The Way They SEE It: TOS Review

I’ve been using The Way They SEE It: A Book for EVERY PARENT About the Art Children Make by Brenda Ellis with Ruby for several weeks now. As part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Review Crew, I was asked to review it and let you all know how it works, and what I – and Ruby – think of it.

 

The Way They SEE It is from Artistic Pursuits. It is their preschool level book. They offer books for every student, preschool through high school. From their website, the preschool level is for ages 3, 4, and 5 and offers:

• 26 Grown-Up Talks offer practical advice for parents
• 26 Picture Talks introduce works by the Masters, followed by art projects that help children gain skills in art
• 36 art projects that can be revisited repeatedly during the preschool years

First of all, Ruby LOVES art. Drawing, painting, coloring… she gets entirely enthusiastic about it. When we ran short on time one day, she begged to do two “lessons” the next day. She’s been entirely thrilled to have art as her lessons each day and won’t possibly let me “forget” to do it. We’re speeding through the book and going to have to start back at the beginning when she finishes. She’s loved every minute of it – especially those days when paint is involved.

 

Each lesson we’ve done begins with “Picture Talk” – a painting/drawing made by a “real” artist and discussion questions regarding the picture. The first one was flowers in a vase with bugs and shells in the picture. It was like pulling teeth. “Where’s the bug?” “Umm…” She just wanted to get to the paint. “Where’s the black shell with white spots?” “Ummm… I don’t know.”

Contrast that with a more recent lesson, weeks later. She picked it apart like a pro. She pointed out things I didn’t ask about. Progress. Dramatic progress. As a momma who is artistically challenged, this was a book I could do – easily. I was happy to find I can encourage her artistic bent without being skilled with pen/paper/paint or any other medium with which I find myself lacking the skill to produce anything of beauty.

The Way They SEE It was created to explain to the parent how their child views art – and to encourage creativity from the child.

Of course, Ruby wasn’t the only one who got in on the fun. (Pardon my giving Charlotte the muddled watercolors. I assure you, she only damaged them further.)

The Way They SEE It is offered in the Artistic Pursuits store for $47.95. An art supply pack is available for $69.00 should you desire the have all the supplies needed gathered for you. If you want to gather your own, a detailed list of materials needed and recommended brands (I was glad to see my Crayola-only crayon and paint fetish was approved by someone qualified!) is in the front of the book and required items we already had on hand for the most part. The book is comb-bound with a plastic protector over the softcover book. (Smart thinking!)

(Ruby studied pictures of nature, rubbed the bark on our maple tree, rubbed a leaf from the tree, and painted her own picture of it.)

This book has been so much fun to teach. Ruby’s enthusiasm for art has been contagious these last weeks… and we’re going to have to replace those watercolors soon. She’s painted and colored and painted and used markers and painted and painted… It’s a good thing. A very good thing.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of these materials through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this review are mine and my family’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.

Soft Scrub: Review and Giveaway

Soft Scrub sent me a bottle of their Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath and Kitchen Cleanser to try and review and three coupons for a giveaway.

As soon as it came, I poured it on my kitchen counter. I’ve tried without success to get one particular stain off of there, and I thought if it could do that, it can do anything.

It helped, but it didn’t solve everything up there. But I took it to the sink, and she shines. The top of the stove cleaned up great with it. It handled the bathroom limescale without issue.

So… it can’t take the stain off my counter. It would seem nothing can. But if the sink next to the stained counter is shining… can we just notice that instead? It did a great job on the stainless steel sink, and the faucet in the bathroom greatly appreciates it’s efforts. It’s a keeper.

Want to try it too? Comment here, comment on my facebook page, like this post, and share on your own page. Each comment and like gets you one entry, and sharing gets you three. Let me know in your comment if you shared this blog post.

Drawing is Saturday at noon CST 3/9/13.

Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends: Review and Giveaway

I recently received for review a box of Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends. With 10 grams of whole grain, 120 calories and 6 grams of sugar, they rank higher than Honey Nut Cheerios (an all-time favorite in my house).

But… how do they taste?

The box was gone in two days. I’m thinking the troops like them. Judging from the “Can we buy more of these?” and the “Do you HAVE to give the coupons away or can we just keep them?” I think they get the seal of approval.

If you’d like to try them for yourself, comment here, comment on my facebook page, and like this post. Share it on your page and let me know you did so for an extra three entries, giving a grand total of 6 entries per person. Drawing is Friday at noon CST.

