Littles Learning Link Up: June 26, 2018

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

Last week was a week completely free from school work, including review products. The children really needed a break, because usually, even if we have a no-school week, we are still working on review products. Granted, they did have VBS, but that is not the same as school. They had a blast! It was a local church that we had never been too before. In fact, it's been a while since we went to VBS at any church but our own. It was nice for me too as I had 2 1/2 hours free to get the older girls' portfolios worked on so I could get the paperwork out to my evaluator. And of course, it was Amelia's birthday last Monday. I shared pictures from that special day on my Wordless Wednesday.

We also had a fun "field trip" to a local putter golf place, thanks to winning 2 free games from the library's chinese auction at Community Days. Of course, I will be sharing those pictures in this week's Wordless Wednesday.

This week we do have some review products to work on. Then next week three of the children go to camp. The following week is supposed to be our trip to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky, our end of the year trip celebrating our Creation to the Greeks year. Not sure if we are going yet or not. Hubby hasn't been able to get the time off of work. If we don't count that week as a field trip, we will be having school that week anyway. We'll see. July will definitely be part of our summer session, finishing up the one week of CtG we didn't get to, plus catching up on the art and science we skipped.

And of course, we have summer reading programs starting. One starts this week and the other starts next week.

So, yeah, not too much to share this week. What have you been up to?

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

Last week I shared my review for MaxScholar. This week I will be sharing my reviews for Grammar and Writing 3 from Hake Publishing, and The Master & His Apprentices. 

In July I will be sharing my reviews for Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials, the eGuide for The Josefina Story Quilt from Progeny Press, and the online courses from Northwest Treasures titled Taking the Mystery Out of Geology and Dinosaurs and the Bible.

Don't miss this giveaway!!

Enter to win a copy of the picture book, The Princess and the Pit Stop.

Open to US residents, 18 years and older

Giveaway ends July 8th, 2018

Here are some things I would like to share with you:

Independence Day is next week. Are you looking for some ideas for your children?

And here are some ideas for keeping your children busy this summer.

There are muffin tin meals, desserts, crafts and a fine motor activity.

Patriotic Ideas Round Up

Summer of Fun Round Up

Whether you can get to the beach or not, here are some fun beach related ideas.

Beach Fun Round Up

Maybe you prefer to camp over going to the beach. I have a round up for that as well.

Camping Fun Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there was only 1 wonderful post linked up. I'll be featuring it below.

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's featured post is:

Brandy from The Barefoot Mom shared Toothpick Gumdrop Geometry.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.

I am sharing over at

An InLinkz Link-up

The Princess and the Pit Stop Picture Book {A Review and Giveaway}

We had the opportunity to read a really cool, fast-paced picture book titled The Princess and the Pit Stop.

This 48-page, hardcover book is written by bestselling author Tom Angleberger and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat. It is suitable for young elementary-aged children, around 5-8 years old, give or take a couple of years.

In this story, the Princess is in a car race, one that is almost over. It is the last lap and she has just made a pit stop where she was informed she was in last place, which of course makes her situation seem hopeless. But instead of giving up, she hits the gas, and with a burst of rainbow-powered speed, she starts passing all the other racers, who all happen to be fairy tale or nursery rhyme creatures of course.

She zings past all these characters while the author uses words that connect with the characters with their stories. Such as leaping past the rabbits from Peter Rabbit, and spinning out Rumpelstiltskin, and butting in front of the three Billy Goats Gruff. 

We see familiar characters such as wicked witches (from three stories), Jack and Jill, the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. But there are also less familiar faces, such as the Golden Goose, the Ugly Duckling, and the Cobbler.

Even when it seems like she may not make it, she doesn't give up and steps on the gas.

And of course, she ends of winning the race. After dealing with typical race-winning duties (spinning donuts, getting her trophy, and a couple of other things), she invites everyone to a party at the castle. Because, I mean, what is a fairy tale story without a castle?

The story is told by a narrator and the frog sports commentator. When we see the regular text, we know the narrator is telling the story, but then we also see the zigzag speech bubbles and know the frog is telling what is going on in the race.

I love that all these different characters are included, some of them in very unique vehicles, such as the mine cars for the dwarfs and the pie car that the four and twenty blackbirds burst out of. The racetrack even has a hill with a well at the top that she beats Jack and Jill down. All of which are wonderful ways to connect the characters with their stories.

I can see this story appealing to a wide range of children. There are those who love fairy tales who will love to see all their favorite characters. Then there are those who love cars who will enjoy seeing the race. And for those parents who are tired of seeing a sparkly princess in need of rescue, you will be able to share this spunky princess who takes charge and wins against all odds.

