Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley

The Wright on Time series of books is written by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley, a homeschooling mom who had found it difficult to find books about homeschoolers for her daughters. Thanks to Lisa, we were sent autographed copies of Wright on Time Arizona and Wright on Time Utah to review.

The Wright on Time series tells the adventure of a homeschooling RV family who travels across the United States, starting with the state of Arizona. The Wright family comprises of 11 year old Nadia, 7 year old Aidan and their parents Stephanie (mom) and Harrison (dad).  Together, they hit the road in their RV and goes on a fascinating adventure from one state to another, spending time together exploring and learning.

Seeing that my 10 year old son has started to enjoy adventure books, I gave the books to him to review for this tour. He loved that the books opened up with two pages of pictures and quick facts about the state the books were based on. The short chapters meant it was easy for him to put the book down when he had to do other things BUT I can honestly tell you that he had read more than half of the chapters in Wright on Time Arizona on his first day of reading. He finished the book on the second day! I’m sure that already speaks volume on how interesting and exciting the first book was for him. He also eagerly finished Wright on Time Utah within the next three days.

As English is not our first language, some of the words may not be familiar to him but the glossary at the end of each book was a wonderful reference.  Being a mom, I love these two titles because they are not only a fun read, they serve as useful educational tools. By the time my son finished the books, he had already learnt many facts about Arizona and Utah as well as picked up a couple of new words to add to his English vocabulary. So, I’m definitely giving these books the two thumbs up!

Here’s a peek into what Wright On Time Arizona and Wight on Time Utah are about:

First stop, Arizona! The Wright’s homeschooling RV adventure starts with exploring a desert cave. Nadia can’t wait to find minerals and see rock formations. Aiden wants to see bats. He finds something mysterious buried in the rock – what could it be? What is that glowing thing on the wall? Where are those voices coming from? What do you do with toilet paper in a cave? And just what is a stale egg mite anyway?

The Wright family’s homeschooling RV adventure continues at an Allosaurus dinosaur dig in Utah. Nadia can’t wait to decipher symbols from the mysterious device. Aiden wants to find a real dino bone. He might find something, but he might lose something else – what could it be? What freaky thing is glowing now? Where is their power coming from? What do you do with a left dentary? And just want kind of tune are they singing?

Let’s take a look at what other moms and dad on our panel of reviewers thought of Wright On Time Arizona and Wright On Time Utah:

Maria’s Space – These books are incredible. I love them and think that you and your kids will too! The family is likable. The kids are enjoyable, no one is trying to one up someone or be funny. The parents aren’t secondary characters or forgotten. The locations are interesting. The story flows beautifully and this really is a great way to show how normal, smart and balanced homeschooled children can be contrary to some of my friends. These books are not just for the homeschooled. The story is excellent and any reader will want the next book in the series.

5 Vinez Monkeys – Overall, we are super impressed with the Wright on Time books. My kids loved reading about other homeschooling kids that were right around their ages. They also really enjoyed learning about Arizona and Utah. I really enjoyed reading the books with Jace and Lucy also. The books were funny and interesting and kept the kids anxious to learn more. I would recommend these books to any homeschooling family – or any family that wants to learn more about the USA.

Reviews & Reflections -When I heard about a new series of books by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley, I was excited. This series is based on the United States – one book per state – which means there will eventually be 50 books in the series! The books are written by a homeschool mom – and they’re about a homeschool family! That appeals to us as homeschoolers.

Sewing Mom – I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed these books and I definitely share the love of learning and traveling around our country. It’s exactly what we’ve tried to do with our own daughter, even though we don’t have an RV. The series seems to be targeted to readers around age 10, younger if they love to read and have a parent that likes to read with them. The stories inspire me to hit the road with my family!