What’s for dinner? Floppity Flop Flop Flop.

I made this for supper tonight: Pressure Cooker Recipe – Beer Can Chicken. Their photo looked fabulous.



(Photo Credit)

When I eagerly peeled open my pressure cooker, I anticipated beauty. What stared at me instead:



Oh, the horrors. What on earth did I do wrong?!

It looks like road kill. It even has the cast off cheap beer can.



Then, I added the butter and herbs to my red potatoes that I’d so carefully peeled around the center of each, also expecting beauty. I “shook gently to toss”. And they fell apart.



But darn it, I didn’t ruin the peas. I can boil a bag of peas to perfection, my friends. Be proud to be numbered among my followers. For sure.

Ugh.

Abraham’s Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream TOS Review

My most recent review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Review Crew is for Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream by Robert and Kathleen Basmadjian. From Inspiring the American Dream and published by Ambassador International, it’s “Finally, a Children’s Book that Celebrates THE AMERICAN DREAM!”.



The book begins with Abraham in “the Great Recession”, hearing what, with the economy today, so many people are going through: his parents are laid off from their jobs and money is tight. Christmas gifts are out of the question. Abraham is determined to buy gifts for his family, but he doesn’t have any money for them either.

Abraham texts his friends, and then “magic” happens. An older man strongly resembling Abraham Lincoln appears on his screen and pulls Abraham into another world that allows Abraham to meet many successful people in American history and here and now. They each have a lesson, a story, and encouragement for Abraham to realize his own American Dream.



I had Liberty (age 9) read Abraham’s Journey and write a report on it. She enjoyed the book and had a lot to say about it (3 paragraph requirement turned into 3 pages from Liberty!) and learned a lot from it. As a family that’s not “technologically savvy” as some – and perhaps, most – some of it went over her head. There was still a lot to be gleaned from the story though, and it was well written and she understood the message. Perseverance, compassion, and sharing with others beyond the scope of his family were all themes of the story. These were well-communicated, and Liberty mentioned them in her report.

Eden (age 8) picked up the book (if you knew Eden, you know I’d have had to tie her down to keep that from happening) and also read it. She really liked it. As a more outgoing child, she’s seen a bit more in the world of technology from others and I think that helped her understand what the story was talking about. I got a play-by-play of the story from her, and she was able to understand the story pretty well. She was really enthusiastic about it – more than Liberty. Liberty much prefers literature with a firm grasp on reality, but Eden was more appreciative the fanciful aspect.

I think Abraham’s Journey would be a great book to read as the beginning of a unit study on the American Dream and what that really means, or as a beginning to a study on any of the people he “encounters” on his digital journey. At 40 pages, it quickly touches on Martin Luther King, Jr., Amelia Earhart, Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Abraham Lincoln, and Norman Rockwell as a few famous Americans who have pursued their American Dream. From here, I’ve assigned each girl to pick one of the characters and learn more about them for an oral report with visual aids. I think it’s important for them to learn more about culture and what the phrase “American Dream” means, and the famous people – what made them famous and what they agree/disagree about the causes they each championed. Abraham’s Journey was a great place to start.

Abraham’s Journey can be purchased at for $14.99. It was written for ages 7-12, but I think a few years younger and older than that can also benefit from reading it or hearing it read aloud.

Click HERE to read more TOS Review Crew Reviews on Abraham’s Journey.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this review are mine and my family’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.

Improvise.

Charlie wanted to sample the fried chicken as it was coming out of the pan tonight. I warned her it was hot. Seconds later, she informed me she’d fixed it.

Ruby thought her clever and joined in the fun – although it looks like she got a little napkin with her chicken!

Dear Pierce,

I love you. You know I do. But if you want a mother who is sane (and you do. You may not realize it now, but a mother who’s drooling and telling stories of your blow-outs and temper tantrums to potential spouses will make you wish you’d been nicer to me.) you have to slow down. Climbing onto the kitchen table and eating sugar from the sugar bowl, pulling pins from my sewing project, and eating toothpaste as fast as you can squirt it in your mouth is not going to lead anywhere good. Today’s box of Honey Bunches of Oats spread across most of the house was not cool. The dirt belongs in the plant, not on the floor or in your mouth. And for Pete's sake, leave your sister alone when she’s losing her lunch for the 36th time this week.

I’ll be embarrassing, I assure you. I can only handle so much, and you’re very nearly crossing that line.

You’re playing with fire, dear boy.

Love,

Momma