For our family, this was a huge hit as we have those who love princesses, and those who love racing. We love fairy tales as well, and we also love the movie Wreck-It Ralph, which I immediately thought about when I saw this book. You know, princess in a race, dealing with impossible circumstances. I love the way the illustrator gives action to the story with the rainbow burst, the lines showing speed, the dust and smoke swirling and the traffic cones being knocked over.

This is a great book for sharing these familiar children's story characters in a new setting, while being reminded of their stories. If your children don't already know these tales, it is also a great way to introduce them, and then head out and grab their stories to read.  Of course, children who know the stories will be the ones who understand the connections the best. Such as when the Gingerbread man admits that the princess "Can catch me" or when Little Bo Peep and the sheep try to stay with the princess "but the Princess lost 'em!"

This is a wonderful book, and one I highly recommend.
The Princess and the Pit Stop is published by Abrams Books for Young Readers. You can purchase the book for $16.99.

Here's a little more information about the author and illustrator:

Tom Angleberger is best known for his bestselling Origami Yoda series. He is also the author of the Qwikpick Papers series, the Inspector Flytrap series, Fuzzy, McToad Mows Tiny Island, and many other books for children. Visit him at origamiyoda.com

Dan Santat is a critically acclaimed author-illustrator best known for his Caldecott-winning picture book The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. You can visit him at dantat.com.

And now for the great news! One of my readers will get to win their own copy of The Princess and the Pit Stop. 

Giveaway Time!

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 

There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. 

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning. 

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over. 

The giveaway runs June 25th through July 8th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a hardcover copy of The Princess and the Pit Stop in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- June 26, 2018

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on  Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups. 

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

Featured Giveaway

The Princess and the Pit Stop Picture Book US only Ends 7/8

Featured Reviews

Improving Reading Skills with MaxScholar {A TOS Review}

Improving Cursive Handwriting with New American Cursive from Memoria Press {A TOS Review}

If you would  like to follow the  hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.

Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #209: June 21, 2018

Welcome back to... 

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around June 21st, from any previous year)  I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below. (If you don't have anything from this current week, it is still okay to link up with a post from a previous year around this time. And if you haven't been blogging for a full year, feel free to share any earlier post.)

Please make sure to share from the past as instructed above. Most weeks I find that there is a wonderful post, but I can't feature it because it is a current post, not from the past. Sadly, I am going to have to say, I will be deleting posts that do not follow the rules. The spirit of Throwback Thursday Blog-Style is to share posts from the past. Please follow the guidelines.
Thank you

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post. 

Here is my Throwback Thursday post:

Originally posted June 21st, 2017
Adventuring Through American History with Rush Revere {A TOS Review}

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Pglooney from Looney for Food shared 

Weight Loss Tools

To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Throwback Thursday Blog-Style permalink please.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

An InLinkz Link-up

Improving Reading Skills with MaxScholar {A TOS Review}

We had the opportunity for the older girls to work on their reading skills through MaxScholar, an online reading program. We received a full 12-month subscription so we could try out their Reading Intervention Programs. Honestly, at first I wasn't sure if this program was something we would need, as it is meant to help children with dyslexia, learning disabilities, ADHD, processing problems, and others who are struggling with learning to read. None of these categories fit my children. However, when I realized they could work on language skills and reading comprehension, I figured it might just be helpful for preparing the girls for their standardized tests. Tabitha had these past several weeks to work on skills before having to take her 5th grade test, while Amelia will get a chance to utilize a full twelve months of being on the program before she is required to take her 5th grade test next spring.

There are the 3 main programs: MaxPhonics, MaxWords, and MaxReading. And there are several additional programs: MaxMusic, MaxVocab, MaxPlaces, and MaxBios. These reading intervention programs are multisensory and use various research based methods, such as the Orton-Gillingham approach and the Lindamood-Bell Process. The programs are accessible on a computer or on a tablet, and it is recommended to use Google Chrome. In the parent/teacher resource section, there are also materials that can be printed out, so you would want to have a printer. However, I haven't found the need to print anything out as of yet, but having looked at the resources, I plan on using them in the future. Though I was disappointed to see that quite a few of the files are .doc files, which we can't open as we don't have Word. 

When we were given access to MaxScholar, accounts were created for both myself (as the parent/teacher) and the girls (as my students). There was a little snafu at first and the accounts weren't linked. However, they were able to get that fixed right away. 

Here is a look at my dashboard:

From here I can keep track of how my children are performing through the "Reports" section, view the list of students in my class and edit their settings, review the licensing information, access those "Materials" I mentioned above and change my password. 

And here is a look at Tabitha's dashboard:

From here she has access to all the available programs. The main three do require an assessment/placement test to be taken first. 

