I am always on the look out for a yummy treat for my little ones.  With their sensitivity to food dyes and preservatives it is often a challenge to find things they enjoy that I can feel good about giving them. Ice Box Bakery has given parents a wonderful alternative to traditional slice and bake cookies. Their amazing selection of yummy goodies includes cookies like Old Time Peanut Butter, Double Dutch Chocolate, Tart Cherry Pie, and Classic Sugar Cookies just to name a few. They also have a super delicious Gluten Free Chocolate Chip cookie for those who have specialized diets.

Jen Bush, founder of Ice Box Bakery, had her first daughter in 2000 and soon after began looking for an alternative to the mass of sweets on the market made with inferior ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, palm oil, and hydrogenated fats. She soon realized that she would not find what she was looking for in today’s market and instead she began to make her own. Working as a pastry chef at the time, Jen began offering her yummy, healthy cookie dough in among the other amazing creations in her pastry case. It was a huge hit and soon after Ice Box Bakery was born.

Here’s a little more of her story:

Founded in Boulder in 2007, Ice Box Bakery all-natural cookie dough is made from scratch in small batches, quick-wrapped to ensure “fresh from the mixing bowl” flavor, and sold ready to slice and bake. Using only premium, all-natural ingredients, including real creamery butter, pure cane sugar, and pure vanilla, Ice Box Bakery cookie dough is available in seven delicious, old fashioned flavors and sold in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods Market and other fine natural and specialty food stores throughout the U.S.

At Ice Box Bakery, we want to bring wholesome sweetness to everyone’s life, in ways both big and small. We work to achieve this mission by not only creating great products for families to enjoy together, but also aligning our company with great causes. Since our founding in 2007, through a commitment to volunteering, contributions, and on-going donations, we have partnered with There With Care (http://www.therewithcare.org/), an organization dedicated to easing the burden of families with critically ill children.

We were recently given the opportunity to try some of Ice Box Bakery’s yummy creations, Double Dutch Chocolate, Old Time Peanut Butter, and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. They arrived packaged in a neat little freezer box and were still very frozen upon arrival (in our current 100+ degree weather, amazing). We wanted to dive right in, but we decided to wait a few days and bake them up for a dinner party we were having at our home.

The day of the party we simply took them out of the refrigerator, sliced and baked them- so easy. Our home smelled so delicious when our guests arrived. We offered them around the table after dinner and the response was great- everyone loved them. They were rich and delicious- they truly tasted homemade. Our guests were very surprised when I told them these cookies were not made by hand that day. They truly couldn’t believe they were slice and bake. I loved that I got to share such a wonderful treat with my friends and they took so little effort to make.

To Buy: Ice Box Bakery products are available in many natural and whole food stores.Click here to find a store near you.

To Win: Ice Box Bakery has generously provided a package of three flavors of Ice Box Bakery cookie dough to one of our lucky readers. To enter:

• One Mandatory Entry- go visit Ice Box Bakery and find your favorite cookie dough. Come back and leave us a comment including the name of your favorite flavor.
• Two Additional Entries- follow us on twitter and tweet this giveaway “Win a package of 3 flavors of Ice Box Bakery Cookie Dough with Parentreviewers.com” once a day. Leave an additional comment including your twitter id and the tweet url. You can tweet on a daily basis.
• Three Additional Entries- Blog or share on Facebook about this great giveaway! It can be done on a daily basis too! Leave your blog URL or FB id.
• Giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway ends on September 6th 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.

Good Luck!

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About Postcards From The Hedge: 

In Postcards from the Hedge, Jill Appenzeller reflects on life, family, and human nature in the context of her ever-changing garden. The book is a collection of vivid vignettes that span all four seasons as well as decades of memories both in and out of the garden. From Gossip Girls, the story of the neighborhood kids organizing a garden club, to I Don t Want It Perfect I Want It Tuesday, about all the things that never get done in life as well as in the garden, this is the story of humbling failures and unexpected surprises, of friends and friendships, and the gift of being present in the moment. Filled with humorous anecdotes and surprising insights. Postcards from the Hedge explores what gardening can teach us about ourselves and the world we live in.