Why Are They Calling ME Mom -I can really see how these books would be extremely helpful to homeschooling moms and dads. Heck I think they’ll be useful to L when she’s in first or second grade. Or even for a student that’s doing a report on one of our 50 states. I know I can’t wait to read the Missouri one. Learning more about our country is a good thing.

Mommy Mandy – The Wright on Time series of children’s chapter books are about an RV-living family who travels the USA. Each book is set in a different state with a different fun and educational theme. It’s like taking your child on a wonderous road trip across the USA powered by the imagination! You can pick up any book in the series and enjoy it fully without having read others in the series. Of course, if you want to know the complete story of the Wright family’s adventures, you are going to want to read the other books!

Laura William’s Musings – All in all, my children and I found these books to be very interesting to read and to learn more about the states. Perfect timing to review these too as we are in the midst of a unit study about all 50 states.

One House Schoolroom – My children fell in love with the Wright family from the start- my seven year old son is an identical match to Aiden and my daughter loved Nadia’s sense of adventure and bravery. The easy tone and short chapters kept my kiddos asking for more. It took us less than two days to finish the first book and the second was finished in less than a week. Most books take us a few weeks to read from beginning to end. The only complaint my children had was that we have to wait a few months for the next installment- they are hooked!!

Happy Healthy Families – Each book is set in a different state with a different fun and educational theme. I loved that each book can be read and enjoyed without having to have read others in the series. But of course, once you start reading about the Wright family and their adventures, you are drawn in and will want to read their story right from the very beginning!

Connie’s View – Sammi’s Review (age 11): I liked the glossary because I was able to learn what the unusual words meant. The children in the book lived an exciting life traveling through the country and being homeschooled about the things they saw. I imagined myself living a life like that. It was confusing not reading the children calling their parents “Mom and Dad”. I felt that books were for younger aged children than me, though because I was able to read them very quickly.

The Plus Size Mommy (Arizona) – My son Zachary who is 10 was the real reviewer of these books. He wished he had them in 4th grade when he had a major project for school on a state. Which is a requirement at his school.

My son loved these adventures, and he took the books in to share with his teachers and classmates. They all were excited over them.

The Plus Size Mommy (Utah) – I love that he is enjoying these books. However, he took my book 2 – Utah to school, and shared it with some friends and the teacher decided to read it to the class, which made this review late! So, I wasn’t too happy about that. But these books are very fun to read and so Educational, I totally get why the teacher would want to read it with the class.

The Southern Girls Nest – Kayla’s review : I love these books because they teach me about the states that I might not have ever visited and known about. I also like these books because they tell about mysteries you have to solve and I love mysteries. I don’t want to tell you what the books are about but there was a part in the first book that made me want to read the second book so that I could solve the mystery. The characters are sort of like me in a way so I relate to them. Because they like mysteries and they like to travel and they love to explore things, just like me. I am looking forward to reading the third book and all the others.

Yenjai.Net – My son simply love it though. Before he finished the first book, he already ask for the second book. Good eh? Though I was sure there were plenty of words foreign to him, he didn’t seem to mind at all. He simply proceed on, and occasionally ask us for the meaning of a couple of words. Guess the writer really had done a good job in writing the story.

Chanel’s Journal – By just reading these two books had already opened up Mummy’s eye to a different type of adventures which was educational RV roadschool tour. More families were embarking into homeschooling the kids. Mummy strongly recommended this series because it would be educational and by the end of the series, we would have travelled to 50 states learning about the different and uniqueness of each state.

The Clan Mcleod – As a homeschooling mom, I thoroughly enjoyed both of these books. Geared for ages 5 – 12, my oldest daughter, Sarah, is 11 and breezed through the first one in a little over an hour. She enjoyed it as much as I did and is getting ready to begin book 2.

We all learned a lot and enjoyed the state information in the front of the books. I also appreciated the glossary in the back that helped with girls with unfamiliar words.

