La La Logic Review

We received a lifetime membership to La La Logic to review. La La Logic is an online homeschooling resource, which covers 100 weeks worth of lessons for preschoolers. La La Logic is prefect for children ages 3-6. When you purchase an account, it can be used by the whole household or up to five children. While the curriculum does last 100 weeks, it does not expire. Your subscription lasts a lifetime, which means you can use it for future children, too. The lessons are grouped by weeks, but you can use the curriculum at your own pace. So if it takes you two weeks to complete one lesson, that's fine, while another week you may complete two weeks worth of lessons in a couple days. Work at the pace that's best for your child. Online lessons can be completed in 5-10 minutes or longer. Offline activities can take 10-30 minutes. Usually we spend 30 minutes a day using La La Logic's curriculum, including online and offline activities. Both children have a tablet, so they don't have to take turns and can work on the lessons at the same time. 

There are so many different types of activities! Preschoolers will not be bored with this curriculum! There are 20 sets divided into 5 lessons each, for a total of 500 Brain Challenges. Each lesson also comes with worksheets and enrichment activities, which may require child-safe scissors, glue and crayons (or other writing/drawing utensils). Other enrichment lessons may need items that you have around the house. My kids usually use our felt storyboard while I read the story. Otherwise we might create a small world or sensory bin based on the story. I typically read the story while they listen and play (I find that they concentrate better when their hands are busy). I'll ask them questions about the reading afterwards. The next day I'll ask them about the story and write down what they remember. Bean enjoys retelling the stories. However, Munchkin usually completely changes the story. Inspired by these activities, we have begun playing telephone, which is a good way to work on listening skills. 

Examples of printable worksheets.

The kids definitely preferred using La La Logic on their iPad's. It's easier to drag images using their fingers. Neither of them like using the computer because they are hindered by the mouse. Munchkin sometimes uses the laptop with me, and he just points at the screen and I drag the images using the touch pad. I love that we can use La La Logic on all of our devices, but I would really love to see them come out with an app as well. Even if it was just for the Extra Practice activities.

There are many different types of early learning lessons available. Some focus on literacy.


Others focus on math and reasoning skills.


Problem solving and critical thinking activities are especially fun to solve when they feature adorable robots! Munchkin could spend hours on this one activity!

Munchkin wanted to work on his pencil grip, so instead of cutting the pictures out and grouping them (which Bean did), he drew circles around the matching pictures and connected them by lines. I watched him and spoke to him about the connections. The three groups were: food, instruments, and pets. We worked on correct pencil grip, which doesn't always happen, but I still encourage it. 

For this activity, Munchkin made the matches using different colored crayons. 

Observations and tips: - I overlooked the check box that marks your child's progress. So for several weeks I was wondering why the progress still showed 0/100.  - Print off the lessons at the beginning of the week, or even print off the whole month in advance. I created a folder for each of my children. There isn't a printable for every day (Monday-Friday), but there is a check list that helps you stay organized.  - The extra practice section has many activities that help students who may be struggling. I prefer to use the extra practice games while we are out and about. It let's them continue working on the skills they are learning while we're running errands.  - Older children may prefer to work independently, while younger children will probably do best with their parents helping. Munchkin typically worked on my lap. Bean worked on her own and asked for help when she needed it.  - The best part of La La Logic is how affordable it is! Only $29 for the whole household, or for up to five children. And it's a lifetime subscription! There's a 30 day money-back guarantee and you can even try it out for free! Needless to say, we really loved La La Logic! We use it mainly for quiet time activities. Munchkin prefers it more than Bean. She quickly masters all of her lessons so she can move on, but Munchkin enjoys taking his time. He will work through problems several times before moving on to the next lesson. I highly suggest this curriculum for any parents with preschoolers, even non-homeschoolers! 

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Love Inspired Books Review and Giveaway

Love Inspired books are heartwarming inspirational romance stories from a Christian perspective. They focus on realistic stories about families, relationships and sometimes life-shattering events. You can really relate and sympathize with the people in these stories. They are like Lifetime movies and pretty inexpensive too, about $5 each. You can also purchase them in a monthly box set.

The Love Inspired book line is a series of 6 books that are released every month. The books we received are from the May release. They are on sale from April 21 to May 28. They would make wonderful Mother's Day gifts!

The titles included in the May box set are:

The Rancher Takes a Bride by Brenda Minton
"When Oregon Jeffries introduces rancher Duke Martin to the daughter he never knew he had, can they move beyond the mistakes of their pasts and possibly build a future together?"

Winning the Teacher's Heart by Jean C. Gordon
"Single mom Becca Norton is fighting Jared Donnelly for the preservation of her neighborhood, yet when she must battle for custody of her children, can this former bad boy come to her family's rescue?"

The Single Dad Finds a Wife by Felicia Mason
"Dr. Spring Darling wants a family of her own. But when she falls for single dad David Camden and his little boy, can she get past the architect's plan to ruin her historic family home?"

The Doctor's Second Chance by Missy Tippens
"Having given up her child for adoption years ago, Dr. Violet Remy is given a second chance at the family she's always longed for when new daddy Jake West seeks her help in raising his adorable baby niece."

A Firefighter's Promise by Patricia Johns
"Firefighter Matt Bailey needs a fresh start in a new town. But he can't abandon the boy he once found on his doorstep—or the boy's amazing adoptive mom. Despite his past mistakes, can he be the hero they both need?"

