Homework Helper in a Box

Because I can’t resist worrying about things long before I need to, I’ve been wondering how we are going to deal with the whole “Mom I need to research _____ for school” issue once Little J is a bit older. I am completely against him having internet access in his room and we don’t really have the set up for a centrally located computer where I could keep an eye on him. Maybe we’ll move before it becomes an issue.

But if we don’t, I will definitely let him use Microsoft Student! The folks at Mom Central Consulting kindly asked me to review a copy of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008. This is a great solution for families facing the exact problem I will be – how to provide a collection of relevant, reliable information without setting your kids loose on the internet. It includes articles that can be accessed through searches as well as an atlas, dictionary, thesaurus, and language translator. It also has a companion, Encarta Kids which is geared younger learners aged 7 to 12.

But, Microsoft Student goes beyond just an encyclopedia. It is a full service homework helper! It includes the amazing MS MATH which includes tools, tutorials and step by step problem solving instructions to help students learn math concepts. Included in MS MATH is a full featured graphing calculator (valued at $100+) AND free online access to “Hotmath” ($49.95 value). Students can quickly find their textbook, and select the problem they are solving. Using the Equation Solver, they can instantly receive step-by-step guidance on how to solve a problem, and what the correct answer should be. (Take it from a former tutor…at $30 - $50 an hour, this more than pays for itself after one or two uses.)

The learning essentials section has great templates to get students started writing reports and presentations. It includes great organizational and brainstorming tools such as K-W-L charts and Venn diagrams that support the types of things your student is learning in school! It even has organizational tools to help with college applications.

The language section is a must-have for anyone who is taking a beginning level foreign language. It supports four languages and can translate either way as well as conjugate verbs. (I SO wish I had this when I was struggling with Spanish in high school!)

The literature feature contains over 1,000 book summaries in a Cliff-Notes type format. The teacher in me cringes a bit at this feature but realizes that most students have access to this type of material somewhere or other and any good teacher can tell whether or not a student has actually read the text. These can always be a good review tool. ‘Nough said.

This really is a great program and is an absolute steal at $37.50. The great folks at Mom Central Consulting and Microsoft have generously provided me with a copy to give away to one lucky commenter. If you’d like to have a copy for yourself, leave me a comment . Please remember to leave me a way to get in touch with you! Our random winner generator (Little J) will be picking a lucky winner out of a hat.
All entries must be in by midnight CST Friday February 29th.

Please check system requirements here. Please read them carefully – I did not and had an old version of Office 2000. I managed to make quite a mess of my laptop and wasn’t able to get much work done for a couple of days until the wonderful folks at my office’s tech-support (thank you guys!!!!) upgraded me to Office 2003 and got me back up and running. Lesson learned!

Need More Time in the Morning?

Yeah right, who doesn't! And what is the one thing that we all know shouldn't fall victim to the morning rush, but often does?
Breakfast.

The folks at Breakfast Breaks know that mornings can be crazy and they have put together a portable, and more important HEALTHY, breakfast in a box. I admit...I was a bit skeptical of these at first. I am a huge fan of convenience, but it usually comes with a high price: empty calories, high fructose corn syrup-laden juice imposters, sugar-loaded cereals...you know what I'm talking about, right?

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up my box of Breakfast Breaks and found.....
100% real juice
whole grain cereals
100% natural dried fruit
(The stuff I was already giving Little J anyway!) plus
a spoon, napkin, AND a wet wipe already packaged up and ready to go, all I needed to supply was the milk for the cereal.

Now on an average day, I can probably handle getting all of this together for my child on my own - but the next day was the day that we needed to bring my parents to the airport for their early morning flight out of this wintry abyss and getting out of the house on time was going to be a struggle. Throw in ANOTHER snowstorm and a frantic call from my mother saying they would like to leave an hour earlier than planned and my whole schedule went completely out the window.

Enter Breakfast Breaks! Little J happily ate his yummy, nutritious breakfast in the backseat while I drank down a Grande Latte (at least it has calcium) for my nourishment. Now, if they can come up with an adult version that can be eaten with one hand while battling airport traffic in a snowstorm....

Breakfast Breaks come in four varieties.

I love you, You love me...NOT!

Okay, I admit that's a strange title for a Valentine's day post, but I DID get your attention didn't I? Don't worry, Big J is not in the doghouse. (The man bought me a much wanted Roomba for Valentine's Day - he is very NOT in the doghouse!)

No, I am referring to that most annoying Barney song - know the one I am talking about?? Luckily we managed to navigate the whole kiddie music scene without turning to the purple dinosaur. Thanks to some pretty cool friends who already had kids, we were introduced to Dan Zanes, Justin Roberts, The Imagination Movers and Laurie Berkner early on in the game and found them quite tolerable.

As great as these artists are, they are still singing kid music and they are still very much Little J's CD's. Recently, I was given a CD that BOTH Little J and I adore. It is called "That Baby CD" and I cannot say enough great things about it! It contains wonderfully done acoustic covers of songs that you have actually heard outside of a preschool classroom. Songs that you have heard - yes! - on the radio...songs by Bruce Springsteen, The Pretenders, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Marley, The Beatles and more.

Not only are the song choices great, but the arrangements are simple and beautiful. The singers are perfectly chosen to compliment each song and the words are easy to understand, even for a preschooler. My personal favorite is Songbird. The beautiful vocals accompanied by a haunting violin and guitar are just breathtaking. I have to admit that this CD has been getting heavy rotation (can you say that with CDs?) in the car, even when Little J isn't riding with me.

There is also a companion DVD ( named of course That Baby DVD) which features children dancing and lip synching the songs as well as puppets and other visuals. In between the songs are mini-lessons on letters and numbers. It is both interesting and calming at the same time. Little J was absolutely taken with it and has asked to watch it over and over again.

