Does your child struggle with handwriting? Do they deal with dyslexia or other issues that make learning and writing challenging? If so, it's time to get excited because there is a fabulous product that can help!
Writing grips help make writing easier for children because it provides a soft texture in the proper place for the child to quickly and easily hold the pen or pencil correctly. There are several styles of writing grips on the market. Some focus on specific needs. The Write Dude writing grip is really easy to use. It slides onto a pencil or pen easily and then grips into place. The outside of the grip is a rubbery feel with raised stars, making it noticeable when the fingers are on the right place. The Write Dude people call them their "Fashion Grips." They come in a variety of colors and several to one pack which can be found at Target, Office Max or Office Depot. Who would think one trip to an office supply store could solve a learning issue.
In addition to the writing grips, the company has an 18-pack of retractable pens available that come in a variety of really cool colors and have a built-in grip positioned in the correct spot for holding and writing comfort.
I agreed to review the Write Dudes line of writing grips, which the package refers to as "Fashion Grips," but I was jumping up and down when I received a nice variety of other products the company offers as well. Let me just say, I had 3 children begging me to use them. So, we went to town trying them out and fell in love!
The other products I sampled include a pack of #2 pencils which are Made In The USA (whoo hoo!) That was exciting to note. Also, we enjoyed the 8-piece pencil pack of sparkly colors and the girly, mod colored flowery 15-piece pencil set complete with flower-shaped erasers that fit on the end of the pencil, and a pencil sharpener that swivels to close when not in use - nice feature!
We were also thrilled with their highlighter which is more of a flourescent, see-through crayon as it does not make a mess or bleed through the paper. My 4 year old went to town highlighting her Bible after I gave her the go-ahead. I was amazed at how easy and non-messy this was. They also have the typical markers that have a pretty sparkly design on the outside, which by the way did not leave a mess either, and gel pens in a variety of colors for highlighting and artistic fun.
Note: I was given a package of Write Dudes writing grips and other writing products from Write Dudes to review, but everything I chose to write is 100% my opinion.
Time is the most valuable of all the resources we have been given. Each day, we have 1,440 minutes. Wasting days as our children grow is like watching footprints in the sand or snow fade away. We can't afford to waste a single one. As a work-at-home, homeschooling mom, saving time is very important. As part of my career before I made the decision to stay home with my babies, I took part in a time management seminar. Of course, all the tips I learned were geared toward business. Even so, I have been able to implement them into my daily life as a mom to save time. Here's ten ways I save time:
1. We homeschool! While homeschooling takes up a great amount of a parent's day to prepare lessons: and, a great amount of the child's day working on the lessons, it really is a time saver in many ways. We hear the school bus come and go. Everytime I hear it, I think how much rushing around the house we just avoided simply by staying home to get our work done.
2. I have a house full of night birds. We are not naturally morning people. Taking time at night to prepare for the next morning saves an incredible amount of time in my house. I ask the kids to get their clothes ready and set out for the next morning.
3. Being homeschooled and working at home, if we have no appointments or co-ops or library programs or dance classes that day, we have PJ day. It's amazing how much time is saved by just getting out of bed and heading for the school room, or laptop. Of course, we all brush our teeth and take care of basic hygiene as well. We're not sloths - just like to take advantage of our choice to stay home in every way imaginable.
4. We pay as many of our bills online as we can, including using new technology. This avoids having to find a stamp and make a trip to the post office or even out the door to walk a bill to the mail box.
5. Technology is a huge time saver, when it works well. Apps are one of the best time-saving inventions. In our house, mom and dad don't fully wake up until we've had some sips from our "cup 'o Joe" - Coffee. Instead of brewing coffee every morning, we treat ourselves to Starbucks. We use gift cards which we can now manage, reload, check reward balance and pay for with the new Starbucks for Android™. It works on the BlackBerry®, iPhone® or iPod® Touch. When we travel, it even helps us find the nearest Starbucks. Believe me - This is a big deal to us! There's just something about Starbucks coffee that brightens our mornings and helps us function with a happier attitude.
6. Nurse on the go! When my babies were infants, I found a way to nurse them in any and every situation. The first born had the privilege of my undivided attention and time spent rocking, holding and feeding for hours. When the second and third baby comes along, you're busy keeping up with the toddlers running around, and nursing time can begin to seem like it's stealing your time needed for other duties.
7. Make time for time outs. In my time management seminar I attended, I remember learning that for every hour of planned work, you need to plan extra time for interruptions. When raising children, interruptions goes hand in hand with the job. But, it's these little interruptions that give value to what I do.
