Exercise and Physical Education is an important part of a child’s day. I have had trouble finding a program that will work for our  boys ages 9, 7 and 6. We can’t always get outside due to inclimate weather, especially here in the 3rd biggest city in the US . When we do, we don’t have a front or backyard, so we go to the local Parks or Forest Preserves. We are unable to pay for a membership at our local Y, where they have programs for our boys. Well, our family has been introduced to  an excellent program that can be done right here at home and for very little money:

GoTrybe is an online fitness and health program from kids from Kindergarten through High School. GoTrybe has partnered with the USDA’s MyPyramid Corporate Challenge. From GoTrybe’s website: GoTrybe is an online fitness and nutrition community that delivers daily fitness, nutrition, wellness, and motivation content to students and teachers across the US.

GoTrybe is divided into 3 levels: Zoodoos: for grades K-5  Tyrbe180: for grades 6-8   Nextrybe: for grades 9-12

My boys used the Zoodoos level as that is their age group.

The Concept and How it works:

Once you sign up the child is able to create an avatar(character) from GoTrybe’s preselected features and designs that are on their site. Get the avatar and profile all set up and you are ready to “go”.

GoTrybe has 4 different levels of daily activities: fitness, nutrition, motivation and wellness. You earn points for each of the activities you complete each day. The points are “redeemed” for different things for your avatar and also for “ranking” other users on the GoTrybe site.

The Fitness portion of the daily activities is actually a 4 part video exercise activity. The kids are able to design their own workout using 4 categories of videos: Warm-Up, Cardio, Strength, and Flexibility.

Once the Fitness activity is done the child can move onto the Nutrition, Motivation and Wellness activities. These are short video clips or quizzes that help you earn points.

Our Family Thoughts:

My 3 boys were first reluctant to use the program, but once they started using it and “earning points” they thought it was the coolest thing. My boys even compared it to their dad’s video fitness program and said it is the “kid version”. LOL  They have been using it frequently and want to continue using it. My husband has really been encouraging them to continue as he does his daily video exercise program. I have been doing the fitness portion with the boys as it is simple enough for me, especially with some health issues I have. My 9 yr old was the one with the account, but our whole family has been enjoying it and “exercising” together as a family! Boys are naturally active, but this program is a good form of being active, not just “Rough Housing” active play.  Our family has liked the program so much that we are going to buy a subscription!! AWESOME program!

Want to learn more about the program? Check out the great FAQ Page and you are sure to have all your questions answered there.

Interested in getting a subscription to the program? You can go and sign up — GETFIT will let you try it yourself for free, and after that trial, a full year subscription is $19.95(regularly $39.95)

My experience was just one of many for GoTrybe. Please check out more reviews at the  TOS Crew Homeschool Blog.

Disclaimer: I was given a subscription  to GoTrybe in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation.

Do you have any kids who love online computer games and are beginner readers or struggling readers?  GoGo Kabongo is a new online website that provides fun educational online reading games geared towards kids 4-7.

My boys were excited when we were chosen to “test” this website. They very much like “online games” and were “wowed” by the characters on GoGo Kabango.  GoGo Kabongo is made up of 3 habitats: Laughter Lake, Twister Top, and Galaxy Gardens. Each habitat has 3 games and each game has 6 levels which means lots of fun time and learning, within each habitat. You can Learn more here about all the habitats and levels of play.

The Cast of Characters include(left to right) Karl, Mimi, Duffy, Mz. Teezly, and Ginzo. My boys, ages 6 and 7, really liked the Characters. They thought they were “Cool looking and fun”.  You can Learn more about Characters.

The games are made to help kids develop  cognitive skills that are essential to reading such as:

• Attention and Focus
• Memory Skills
• Processing
• Planning
• Visualization
• Comprehension

LEARN MORE about GoGo Kabongo Cognitive Approach to learning reading.

One aspect of GoGo Kabongo that I truly love is the Learning Skills Chart. I like that it shows the parents what each habitat and game should help your child with.

My thoughts on GoGo Kabongo:  I really like the concept of the site, teaching kids to read via an avenue that most kids are interested in nowadays: online games. My boys love “virtual” games, even at their young age of  6 and 7.  I knew this site would be interesting for them. I  also like the Parent Center where I can get progress reports of my boys “play”, printables, activity time which are activities that I can use with them offline to reinforce their online learning and more.