Written by Jill Appenzeller,  this book would appeal to those who are passionate about gardening. As the book comprises of short stories, it is easy to pick up and read at one’s convenience. For the busy moms, you can quickly finish a story while waiting to pick up your kids from schools or when you’re taking a quick break from your chores. I’m not someone with green fingers, so I do not relate well with the book but I have no doubt that Postcards From The Hedge will make a perfect gift for any garden enthusiast. Check out what our reviewers on this tour had to say:

Red Sox Mommy – I would recommend this book for any garden lover. It does have some helpful tips sprinkled thorough out the stories that could help even those like me who are not natural gardeners.

The Sewing Mom – I am definitely a novice gardener and I found most of the stories in the book to be very easy to relate to. If you ever tried your hand at gardening you know that while parts of it are easy, other parts can be very labor intensive and even frustrating. Sounds just like life to me and that’s exactly how author Jill Appenzeller relates the stories. I love how she writes, it made me feel as if I was experiencing every garden dilemma, every conversation and every joyous occasion. If I was having a tough day, I knew I could sit down and read a couple of the short stories and I’d end up with a smile on my face.

Brain Foggles – Postcards From the Hedge wasn’t easy for me to read though. I am not a gardener in any sense of the word. The book’s main topic is gardening and uses gardening terminology, which made it somewhat difficult to keep my attention. I was able to find the deeper levels of the essays, but read the book a few essays at a time. It did bring back some memories from my childhood of helping my father in our vegetable garden. The descriptions allowed me to imagine what Jill’s garden must look like also and helped me to relax.

Idaho Jill  - Postcards from the Hedge is filled with garden stories, but more importantly, life stories. When I 1st started reading it, I was afraid that it was going to be to ‘garden-y’ for me. But, the more that I got into the book, the more I could see that every story was very relatable to life, not just gardens.

Happy Healthy Families – I was drawn in to Jill’s reflecting on life, family, and human nature in the context of her ever-changing garden.As the seasons changed, and her garden with them, Jill shares memories, thoughts and wisdom from her life. That is what I enjoyed so much. To listen to someone share their joys sadness, regrets, doubts and questions is without a doubt an inviting reason to take some quiet moments and read Jill’s book.

 

About Island Potcake Dogs:

The adventures of 2 wild dogs, Pot and Cakes, who find a way to survive extreme hardships in the Bahamas and come to live happy lives in the U.S.

Island Potcake Dogs is writen and illustrated by Mary R. Lee and tells the story of two wild puppies called Pot and Cakes, who lived on the island of Nassau in the Caribbean.  As they did not have a home, the poor puppies lived off food given by kind people who leave their dinner pots outside their backdoors. Both dogs learnt that not all people are kind though and I  love how Pot always protect the more timid Cakes.

The dogs met Henry & Mary from US, who were visiting Nassau. The couple grew attached to the puppies and finally brought them back to US to live with them. It was heartwarming to read how Pot and Cakes attended puppy school and adapted to their new home. My daughter was excited to learn about “puppy school” and curious about what was being taught. However, she quickly found the answer to her question as she read on. The puppies’ adventure continued with a summer vacation where Henry and Mary brought them to their cottage by a lake in New Hampshire. Here, Pot and Cakes made new friends and also learnt that it did not pay to nudge a porcupine! Nevertheless, the story ended happily for everyone. There was also a bonus of cutouts at the end of the book which made it extra special for my daughter as she loves arts and craft and cutting was certainly on her list of “Fun Things To Do“.

My daughter and I enjoyed the Island Potcake Dogs for its’ story and cute illustrations. It definitely makes a wonderful bedtime story but don’t just take our word for it…Let’s read what other reviewers thought about the book:

Idaho Jill – To me, this book resonated because we always get our dogs from the pound. The 2 dogs that we have now are age 10 & 16. I love the feeling of rescuing a dog (or 2!) and giving it a better life than it would have had on its own. I am very adamant that the best dogs come from the pound! I love the fact that Henry & Mary brought them home and trained them, fed them, and loved them. My daughter loves dogs, so she really enjoyed the book also. The book was written and illustrated by Mary R. Lee and she really does a wonderful job. Any age group would enjoy this book!

