Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

VOOKS Storybooks Brought to Life Review & Giveaway

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*This post contains affiliate links

I was recently able to check out VOOKS, storybooks brought to life to review. VOOKS is a really cool streaming library of kid-safe animated storybooks. Be sure to check out the giveaway below!

VOOKS is trusted by teachers, and loved by kids around the world. It encourages independent learning, and a love of reading.

VOOKS Storybooks brought to life

VOOKS Review & Giveaway

Once you get a subscription to VOOKS, you can make profiles for your kids. This is easy, and only takes a few seconds. You put in their name – first or a chosen screen name, age, and their preferred language. You can pick from several options for a profile picture. All the options are similar in style to those you can see in the picture below. I actually like that they don’t give you the option of uploading the child’s picture.

Switching between profiles is very quick as well. The kids can do that themselves.

Once you are signed in to VOOKS, you will see a large selection of books, in different categories to choose from. The pic below is how it looks on the computer screen.

Below is a picture from my phone. When you click on a title, you can see how long the book is, what category it is in, and the age group it is best for. You can click the heart to save it for later in favorites.

Not only can they save the books that they want to read, this is useful for you to “assign” books for your child to read.

VOOKS even has lesson plans, offering discussion topics and engaging activities. They are fun, free, and printable. So whether you are a teacher, homeschool teacher, or parent looking to supplement your child’s learning, you will find them very useful. You can see some of the categories in the picture below.

If the child has to stop reading before they finish it, the next time they sign in it will tell them how much time they have remaining in the book. Then they can click on the resume button when they are ready to finish the book.

The words are displayed on the screen, with the words highlighted as the story is being read. This helps kids that are learning how to read, and also helps their vocabulary and spelling.

Below is a short video so you can get the feel of what the storybooks are like.

I have thoroughly enjoyed using VOOKS. The children in your life will enjoy it, too! It’s 100% kid-friendly and parent-approved!

Try Vooks free for 30 days! Go to VOOKS to sign up!

VOOKS Giveaway!

Enter below to win a one year subscription to VOOKS! Be sure to read the terms & conditions on the form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#VooksMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork #vooks #betterscreentime #vookspartner

Disclosure: Many thanks to Vooks for providing this product/product information for review.  Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

*This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

Homeschooling with the Olympics

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*This Homeschooling with the Olympics post contains affiliate links

The Olympic games are great fun to watch. They can also be a great learning experience for the kids and the whole family. We always do an Olympics unit study. We learn about the food and customs of the host country. Sometimes we have learn the rules for new sports. How much time you spend on this will depend on your family and the age of your kids.

Homeschooling With the Olympics

We always spend time learning about the host country, which is England this year (the year this was originally written!). A study of  England will naturally lead to the independence of the United States. You can cover both World History and United States History at a level appropriate for your kids.

As interesting things come up during the Olympics, we learn about other countries. I like to keep a globe in the room with us while we are watching the Opening Ceremonies. That makes it easy for the whole family to see where the countries are located. Don’t have a globe? Use the computer to look the countries up. You’ll actually get more information about the countries that way.

We’re also making lapbooks this year. Yes, even the teenagers! The one we’re using (linked below) is for high school, too.

Another fun learning activity is for each child to pick a country to root for. They can learn about that country and share with the rest of the family. Have the kids keep track of the medals won by their countries by making a chart.

Homeschooling with the Olympics – Decorating

We also love to decorate for the Olympics. Pull out any flags that you have and the room will feel festive right away. Paper chains are fun to make and hang across doorways or windows. Use red, white, and blue or the colors of the Olympic rings. There are several links below that have coloring pages that can be hung as decorations. One year, I had the kids draw different world flags on index cards and hung them up. The kids loved it when they recognized a flag they had drawn while watching the Olympics.

Here’s my favorite Olympic decoration that we have.

Olympics flag decoration

It’s a pennant made in Vacation Bible School by one of my two oldest kids. This was made in 1992, and we’ve used it every Olympics since then. It would be very easy to recreate. Red felt, white felt on the left hand side had a dowel glued to it. The rings are also made out of felt. The words are silver fabric paint.

Check the Linda’s Lunacy Olympics Board on Pinterest for more decorating ideas.

Homeschooling with the Olympics – Food

As part of our Olympics study, we always try a few foods from the host country. China and Italy have been some of our favorites. Two dishes that are popular in England are fish and chips, and bangers and mash.

Fish and chips are breaded, fried fish and french fries. Use your favorite fish and make some fries. Kids will only eat fish sticks? That’s ok. You can still serve them with french fries (from the freezer section, too, if you want).

Bangers and mash are sausages and mashed potatoes. Another easy meal. Serve your favorite sausage with your favorite mashed potatoes. Make sure to tell the kids they’re bangers and mash, though. An interesting tidbit, during the war, the sausages were made with less meat and with added water. So when the sausages were cooking, the water would explode and they would “bang”, and that’s when they started calling them bangers. (That’s from a video I watched online on how to make bangers and mash.)

There are a lot of ideas for Olympics food on Pinterest, I have several pinned.

Amanda Bennett has a great unit study titled Olympics: History, Geography, & Sports.

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy something, I will earn a small commission.

Super Duper Publications HearBuilder Auditory Memory – Review

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As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received Super Duper Publications Auditory Memory software program to review.

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Join Recall Agents Kim and Joey to save MemoryTown from Dr. Forgetsit while practicing important auditory memory, closure, and comprehension skills. HearBuilder Auditory Memory teaches key strategies for remembering numbers, words, sentences, and stories. This research-based software includes five essential listening activities:
  • Memory for numbers (3–7 digits)
  • Memory for words
    (3–5 words organized by syllable)
  • Memory for details (1–4 details)
  • Auditory Closure (Sentence Completion)
  • Memory for WH Information
    (2–3 sentences/2–4 questions)
Each of the multi-level tasks in HearBuilder Auditory Memory takes your students on a different mission to foil the wacky plans of Dr. Forgetsit. The humorous and captivating adventures will keep your students motivated as they develop and strengthen their abilities to recall verbal information.

 

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Hear Builder Auditory Memory is software for grades K-8. I used this with my almost 12 year old son who is starting 6th grade. When I saw this, I thought it would be great for my son. What 11/12 year old boy doesn’t need help with auditory memory? Think about it, how many times have you told your child to do several things, and they only remember the first one?

Dr. Forgetsit, the main character in the software, makes the work fun for the kids. My older kids would gather around the computer while Zach was working, what they heard made them curious. Since the home edition can be used for up to 4 students,  I think I’ll have some of the others work with this program when we go back to school next month. I just might give it a go, too!

Zach loved this program. As soon as we opened the package, he grabbed the cd and started. He didn’t even wait for me, he put it in and took off. There is no long set up process like educational programs often have. Within a couple of minutes he was working away, and had to catch me up with what he was doing.. And I was in the same room with him when he started! lol

As you can see from these screen shots, the pictures are bright, colorful, and fun.
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While the graphics and animation are not as “high tech” as software you may be used to seeing, don’t judge the quality of the program by the pictures.  This interactive software really does work to increase children’s memory. As my son worked with this software, I could see how much he progressed. The program is fun, too, so he didn’t feel like he was working hard.

The program keeps track of your students progress. If you have more than one computer, make sure to use it on the same computer all the time as the info is stored on your computer. This provides an easy way to monitor your child’s progress. There are even printable progress reports. Good reinforcement for those children that need it.

Here’s a video so you can see for yourself how the software works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMKg3HQajkA&feature=player_embedded#!

Try Memory Builders yourself! There are 6 different sections to try on that page, so you’ll really get a feel for the program and see how it would work for your children.

HearBuilder Auditory Memory Software home edition is available for $69.95. Right now, HearBuilder is offering a coupon code:       BLGAM30     Use it to save 30%  on your purchase.  Coupon expires 8/31/12.   The Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed several other Super Duper Publications products, click the graphic below to check out the other reviews for more coupon codes,

 

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*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a free cd  in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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