My boys thoughts on GoGo Kabongo:

6yr old: “This is a fun game. I really like my own “little guy” that I made. I had lots of fun in the Lake part. I like to play this a lot”.

7 yr old: I liked the Twister game most of all. All the fun guys who talked to me while playing are really cool. I like it a little better then my other games”.

Our family really enjoys and recommends GoGo Kabongo, as a fun reinforcement tool for what they are learning through their reading lessons.

You can begin the fun at GoGo Kabongo for FREE!! For a limited time you can get  2 habitats, Laughter Lake and Galaxy Gardens for FREE! Want more fun for your kids? You can get Twister Top for $4.95. That is 3 habitats for the price of one for a limited time only!!  To check it out and to sign up: GoGo Kabongo.

I really like this site and our family recommends it greatly!  GoGo get your subscription before the offer runs out!!

Disclaimer: I was given a subscription to all 3 habitats in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation.

Our family was selected to be a part of the TOS Crew to review Reading Kingdom and I was super excited. Nathan, 7yr old, is a struggling reader and this seemed like it would be of great help to him! We have tried many reading programs and hadn’t found a good fit for him. I was very hopeful and excited that this would be the program for him. Danny is a 6yr old beginning reader, so I signed them both up for the program.

Dr. Marion Blank , one of the world’s top experts in literacy, created the program. The Reading Kingdom is an online based reading program geared towards 4-10 yrs old that through a process of using 6 skills leads kids to mastering Reading and Writing.  The 6 skills used are:

• Sequencing
• Motor Skills
• Sounds
• Meaning
• Grammar
• Comprehension

I am really big on Reading Comprehension, so I immediately loved that aspect of this program as that is one thing missing from many “learn to read” programs.  I was really excited to use this program because my boys really enjoy “online activities”. Unfortunately, my boys did not enjoy this program. This is what both of them told me:

It keeps making me do the same thing over and over and over again. It is boring.

To begin using the program each user takes a Skills Assessment test to see at point of the program that user will begin. Both of my boys began with Keyboard and Mouse Training. I found this odd because they are both very “handy” with the keyboard and mouse. The keyboard and mouse training was very repetitive, but they quickly got through that part, as well as the Seeing Sequence part. They were not required to do the Letter Land section. They were both placed in Reading Level 1 out of 5 reading levels. This is the part where they quickly got bored.  The “monotone” computer voice and the same scene over and over again, bored them rather quickly.

I truly believe that my boys would have used this program more and not been so “bored” if it wasn’t so repetitive and “boring”(monotone voice).  My boys love playing and playing until they reach “new levels” and they make it a contest between them to see who can get there first. I was hoping they would see this in the same way, but they didn’t not. I was disappointed for them and also for Reading Kingdom. I was really hoping for a better “relationship” with this program and our family! I am not giving up hope though. I am going to continue my boys to give the program another try and see if they will give it another chance in the future.

There are many great aspects of this program: How the Program Works and also many Tutorials.  I also like that you can get  ”progress reports” of how your child is doing, so as the parent you know what area they need help in.

I really encourage everyone at least give the program a try, as my family did. Reading Kingdom has a Free 30 day Trial, so you can try without any obligation.  The program is reasonably priced at $19.99/month or $199.99 for a yearly subscription for the first child on the program. I love multiple child discounts and Reading Kingdom offers one as each additional child is $9.99/month.

My experience was just one of many for Reading Kingdom. Please check out more reviews from other TOS Crew members: Reading Kingdom Reviews

Disclaimer: I was given a 12 month subscription in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation.

The middle of winter and the school year can surely use a “boredom pick up”.   Well a Curiosity Files Unit Study from the Old Schoolhouse Store and author Professor Ana Lyze will do just that!  There are currently 9 Curiosity File Unit Study Topics which include:

• Blue Diamond
• Dung Beetle
• MRSA
• Puffer Fish
• Red Tide
• Zombie Fire Ants
• Blue-footed Booby
• Cicada Killing Wasp
• Quicksand

Our family was selected to choose one of the 9 topics to use and review for The Old SchoolHouse Crew. I let my 8yr old son choose the topic and he choose Zombie Fire Ants.  He was very excited about the topic and got his 7yr and 6yr old brothers excited also.