Happy Healthy Families – Adventures and happy endings…..a recipe for a wonderful bedtime story! And there is a special little bonus at the end of the book too–cutouts of the dogs for little ones to cut out and play with!

Mom Most Traveled – I think Island Potcake Dogs does a good job of describing hardship in the dog’s lives without being too doom-and-gloom so as to disturb children, and it has a happy ending!

I remember being very disturbed by the Benji movies when I was a child.

The illustrations in Island Potcake Dogs are adorable. Deeds, my 3-year-old, loves “woof woofs” and is ever intrigued. As an extra special bonus, children can cut out their own paper Island Potcake Dogs at the end of the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection : http://cmp.ly/2

The Parent Reviewers Team recently had a chance to review the “Wonder Hanger” by Hampton Direct, Inc., and every single reviewer definitely could use more closet space. I mean, when you have a growing family (literally), clothes tend to accumulate and it gets hard to keep track. If you had the chance to watch the infomercial, you’ll know how the “Wonder Hanger” can help increase closet space, reduces the possibility of clothes getting all wrinkly and for some, help coordinate their wardrobes according to colors/season!

About Wonder Hanger :

Custom closet organizers can cost between $1,000 and $5,000. Do-it-yourself kits range from $75 to $600. The wonder hanger® is a simple and affordable closet organization idea. This cascading clothes hanger organizer increases closet space by enabling you to stack clothes vertically. Each wonder hanger holds 5 wood, metal or plastic hangers. There are 8 wonder hangers to a package – enough to hang 40 garments – designed to be used together in the same closet to maximize space savings.

Unlike traditional cascading hangers, there is no garment wrestling with the wonder hanger. This clothes hanger organizer’s patent-pending open mouth design allows you to easily add or remove your jackets, skirts, pants and shirts. It is also strong. Supporting up to 20 pounds, it can hold up to 5 heavy winter jackets.

Buy It! : An As Seen On TV product of Hampton Direct, Inc., the wonder hanger retails for $9.99 and can be purchased at major retail chains including Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and CVS and online at www.wonderhanger.com.

As I mentioned earlier, this group of reviewers had a chance to test out the “Wonder Hanger” for themselves, and let’s see what they have to say :

November Sunflower : They were easy to assemble. Just have to insert the hook parks onto the hanger holder part, put it on the pole in the closet and start putting the hangers in (fits 5 hangers on each “hanger”), then take one side down and it all hangs nice, neat and out of the way. Lovely!

Fun Saving Money : Overall I think the Wonder Hangers are a great way to oranize your closet space for very little money. I am in the process of cleaning out my son’s closet and making room for new school clothes and I plan to purchase a few more sets of the Wonder Hangers!

Confessions of an Overworked Mom : I really like the Wonder Hanger for several reasons.  First, it gives me tons more room in my closet so my close are easier to find and they don’t get all wrinkled for being shoved in too tightly.  Second, it stops the hangers from getting all tangled up which then results in things falling off their hangers onto the floor. Third, it’s a very affordable solution. Fourth, it’s very sturdy and easily held my jeans and hoodies!

5 Vinez Monkeys : The Wonder Hanger was so easy to use! They were a little difficult for me to snap together, since they come disassembled, but my husband was quickly and easily able to snap them together. (Apparently I’m a weakling, because he had no trouble at all getting them together.) We started hanging clothes on them right away. Within minutes, I could see a major difference in my closet.

Jumpin-Beans : Yes, YOUR hangers, you do not need to go and buy their hangers, just use the ones crammed into your closet! You can use it for whatever you want, pants, shirts… You decide!

Mom of All Trades : I hung the 6 coats that were currently hanging in the closet onto the Wonder Hangers and my first thought was that it didn’t really give me any extra space, but upon reading about Wonder Hangers on the website, I couldn’t find anywhere that claimed it would give you more space.