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GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

My children are ones who love to play video games and although we strictly monitor the time they spend playing them, a product such as My Virtual Tutor: Reading takes much of the worry out of that idle play time on the DS. My Virtual Tutor: Reading, created by Mentor InterActive, is a children’s educational game that concentrates on five reading areas including Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Comprehension, Fluency, and Vocabulary- all recommended by the Department of Education to improve reading proficiency.xx

My daughter, age 5, is one of the most advanced readers in her kindergarten class. We chose to review the Kindergarten through 1st grade version of My Virtual Tutor: Reading, and it was a bit of a challenge for her. The game itself is fabulous with great graphics and a wonderful, clear voice directing the game. Each version includes eight interactive books with four modes of play:

• Read to Me- Virtual tutor reads the story with exciting animation
• I Can Read- Beginning vocabulary word-based activities
• Interactive- Clickable animations with interactive quizzes to test reading and vocabulary comprehension
• Paint- Unleash creativity and illustrate scenes while listening to a story.

Buy It! “My Virtual Tutor: Reading” for the Nintendo DS is available at mass and specialty retailers such as Toys R’ Us, GameStop, Best Buy, and Amazon.com.

Win It! We have been given one copy of “My Virtual Tutor: Reading” to share with one of our lucky readers.  Here’s how to enter:

• One Mandatory Entry- visit the My Virtual Tutor website and try the demo version.  Leave us a comment telling us what you enjoyed about it.
• Two Additional Entries- Follow us on twitter and tweet this giveaway.  Please leave an additional comment including your twitter id and your tweet url.
• Five Additional Entries- Read one of our Parenting Articles.  Leave a comment about it on the post and return here to leave a comment including the article’s URL.
• Giveaway open to US shipping addresses only.
• This product is for use with Nintendo DS (US region only), which is not supplied.
• Giveaway ends 3rd May 2010 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

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Good luck!!

TO THE WINNERS OF

Rock ‘N Learn “Phonics Vol. 1? DVD

Ken #59

AND

The Magic School Bus & The Climate Change

Karen #58

The winner is required to do the following:

1. Submit your relevant info via the Winner’s Submission Form Below; AND
2. Leave a comment in this post to let us know you have submitted.
3. If any winner does not claim her prize by the 26th April 2010, we will do a second draw.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAD PARTICIPATED!

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GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Laundry is not my favorite chore- in fact with the multiple loads I have to do daily- it is pretty low on my list of things I like to do.  I am always on the lookout for new products that make this chore faster and easier.  Thanks to Parent Reviewers I was recently given the opportunity to review a great new product- well a new to me product.

Robby Wash is a great alternative laundry detergent product that has been used in Europe for years. It is third party tested, proven and guaranteed to clean better than traditional powder laundry detergent.

Sounds good right?  Well it’s better than good- it is also eco-friendly, hypoallergenic and made with no harsh chemicals.  In fact it is often used in Europe for baby laundry- safe and effective.  This fact was extremely important to me as my youngest child has very sensitive skin and often reacts harshly to even the gentlest detergents.

I was given the opportunity to try Robby Wash for myself and I must say I am amazed. The Robby Wash system includes two plastic balls filled with Robby Wash laundry detergent. The blue ball is recommended for use with hot or cold washing loads while the fuchsia ball is recommended for use with cold water/colored clothing.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but once I washed our first load (white towels) with the blue Robby Wash ball I was hooked. The towels came out clean, fresh, and with a wonderful, very light scent. I was equally as pleased with the results of the fuchsia Robby Wash ball- no fading on our bright colored clothes and the same amazing results.

Most importantly, my children had no trouble with the clothing that was washed using the Robby Wash balls.  There was no skin irritation or itching- simply soft, sweet smelling clothing.  I was truly impressed.

In addition to its great cleaning power, Robby Wash is also extremely environmentally friendly- 10 ounces of Robby Wash can replace 75 pounds of traditional laundry detergent and Robby Wash detergent last for up to 12 months.  At a price of $32.95 per Robby Ball, you can easily save hundreds of dollars a year on laundry detergent.