We set aside our regular studies to complete this Unit Study as it really encompasses everything that we cover in a day and more:

Look what’s included in these units: (as stated at The Old SchoolHouse Store, Curiosity Files)

• Bible study and memory verses
• Math, history, and geography investigations
• Literature and suggested book list
• Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
• Beautiful copywork pages (manuscript and cursive)
• Science observations, projects, and experiments
• Discussion questions
• Art, crafts, drawing, and coloring pages
• Lapbook and notebook pages
• Internet resources and video links
• Complete answer key

I only printed out certain pages of this 91 pg ebook(as we are low on ink) and we set to work on the study! (I would have loved to print out a full copy and put it in a 3 ring binder) My boys loved learning about Zombie Fire Ants, and they were so wishing they could check out a few Fire Ant hills, but that wasn’t too be considering Chicagoland had just been buried under 22″ of snow. LOL! I promised them we would do so in the spring/summer! Nathan(7) and Daniel(6) really enjoyed the Lapbook pages, where as Joshua(8) preferred the notebook pages. Joshua thinks he is too old for Coloring pages, but the other 2 loved the coloring pages. They all enjoyed all the other areas of  this unit study. We haven’t done many unit studies in our 4yrs of homeschooling, but that is going to change. The boys truly enjoyed this “all in one” study and are asking me when we are going to buy another one and do more unit studies.

I personally enjoyed how Professor Ana Lyze makes learning fun in this “All in one” Unit Study.  Boys love science and mine actually  thought that this was just a “Science” study, but I was thrilled that it was all subjects tied into this ebook.  I was very glad that this topic kept my boys interested in learning and kept their attention for more then 10 minutes. Nathan(7) has a very short attention span and he dived into this study and stayed with it for more then an hour.

I hope I have peaked your interest in using The Old SchoolHouse Store, Curiosity Files in your homeschool. They are very affordable with prices ranging from a couple being a sale for $1, most being $6.95 per file when purchased individually,  up to the entire 9 pack bundle for $46.  Each file contains between 80-100 pages jammed packed with fun, info and additional links for the topic! The Curiosity Files are geared towards 8-13yr olds, but can be tweaked to fit those younger or older then the recommended ages.

Our family really enjoyed Zombie Fire Ants and we are looking forward to purchasing a few of the other titles in the Curiosity Files series!

Our family received a variety of products from Master Innovations to use and review. The products included: Standard Master Ruler, Metric Master Ruler, Master Ruler Workbook and a Marvels of Measurement Poster. We were very excited about receiving this as my 8yr old was beginning a study on measurements.

The Master Ruler is a “unique” ruler as it is several rulers in one. The Master Ruler Standard is “Comb Binded” together with 5 sections/layers to it. The 5 section/layer include 1″, 1/2″ 1/4″ 1/8″ and 1/16″ and each one has a different color. Each layer works together to help master the skill of measuring with a ruler. The Master Ruler Metric is designed  the same and  has 3 sections/layers which include decimeters, centimeters, and millimeters.

My 8yr old was the “master user” of the Master Ruler system and he really enjoyed it! The different sections helped make what used to be a difficult skill to teach, so much easier. I was able to show my son step by step, layer by layer how to get the correct measurement. He wasn’t frustrated as many kids can get, especially when it comes to reading the 1/8″ and 1/16″ sections on a regular ruler. The Master Ruler also helped us begin teaching fractions and my son is having fun learning and using fractions. My 8yr old wanted to finish the whole workbook in one sitting, but we were able to continue it for a week.

The Marvels of Measurements poster was an excellent tool to use with my 7 and 6 yr old. My 7yr old needs “visuals and pictures” for learning. This poster really helped him and my 6yr old see sizes in a different way and then measure using the Master Ruler Standard.

I really enjoyed using the products and found them to be a great tool in making what could be a difficult thing to explain a much easier task. I like how sturdy they are and that they are comb binded together. The quality of the product will endure the use of “my 3 sons”. LOL! I also like the Video Tutorials on the website.

The  Master Ruler Standard sells for $9.95 and is worth the cost! Master Innovations has other products which include: Master Clock, Master Fractions, and Master Angles, with prices beginning at $5.95 and up. I am sure the other products are of the same quality and ease of use as the Master Ruler Standard.

Master Innovations and the Master Ruler Standard get a huge quadruple thumbs up from our family.

To read more TOS Crew reviews on this product or the other products from Master of Innovations….  TOS Crew

Disclaimer—I was given the Master of Innovations products in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation.