Brain Blox Fun Family Chess~ Making Chess "Easy Peasy" to Learn! {Product Review}

Chess. When we first got married, I didn’t realize that my husband had played in the chess club. We tried playing together, but I just didn’t have the critical thinking skills to play…but really it was more that I could NEVER remember which piece was able to move where or how! Chess is a game that I really have been wanting to introduce to my kids—especially my math and critical thinking game lover—but it’s not really my forte. Enter our review of the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess set from Brain Blox. Claiming to be the “easy-peasy way to learn chess”, I really wondered if this was the answer to my how-do-i-teach-them-chess dilemma!

About the Product

Brain Blox Fun Family Chess is a very fun learn-as-you-play game designed to teach anyone from age 5-105 how to play chess. Chess is a great game for the mind, as it increases skills in so many areas

Critical Thinking Detective™ – Vocabulary Book 2 {Product Review}

We are big fans of The Critical Thinking Co. and the products they offer. I have reviewed several of their products before and always look forward to having more to explore. We recently were given Critical Thinking Detective - Vocabulary Book 2 (Grades 5-12+) to review with my boys (ages 8 and 13) and I looked forward to seeing how this product would work for us--especially since expanding our vocabulary is one of the goals I had for this year.

About the Product

The Critical Thinking Co. is an award-winning company for a reason! Their materials continue to be top notch resources for all things--critical thinking! Offering full lines of choices over the traditional subjects and electives, there is something for every grade! A few of the selections include:

Full Year of STEM Activities from Tied 2 Teaching {Product Review}

We are a science loving family. I’ve recently been trying to figure out how to incorporate more STEM projects into our homeschooling, because I like to encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Enter Tied 2 Teaching and their STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading. A full year’s worth of STEM activities? Without me having to come up with them myself? Join me as I share our review of this product and learn why I think this is a must have for any homeschooling family or co-op leader!

About the Product

Tied 2 Teaching was created by a teacher who is a passionate believer that learning should be fun and that students learn best in an environment they enjoy! One of the best ways this occurs is when students work in an environment where they are encouraged to explore, create and try new things. Combining subjects is an excellent way for this to happen, and when you can combine Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM),

Dive into CSI to Solve the Mystery at Lake Iwannafisha with The Critical Thinking Co.™ {Product Review}

One of my most favorite companies for logic and critical thinking resources is the award winning The Critical Thinking Co.™. We have used several of their products in the past with great success (read my review of Sentence Diagramming or my review of The Basics of Critical Thinking), so when we had the opportunity to pick another book to review, I said yes to Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha, a Whodunit Forensic Mystery!

About The Critical Thinking Co.™ and the Product

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is an award winning company dedicate to providing quality materials throughout all the subjects which encourage critical thinking right from the early stages of learning. They are especially known for their award winning logic and critical thinking products, although they produce many materials for other subjects as well.

Sentence Diagramming from The Critical Thinking Co.™ {Product Review}

The Critical Thinking Co.™ continues to produce exceptional resources for the education community in subjects like Language Arts, Math/Science, and Logical Thinking. I’ve been able to review products from the company before, and my experience made me eager to have another chance for their product. I was fortunate to be able to have a chance to review Sentence Diagramming: Beginning with my son over these last few weeks.

About Sentence Diagramming and The Critical Thinking Co.™

Sentence Diagramming: Beginning from The Critical Thinking Co.™ is a 72-page workbook designed to teach students how to diagram sentences in order to be able to see how the structure of English grammar works. The diagramming provides a visual and logical method to learn grammar. Beginning with simple subject-verb sentences, the lessons continue to get more complicated as they diagram with complex sentences and dependent clauses. The book is a consumable workbook with 12 lessons and a review. Each lesson is four-pages long and encourages the student to identify errors in pre-written sentences based on their lessons, to diagram sentences correctly, and to create their own sentences to match their diagramming. Everything geared towards encouraging them to critical thinking in regards to the grammar structure.
Sentence Diagramming: Beginning is geared towards grades 3-12+ and retails for $12.99. The Sentence Diagramming products are available in print or eBook form. There is also a Level 1 and a Level 2 available. 