MaxPhonics is the one program I figured the children wouldn't need to use, as they have both known how to read for years, and we use a phonics based program. MaxPhonics focuses on letters, blends, and digraphs with practice in both forming and pronouncing the sounds. Honestly, it sounds like a great foundational program for learning to read. I did have the girls take the assessment just to make sure I hadn't overlooked something, but they both aced the test, so we moved on.

MaxReading teaches effective reading comprehension strategies, so this was one I knew I wanted to focus on, especially with Amelia. One of my huge reasons for homeschooling our younger children was because of the struggles my older children had in public school when it came to reading comprehension, which translated to problems in all subjects that require the student to read to understand. Which is most of them. It was important to me that it states that MaxReading uses strategies that will help with focus, visualization, and retention, while making sure the child is fully comprehending what they are reading. There are 13 levels, each of which have multi-chapter books. After reading a passage the child will highlight the topic, main idea, and important details and then answer questions. They will also get to practice outlining and summarizing what they read.

MaxWords was actually the program the girls spent the most time in. I know how important it is for the children to build their vocabulary, and this section has multiple ways to do just that. They get to work on syllabication, spelling rules, prefixes and suffixes, plus Latin and Greek roots. Amelia struggled with the assessment a bit and ended up being placed in the first section on syllabication called CLOVER,which I wasn't surprised to discover, as she has always struggled with syllables. Though she placed in CLOVER and chose to focus on working on syllables, she can still access the other modules.

Tabitha did quite well on her assessment, placing in Latin Roots. We decided she should still work in the other modules, which she did, starting in CLOVER. She has worked her way to working with Prefixes and Suffixes.

MaxMusic allows a child to work on reading skills by reading lyrics to songs by popular artists and completing challenges. This is actually a section we will be avoiding due to the secular nature of the songs.

MaxVocab helps a child improve their vocabulary through the dictionary containing all the words in the MaxScholar books. Children can search for the different words, read the definitions and sentences containing those words. They can also play games such as Hangman, Definitions, and Word Search. 

MaxPlaces allows a child to work on reading comprehension. The child will choose one of 51 locations from around the world to read about, then they can use their highlighters as they do in MaxReading to note details, then they are to answer reading comprehension questions.

MaxBios also allows a child to work on reading comprehension. In this section the child will choose to read about famous personalities from the following categories: 

• Entertainment
• Fascinating Men  
• Old School Musicians
• Hip-Hop Artists
• Amazing Women
• Business and 
• Star Athletes

Each category has a decent sized list of people to read about. The child will again use their highlighting skills and answer reading comprehension questions.

Let's look a little closer at the sections the girls chose to work in. 

MaxWords

CLOVER is the module where children work on syllabication. Each of the letters in CLOVER stands for a different type of syllable.

Here is what the letters stand for:

• C- Closed Syllables
• L- Consonant - Le
• O- Open Syllables
• V- Vowel Teams
• E- Vowel - Consonant - E
• R- R - Controlled Syllables

The program will explain the definition of each kind of syllable and then list examples of words which the children are to read. They can click on the words to hear them read to them. Then they will learn the rules for each type of syllable, along with more examples. Then the child is complete some activities, such as choosing the correct syllable division for a list of words. The section concludes with a chance for the child work on their fluency by reading a list of words, seeing how many they can read in one minute.

The girls weren't sure if they needed to read the list once or if they should continue until the timer was actually done. They haven't found a list that they struggled with being able to be finished before the one minute is up, so I just had them continue reading and record how many words they go above and beyond the list. I wish they had a way to stop it to record how much time they had left, or a stopwatch that actually ran up, to see how long it took them to read the words on the list. Because as it is now, they have to let the timer run down to 0 or they aren't considered done with this activity.

The children work their way through the letters in CLOVER. After every two letters there will be a review, followed by a final review after all the letters and reviews have been completed.

In Spelling Rules children are taught 18 different rules through a series of activities.

The child can choose the rule they would like to work on, though Tabitha did work in order. The child starts with the "Listen Up" activity where they hear what the rule is, read an explanation of the rule and then read through a list of words demonstrating the rule. It actually sounds like the computer is supposed to read the explanation as well, but for some reason it cuts off toward the beginning of the sentence.

Then they move on to "Countdown" where they are timed as they are in CLOVER, trying to read as many words as possible in a minute. Next it's "Quiz Time," where the child is to take a short multiple choice quiz. 

I will have to say, I was a bit surprised to see a question where the correct answer actually broke the rule. I have not gone through every quiz, but found it a bit disconcerting that this was on the first spelling rule taught. In the screenshot below the correct answer is "this" yet the spelling rule says that the consonants f, l, and s are to be doubled after a short vowel in one-syllable words. 