Heavenly Savings : I placed half the Wonder Hangers in my husband’s closet and the other half in mine! He said it is nice to have his work shirts all together and his every day shirts in another place together. Plus he says he has more room to store other item such as car models!

Shawn Ann’s World : You can also see that there is more space after using the Wonder Hangers and that they really don’t go down too far towards the bottom of the closet.  For a better comparison of that, I’ll show you my husbands closet, which has a fraction of room and a fraction of the clothes.

Acting Balanced : I was lucky enough to be sent a package of eight Wonder Hangers as a member of Parent Reviewers.  These little devices are great for adding more vertical storage to your closet space!  I love that now, when I hang my husband’s shirts they use more vertical and less horizontal space in my closet!

Owen’s Mom : So my opinion of Wonder Hangers? I am impressed. So simple, and it works. The coats won’t fall off, and they are still easy to see and find. That to me is priceless!

Happy Healthy Families : So after assembling my hangers, into the beckoning closet I went.  I am in love these things! I have my clothes organized, and my husband’s clothes as well.There is actual space in my closet now, and it is so easy to pick out clothes now.

Mogul Baby : I have to say, It did make my clothes look neater. The patent-pending open mouth design gives plenty of space in between for my skirts, jackets and tops. That’s a plus since they don’t get tangled up with each other in the closet. Since they are plastic you might think they could break easily but they are made to be strong.

1stopmom : I tried them out all over the house. In the front closet where all the coats and jackets are. It made such a difference and created a lot more space. In Jazz’s room it made the biggest difference. She has enough clothes to open a small store.

Mommy Goggles : I received a pack of 8 Wonder Hangers and they were perfect for one closet, in fact we  have 2 left over where we have added them to Kambry’s closet. I have already added the Wonder Hanger to my shopping list to pick up next time we are out.

One House Schoolroom : Now for the big moment- I unhooked one side of the Wonder Hangers and moved them to a vertical position, maximizing the closet space. It Worked!! In just minutes my husband’s closet went from overflowing to neat and organized.

 

Su had reviewed Dana Lehman’s  “A lesson about Teasing” and “I Double Dare You!” a few months ago, and had plenty of good things to say about both books. So, I was looking forward to receiving the latest title in the Walnut Grove Series called “I Can Do It“.  My 6 year old daughter was in the stage where she has learnt enough vocabulary to enjoy reading books on her own, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect!

First of all, hardcover books are my favourite for young children as they are more durable. So, I was glad to see that  ”I Can Do It” came in hardcover. That’s extra brownie points! ”I Can Do It“  is a story about Sammy the squirrel  with racoon eyes, who decided to bring his cousins and friends to Whispering Willows for a visit. On their way to the enchanted forest, Bucky The Beaver overcame his fear of swimming and managed to catch a giant frog in Paradise Pond. And when they finally reached Whispering Willows, Sammy revealed that they were going to build a tree house. Everyone was excited except for Silly, who was not confident of his building skills. Readers will discover how Silly, with the encouragement of his friends, finally gained his confidence and accomplished his task.

My daughter loved the beautiful illustration and also had a lot of fun searching for the hidden frogs and snakes in each page. What a fantastic fun idea! There were also questions at the end of the book which are meant to help young readers understand the  lesson behind the story. As a mom, I felt that it was indeed important to build up a child’s self esteem and confidence from a young age and “I Can Do It” is definitely a great tool to use to convey that message.

Buy It! : You can purchase “I Can Do It” the third book from the Walnut Grove Series , together with the 1st and 2nd book, directly via Lehman Publishing’s website at www.lehmanpublishing.com

Win It! : Lehman Publishing was kind enough to let two lucky readers win the “I Can Do It” book from the Walnut Grove Series, and here’s how: 

• One mandatory entry – Visit www.lehmanpublishing.com and let us know one fact about the author.
• Three additional entries – Tweet this post “Win “I Can Do It!” Book  by Dana Lehman“. Tweet this once a day, entitles you to three additional entries daily! Please leave your twitter ID.
• Five additional entries – If you share this on FB, please leave your FB name in the comment section. 
• Entry is open to all international shipping addresses.
• Giveaway closes on  30th August 2010 (11:59pm) 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/2

They’re here! They’re finally here!!