The CD is absolute must-have for anyone with ears. You can bundle it with the DVD for added savings and create a great gift for a baby shower, birthday, or any special occasion. An added bonus? If either ever becomes scratched, the company will replace them free of charge!Want more information or to listen to some samples? Click the logo below and check out their website. Pick up a CD/DVD for yourself and one for a friend - you will not be disappointed!

Froose

Is your child CONSTANTLY asking for juice? I know Little J is, and I began to worry that perhaps all the juice I was giving him wasn't the best for his little growing body. I do water it down quite a bit, but still...is there something better out there?

Turns out, other moms are wondering the same thing. And some of those moms are inventors and nutritionists and in a position to do something about it. And one of those moms invented Froose.

Froose is the brainchild of Denise Devine, a Mom of three, who was working for a major food company and was herself frustrated by the lack of healthy choices for her young children. Her Mom-instincts kicked in when she noticed her son drinking fruit juice all day long and then, after filling up on empty calories, she'd find him not hungry for dinner. She set out to develop a nutritious smoothie-like alternative to juice incorporating whole grains, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. After several years of research, in collaboration with The International Food Network at Cornell, Denise now holds 19 process and composition patents that ultimately enabled her and her team to create a drink that suspends whole foods in liquid form. The resulting beverage is Froose.

With statistics about childhood obesity growing scarier every day, it's great to have a drink that combines the best of whole grains and fruit in one nutritious, portable package. Froose comes in grab-and-grow™ 4 oz. juice boxes, making it a convenient, tasty and nutritious alternative to juice. One box of Froose contains only 80 calories and a healthy amount (3 grams) of fiber. Sweetened with organic brown rice syrup, a complex carbohydrate (which means No Sugar High and No Empty Calories!), it is also wheat and gluten free.

Learn more about Froose at (where else?) http://www.froose.com/ ! You can place an order there and try it for yourself.

Cranium Bloom

Does your preschooler have gift cards from the holidays?

Duplicate presents that need to be returned?

Too many video games?

Is s/he climbing the walls this winter?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, listen up! You have GOT to check out a new line of games and activities by Cranium Bloom. Thanks to Mom Central, we received both the Let's Go to the Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle and the Let's Play Count & Cook Game.

In a word...fantastic!

Let's Go the the Zoo starts with a puzzle building activity. The pieces are the perfect size for preschool fingers and just the right degree of difficulty. Once the puzzle is done, the players choose one of the sets of cards (either beginner or more difficult) and begin a hunt for different items, numbers, or colors in the puzzle. Once they are found, the preschoolers can circle them with the enclosed erasable marker.

I love how this game works on so many different emerging skills at once. The fact that they even found a way to include fine motor skills (a big challenge for Little J) with the use of the marker is brilliant.

The Let's Play Count & Cook Game is equally as fun. The game consists of collecting the ingredients to different recipes. Each pages also offers tips and lessons on everything from kitchen safety to table manners (yeah!) to cool food trivia. Each recipe is one that can easily be made with your preschooler. Little J especially loved discovering peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Both games include a booklet that includes many ways to add variation to the game and to extend it to the world around you. We have played both games over and over and have yet to tire of them. The teacher in me was VERY impressed with the thought and planning that went into the production of these games! Bravo Cranium!!

All 14 Cranium Bloom games were released exclusively at Target this January.

Keeping Your Home Healthy

As if an answer to my plea for help, the What To Expect Guide To A Healthy Home arrived in the mail last week. This nifty booklet was put together by Heidi Murkoff, the author of What To Expect When You’re Expecting and offers plenty of tips on how to make it through the holidays as well as cold and flu season without getting sick AGAIN.

Does this have my name written all over it or what?? I devoured it cover to cover in no time flat. It’s written in the same friendly, accessible style as the What To Expect books, the author even starts off by reassuring the readers that our homes are probably cleaner than we think. (She obviously hasn’t seen mine lately.)

The booklet covers all the basics of keeping your home clean and healthy as you invite (possibly germ carrying) guests over to visit. It goes through each room and gives tips on how to address the unique problems each one presents. It reinforces many things you already know, but may need to be reminded of, and introduces some new things to consider. For instance: Little J is in the throws of potty training and LOVES to watch as the “fruits of his efforts” are flushed down the toilet. I never considered that tiny droplets of , let’s say, water vapor fly out of the toilet everytime it’s flushed and land on anything nearby. Like the toothbrush on the counter. YUCK! We will be flushing with the lid down from now on.

The second part of the book addresses creating healthy habits for your family (complete with a section on wand washing with some great tips on how to make sure it happens). It addresses everything from your own home to shopping trips (a personal phobia of mine) to daycare/pre-schools. We can’t keep them locked up at home for the whole winter, right?
Interested in more healthy tips? Download your own What To Expect Guide To A Healthy Home booklet right here. If you’re anything like me, every healthy tip helps!!

The Battle Is Over!!

Little J has never loved washing his hands. He would rush through it, barely getting his hands wet, hardly touching the soap, scrubbing for the recommended 15 - 20 seconds? Forgetaboutit!

I tried EVERYTHING:
having him sing his ABC's while he washed
having him sing Happy Birthday
filling the sink with soapy water and letting him splash in it (made a mess!)
getting all kinds of "fun" soaps
you name it - nothing worked!

Then we were introduced to SquidSoap...and washing became fun!

SquidSoap is made by Airborne and is a fun pump soap that puts a little ink mark on your hand when you push down on the pump (like a squid inks - get it?). The idea is that you have to scrub until the ink comes off, by then the required 15-20 seconds have gone by. Simple, but genius.

And just enough of a challenge to keep Little J entertained! (Plus there is the fun of putting the ink spot in a different place each time he washed up.)