Although laundry is still not high on my list of things I like to do, Robby Wash has made it much easier, faster, and more financially friendly.  I am hooked on Robby Wash and know I will be using it for many years to come.

Here’s even more great reasons to buy Robby Wash Balls:

The Practical Laundry Washing Ball

Top 11 Robby Wash Ball Benefits

To Buy: Robby Wash Balls are available for purchase on Oransi.com.

To Win: Oransi.com has offered the Robby Wash System to TWO of our lucky readers.  Here’s how to enter:

• One Mandatory Entry- check out Robby Wash on Oransi.com and leave us a comment telling us your favorite benefit of the product.
• Two Additional Entries- Follow us on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway.  Please leave a separate comment including your twitter id and tweet url.
• Five Additional Entries- Read one of our parenting articles. Leave a comment about it in the post and return here, with the article’s URL.
• Entry is open to US shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway ends 26th April 2010 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

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Good luck!!

by

Emma Jenner, child development, sleep and behavioral specialist

Founder, Emma’s Children www.emmaschildren.com

1. All children regardless of age must have their own passport. For further information go to http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html
2. If someone other than the biological parents is traveling with a child they must carry a letter of authorization from the parents. This should state that you (the parents) give named person permission to travel with your child (child’s name) in and out of specified countries. Include a contact number where you can be reached at all times in the case of an emergency or any potential complications.
3. Check for vaccinations that may be required for the country to which you’re traveling. Remember to take the vaccination certificates with you to prevent refusal of entry upon arrival.
4. Buy a comprehensive health insurance plan that will cover everyone in your travel party whilst abroad in case of an emergency.
5. If you have any concerns about your child’s health (ear ache, sore throat) you should consult with Doctor before traveling. Children cannot travel with contagious diseases, for example: Chicken Pox.
6. If your child requires formula be sure to check with your airline and airport about their security regulations as each vary. Depending on their regulations in regards to taking milk through security you may need to take powered formula and buy bottled water once you’re through security.
7. Children over the age of two are required to have their own seat. Instead of traveling with bulky car seats there are now FAA approved harness style safety devices for children 22-44lbs.

Keeping your child happy and comfortable on the plane, please follow the tip that’s age appropriate for your child:

-Remember your child’s comfort blanket or favorite soft toy. Take an extra blanket, as it can get chilly.

-Buy new reading books, coloring books (Color Wonder is great) and toys that your child hasn’t seen. This will keep their interest longer and prevent them from getting bored.

- A Personal DVD player is a blessing to resort to when your child is beyond entertaining. The ‘Leapster’ by Leap Frog along with educational games is also a wonderful source of entertainment. For your fellow passengers please don’t forget headphones.

-The pressure during take-off and landing can really hurt a child’s ears, depending on the age make sure you have a drink or lollypop on hand. Sucking helps relieve the pressure.

-Always bring change of clothes incase of spills or an accident and if you have room throw in a spare top for yourself especially if traveling with a young baby.

-Ensure you have enough supplies; diapers, wipes, sippy cups or bottles. Bring plenty of snacks and or formula.

-Carry on Tylenol or Motrin (must be under 3.4oz/100ml), for the unexpected fever or teething pains etc.

-Understand it’s a lot to expect a child to sit still for any length of time. Allow them to stretch their legs by walking up and down the isle. This can also calm and soothe an unhappy younger child or baby.

Wishing you safe and happy travels!

About The Author

Emma Jenner, a child development and behavioral specialist, was raised in Oxford, England until the age of 12 then proceeded to live in various parts of the world including Germany and Cyprus before returning to England where she specialized in childcare at Salisbury College.

