Coolest Contest Evahh! {The Little Man in the Map Teaches State Capitals}

As you all have discovered through my personal review, my kids and I absolutely LOVE The Little Man in the Map, and had a blast reading his latest geographic adventure, The Little Man in the Map Teaches the State Capitals.

Further endearing himself to my family (and thus securing his place on my holiday card list), Mr. E. Andrew Martonyi--fabulous author extraordinaire--has extended a most gracious offer to my fabulous readers. (Are you ready? *Grins*)

One lucky-ducky winner will receive their very own free copy of the brand new, hot off the presses, Little Man in the Map Teaches State Capitals! Woohooo! (Are you excited or what?!) :o)


To enter, you must do each of the following:

• Follow Schoolside Press on Twitter
• Friend or "Like" The Little Man in the Map on Facebook
• Leave a comment along with your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.
• Extra entries: Re-post this contest on your blog, Facebook or Twitter (counts as 3 extra entries each!)
• PS: If you don't have a Twitter or Facebook account, that's perfectly fine. You can still enter with just a comment. :)

The lucky winner will be chosen at random from all entries received by Friday, August 27 at Noon (PST). Please note that in the event the winner cannot be contacted within 48 hrs, an alternate winner will be selected.

Thanks for entering and GOOD LUCK!!!! :o)

Book Giveaway!

Mrs. White over at The Legacy of the Home is hosting an excellent book giveaway! One lucky blogger will win a copy of The Housewifery Journal by Connie Hultquist. From The Legacy of the Home:

“Housewifery Journal” is a 105- page book written by Mrs. Connie Hultquist (Mother of 6 grown children). Her articles have been published in Above Rubies Magazine, Crowned with Silver and Sarah’s Promise. Mrs. Hultquist offers tremendous wisdom for old-fashioned homemakers.

The book is a combination of personal stories and godly advice. Through 77 journal entries, we read about old time mothers, submission, wayward children, gardening, old fashioned kitchens, the danger of feminism and much more. Each journal entry was a “morning visit,” full of moxie and courage, now recorded in this treasured book."

 Click here to visit her blog and enter for your chance to win! :)

TOS Affiliate Contest

Check it out! The Old Schoolhouse (TOS) magazine's offering a phenominal prize to one lucky Affiliate!

Can you guess what it is?

It's an 8GB iPod Nano!

Now, I realize that oodles of people out there already OWN one or more of these precious iPods.

However, I'm not one of them.

My daughter has two. My hubby's got one. Wait...my daughter has 1, and gave the other to her brother. (Yep, that's it. Duh.)

And... I still don't have one!

I've wanted one for years. But no. I have to use an old archaic, bulky trusty Sony DiscMan on plane trips or while taking a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. And then everyone stares at me because I look like a dork.


(And yes, I blame it all on the DiscMan. Not my leg warmers.)

So, with this post I hereby officially enter the contest for said iPod.

And after the day I've had, it'd be REALLY nice to win it.

(I'm just sayin.)

But regardless of the contest, if you've got a blog you should really consider signing up to become an Affiliate yourself.

The Old Schoolhouse is the BEST home school magazine available, and I've been a proud affiliate for quite some time now (can't tell you exactly how long, because that requires long-term memory skills that I'm sorely lacking).

Not only would you be promoting a high quality, well-respected resource for home school families, you'll also receive a small percentage of every sale. :-)

Cha-ching, Baby!

So hop on over and get yourself signed up. And if you happen to win the iPod, drop me a note so I can gnash my teeth congratulate you properly. :-]

And The Winners Are....

The winner of the 1 yr digital TOS subscription is....NIKKI!

And the winner of The Schoolhouse Planner is....JODIE!

Congratulations, ladies! You'll both be receiving an email from me shortly. :o)

Thank you all for participating.

(Winning numbers were randomly selected using Random.org)

Review: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine--Digital Format & Contest

I've been a long-time subscriber to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I devour each issue immediately upon arrival, and often refer to their articles again and again. I'm also quick to refer other homeschooling moms to this great resource, because I feel that it's the best homeschooling magazine available.