8. That Proverbs 31 woman really did know what she was writing about. I have found that when I wake up before my family is awake, I can accomplish more in a couple hours than I can all day. That quiet, early morning time (even though I'm dreadfully not a morning person) the time I spend in the morning sets the tone for the entire day.
9. On any given day, our house tends to look like a tornado went through it. Keep in mind, my house is used as a house and essentially as a daycare, a school, an office, after school ativity gym, etc. One thing we do keep organized is where we put our shoes, coats and sports attire. Being held up to try to find a missing shoe can drive a person bonkers. I make sure when the kids take their shoes off, they are put in their rooms in one location so they can easily be found and worn when needed. The same is true with dance leotards and swim suits. I keep the swim suits in the laundry room with some towels to grab and the leotards in a special drawer, along with tights. The dance shoes are kept in a dance bag in the car at all times. There's nothing quite like getting to dance class and finding out you have forgotten the tap shoes.
10. Though it's a time investment at first, I teach my little ones how to do the household chores that I do every day. They help me mix up batter, or put clothes into the washer. When they are of an appropriate age (which differs with each child) they begin taking on a household chore. We have assigned nights to who loads the dishwasher, and my 9 year old daughter has now begun to do loads of wash. she even puts her own clothes away into the closet and drawers. This is a huge time-saving help!
Of course, there are some things that deserve time given to them. When I realize I'm rushing things and begin to feel panicked that we need to go faster - this is the time I remind myself to slow down. The reason I stay home with my kids, and part of the reason I homeschool them, is to spend time with them. I don't want to miss a minute of their childhood. So, when I feel myself trying to rush things, I remind myself that it's time to take a break. I stop all activity and give the needed hug or listening ear to a child in need of my attention and affection. If I feel stressed and begin to feel the need to raise my voice, I go into the other room and take a time out. Sometimes this might even include loading up the van and taking the entire family out to the park. Other times, it might involve a moment of quiet time just between me and God till I can catch my breath. Grab ahold of these precious footprints in the sand. Set them in plaster o paris and save them forever by making the most of every minute you have with your kids.
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Starbucks blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here."
Billy Graham in Quotes! When I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to get a copy. See, we named our firstborn son after Billy Graham's last name, because it was at a training seminar to be counselors at a Billy Graham conference that I gained the faith I needed during that pregnancy. If my son, Graham, carries on his faith like his namesake, I will be thrilled. If, he also brings honor to his dad like Billy Graham's son, Franklin, he will have completed a circle of faith to the next generation. Quotes like this, make my life go on:
Perhaps the greatest psychological, spiritual, and medical need that all people have is the need for hope.
I had the extreme privilege of reviewing this book provided by the Booksneeze.com program.
What better way to teach children, or anyone, but to learn quotes directly from the source. Students often learn poetry or other forms of memory work. An entire book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes, is devoted to nothing but words of wisdom to learn and live by. Many families find it easier to memories Proverbs and Psalms because of how the scriptures flow. Billy Graham's quotes are worth learning and memorizing and teaching to the next generation. Billy Graham talks on many topics. One of his quotes on family is:
More friction and tensions are caused in a family by tone of voice than for any other one reason.
This book is filled with quotes from the evangelist, Billy Graham. They were compiled with the help of his son, Franklin Graham, and Donna Lee Toney, who plays a role in Samaritan's Purse ministry.
The book is broken down into sections that could be used as an entire lesson in and of themselves. The sections offer specific quotes from Billy Graham related to:
Abortion
Addiction
Age
America
Angels
Anger
Anxiety
Bible
Blood
Character
Children
Choice
Christianity
Church
Comfort
Commitment
Coompromise
Comforming
Conscience
Conversion
Convictions
Creation
Death
Deception
Decision
Devil/Satan
Disappointment
Discipleship and Discipline
Encouragement
End Times
Eternity
Evangelism
Evil
Faith
Family
Followers
Forgiveness
Glorifying God
God
God's Will
Gospel
Grace
Greed
Grief
Happiness
Heart
Heaven
Hell
Holiness
Holy Spirit
Home
Hope
Human Nature
Imagination, Entertainment, and Fun
Influence
Integrity
Jesus
Joy
Judgment
Knowledge
Life
Living and Christian Life
Loneliness
Love
Lust
Marriage
Money
Morals
Parents
Patience
Peace
People
Persecution
Pleasure
Prayer
Preaching
Pride
Race
Religion
Repentance
Resurrection
Right & Wrong
Salvation
Service
Sin
Society
Soul
Speech
Srength
Success
Suffering
Surrender
Temptation
Testimony
Thankfulness
Time
Truth
War
Witnessing
Word of God
Work
World
World Evangelism
Worry
Worship
Young People
Just a handful of these topics would be enough to ponder for quite some time. But, having this book as a resource for anything life brings your way is a remarkable piece of paper to have on your shelf.
I love this book and will save it for my son as part of his namesake.
Do you ever feel like you're droning on and on and on when you read something to your child. It's as if you're talking but no one is listening, or even interested in listening. Or, perhaps, one child gets it plain as day when you read, but the others do not. Why? This is probably because one child is an auditory learner while the others are visual or kinesthetic or tactile.
Kinesthetic learners can be a challenge to instruct for the parent who would prefer to sit quietly while instructing. This is because they require constant motion. Some schools have even gone to using exercise balls for the children to sit on while they listen to instruction as it gives them movement which helps these learners learn best.
Teaching visual learners is all about providing enough instruction through the child's sense of vision. This can be done in a number of ways, by using video, pictures, large books or visual cues. Following is a great article on how to use visual cues to help students learn:
For the Hands-On Learner, the one who understands through the sense of touch, toys like LEGOS can prove to be your best friend. You can even instruct complicated theories and teaching such as how physics & mechanics work, by using LEGOS. Following is a fun article that explains how to use LEGOS to teach Mechanics in Physics:
I had the extreme pleasure of reviewing a product which my entire family has now fallen in love with and my husband has requested as a Father's Day gift. The product was provided to me for review, but all of the following is entirely my own opinion along with factual specifications about the product. It comes in 3 colors - navy blue, pink and red. And, if you combine this cushion with the ELD memory foam back cushion, you get even more comfort with back support and hip support as well.
The ELD Ergonomically correct, highly-elasticity hip-up seat cushion offers amazing comfort by aligning the hips and spine to pull legs together and create less strain on the body while sitting. It's made of air mesh fabric, so it breaths as it allows airflow. The inside of the cushion is a strong memory urethane foam. The cushion adjusts easily to fit every body type. The cushion adjusts easily to fit even a small person. It works great as a cushion to position your child's body during study time. My 4 year old has been putting it on a hard dining room chair to sit and watch TV. She loves it too!
The cushion works great for over-the-road truck drivers or delivery drivers, computer programmers, typists, or anyone who sits for a long period of time. The cushion also is great to use when wanting to create a slimming, beautiful body shape as it pulls the legs together and creates a nice line of form.
The benefit to this healthwise is that it de-stresses the body allowing you to perform well, free of aches and pains. It's great for those who suffer from hemmorhoids or incontinence. All you have to do is sit down, and the cushion automatically lifts your hips and aligns your legs for comfort and health.
This is an amazingly comfortable product that I would recommend to anyone who ever has to sit to get work done.
I also got to do this video review. The camera is set up to focus on the seat cushion and what it does, not on me and my face:
You scrimp. You save. You do your best to pinch every penny that comes into your possession - not because you're a mean 'ole mizer, but because it's trying economic times. In your effort to make every penny count, have you unknowingly handed of $10, $50, $100 or even $1,000 to pay for an item that should have cost you $1.00? You probably scream in response: "No way! I would never do that!" But, it does happen. The authors of the book Strike It Rich With Pocket Change Error Coins Bring Big Money, tell how.
Homeschoolers often operate under a one-income family simply because one of the parents need to be the primary educator, the other the bread winner. Of course, there is a variety of ways this is carried out. Some families even split shifts so they can pay the bills with both parents working at different hours of the day. Others operate home-based businesses. But, most are well aware of the price of living and educating children at home. So, saving money is a top priority.
I was privileged to review the book, from Ken Potter and Dr. Brian Allen, supplied to me from Booksneeze.com. And, I'm glad I got the chance because now I will be looking even closer at my pocket change. Oh, sure! I have jars and containers where I stash away coins of interest to me. I even have a bank who automatically rounds up my debit expenditures and deposits the spare change into my savings account. It all adds up, and the unique coins are of sentimental value. But, I am more quick to want to spend a dollar that looks funny than I am to consider: Maybe it looks funny because it's a misprint worth much more than face value.
This book has detailed descriptions, complete with pictures, that show common and uncommon errors that occur in coins making them more valuable than you think. Of course, it can't possibly show every single possible error, but in its more than 300 pages, it covers a lot of possibilities. Have you ever seen a penny printed in reverse, or a nickle printed on top of the picture that should appear on a dime? The book doesn't just cover coins. It covers paper currency as well.
You read the book, you look through your change; and, you are fortunate enough to find a mistake worth more than the coin itself. Now what? The book also explains what to do with your change: who buys them and how to sell them for what they are worth.
It's not a book that's easy to read cover to cover, simply because it's not a story but more of a reference. I would recommend this book as a great reference to place on every American's shelf. After even thumbing through the book, you won't look at pocket change the same. You'll find yourself examining every coin.
I AM REPOSTING THIS BECAUSE A HACKER POSTED VIDEOS AFTER THE LAST POST. IF YOU RECEIVED A VIDEO FROM THIS BLOG SAYING IT WAS POSTED BY MOVIE GENIE - DO NOT CLICK ON THE VIDEO!!!
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We had a lot of fun reviewing this product. And, now we want to offer Wikki Stix to you. I want to share a 24-pk Rainbow Wikki Stix with you. Read through this blog to find out how you can win!
My children and I had the privilege of reviewing a product called Wikki Stix. The good people at Wikki Stix sent me some samples and away we went. The kids have since begged to "play" with the Wikki Stix. What a fun way to learn! They are non-allergenic, clean up easily and easy to work with for little fingers. Not only that, they are very affordable and reusable over and over again. They have endless uses.
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There are numerous other packs to purchase and put to educational use. There are even party paks to use at birthday parties and Curious George workbooks. I especially loved the idea of the adult stress reducer pak. There are alphabet cards, number cards, holiday kits, dinosaur and oceans kits, glow in the dark stix, single color paks, rainbow paks, neon paks and more.
_________________ GIVEAWAY:
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Here's how you can win your own 24-pk of Rainbow Wikki Stix:
Go to Wikki Stix Website! Look around. Then Like Teachable Scotts Tots on Facebook and leave a status update comment to tell me how you would use Wikki Stix in your classroom. A winner will be chosen at random using a number generated through random.org.
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We had a lot of fun reviewing this product. And, now we want to offer Wikki Stix to you. I want to share a 24-pk Rainbow Wikki Stix with you. Read through this blog to find out how you can win!
My children and I had the privilege of reviewing a product called Wikki Stix. The good people at Wikki Stix sent me some samples and away we went. The kids have since begged to "play" with the Wikki Stix. What a fun way to learn! They are non-allergenic, clean up easily and easy to work with for little fingers. Not only that, they are very affordable and reusable over and over again. They have endless uses.
______________________________
There are numerous other packs to purchase and put to educational use. There are even party paks to use at birthday parties and Curious George workbooks. I especially loved the idea of the adult stress reducer pak. There are alphabet cards, number cards, holiday kits, dinosaur and oceans kits, glow in the dark stix, single color paks, rainbow paks, neon paks and more.
_________________ GIVEAWAY:
_________________
Here's how you can win your own 24-pk of Rainbow Wikki Stix:
Go to Wikki Stix Website! Look around. Then Like Teachable Scotts Tots on Facebook and leave a status update comment to tell me how you would use Wikki Stix in your classroom. A winner will be chosen at random using a number generated through random.org.
Hey guys! The Love Drop team is at it again! Last month they gave over $9,200 worth of cash, goods and services to their recipient, the Stalnaker family, who had been going through a financially hard time due to the effects of the BP oil spill on the Louisiana economy. The family was in need of a car and the Love Drop team was able to surprise them with one, making it one of the most exciting Love Drops ever. You can watch how it all went down here.
This month they rally behind the Aubins - a Michigan mother and her three children who are mourning the death of Keith, husband and father, after his lengthy battle with multiple health problems. Our goal is to raise at least $3,600 to pay the family's rent for three months, which will allow them to focus on what they need to during this time, without fear of losing their home. Additionally, since Keith was an organ donor, he leaves a powerful legacy and the Love Drop team hopes to raise awareness of organ donation this month to honor Keith's memory. Help us make this month special for the Aubins!
Want to help? Here are three ways you can participate:
Give $25 towards rent <-- Click this link to contribute $25 towards their rent for the next three months - it will relieve so much stress for them.
Give a gift or service - Gift cards are always helpful. Places like Target, Wal-mart, restaurants, etc would definitely help them out. Services too - especially those you can offer yourselves, or from your company.
Organ donation - We're giving the Aubin's the gift of knowing that the people on our team are organ donors. If you are one now, or pledge to be soon, please tell us so, and we'll relay the total number as a gift at the Drop.