I understand that English is full of words that break the rule. It just seemed a bit weird, and potentially confusing, to include this word while teaching the rule.

Some of the lessons end with the quiz, others have a fourth activity called "Fill in the Blank" where children are to drag the correct letter combination to complete a list of words.

Prefixes & Suffixes teaches children the meaning of different prefixes and suffixes, giving the children activities where they look at the context of a sentence or the meaning of the word to see which prefix/suffix needs to be added. Tabitha is in the middle of this section right now. 

Finally, Latin Roots and Greek Roots will allow a child to see how so many of our words in English have their roots in these ancient languages, increasing their vocabulary as they do. They will learn the meaning of each root and see an example before completing a series of activities, such as "Break it Down," "Fill in the Blank," "Move and Match," and "Ultimate Challenge."

MaxReading

In MaxReading the child can choose a "chapter" from the menu.

The program will recommend certain "chapters" from the books in the level the child is working at; however, they can not choose reading selections from higher levels. Though only four chapters are pictured, a child can click on the red-highlighted rectangle to go to the list of books in their level, where a huge selection of chapters are available. In Amelia's current level she can choose from the following books:

• Seasons and Weather
• Creatures
• Picnic Time
• My Neighborhood
• Hobbies
• Places

Unlike a "normal" story book, these chapters are not related to each other except for the fact that they come under the same topic. There are between 9 and 19 different stories in the above books. The following screenshot shows the reading selections found in the "Places" book:

Now, Amelia was not aware that she had these huge lists to choose from. She has been clicking on the recommended stories which appear to be randomly selected, as she has worked on 1 or 2 from each book. I chose this list to screenshot because it shows three different statuses. "Incomplete" appears to mean Amelia clicked on the story and then decided not to do it. Or I guess it can mean a child started working on it and didn't finish. "Start now!" shows that the story has never been started or clicked on. And a letter grade, such as the "A+" shows that the child completed the story and has a grade.

Grades are received through reading the story and completing the activities.

The child can either read the story by themselves or have it read to them by clicking the blue-green speaker icon to the right of the story. Then the child is to highlight the topic, main idea, and important details.

I have to say, it appeared to me that Amelia was highlighting way too many words to count them as "important details." Imagine my surprise when she was quite close to what they were looking for.

This shows her answers compared to the answers they were looking for:

I honestly have yet to figure out how a child is supposed to know what is supposed to be considered an important detail. I don't see any lesson that teaches the child how to determine what to highlight. It seems it is trial and error, working through the program enough and the child will learn which words the program is looking for. I have to say, this is my least favorite aspect about MaxReading. 

After working on highlighting and focusing on the details or the story, the child answers several reading comprehension questions. 

They are able to go back to the text to find their answers, so it isn't the same as taking a test. Once they finish all the question, they will see their score. If they have a high enough score they will be able to play some games. 

There are many opportunities, between MaxReading, MaxBio, and MaxPlaces for children to get practice with improving their reading comprehension.

All in all, I have to say, I am quite impressed with this program. Though not a huge fan of way children have to highlight so much of a story as "important details" I can see that the children are enjoying working on their reading and vocabulary skills. MaxScholar is a wonderful program, not just for those who need reading intervention, but for parents who would like their students to improve their vocabulary and reading skills. I personally can not attest to the MaxPhonics portion of the program; however, it sounds like a great program. I am sure there are plenty of my Crew mates who utilized this section, so don't forget to click on the banner below to see what they had to say about MaxScholar.

You can find MaxScholar on Facebook and Twitter.

Click on the banner below to see what my Crew Mates have to say about MaxScholar

Wordless Wednesday: June 20, 2018 (w/linky) - Happy 10th Birthday Amelia!

Happy Birthday Amelia!

My how she's grown.

June 2008-Birth

10 Years Old

Traditional coming down the stairs picture.

Traditional breakfast

10 year old tradition, receives $10, then go out for a lunch date with mom and to spend birthday money.

Not a usual birthday tradition. Vacation Bible School at a local church.

Out to lunch.

And this is an elephant jumping through a flaming (onion) ring.

After we went shopping, where she bought this hat plus one other and a journal, we stopped at the library and I grabbed some pictures.

Made it home to a decorated house. Sissy Krystal was watching the other children and they all got streamer-happy.

And then we ended up eating outside anyway because it was sweltering in the house.

Present time

Cake time

Not sure who taught her how to cut.

Dog (plus one cat) fashion show

Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button on your Wordless Wednesday post or in a list of Wordless Wednesday linkies. Just link it to my Wordless Wednesday permalink please.

An InLinkz Link-up