We were so excited when we were asked to check out these cute little creatures called Squinkies! From the moment I saw them, I knew that my girls were going to love them…. and I was right! Squinkies sent my girls a large pack to check out, and they really did like them. They wanted to play with them as soon as I opened the package! It was so great watching them and listening to them playing with the Squinkies. Their imagination just ran wild as they played, and some of the conversations their Squinkies had were just too funny! They must’ve played for hours with their Squinkies, I can’t imagine if we had any of the larger playsets or more Squinkies! What are Squinkies??? Well, they’re a soft, squishy surprize!

There’s hundreds of them to collect, and series of Kitties, Pets, Friends, Puppies, Ponies and Babies. The pack that we received even had some surprise Squinkies! The fun thing about them, is that my girls can play with them as stand alone toys, or with these very cute play sets that are also available. My favorite so far is a little puppy Squinkie that we received, my girls favor the kitties, and a teeny little elephant!

We did also receive the Cupcake Surprise Bake Shop, which is so cute! I also like that it provides a little bit of storage for the Squinkies when the girls aren’t playing with them. Squinkies also sent us the Under The Sea Surprize, and the Princess Surprize Bracelet. My girls were just so excited. I wish I would’ve had the video camera running when I took the play sets out of the box. My girls were screaming with excitement that they had play sets to play with their Squinkies!

Buy It! : I can’t wait to check out more of these Squinkies! Learn more about Squinkies at their very cute website, www.Squinkies.com and check out all of the great coloring pages on their activities page! Find Squinkies on Facebook , Twitter & YouTube !

Win It! : Squinkies is offering 1 grand prize, consisting of a deluxe playset of the winner’s choice plus a collection of dolls and accessories, and 5 runner up prizes consisting of a blister pack of 16 dolls!! Isn’t that just awesome?!!! All you have to do is :

• First Mandatory Entry- go to the Squinkies website and check out their great products.  Then come back and leave us a comment telling us which squinkies and playset you would like to win.
• Two Additional Entries- Follow us on twitter and tweet this giveaway.  Please leave an additional comment including your twitter id and your tweet url. Do it everyday with this “Win a Grand Prize of Squinkies dolls and deluxe playset from parentreviewers.com“
• Three Additional Entries- Go read one of the fabulous parenting articles on our website and leave a comment on the post.  Then come back here and leave us an additional comment including the post url that you read.
• Giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway ends 23rd August 2010   (11:59pm) and winners 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/2

1. Cathi Crismon

2. Asha Pena

3. Melissa Cleaver

4. Annette Taylor

5. Pending for reply from winner

6. Pending for reply from winner

With over 112 million books sold, there is no doubt that Chicken Soup For The Soul provides the best family friendly stories that will truly inspire and entertain people of all ages. Being a fan, I am delighted to hear that Chicken Soup For The Soul has licensed Screen Media Films, one of the premiere independent suppliers of motion pictures, to release feature films on DVD and VOD as “Chicken Soup for the Soul Presents.”  Screen Media has already acquired 11 feature films for this label and as readers of Parent Reviewers, you will stand a chance to win a copy of the DVDs listed below. Now, how cool is that?