Emma first worked as a nursery school teacher. Her love of children, of all ages, led her to a career as a professional nanny and baby nurse for over a decade. During this time, Emma worked with a variety of high profile and celebrity families. An entrepreneur, Emma founded a sleep consulting business and a nanny-training academy in the Los Angeles area. She was also the star of the popular TLC series Take Home Nanny, where she worked closely with parents to give them the tools necessary to allow them to regain control of family chaos.

With an abundance of experience and proficiency in raising children and with a specialization in sleep training, Emma has recently launched Emma’s Children, a consulting service whose goal is to provide parents the tools they need to take care of their most valuable asset.

A fun-loving, busy individual, Emma believes in raising children with a firm, disciplined, yet loving and nurturing approach — one that insists on good manners and respect to and from all family members. She strives in her work to create harmony in the home by helping parents maintain a loving and nurturing environment.  Emma’s expertise has been broadcast on syndicated radio show as well as several parenting magazines.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

The Magic School Bus has long been a favorite in our home. Our personal library is filled with the many books, movies, science kits and more offered by The Magic School Bus series. I was, of course, thrilled when we were offered a chance to review one of the newest additions to the series: The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge.

From the first page this story my children were hooked.  Ms. Frizzle takes the class on yet another amazing adventure, this time to explore the concept of Global Warming.  With her wonderful sense of wit and humor, Joanna Cole brings this topic to life in a new and easy to understand way.  Accompanied by amazingly bright and action filled illustrations, Bruce Degen truly brings the scientific concepts to life and makes it so much fun to learn!!

The pages are not only filled with wonderful information but also many challenges to children offering ways they can make small changes to help affect this worldwide problem.  After reading it numerous times, I have found my own children reminding us to turn off extra lights and to unplug unnecessary items when not in use.  The truth held in this little book really made an impact and my little ones are now proponents of change in our small sphere of influence.

About The Magic School Bus and The Climate Challenge:

Ms. Frizzle’s students are putting on a play about global warming, and they need some cold, hard facts. The Friz knows just where to find them! A hop on the Magic School Bus takes the kids on a whirlwind tour.

From the Arctic to the equator, they see telltale signs of climate change. But to get the really big picture, the class has to get really small – so they can see exactly what is in the air and why it is making the world warmer.

What they find gives them a real cause for concern!

Don’t forget to check out The Magic School Bus on Scholastic.com for many wonderful activities and resources to bring science to life for the little ones in your life. You can also find out more information on Ms. Frizzel’s April 20th Webcast here.

Buy It: You can purchase The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge as well as other great Magic School Bus products at many local bookstores and online at Amazon.com.

Win It:  Scholastic Books has generously donated the following prizing….. just in time for Earth Day:

One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive:
Paper Recycling Studio
Copy of The Magic School Bus and The Climate Challenge

Two (2) additional winnerswill receive a copy of the book!

Here’s how to enter:

• One Mandatory Entry- Visit The Magic School Bus site and leave us a comment including your favorite Magic School Bus product.
• Two Additional Entries- Follow us on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway.  Please leave a separate comment and include your twitter id and your tweet url.
• Five Additional Entries- Read one of our parenting articles. Leave a comment about it in THAT post and return here, with the article’s URL.
• Entry is open to US shipping address only (Iinternational readers can enter if they have a friend in the States who can accept their prizes by mail.)
• Giveaway ends on April 19th 2010 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

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Here are the six lucky winners of our March 2010 Email Subscriber Draw. Each gets their own copy of Chicken Soup For The Soul : Teacher Tales. Congrats!

1. Storm De La Rosa
2. Joanna Smith
3. Candie Luster
4. Doreen Hayes
5. Pending for reply from subscriber
6. Pending for reply from subscriber

For April, Chicken Soup is sponsoring their latest title, NASCAR,a collection of 101 stories of courage, family, fortitude and fast cars. I have to be honest here, I’m definitely not a NASCAR fan and have never watched a race before in my life. So, if you’re wondering whether it’s an absolute necessity to be a fan to appreciate this book, my answer would be “It would be a plus but it is definitely not mandatory”. If you’re a fan, you’ll benefit from knowing about the history of the sport and being able to recognize the “big names” in the industry, which I didn’t. Take for example, devoted NASCAR fans will definitely have a better apprecation for a section in the book which comprises of 10 different stories dedicated to legendary driver, Dale Earnhardt.

