I got in! Me and the boys will be sitting down in the next few days brushing up on the basics before school starts again. I'll let ya know how it goes. 

Disclosure Statement:

I’ve been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as ahomeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

 I've recently had the opportunity to review "Stepping Stones Together," a new reading program for preschool / kindergarten age children. Stepping Stones Together is an online service where you can go to print off booklets to read with your child. The stories are simple with repetitive wording ~ perfect for the beginning reader. Your child even has the choice of series that they would like to read. They may choose animals, transportation, fairies, sports, superheroes, or even princesses.

 From the website: 

Stepping Stones Together is a personalized beginning reading program consisting of:

• ►A choice of 30 high interest themed stories from our beginning reading library, which is comprised of 3 difficulty levels.
• ►Over 100 reading comprehension questions designed to build your child’s reading comprehension skills, along with thinking, reading fluency, speaking and writing abilities.
• ►A daily writing program linked to your child’s daily reading to extend your child’s reading and writing abilities.
• ►Extension games that encourage your child to use their newly acquired reading skills as well as explore the benefits and joys connected with being a reader.
• ►A personalized behavior incentive chart for each series of stories to motivate your child to record their daily progress.
• ►A personalized certificate acknowledging their achievement after completing a leveled series every 10 days. Each reading series is comprised of 5 stories at a given level read twice. E-alerts to keep you on target with the program, which are directly linked to your personalized profile.
• ►Access to Blogs and Newsletters to provide you with current reading research tidbits and best practice tips to parents of new readers.

Last night I sat down with the boys and worked on a couple books with them. We picked "My Dog Dylan" and "Dexter the Dinosaur."

First I printed out the books and cut the pages down. Then the kids helped me put the pages in order and staple the books together. ( There's a little bonus sorting activity for ya) We read "Dexter the Dinosaur" and then I had "little one" color a picture in the book. As he was coloring we talked about what Dexter the Dinosaur was doing in the book, what color he was and so on. 

This morning we read the book again and I had "little one" draw me a picture about the book using one of the printable writing sheets that come with the Stepping Stones Together program.  We marked off another square on his reading chart (also comes with the program) and off he went to play some Lego game on the Nintendo DS. lol

Stepping Stones Together is going to be a great help with getting my youngest ready for kindergarten this fall. I *think* he is really going to enjoy school this year. That is, if I can get my oldest to stop with the "I don't like school" bit. Little one hears that and says it too. You know how it is with little brothers looking up to big brothers. (a pain in the you know what for mom) 

 Happy Friday! 

SBL was not in any way compensated for this review. I was given access to the product for the review. All opinions are mine and mine alone (well, the kiddos helped too). 

 I am planning on hosting giveaways in the near future. Keep an eye out for more news. :-)

Old English Scratch Cover

I picked up some yesterday at Lowe's and I love it. This stuff is basically the same as those touch up pens for furniture but it is in a bottle. The bottle is better for my purposes so that I can do a much bigger area at a time than with a pen.

I found something new the other day. The company's name is YouData (youdata.com). It says that they pay out every Friday through PayPal. So far I've earned $1.91. I'll let you know Friday when / if I get paid.