Smile – Starring Mika Boorem, Beau Bridges, Sean Astin and Cheri Oteri

Lin resides in a world of quiet hardship in rural China, longing to live without fear or shame. Katie lives in a world of pampered ease in Malibu and strives for something new and challenging in her life. When these two worlds come together, through a charity called, “Doctor’s Gift” (based on Operation Smile), their lives are forever changed. Smile is an uplifting story powerfully told and beautifully acted that will inspire your soul and warm your heart. 108 min. PG-13

Canvas – Starring Marcia Gay Harden and Joe Pantoliano

When Mary’s mental illness puts herself and her family in jeopardy, her husband and son helplessly watch as she is torn from her family by the police. Forced to raise a boy on his own and cope with his wife’s schizophrenia, father and son learn what it is to truly be a family. Inspired by a true story, this critically acclaimed and award winning film is as full of hope and humor as it is heartbreaking performances. 100 min. PG-13

 School of Life – Starring Ryan Reynolds and David Paymer

Ryan Reynolds lights up the screen as the charismatic and hip Mr. D, a teacher whose lessons extend far beyond the classroom. A heartwarming tale of learning to appreciate every moment we’re given, School of Life, is a funny and touching story about life in school, but more importantly, the human spirit. 110 min. PG.

Buy It :  Screen Media has created a special coupon code for our readers. If you are interested in purchasing copies of the DVDs, you can do so at http://screenmediafilms.net/chickensoup/. When you checkout, use the code “CHICKENSOUP” (without the quotes) and your DVDs will be $9.99 each

 Win It : For August, we’re giving away 3 DVDs from Chicken Soup For The Soul, one copy to each winner. To enter for a chance wo win, all you need to do is subscribe to our feed via email. Button is on the top right side bar. We have different prizes each month and as long as you are subscribed, you will stand a chance to win these prizes. Yes, it’s really that easy!

Disclosure : Giveaway copies of the above DVDs are proudly sponsored by www.chickensoup.com.

I love to entertain- during the summer it is not uncommon for us to have a group of friends over every weekend.  One of my least favorite parts of entertaining is the clean up- either washing a bunch of dishes or cleaning up the spills from the cheap paper plates that were used.  No Fun!!

I was approached recently to review a great company called Smarty Had A Party- and boy was I excited.  Smarty Had A Party has the solution to my problem- they provide an amazing selection of elegant disposable dinnerware!!  The package we received had a sample selection of many of their wonderful dinnerware pieces and I was truly amazed!!  The items were such wonderful quality and they were so impressive.  The disposable silver flatware had to be my favorite- I truly thought they were real silver until I picked one up and discovered it was plastic- amazing!!

Our sample selection also included dinner dishes, amazing folded napkins, cups and tumblers, and so much more.  There are also table linens, candles, centerpieces, placecards and serving accessories available on the website.  Smarty Had A Party provides everything you could possibly need to host an amazing party or get together.

Here is the Biography of Paper Plates from the Smarty Had A Party website:

This is the story of plastic plates. Once upon a time, being a plastic plate meant you were a cheap little throw away party plate. You were not elegant, you were not fancy, and you surely weren’t proud of yourself. People found you to be, well, frankly, disposable. They preferred china plates, and would have never considered plastic plates to be elegant. Oh, no, they would have said! We would NEVER use disposable plates at our elegant party! Plastic plates are just not fancy enough!

Enter Smarty Had A Party, aka Smarty Pants. Smarty realized that there is a better way to party and plan an event. This party supplies, catering supplies and wedding supplies store decided to put together for you the most amazing selection of plastic dishes and unique catering supplies for excellence in presentation. Smarty has now become synonymous with elegant party supplies, and elegant disposable catering is now at every party planner’s fingertips.

So now, years later, the plastic plate has grown up. Suddenly, plastic plates have matured into beautiful, elegant disposable dishes that you would be proud to use at your elegant wedding or party. These party plates cost less than a rental! And they are much more beautiful! You don’t have to wash your party dishes anymore – you can now party with beautiful, fancy, elegant disposable plates, cups, napkins & cutlery.

Party guests and party planners began taking notice. Brides realized that they can have the most stunning and care-free weddings using plastic plates and tumblers! Smarty has exquisite plastic disposable stemware, and the wedding supplies and catering supplies to make that champagne toast party perfect.

At last, plastic plates have taken their rightful place in the world of elegant parties. Finally, wedding supplies are convenient as well as beautiful. Plastic dishes are respectable! The plastic plate was a true elegant wedding and party plate, and drank from plastic wine glasses happily ever after.