Our Thoughts About the Product

I was eager to get started on this workbook. I have always found The Critical Thinking Co.™ books to be very well done and to promote logic within whatever subject they were geared towards. Sentence Diagramming is something that I have always enjoyed doing, and my oldest son had done it for awhile back in the 2nd grade. I find that he struggles with matching up parts of a sentence in his grammar lessons, so I hoped going back to diagramming would help him with this issue. 
Initially, he did groan about doing this. But, once we got into it, he remembered that it's actually quite easy--especially with how much he knows about grammar now as a 5th grader. We discovered we could do 1-3 lessons a week depending on how our schedule went. We even took it with us to Florida for our trip, and he knocked out a few lessons there. I think his favorite part of the lesson is the section where he gets to create sentences to match the diagramming lines. I sometimes have to guide him through it, but he's been doing great on them for the most part, and really enjoys creating silly sentences.

Given the lines and they have to create a sentence to match.

The mini-lesson to explain how the diagramming is done for the new grammar portion

Answer keys in the back for the exercises

This actually works really really well for us. I had forgotten how well he does with it. I am strongly considering investing in the Level 1 and Level 2 books--but I am not 100% sure yet. They definitely have helped him visualize how the sentences all work together--and I think that when we are done, his "normal" grammar lessons will become easier for him to do.
This book works for us, because the lessons are short--taking up maybe just 15 minutes tops of our time. They provide great exercises--from finding errors, to diagramming sentences out, to having to apply the knowledge to create your own sentence following the structure provided. This way of making sure they can demonstrate their understanding of their lessons, though this kind of application is ideal!
I really don't have any cons to this product, because everything is self explanatory, even for someone who has never diagrammed a sentence before in their life! I highly recommend it for anyone who has a student struggling a little bit in grammar, or writing. The visual mapping of the sentences provides an additional help for the visual learner too--something you don't always get in grammar studies. 
We will absolutely be finishing this workbook, and like I said, I may decide to snag the next two in the series as well.

Want To Know More?

We have been reviewing the Sentence Diagramming: Beginning workbook from The Critical Thinking Co.™ over the last couple weeks. Several of the other crew members have been reviewing it too, as well as other products from The Critical Thinking Co.™, like software from their Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™ program (the Fun-Time Phonics!™ Software - 2-PCs Win Download, or the Vowel Sounds Song and Game™ Software - 2-PCs Win Download)! Make sure you go read their reviews as well!

You can always stay up with the latest in products and sales by following The Critical Thinking Co.™ on social media via Facebook, Google +, and Pinterest!  

I have reviewed other products by The Critical Thinking Co.™ like their The Basics of Critical Thinking book, and their Alphabet Song Game Software Program--so if you are curious in knowing more about what this company offers, make sure you check these out too!

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5 Educational (but FUN!) Gift Ideas for Under $20 {2016 Gift Guide Series}

This is the time of year when most of you are starting to think really hard about gifts. Perhaps it's for the upcoming holy day or holiday season, or for all those end of the year birthdays that roll around. Maybe you just want to start stashing some goodies for next year! If you are like me, you like gifts that aren't just frivolous, but actually have a benefit to the child's brain. Another plus might be a game where ALL the family can enjoy playing, even the kiddos under age 10. Instead of just reaching for the always a winner choice of books or LEGOS, why don't you give these Top 5 Educational (but FUN!) Gift Ideas for Under $20 a look over, and see if one might be just right for you!

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Let me begin by saying that all of these items are things that are what my own family uses and loves, I don't just recommend things that haven't been tried and loved yet! :)

Circuit Maze~ Electric Current Logic Game from ThinkFun {Timberdoodle Product Review}

My boys have very engineering minded personalities. They love to build and design and are constantly working out new LEGO creations. They recently reviewed a product that gave us a great introduction to electrical circuits, which both of my boys LOVED. When I was offered the chance to review the Circuit Maze by ThinkFun through Timberdoodle Co., I accepted hoping that it would further my boys' interest in how circuits worked.

