We’ve looked into piano lessons for the girls and lessons would be around $30/week for both girls and about one month of lessons at $120 can be a little overwhelming! KinderBach is an online piano program that is geared toward kids between the ages of 4-7 and introduces them to the basics of piano and music instruction.

Piano pals Frisco and Dodi are the main characters who help teach the lessons. They begin by teaching how a keyboard is set up and progress along teaching children how to read notes, learn intervals, and identify rhythm and music patterns. Each lesson reviews prior lessons and then builds on what has been learned previously.

Karri Gregor is the creator of KinderBach and she teaches each of the lessons. Some of the lessons have printable worksheets to go along with the lesson while others are hands on or involve the children in various ways. You can view a syllabus of the lessons  and also view sample video lessons. The lessons are broken up into short segments so they hold the attention of the kids. The worksheets that go along with the lessons are easy to print off and over all the program is very user friendly.

After we had progressed through about 10 lessons both of the girls  complained that the lessons were for “preschoolers” (their words, not mine). That didn’t stop them for wanting to do the lessons though. Zachary also played along with the lessons and he did enjoy them.

Benefits of KinderBach:

1. Saves driving time since you can do the lessons from home.
2. Cost efficient because you can use the lessons with multiple children at a time.
3. Works into your schedule and you don’t need to juggle times around in your week.
4. Fun approach for kids to learn.
5. No musical training is required for you to use the lessons with your kids.
6. Able to work at your own pace with your family to suit your needs.

My Personal Drawbacks:

1. Sharing the computer. Our main computer isn’t in a convenient location for us to have the kids working on the lessons and since our laptop is generally “hands off” for the kids it caused a few issues. Personally I think I would save up for the DVD version of the program and use it that way.
2. The age-appropriateness of the program for our family wasn’t a good fit for the girls. I feel it is geared more toward preschoolers (I would say ages 3-5).
3. Slower internet connections will have difficulty using the online lessons…or if you have a finnicky computer (and the computer in question shall remain nameless).

The full KinderBach online program via their website is $95.88 if paid in full. If you choose to pay month-to-month it is $19.99 month.

If you would like to check out some of their lessons, the first two weeks are available as a free trial. The dvd version of the one-year program and activity books is $222.88. KinderBach has a 30 day money back guarantee. Because Kinderbach offers different choices in teaching piano in your home (online or dvd) you are able to find the best fit for your family.

Trying to get back into the routine of school after a longer than planned break has been a little tough, especially with some subjects. I’ve mentioned more than once that math is the subject here that receives the most moans and groans. Even though I love it, a few of my kiddos brains just aren’t wired the same as mine {go figure}.

Laurianna really dislikes worksheets and it will take her all of eternity to work on some of the most simple {at least to me} problems.  We have figured out that she really needs instant feedback on what she is doing ~ or she won’t move onto the next problem. Working with three other kids doesn’t give me the time to always work 1:1 with her, so there are times when online games/quizzes can be a huge blessing to our homeschool day. Since our math facts are one area that we are planning to focus on {hard} this half of the year, we were happy to receive a trial period to use the online math program of factsfirst.

What is factsfirst?

factsfirst.com is an online math program that was created for Saxon Math, although it would work with any primary math program. It was developed to help children improve their basic math fact skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As children work through the speed drills, quizzes and tests, they are rewarded with ‘arcade time’ where they can play after the completion of a unit.
Children first create a personalized avatar ~ our kids loved that you could put Crocs on their feet. :) Once the avatar is created, they move on to the units.

Children work through units that focus on mastering the basic facts by playing over 350 fun games.

The lessons consist of five basic segments; new facts, commutative property, practice, quiz, and scoring. New facts are gradually introduced to children as they work toward mastery. Facts are grouped in units with each lesson in a unit introducing two new facts. A child masters these facts before starting another unit.

Even though the arcade time is a ‘break’, kids are still working on their math skills while playing different games.

Parents can access an overview sheet to see how each child is doing on their various math facts. There is one sheet for each fact area {addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division}.

What We Liked

Our kids really enjoyed the factsfirst website and the time spent on it. The different games held their interest and Zachary {age 5} was excited because this was one game that he could play along with by doing simple addition facts.

I appreciate the fact that you can have four users per family on the account and that the parents have access to see the progress their kids are making. The progress charts can also be printed off to keep in your records, which is very handy.

The arcade time was also a big hit in our house. I had to laugh when our girls were excited about earning stuffed animals ~ and was thrilled that they weren’t more real ones for our house! :)

Find Out More

The FactsFirst online program is available through Saxon {$49.99}  and your purchase includes a one year subscription to the site for up to four users. If you would like to see a demo of the program, you can visit the main site to see it in action.