The End.

Here are just a few of the amazing selection available at Smarty Had A Party:

The products available at Smarty Had A Party are great for any large gathering- weddings, showers, cookouts, birthday parties, the list goes on and on.  We are big fans of Smarty Had A Party and will be using their amazing dinnerware for our next great dinner party!!
 

Buy It! : You can purchase all of the amazing dinnerware by Smarty Had A Party on their website.  Be sure to check them out for your next big gathering!!

Win It! : Smarty Had A Party had generously donated  A Party Kit For 10  to one of our lucky readers.  To enter:

• First Mandatory Entry- go to the Smarty Had A Party website and check out their great products.  Then come back and leave us a comment telling us your favorite product on the website and what event you might use it for.
• Two Additional Entries- Follow us on twitter and tweet this giveaway.  Please leave an additional comment including your twitter id and your tweet url. Do it everyday with this “Win a Smarty Had A Party Party Kit For 10 from Parent Reviewers“
• Three Additional Entries- Go read one of the fabulous parenting articles on our website and leave a comment on the post.  Then come back here and leave us an additional comment including the post url that you read.
• Giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway ends 16th August 2010   (11:59pm) 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.

Good Luck!!

Disclosure of Material Connection : http://cmp.ly/2

A few months ago, we had the opportunity to review the first volume of Rock ‘N Learn Phonics DVD.  Now, the 2nd Volume from this music-licious DVD is now available and we had a blast reviewing. The core (and very serious) review team included a 5 year old and a 8 year old. It had the upbeat rock n rollin’ music that my kids are very familiar with. Having learnt lots from the previous volume, this 2nd volume introduces several new phonetics like long vowels (a,e,i,o and u), practicing them in sentences like ire, are, air, and phonemic segmentation (counting the number of syllables), and of course, the stories and songs.

The reviewers absolutely loved dancing to the beat, and also mimicking “Mr. Lips” (or so they’ve nicknamed it). When it came to the story-reading, it got a little too fast for the 5 year old, but the 8 year old kept up to it. I think given time, the 5 year old would have no problem catching up to a faster level. The combination of the catchy music with the longer words do seem to help them with the various rules.

About the creators of Rock ‘N Learn :

Working as a school psychologist in 1986, Richard Caudle saw the need for multi-sensory learning programs using the styles of music that kids love. He consulted his younger brother Brad, an accomplished musician, to record their first program to help kids learn multiplication facts. Strong sales of this recording in the school specialty and book markets led to other programs and the start of a successful company.

Richard and Brad never varied from their number one goal of providing children with programs that would make learning easier as well as fun. Brad’s wife Melissa, a former second-grade teacher, writes material and coordinates educational research for Rock ’N Learn. Richard’s wife, Kathie, manages sales and marketing.

Buy It! : My kids really loves (re)playing Rock ‘N Learn Phonics DVD Vol. 2. There are several ‘ah-ha’ moments on why certain words are pronounced differently even when the spelling of the words are seem pretty straightforward. The boys really enjoyed the combination of music, rhymes and graphics in this DVD. I think this would make a great teaching aid for parents or educators, when it comes to phonetic reading. Now, Rock ‘N Learn has made it easier for you to rent these DVDs via youtube.com. Check out their website for more details! It is available for purchase at $19.99. Right now, they are having a special promotional price for both volumes, at $34.99, with a savings of $5.

Win It! : Here’s a great chance to win the newly launched “Rock ‘N Learn Phonics DVD Vol.2″! Thanks to Rock ‘ n Learn, we’re giving away a DVD of your choice. Read on for details :

• One Mandatory Entry- visit Rock ‘N Learn and leave a comment letting us know which of their fabulous and fun DVD  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. A TWEET A DAY, GIVES YOU 2 ENTRIES!! Tweet this : “Win this fabulous Rock ‘N Learn Phonics Vol.2 at parentreviewers.com“
• Giveaway is open to all shipping addresses.
• Giveaway ends 9th August 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/2