Bachelor to the Rescue by Lorraine Beatty
"Connected by a mutual tragedy, Shawn McKinney promises to care for widow Lainie Hollings and her girls. Can working together to restore the town library bridge the gap between these two wounded hearts?"

I typically prefer romance novels that resolve around some sort of theme or setting that I enjoy. I love historical romances and country settings. I was raised on old-fashioned beliefs and traditions, so I really love stories like these. They are fairly quick to read, too. Most only took an evening to work through, while the others I read over the course of a week. I'm pretty partial the rancher's story, seeing as I just caught up on Nashville, so it fit in with my current mood for all things country. I can't wait to check out some of the other stories on the website!

Use this coupon to save $1.00 on your purchase of any Love Inspired book!

Buy the books here!

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Thick as Thieves Book Review

Circle C Milestones from Kregel Publications is part of Susan K. Marlow's series of wholesome books for kids. These are Christian-based stories that revolve around horses and adventures from the perspective of Andrea "Andi" Carter. Andi grows up in San Joaquin Valley, California in the 1870-1880's. Her family owns a ranch and her best friend is her trusty horse, Taffy, who she raised from a foal.

Andi's many adventures teach lessons about family, faith and friends. In Susan K. Marlow's newest book, Thick as Thieves, the theme is friendship. Andi is a character that many girls can relate to. Her emotions easily read through and you feel like you are experiencing the story with her. In Thick as Thieves, Andi struggles with finding time for her horses and balancing school. Readers have to keep in mind that school was very different during the 1800's, especially for farming and ranching families. Andi meets an unlikely friend at school, Macy, who is quite unlike the other students. They forge a friendship that teaches readers to be compassionate to less fortunate people. Macy is able to help Andi on her adventures and they are able to rescue Andi's horses from cattle rustlers.

The Circle C books are well written for children and you are always left wanting to find out what Andi's next adventure is. We used to read these books at bedtime for Bean, during our Wild West themed unit study. They are wonderful for incorporating into a themed unit study on the Old West.

Thick as Thieves has a downloadable Study Guide available that is perfect for homeschoolers or students who want to use this book with a study guide. The study guide is 40 pages long and definitely worth checking out. It has so many educational activities, which are grouped by chapters, and include vocabulary lessons, comprehension questions, and other literacy activities. There is also an answer key for teachers at the end of the study guide. Each of the Circle C books has an available study guide. Some have lapbooks, activity pages, and/or coloring pages available.

Circle C Beginnings is perfect for children ages 6-9, Circle C Adventures are for children 9-14 and the new series, Circle C Milestones are for children 12+. If you start reading the books when your children are young, they really will feel like they are growing up alongside Andi Carter. However, you don't need to read any of the previous books if you are beginning with the Circle C Milestones series. If you are wondering about Andi's past experiences, you can check out her blog or read about her history on the website. (There's also Goldtown Adventures for 9-12 year old boys.)

We own the entire Circle C Adventures series and really like it. I happen to enjoy historical fiction to begin with, so it was a good fit for us. As far as historical fictions go, it's easy to get sucked into the book and jump back in time to experience life in the Old West. Bean even pointed out that they use kerosene lamps because they don't have electricity, which is something we are familiar with, because our family owns a cottage on an island with no electricity and we use kerosene lamps at night. It was really awesome that she remembered that, especially since we haven't been to the lake since last summer! Whenever we come across a part of the story that doesn't seem "modern," Bean points it out and we discuss the differences and similarities between then and now, like the lack of cars and the trains being steam engines. My great grandfather actually used to run a huge ranch with a couple thousand acres and used to go on cattle drives, so we're able to tell her the stories we know.

Some people ask me why I teach my children about history, since my children are so young. Children under 8 usually can't grasp the concept of history. Like, for instance, they may not understand why life was so different 200 years ago. So we don't focus on dates whatsoever. We simply focus on names, locations and events. Certainly, I mention dates here and there, but they are just numbers on a calendar. So when we introduced Bean to the Circle C books and mentioned that they took place during the 1800's, she didn't bat an eye. She simply asked whether they took place during the Wild West years, which they did, and that gave her a good mental image of what to expect. While reading the books, we looked at maps (many can be found on Andi's blog) and pictures of California. We even read a handful of dime novels. But Bean's favorite activities usually involve a small world. So we created one using her Safari Ltd. Wild West and Down on the Farm TOOBs.

We enjoy reading the Circle C books and plan on picking up Circle C Beginnings, to see where it all started. Plus, that would be the appropriate age for my daughter. What I really like about these books is that they paint a nice picture of the Old West. It is an easy to read series, so even reluctant readers shouldn't have issues with it. I love that each book comes with a lapbook, activity pages, or study guides. I would suggest printing them out and having them handy while you're reading. I love that the author has put so much into these books and made it so easy for homeschoolers to access learning materials to go along with the books. Not too many authors do that. Another thing to point out, is that despite the time difference, Andi's experiences are definitely those that modern children can relate to. In this book, Andi struggles with her classmates and becomes friends with someone she normally wouldn't have. It's like a "don't judge a book by its cover" kind of moment for Andi.

Look forward to Heartbreak Trail, the next book in the Circle C Milestones series (coming in July). The TOS Crew will be reviewing that book as well!

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