Click on the Homeschool Crew banner to read other reviews about this product.

I am always thrilled to find new learning games for our kids ~ ones that are fun, but still work on basic skills like counting, colors, or letters. These Counting Bears from Learning Resources are just too cute!

Cookies Minus the Sugar…

Zachary has been eyeing these bears ever since they showed up at our house. He is a boy that loves to count and put patterns together, so when I pulled it out to use for school time, he plopped right now and helped me get the bears all set up.

The Counting Bears come in a ‘cookie jar’ ~ 40 bears total that look like chocolate and vanilla cookies. Each bear has red hearts on the stomach {anywhere from 1 to 10} and the arms of the bears are able to link to another bear. The bears also come with sequencing cards, matching cards and a spinner, along with four different game ideas.

The bears themselves are nice and thick ~ easy to grab onto and manipulate. The little hearts on their chests are 3 dimensional, so kids can feel how many hearts there are also ~ perfect for little fingers.

Suggested games to play with the Counting Bears are:

• Pair of Bears ~ a memory game to find bears with the same number of hearts
• Bear Match ~ match the bear to one of the cards in the deck
• Who’s Next? ~ make a number line from 1 to 10 by linking the bears
• Red Rover Bears ~ uses the spinner to help identify numbers and players sequence bears in numerical order

Other ideas:

• Patterning
• Sequencing ~ 1, 2, 3, ? {find the bear that comes next}
• Play a game of high/low ~ highest number of hearts wins

We played several different games, but Zachary had a lot of fun putting the bears in numerical order while also completing a pattern. This is a game that we are going to love having around, especially for Kaleb in the coming years!

Planning and organizing are two things that I really enjoy. Sometimes that means making up my own forms and charts and other times I find a product that I just LOVE and use it year after year. Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer is one of those products.

I stumbled across one of her planners over five years ago and have been using it ever since! I’ve even kept my planners to refer to for meal plans and remembering dates because I use them that much. The organizer actually runs for 18 months {from July of one year til December of the following year} so you have plenty of calendar space to write down upcoming plans. When June rolls around, I always look forward to ordering the newest edition!

Here is a shot of what the Family Organizer looks like open:

I know you can’t read all the little print, so I’ll tell you some of my favorite feature from this planner:

• Grocery list – the left side of the book that is shaded actually has a perforated edge so that you can fold it and tear it off and bring it to the store with you
• To Do List – great little area for notes. Sadly I need more room because my lists have lists.
• Week at a Glance – there is a month-at-a-glance also, but this one gives space to write appointments/plans for each day
• Meal planning – next to each day of the week there is a spot (in the right shaded area) to write down what you have planned as a meal for that day of the week.

There are other great aspects of it too (color coded stickers, etc…) and you can check it out on Amy Knapp’s website. I love that it is spiral-bound and can lay flat. When it is open it is about the size of a standard size piece of paper – not too small (that I lose it) and not too big (that I dread seeing it). Mine even has binder clips, things all over it and is very well loved and used!

Find Out More

The Family Organizer {$14.99} is available in several different options, including a Christian version, one for expectant moms, and there are also other formats available other than spiral-bound. Because I use mine and haul it around with me, I also bought a nylon cover for it several years ago and highly recommend that too!

Recently, Amy Knapp has also introduced a digital organizer ~ and has some great deals to go along with that version {including a print copy of the planner}.

Amy Knapp has donated a 2009-2010 Family Planner {$14.99} for TWO of my readers {don’t worry, you each will get your own!}.  There are several ways for you to enter this giveaway, but first please leave a comment letting me know which version you would buy for yourself! 

If you would like to earn extra entries {you can earn 4 extra entries}, leave a comment for each of the following:

• If you are a subscriber to my blog, give yourself an extra entry! Thanks so much! If you don’t subscribe, hop on board and leave a comment. :)
• Look over the Amy Knapp’s site ~ let me know something else that catches your eye and give yourself an extra entry.
• Twitter about this contest and let me know your twitter name so I can follow you too!

This giveaway will be open until  Sunday, January 24th until 8pm and I will announce the winner by Tuesday, January 26th. Please be sure there is a way for me to contact you ~ otherwise I will draw another winner. Note: US Residents only, please!
 

Disclaimer: Thank you to Amy Knapp for providing the giveaway products. This review is based on my own experiences using the Family Organizer and gives my honest opinion.