How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator and on to Learning - Carol Barnier

How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator and on to Learning

Carol Barnier

*From the back of the book

Which child is yours?  The super-wiggly? The highly charged? The focus-challenged? The impulsive? The spirited? The passionate?
However you define the qualities in your special child, it’s obvious that the methods used to teach quite, compliant children don’t work for these energetic or just plain distracting kids.
. . . .
Direct those wandering thoughts and bodies into educational success with:

• Creative reproducible activity aids that you’ll want to use right away
• a phonics program where every lesson is a quick game kids love
• instructional games, manipulatives and motions that will help you work with, not against, your child’s learning style
• math strategies that make even a workbook fun
• many more effective, fun solutions to the daily dilemma, “how do I teach my child tomorrow?”

My thoughts

First of all, let me say that I have 5 children, and I’m only officially homeschooling one (but working with two more, and playing with the others).  And my oldest is a mild version of the super-wiggly, highly charged. . .  so this book will help us, but we are by no means dealing with ‘on top of the refrigerator’ energy.  Second, I heard Carol Barnier speak at our local homeschool convention, and knew that some of her ideas would really help us out, so I went and bought it.  Many of her speaking ideas are in the book, just with a bit more detail.
The book has lots of ideas for helping with learning, but all are very ‘mom intensive’, so get ready to work!!  Most can be reused, but all will take time to set up. Lots of tips to make games that help make learning fun and actually happen!
I liked the chapter “I can’t take him anywhere” where she talks about how energetic children multiply the energy of the kids around them! (Mine does that, even just with siblings, which is why we tend to keep a tight rein on energy levels)
There are 13 different pages that have reproducible pages (some of them are two pages to one activity) but they are all activities that she talked about in the book.
If you have a distractable child, then this is a good resource for you.  not all of it will be useable for everyone, but I’m sure you will find something to help!!
*Note:  This book was purchased by me, and Carol Barnier, Emerald Books, and Amazon.com have no idea who I am.  This review was written because I wanted to

How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator - Carol Barnier

How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator and on to Learning

Carol Barnier

*From the back of the book

Which child is yours? The super-wiggly? The highly charged? The focus-challenged? The impulsive? The spirited? The passionate?

However you define the qualities in your special child, it’s obvious that the methods used to teach quite, compliant children don’t work for these energetic or just plain distracting kids.

. . . .

Direct those wandering thoughts and bodies into educational success with:

• Creative reproducible activity aids that you’ll want to use right away
• a phonics program where every lesson is a quick game kids love
• instructional games, manipulatives and motions that will help you work with, not against, your child’s learning style
• math strategies that make even a workbook fun
• many more effective, fun solutions to the daily dilemma, “how do I teach my child tomorrow?”

My thoughts

First of all, let me say that I have 5 children, and I’m only officially homeschooling one (but working with two more, and playing with the others). And my oldest is a mild version of the super-wiggly, highly charged. . . so this book will help us, but we are by no means dealing with ‘on top of the refrigerator’ energy. Second, I heard Carol Barnier speak at our local homeschool convention, and knew that some of her ideas would really help us out, so I went and bought it. Many of her speaking ideas are in the book, just with a bit more detail.

The book has lots of ideas for helping with learning, but all are very ‘mom intensive’, so get ready to work!! Most can be reused, but all will take time to set up. Lots of tips to make games that help make learning fun and actually happen!

I liked the chapter “I can’t take him anywhere” where she talks about how energetic children multiply the energy of the kids around them! (Mine does that, even just with siblings, which is why we tend to keep a tight rein on energy levels)

There are 13 different pages that have reproducible pages (some of them are two pages to one activity) but they are all activities that she talked about in the book.

If you have a distractable child, then this is a good resource for you. not all of it will be useable for everyone, but I’m sure you will find something to help!!

*Note: This book was purchased by me, and Carol Barnier, Emerald Books, and Amazon.com have no idea who I am. This review was written because I wanted to

The Protector - Carla Capshaw

The Protector

Carla Capshaw

Quintus was a successful merchant before he was arrested for his faith in Jesus, but now he is a servant and a gladiator forced to fight against difficult odds just to live.  Adiona is the widow who turns the heads of all the men around her, and she in turn gives them an icy glare.  When Adiona’s life is being threatened she must depend on Quintus to protect her, when she would rather not depend on anyone, let alone a male.
As a ‘monthly reader’  this book was a big surprise.  First of all, it was long!! (almost 300 pages) and it was very well written.  This was the second book of what appears to be a series, but you don’t feel lost if you have not read the first (which I have not).  There were a few twists and turns in the book that I didn’t predict at all, making it very a surprising read.
*Note:  The opinions of this review are my own, and I have not been asked to write this review by anyone, including the author or  publisher

The Protector - Carla Capshaw

The Protector

Carla Capshaw

Quintus was a successful merchant before he was arrested for his faith in Jesus, but now he is a servant and a gladiator forced to fight against difficult odds just to live. Adiona is the widow who turns the heads of all the men around her, and she in turn gives them an icy glare. When Adiona’s life is being threatened she must depend on Quintus to protect her, when she would rather not depend on anyone, let alone a male.

As a ‘monthly reader’ this book was a big surprise. First of all, it was long!! (almost 300 pages) and it was very well written. This was the second book of what appears to be a series, but you don’t feel lost if you have not read the first (which I have not). There were a few twists and turns in the book that I didn’t predict at all, making it very a surprising read.

*Note: The opinions of this review are my own, and I have not been asked to write this review by anyone, including the author or publisher.