About Circuit Maze

Circuit Maze is a single player game created by the award winning educational game company ThinkFun. In the game your child can safely explore the world of electrical circuits, through series of circuit building logic puzzles. Your child will get to experience series circuits, parallel circuits, series and parallel circuits in combination, and parallel circuits in bypass--all concepts of simple and advanced circuitry! By mixing how electricity and electrical circuits work with reasoning and logic skills, Circuit Maze really is a delightful first look into electrical engineering. Designed as a single player game for ages 8+, the Circuit Maze game includes:

Evan-Moor Daily Geography and Critical Thinking Activity Books {Product Review}

My first experience with Evan-Moor educational books was back when we were working in first grade with Little Britches. We were told about how awesome their Beginning Geography book was by more than one friend, so we gave it a try and loved it. I then used one of their Daily Word Problems for math books with great success. When Timberdoodle offered me the chance to review the Daily Geography Grade 4 and Critical & Creative 4 books from Evan-Moor, I jumped at the chance to try two other branches of their activity books with our family.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

About the Product

The Daily Geography series picks up where the Beginning Geography ends. Because the Beginning Geography is for grades K/1, the Daily Geography starts with grade 1 and continues through grade 6. Each book is based on the eighteen National Geography Standards and is designed to support any geography and social studies curriculum that you might be using.

There are 36 weekly sections which contain a teacher page, map page, and question pages. 

The teacher page provides everything you need to know to work on the lesson for the week from the background information to introduce the skill, to vocabulary words, to the answer key. The map page illustrates the geography skills that have been introduced for the week and goes with the question pages. There are two geography questions for each day of the week and they increase in difficulty from Monday to Friday. There is also a challenge question at the end of the map which has them put to practice what they learned to the map page. Sometimes outside references are needed to complete it. 

The book also contains glossary pages for your students to use as an easy reference throughout the year. 

Timberdoodle carries Daily Geography grade 2-6 and they retail for $26.99 each. The books are consumable, but they are designed and approved to be reproducible, making them GREAT for using with multiple students at one time. Daily Geography 4 is also part of the Timberdoodle Curriculum Kit for 4th grade. 

The Critical & Creative books are perfect for helping your students engage in a broad range of thinking skills. There are 46 themes, each with a three page unit. Pages one and two of the unit encourage students to use a variety of thinking skills over the topic. Page three contains different formats like logic puzzles, riddles, and secret codes in which they can use their knew thinking skills. 

There are Critical & Creative books for grades 1-6+ that are grade appropriate in their difficulty and activities. 

Timberdoodle carries Critical & Creative 1 through 6+ and they retail for $19.99 each. As with the Daily Geography, these books are also reproducible. A bonus for using with more than one student.

We were given the 4th grade level in each series to work through with Little Britches.

Our Thoughts

Little Britches definitely enjoyed the Daily Geography book more than the Critical & Creative book, simply because he didn't have to "think" as hard. LOL. He's always loved geography, so he eagerly pulled out his book for his daily lesson which he always quickly completed in 10 minutes or less. He was very independent on it once we had done the initial lesson for the week and needed little assistance. Critical & Creative however, required me to sit near him to help him work through the different activities. Some of them he was able to get right away, and some things he needed me to help him get started. I would say he successfully completed 80% of it independently.

Working out a logic puzzle

Finishing the week's challenge geography question.

I definitely love both of these books. We have morning work every day school day which is just a collection of workbook like materials to get our brain started. These two books fit perfectly into that slot. I am always seeking out critical thinking materials, and really appreciated how the Critical & Creative was put together. I think there was a good balance of low and high brain power activities to be completed. It was definitely grade appropriate and I didn't think it was every too hard. 

Would I Recommend This Product?

I happily recommend both of these products to any one for home or classroom use. They are the perfect supplement to what you are already doing. I think one of my favorite aspects is the ability to reproduce this so that I can use it for multiple students at one time. That makes the price of each book even more reasonable. 

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I am so glad that Timberdoodle gave me the opportunity to review both of these books! It reminded me again how much I enjoy their books and I plan on continuing to add them into our morning work. I probably will continue to look into especially the Critical & Creative books to help with building critical thinking skills in a quick manner.