Win newest word game Typecrush made in the USA

My kids were jumping off of the walls with excitement when the box arrived that had the newest word game, Typecrush, in it for me to review. I was sent samples of the game only in exchange for a review, to enjoy and to offer as a giveaway for my readers. Though, I must admit I was thrilled to get a chance to see how it plays.

My kids couldn’t wait to review it. It arrived in a really attractive canister that is made with 100% recycled materials and in the US. Quite impressive right there in an economy where most toys and games seem to be made overseas.  But, it gets even better...

The game is basically a tube filled with cut-out circles with letters printed on them. They are categorized by color coding based upon the most used letters in the alphabet. Two color-coded charts are included for reference while playing the game.

It is recommended for children age 7+, but we played it with my newly-turned 6 year old. Though, I will say her spelling skills made for a slightly more challenging game than necessary. However, it did add to the fun. For instance, she spelled the word “Jump” but left out the “M” leaving us all guessing as to what her 3-letter word must be. Still I did find a helpful use for the game for her alone: Spelling out her spelling word lists as well as spelling out her name.

The game comes with only one rule: The first person to guess the word goes next to choose a word. The pictures and game suggestion included on the canister is similar to a Hangman style word guessing game or a living room rendition of Wheel of Fortune, which my kids have always loved by the way. But, you can make up your own rules of play that suit your family best.

We came up with the idea to turn words into a crossword puzzle:

To spell our names:

To help with our spelling lists:

And to just have fun guessing words, some bigger than others:

This game would make a fantastic Christmas gift, or for one of the eight days of Hanukkah. They sell for $36 at Typecrush.com.

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* ~ * ~ GIVEAWAY TIME ~ * ~ *

In the meantime, I have one to give away as well. All you have to do is comment below with your very best vocabulary word.

Make it a challenging word that no one truly knows the meaning to, make it a fun word, or a word that you think makes you sound smart. Just get creative, and please by all means keep it clean, and comment below.

A winner will be chosen, most likely through a random drawing but if there is a particularly impressive word I may just have to select that person and declare him or her as the winner. And, please leave an email address where you can be contacted if you win as I will need a shipping address to send you the Typecrush game. Hurry, because the contest will only be open till Monday, December 10 at midnight!

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FamilyEducation Presents Top 9 Choking Foods

I ran across this article this morning.  Though, I wasn't surprised at most of the food on the list.  The article suggests helpful ways to make the foods safer for young children or recommends which ones to avoid until the child is older.

It's worth a read if you have young children or grandchildren.  It's also a must read for your teen/tween who is getting ready to babysit or care for a small child.  Knowing these helpful tips plus first aid about choking might just save a child's life:

Top 9 Choking Foods - FamilyEducation.com

Trying to raise Einstein and be fair to his sisters: What did Edison and Einstein's mothers do?

Today while I was waking up from my first nice 6-hour long uninterrupted sleep in weeks, I was rehashing yesterday's events. My son was bored. This child is brilliant! I do not say that only as a biased adoring mother. I say that based upon what others have observed in him. He was reading fluently at the age of 3 and has kept in high gear ever since he was born screaming purple before his body was birthed. His most recent accomplishment was writing a book. I'm not kidding. He's 10 years old, and he wrote a book. It is amazing, and I can' wait to share it with you. But, before I do I asked if he was interested in writing more. He was! Wonderful!

So, we made our weekly journey to the library last Monday to check out books on sea life. This is the topic of his 2nd book. He was excited, and jumped into learning. Then, he got sick. He got an ear infection and was no happy camper off and on all last week. So, this Monday, I thought he would happily resume his enthusiasm for his newest book. He began with slight gusto and then lost interest. He, instead, became very interested in a computer program called Scratch.

While Scratch is an amazing accomplishment for a child, I am responsible for this child's education. I am growing impatient as I watch his interest level wane toward what I believe is educational, good solid learning, in exchange for a non-skill in terms of the 3 R's that is.

Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Nonconforming ChildWhat do I do with a child who has no interest in the core subjects which my state demands I log hours of instruction? My thoughts turned to what Einstein's mother must have been like and what about Edison's mom?

I read a book awhile back about an Edison Trait child. This fit my son in a lot of ways. And, many have referred to him as a little Einstein. So, my search into finding tips from Einstein's mother has begun.

I'm still on a hunt, but in the meantime, I did run across this handy article about his mom! And, here's a more complete biography including his parents.

Discovery Space Shuttle Launches Today - Watch It Live!

Watching a space shuttle launch is always very fascinating.  It's a wonderful way to interest a child in space and science learning.  It can also be a bit nerve-wracking.  If you are of the generation, like I am, who remembers the black-out moments when the newly launched rockets would return to earth and all communications were cut off for a very loooong minute or so.  Then, splash!  They would safely splash down.  Not every mission has been successful.  Missions like Apollo 13 met what could have been a tragic end but was not with almost all of America praying for their safe returns.  Another shuttle exploded in the skies on January 28.  Others have had close calls.  Let's hope and pray this one that is launched today is safe and successful in their mission.

