Kids Know Stuff

SpellQuizzer Giveaway!

abby — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:07:40 +0000

SpellQuizzer gave us a shot at trying out their spelling program for free, and they’re giving you a chance to win the easy-to-use software, too! Take a look at their step-by-step demo videos and tell me that’s not the easiest thing ever.

I know I’m not a kid and this review site is supposed to be “reviews by kids for kids,” but when it’s something blatantly educational, I have to step in. Lena and Liberty would say, “It’s good, I guess. I mean, if you feel like you have to learn to spell or whatever.”

Actually, I just asked them and Liberty said, “It’s super easy and even if you had really little kids, they could do it. It’s good to practice on, too.”

Lena said, “It was easy and I wasn’t mad or anything when I did it.”

You can create your own list for your child or you can use one of SpellQuizzer’s lists. For Lena and Liberty, I just went to the “Download Spelling Lists” page and clicked on Frequently Misspelled Words by grade (there, their, they’re, anyone?) I clicked on 5th grade and then just kept clicking on “ok” or whatever. The list was exported and imported (SO much easier than it sounds because as soon as the list is done exporting, a little window pops up that says something like, “you exported a spelling list, do you want to import it to your lists?” and you just click “Duh!” or maybe “Yes.”) And, what do you know? There it was! Then I edited it so it was my voice giving the words and sample sentences, but you don’t even have to do that. If you choose a pre-made SpellQuizzer list, it has a nice voice with good example sentences already doing that part. I have to tell you, though, Lena and Liberty seemed to like hearing my voice on the computer saying, “You’re. You’re totally addicted to Fullmetal Alchemist,” which made it more relevant to them and made them giggle a little bit. Easy to do when the sentences are already recorded. If we had just argued about it and I had to see them whining about it, I might be tempted to say, “You’re. You’re really being annoying right now with the way you’re huffing and puffing as if I were killing you when I am simply trying to help you with spelling.” See how it’s better to do it the SpellQuizzer way?

And now for a disclaimer: If you know us in real life, you know we’re homeschoolers who don’t do spelling tests or anything like that because the kids just randomly write a lot and, well, there’s spell check. BUT! When Lena and Liberty were younger and I thought that spelling lists were what we had to do, I did them. For about a month. It was so annoying for all of us and then I realized if I would just lay off and let them write and spell check and read, they’d be fine. And I was right. BUT! I think most of our readers have kids in school and the whole spelling list thing is a daily struggle so I wanted to test this out just to see, and I really believe this would take the strain out of that daily grind. We were lucky to just get a glimpse of that grind, but if you and your kids are struggling because, well, you have to deal with it all the time, I think SpellQuizzer is an excellent solution for you. I might even make a list with just homophones. Just for fun.

Do you want to win the software? Leave a comment by 8:00 am Tuesday, October 13th and we’ll randomly choose a winner!

Abby

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition

Lena — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:17:28 +0000

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition comes out today! When Liberty and I were little, we loved Snow White! We watched it at our grandma and grandpa’s house, but we were also a little scared of it at some parts. So we would run in the kitchen and hide.

The new dvd and blu-ray combo pack has lots of interesting extras. I love extras! You can learn all about how the dwarfs were made and the brainstorming that happened before they were made by clicking here.

Vapur Anti-Bottle

Lena — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:32:27 +0000

The Vapur Anti-Bottle is made of BPA-free 3-ply polymer and it rolls up super small when it’s empty. It’s a good idea to buy a water bottle that you can use over and over again because it’s better for Earth if we don’t have to make and recycle plastic water bottles, so we’re always looking for just the right reusable bottle.

I like how it is eco-friendly! And I like the color!

I don’t like when the bottle is half empty and it won’t stand up. Also, when it is full and you grab it too tightly, it might spray you like a juice box!

The water tastes good when it is cold…but when it sits around for a little bit like at the park, the water starts to taste like plastic!

Lena

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Post tags: Eco-Conscious, Stuff We Don't Like, water bottles

Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows

Lena — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:02:17 +0000

Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows are hand-made and all natural. They have a lot of different flavors and there are recipes you can try!

We tried Vanilla Bean, Simply S’Mores, and Caramel Swirl. My favorite Plush Puff was the Simply S’mores one! I didn’t like the Vanilla Bean one or the Caramel Swirl. I don’t like caramel! Liberty doesn’t like any kind of marshmallows! Maya pretty much liked them all and I think adults would like them.

Lena

Casa Di Bertacchi Meatballs

Liberty — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:58:47 +0000

I used Casa Di Bertacchi meatballs to make Open-Faced Meatball Subs from the book 101 Things to do with Meatballs by Stephanie Ashcraft.

The subs were super yummy! It was really easy to make them! We also made Teriyaki meatballs from the same cookbook, but they were disgusting. The cookbook says the the seasonings in the meatballs don’t overpower the other flavors in the recipes, but that’s not true. When we made the Teriyaki meatballs we could taste the Italian seasoning in the meatballs, and it didn’t mix well with the teriyaki… Stick with Italian recipes with Italian meatballs or get non-Italian meatballs for non-Italian recipes.

