shot to give you a sampling of the compelling beauty of the lessons:

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Just seeing images like these made ME want to play! Our art-loving daughter has totally fallen in love with this site. Even though the site gives suggested ages as 3-8, our 9-year-old has enjoyed it SO much! I logged her in and gave her the freedom to poke around on her own. She played for over 2 hours (there is no fluff…it is all lovely education presented in such a way that children love to learn), took a break, and went back for another hour. I wanted to see if it would really draw her in, or if I would have to “sell” its virtues to her. In no time at all, I heard her singing along with songs. She repeatedly came to me to share something she learned, or to tell me the plot of a new story. I didn’t even get a chance to try out my sales pitch! First thing this morning, she wanted to get back on.

katiehomer — She loves the drawing and art options, and the fact that she can get new “thinking caps” for her little kitty avatar.

Currently, Learn With Homer is offered for pc (web version) and iPad. The iPad version got a spectacular facelift just today! The new version includes little adorable Wickles who play in Pickle Wickle Park. Guess what they like to snack on? Now there are even more fun features to enjoy!

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The web version is slated for update very soon, and there is an Android version in the works as well. If that’s not enough, an iPhone version will come out after the first of the year!

Need stats? Here you go! There are 22 levels for learning with Homer currently…including over 1,000 lessons and activities! The program is proven to boost reading scores by over 74%!

In a recent study conducted by the former US Assistant Secretary of Education, students who used Homer for 15 minutes a day over a 6-week period nearly doubled their scores on the TOPEL (Test of Preschool Early Literacy), a leading predictor of future reading and academic success.

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Are you dying to try it? No wonder! Click here to sign up for a free 30-day trial! You can also get 50% off an annual subscription to Homer! Click here! The special discount code is already plugged in for you! Can it get any easier?

Disclaimer: I was given a year’s free subscription for Learn With Homer in exchange for an honest and objective review.