Watch live here!

Enjoy the launch!

Enter Your Teen for Jeopardy Challenge By March 1 And Watch Final Day of IBM Watson Computer v. Jeopardy Champs

Jeopardy is a fun way to take a break from books and sit back and enjoy.  A lot of learning takes place during this fast-paced half hour game show.  This week, Jeopardy has a special face-off challenge of an IBM computer named Watson and 2 of their best challengers.  Find out more about this here, and don't miss it as today is the last day.

Find out who is ahead - The Computer or one of the Challengers



If you have a teen in your house who enjoys this show, you can register him or her to enter the Teen Challenge which will take place online on March 1.

If you are a teenager - Enter the Teen Challenge!

It's January 10, So Why Is My Christmas Tree Still Up?

The house smells like gingerbread!
We have a warm fireplace (heater that looks like a real fire) going!
The sounds of Christmas are in the air.....But, wait! It's January 10! So, why are we celebrating Christmas today?

This year Chritmas got off to a good enough start in our household with the tree being up even before Thanksgiving ready and beautifully in place in time for my parents to come enjoy Thanksgiving with us. Then, we celebrated Hanukkah (yes, we're an odd household that enjoys Hanukkah as well as Christmas). Then, we went into celebrating an early Christmas with my husband's side of the family. They came over here. Then we had the real thing. Then, a late Christmas celebration (on New Years' Day) with my side of the family.

Perhaps it was the late Christmas celebration that threw my kids for a loop thinking the season was still upon us. But, I FINALLY got around to taking the ornaments off of our tree last night only to be met with - "What are you doing?" "No, don't take down the Christmas tree!" "It's just not winter without that tree up." You get the idea. These were not just simple notes of a tinge of sadness but deep, gut-leveled jeers that began to tug at my heart as I placed each ornament into a tub to storage. I got to the point of having less than 10 ornaments hung when I decided - "I have an idea!"

I told the kids that on Monday, instead of doing typical English, Math, etc. that they could say their good-byes to the Christmas tree. So, this morning when they woke up one by one, one child plugged in the Christmas lights on our bare tree, and then they began to weed through the Christmas movies which they had missed this year. We are having a Christmas movie marathon before taking down the final ornaments, lights and branches to store away our artificial tree (severe pine allergy on that one) for another year. We are baking gingerbread cookies (though, we did shape them in the shape of hearts for a more up-to-date holiday - Valentine's Day!)

Now, if and how I can log this day of farewell to Christmas has taken some thought. I will incorporate the benefits of ginger and the history of it with our cookie making and allow the children to design their own cookies. I even brought up the story book we have that tells the Christmas story using cookies. So, I can definitely log as Religious Studies through the telling of the actual Christmas Story. Though, the watching of the Grinch and Strawberry Shortcake Christmas may take a bit more imagination as to how they are applicable to the Three R's.

And, from a glance out my window; tomorrow looks as if it will be a day of snow learning complete with sledding and maybe some more snowflake investigations!

Most Fun Earth Day Video for Kids

Earth Day comes around every year on April 22! When it comes around this year, one of the most fun ways to introduce the concept to kids is by watching Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.

Here's a clip:

Tell me again - Why do I homeschool?

I had one of those weeks that started out with my son moaning and complaining about completing his math lessons. This happens each and every Monday morning except on weeks where there is a holiday on Monday; then it happens on Tuesdays.

He always recovers the following day. He's just never been good at making transitions - Not even as a toddler. But; by the time Tuesday rolls around, he has caused enough stress in the household to make me look into private education tuition. I once had bookmarked on my computer all the private schools in our area just to remind me that I cannot afford to send him to one, so I best get creative at problem solving and creating the homeschool I envisioned when I began.

So, tell me again - Why do I homeschool?

For starters, I wanted to homeschool from before children were even a part of my life. When I heard of this option for schooling my children, I immediately knew this was the style of education for me.

I love the freedom and flexibility that homeschooling brings. I love that I can teach and work around life, rather than the other way around. I love that we can sleep in if we want to. I love that we can do all our math lessons on one day and free up the remaining days for experiments or walks in the park or other styles of discovery. With a self-employed husband, our schedule is often offbeat from the norm. So, I love how we can start school after daddy leaves for work and allow time with daddy when hes home.

I love how I can present subjects to my children while explaining how it relates to our faith. I know that one day they will need to select the course of their own faith. But, in the meantime, I will explain subjects such as how the world began and why people die, etc. in relation to our faith.

I love how my children don't have to learn how to stand in line or sit quietly at a desk instead of learning the subject of importance. In fact, they may read in a rocking chair or they can wiggle on an exercise ball to get their wiggles out to free up their minds to learn.

I love how we are free during off hours at busy places like museums. We are free to enjoy ourselves without facing crowds since most children are inside a building at a school all day.

There are many other reasons why I homeschool. But; on days like I had this week, I need to remind myself of the benefits and why I chose homeschooling in the first place.