Liberty

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Post tags: Food, Stuff We Don't Like, Stuff We Like

Tikki Tikki Tembo (Paperback w/CD)

abby — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:57:59 +0000

Tikki Tikki Tembo (Paperback w/ CD)

by Arlene (RTL) Mosel (Author), Blair Lent (Illustrator), Marcia Gay Harden (Narrator)

Tikki Tikki Tembo is a great repetetive book for all kids but especially those preschoolers that love to repeat. Peyton walks around saying “Tiki tiki tembo, no saw rembo, cherry berry ruchy, …” all day. He also loved having me turn the pages when the gong sounded.

Erin

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Post tags: All Ages, audiobooks, Educational, preschoolers, Stuff We Like

EARTH

Lena — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:13:13 +0000

Disneynature Earth came out on Blu-Ray and DVD last Tuesday. Did you buy it yet?

I thought it was okay…I really liked it when the ducks jumped out of the nest! (I really like ducks!) :). But Maya kept crying when an animal was about to be eaten. There’s no blood and they don’t really show it all the way (except for a shark part), but there are some cute animals in danger and that made Maya upset. She’s 6. Besides that, I think it was good! And some of the scenes are funny! So I think people who don’t mind animals getting eaten would like this!

The extras were really good and one of the reasons why is because they tell you how they got all the awesome shots because of some special cameras and stuff! All of the scenes are really pretty and now I know why. And there is a lot of funny stuff like a polar bear who isn’t afraid of anything and some cameramen flying into a tree in their hot-air balloon!

Click on the image below to make it bigger and print it out to learn how you can help the polar bears. It’s easy stuff like using reusable bags at the grocery store, or using reusable lunchboxes and water bottles and napkins. You still have until September 15th to use a discount code for water bottles at Baying Hound, remember? Now’s the time!

Lena

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Post tags: Ages 7 & Up, Disney DVD, Eco-Conscious, Stuff We Like

Woogi World 2.0

Liberty — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:32:48 +0000

Hiya! I wanted to let you all know that a new version of Woogi World came out. We originally reviewed it here back when they gave us a free one-year membership. We liked it, but then we changed our minds, but now we like it again. Version 2.0 has new stuff and everything, but, there is even MORE unfair stuff (I call it unfair because there are things you can’t do unless you pay for a membership and I want everybody to be able to do everything for free!), anyway, I’m going to show you a picture of me and my sister’s woogi, this is mine:

And this is my sister’s:

And now, about the new changes of Woogi World:

They made a new Woogi World store, furniture store, and salon. Not just that it looks different, it also has some items that are for members only! But when old Woogi World was still there, not that many things were only for members. Also, members can say more things than non-members: Little words like, uh, grr, huh, etc. It just seems like the new version is designed to make non-members really, really, really wish they were members, like it’s one big commercial for membership! I don’t like commercials because they try to make you buy stuff by making you feel bad about what you don’t have.

Basically, we still really like to play on Woogi World because the games are fun and it still teaches about internet safety and even though some kids get around the “safe chat” and figure out how to say mean things, that doesn’t bother us anymore because we’ve learned that there are always going to be some people on the internet who will act like that so we just ignore them or report them, and hang out with people who don’t act like that.

If you want more information from parents instead of kids, you can check out Woogi World Review. Their slogan is “Our Research, Your Decision.”

Bye!!

Liberty (sakura417)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

abby — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:12:13 +0000

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Paperback w/ CD)

by Bill Martin Jr. (Author), Eric Carle (Illustrator), Gwyneth Paltrow (Reader)

Peyton loved this book and as each animal appeared on the next page, he lets outs a cute little gasp and has a delighted expression on his face. He loves listening to it on the CD, it is somehow much more exciting than listening to Mom or Dad read it to him.

We Love Klean Kanteens! (A Discount Code!)

abby — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:57:53 +0000

Remember way back when the kids did a post about an Eco-Conscious Gift for the Whole Family? We use that blanket, those napkins, and those water bottles every single day. Well, sort of. The Tappenings bottle has been lost to the back of the cupboard because the neck isn’t big enough to put ice in it. And the threads to screw the cap on don’t work that well. However, the Klean Kanteens? Right after our review, we bought 2 more of them from Baying Hound so all 3 of the girls could have one. I suffered with the Tappenings bottle, but a couple days ago, I saw that Baying Hound was offering a 20% discount on any new stainless steel water bottle, so I bought 1 more Klean Kanteen for myself. Hurry, you have until September 15th. Go to Baying Hound’s blog to get your discount code and buy some bottles (any of their bottles, not just Klean Kanteen).

Baying Hound Howls has some great info on why you should get an excellent stainless steel water bottle. My reasons (besides not having to buy and recycle plastic) are quality and taste. Klean Kanteens are just better quality. They’re thicker and the cap and threads hold up better than the cheaper versions. And the water tastes better than it does coming out of the plastic. I don’t know about all of the plastic-causes-cancer hype, but I do know taste and value. And prettiness. I want my personal hydration to be pretty.

Abby

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Post tags: All Ages, Eco-Conscious, Klean Kanteen, Stuff We Like