The Hands on Bible:NLT - Tyndale

The Hands on Bible – NLT

Tyndale

Tyndale sent me the Hands on Bible to review.  It is a complete bible with descriptions in the margins that help young readers understand more of the time frame and some customs in Bible times.   Many of the side margins give ideas for sharing Jesus with friends and family, in ways that young people can do. It also has about 8 activities for young people and a friend to do.  Best for 8-13 year olds.
There are Introductions to each Book with cool facts and info from that book. Hands on Experiences with ideas  of things to do.  Bible Bios with info about people in the bible, written as if it were straight from them.  And Hands-On Bible activities (see the give away at bottom for more information).
This Bible is great when you are looking for extra ways to help explain points to kids, but I think it would be distracting for regular use.  I particularly liked the information in the side bars!

Two possible ways you can get this free!!

1. Leave a comment on this post telling who you would like to share this bible with and I will randomly draw one winner on Friday July 23. The winner will recieve a certificate good for a free bible which they must take to your local christian book store.  (US only, the winner will be responsible for any taxes and please remember to leave a way for me to contact you)  Enter before Noon Friday and I will have winner posted sometime before 5 pm Friday!!     

Using Random.org, the random winner is number 1.  thearcherfamily.   I will contact you to get you your gift certificate!!  Thank you for entering!!

2. Go to http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/05discoverthenlt/hands_on_bible_contest.asp this will also show you a few pages on the inside.  you have until Aug 16, 2010.
*Note Tyndale sent me a copy of Hands on Bible for my family and a Bible certificate to be given away.  All  reviews on this bible are my own opinion, not those of the publisher or writers of this bible

The Hands on Bible - NLT -Tyndale

The Hands on Bible – NLT

Tyndale

Tyndale sent me the Hands on Bible to review. It is a complete bible with descriptions in the margins that help young readers understand more of the time frame and some customs in Bible times. Many of the side margins give ideas for sharing Jesus with friends and family, in ways that young people can do. It also has about 8 activities for young people and a friend to do. Best for 8-13 year olds.

There are Introductions to each Book with cool facts and info from that book. Hands on Experiences with ideas of things to do. Bible Bios with info about people in the bible, written as if it were straight from them. And Hands-On Bible activities (see the give away at bottom for more information).

This Bible is great when you are looking for extra ways to help explain points to kids, but I think it would be distracting for regular use. I particularly liked the information in the side bars!

Two possible ways you can get this free!!

1. Leave a comment on this post telling who you would like to share this bible with and I will randomly draw one winner on Friday July 23. The winner will recieve a certificate good for a free bible which they must take to your local christian book store. (US only, the winner will be responsible for any taxes and please remember to leave a way for me to contact you) Enter before Noon Friday and I will have winner posted sometime before 5 pm Friday!!

Using Random.org, the random winner is number 1. thearcherfamily. I will contact you to get you your gift certificate!! Thank you for entering!!

2. Go to http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/05discoverthenlt/hands_on_bible_contest.asp this will also show you a few pages on the inside. you have until Aug 16, 2010.

*Note Tyndale sent me a copy of Hands on Bible for my family and a Bible certificate to be given away. All reviews on this bible are my own opinion, not those of the publisher or writers of this bible.

Take Four - Karen Kingsbury

Take Four – Above the Line

Karen Kingsbury

Keith and Dayne are getting ready to make a new movie about the book Unlocked (Karen has actually wrote this book, and it will be out October 12, 2010), and this story is about the filming of that movie. Bailey has many choices to make about relationships, and is offered a surprising job, which allows her to be of great influence. Andi must make a tough choice about the baby she is carrying, will she give it up for adoption or raise it herself.

Take Four is the final book of the “Above the Line” series, and I really enjoyed the book, love the characters, but the book didn’t have a real end in my opinion. She gave it a ‘closing’, but I felt like the story was left hanging. This is not a story you will want to read ‘by it’s self’, because you will need to finish the next book/series to have an end. I am excited to read the next series (the Bailey Flanigan series), but this series just did not seem complete.

Baxter Fan Club extra chapter: A month or so ago I mentioned that my mom and I became members of the Baxter family club, and with that you are mailed the book, and it has Karen’s signature on the cover. Also included is an extra chapter that is emailed to the ‘club’. I was super excited to get this, and actually got the email while I was out, so I was very anxious to get home and read it!! I was slightly disappointed though when I read it. The extra chapter really had nothing to do with this particular book, but was about the Baxter family only (which is neat) and really it was just a recap of the reunion that Karen had of all of the fan club in Indianapolis in June. I’m sure that anyone who was able to go to it was excited to read this chapter, but I found it a bit of a let down for my expectations.

*Note: This book review has not been paid for. Amazon.com, Karen Kingsbury and zondervan have no clue who I am. All opinions are my own.

Read and Share Bible

Read and Share Bible

Life and Miracles

A simple DVD containing many very short stories about the life of Jesus, miracles He performed and His life. This DVD would be good for young children up to 10 years old.

I liked this short DVD. It did a good job of showing lots of his miracles in easy to understand words, and allow the kids to see a lot of Jesus’ miracles. After that (10 minutes or so) it started to slow down and showed more details about what was going on. The message of Christ was clearly shown.

I liked how they portrayed Judas also. They didn’t show him as a bad guy in the beginning, but as a guy who turns upon pressure.

The time frame for the whole movie was from right after his first miracle up to the Lord’s Supper.

I would recommend this to anyone with young children (my 4 love it) and would be very interested in seeing others from this series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed 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.”