Nevertheless,  like any other title in the Chicken Soup series of books, any reader would enjoy the inspirational and uplifting stories contributed by these NASCAR drivers, their families, pit crew members, journalists and even fans.

Chicken Soup For The Soul : NASCAR will undoubtebly, make a great gift for fans of America’s most popular spectator sport. We have six copies to giveaway for our monthly email subscriber draw (for April)  and you can stand a chance to win a copy simply by subscribing to our feed (button on top right side bar). *  It’s that EASY.

*Prizes will be shipped within US only.

Disclosure : Review and giveaway copies of the above book is proudly sponsored by www.chickensoup.com.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Rock ‘N Learn sent out a DVD “Phonics Vol.1″ for a review and my boys had an absolute blast, watching it. My second child, is into learning to read and I have to say, this DVD absolutely rocks!

The cool introduction with the rock-ish songs immediately drew his attention. *Whispers : This DVD has been in our DVD player and has not had a chance to come out*. He has been repeating the words, and trying to read it before the presenter does. Sometimes he gets it, sometimes he’s too late. But, it’s like a game to him, and he enjoys the challenge very much.

What’s so cool about Rock ‘N Learn? As Elina and many of our readers have found out, it is the colorful and vibrant way of presenting educational material to kids. These kids don’t even know they’re learning something. It’s animated and when it comes to pronouncing the vowels, consonants, etc, you’ll see a mouth, mouthing these words. Allowing the child to mimic it.

About Rock ‘N Learn :

Rock ’N Learn, Inc. began as an idea that would help children learn by putting educational material to music with a current sound—the kind of music that kids enjoy and find motivating. Now with over 50 products, we have sold millions of audio/book and video programs to teachers and parents throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries.

Rock ’N Learn programs help students learn math, phonics, reading, early childhood, social studies, Spanish, test-taking strategies, writing, and science. Our DVDs incorporate cool music with exciting, colorful imagery.

Headquartered in Conroe, Texas, just north of Houston, Rock ’N Learn is owned and operated by its founders, Richard and Brad Caudle.

Buy It! : Rock ‘N Learn covers an extensive range of subjects including Math,  Science (Earth, Physical, Life) and Languages. In fact, there are just too many to mention and it’s pretty specific to the age range. I found it easier to browse by age, and then by subject. Some kids are a little more advanced than others, and this helps see if the subject level is appropriate for them. My boys continually play this DVD because, in their words, “it is so much fun watching and ‘singing’ along”!

Win It! : The new Phonics Vol.1 DVD will be released on April 20th and we’re giving 2 lucky readers a chance to win a copy!

• One Mandatory Entry- visit Rock ‘N Learn and leave a comment letting us know which of their fabulous and fun DVDs  you would like to win.
• One Additional Entry- read one of our parenting articles. Leave a comment about it in the post and return here, with the article’s URL.
• Two Additional Entries- follow us on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Please leave us a comment including your twitter id and your tweet url.
• Giveaway is open to all shipping addresses.
• Giveaway ends 10th April 2010 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

Disclosure of Material Connection : http://cmp.ly/0

TO THE WINNERS OF

Mastermind Board Game

Jules #73
 

AND

Baby Egg Nest from Baby Bunch

 1. Lindsey #2

2. Elizabeth Ray #62

The winner is required to do the following:

1. Submit your relevant info via the Winner’s Submission Form Below; AND
2. Leave a comment in this post to let us know you have submitted.
3. If any winner does not claim her prize by the 3rd April 2010, we will do a second draw.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAD PARTICIPATED!

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