So when their digital model debuted I thought, "How can it be better than having the actual paper copy of it to hold in your hand?" As any true bibliophile knows, there's just something about holding a book--or in this case, magazine--in your hand, that reading from a monitor just can't touch.

However, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. There are in fact, many reasons to "go digital". For example;

• Instant access is at the top my list. Reading the magazine before it hits the stands and not having to wait for it to be delivered is great for impatient people like me. :o)
• It's a great savings at $16.95 vs. the $29 print subscription rate.
• Links are interactive. Now I don't have to try to remember which sites I want to visit later. I can simply click on it right there, and voila`!

Of course, you can still print any article you like, or download the entire issue to your computer to save. (If you're like me and *have* to have something in your hands.)

The Old Schoolhouse's digital format is very easy to navigate, courtesy of the guide on the opening page. A Navigational Bar visible at the top features tools such as;

• Arrows for easy page turning
• Contents Page
• Page views--this is one of my favorite aspects. You can actually see each full color page as it appears in the magazine, before you click on it. I thought this would be especially great for us "visual" types, as oftentimes an article's photos can make you want to read it more than simply reading the title on the Contents page. (The whole "judging a book by it's cover" thing.)
• The Settings button allows you to customize your view from 1 to 2 page spread, adjust the zoom factor and page turning speed.
• The Archives button--hands down the coolest feature, allowing you to view all of your subscription's past issues right then 'n there.
• A handy search button, where you can type in any word/phrase and find articles containing them.
• And finally a "share" option which allows you to email your favorite articles to friends.

I think even with all these great features, I'll still keep my print subscription going....in addition to the digital. (I'm greedy, what can I say?) I love the feeling of bound paper in my hands. I can't help it.

However, for all you extremely organized, anti-clutter, psychotic types, this is a crucial element in the preservation of your sanity. Now you won't have stacks of magazines to keep tidy (like I do). They'll all be on your computer (or online if you choose not to download), and off your shelves. :o)

Pretty neat, huh? (Pardon the pun.)

Now comes the fun part! If you're excited to try TOS' new digital magazine, simply leave a comment at the end of this post. I'll select ONE random winner to receive their very own 1 year subscription. Winner will be posted on Wednesday.

Good luck!

Review: The Schoolhouse Planner & Contest

Let me just get this out of the way right now.

I was not expecting to be half as amazed with The Schoolhouse Planner as I am. Not by a long shot.

Why? Because finding the "right" planner for me has proven to be incredibly difficult over the years.

I've looked at countless other planners before (digital, software, 3-ring, spiral bound--you name it), each promising a smooth running household within its pages. Yet none were just right for me or my family. I needed to find the perfect compliment to my Type A personality disorder.

My dream planner would include adequate space to record my children's homeschool information, our budget, phone numbers, chore lists and grocery shopping. I didn't want to have to scour the Internet looking for individual pages anymore, nor keep settling for "close-but-not-quite-but-it'll-do-for-now."

All I wanted was for my brain's stored up, only-accessible-by-me information to kept in a clear, organized fashion. Preferably on the kitchen counter.

After all, what if I... took a 6 month vacation in Aruba became seriously ill? My hubby would need to know when the cable bill was due, who had a doctor's appt, and where the kids were at in their lessons, right?

Right.

Enter, The Schoolhouse Planner.

The Schoolhouse Planner, which contains almost 250 pages worth of organizational bliss, opens with a 2008-09 calendar. Each month has its own set of encouraging articles, a resource list of products to coordinate with that month's theme (items can be purchased from The Old Schoolhouse's e-store), recipes, a printable calendar page with plenty of space to write in, and really cool informational sheets.

Examples of these sheets include;

• List of famous composers and their works
• Lists of the 7 Wonders of both the Ancient and Modern World
• U.S. Presidents--their terms in office and their wives
• Measurement conversion charts
• Copies of the Bill of Rights, Constitution and Louisiana Purchase (!)
• And--my personal fave--the Periodic Table of Elements! (Now I can cheat at Jeopardy refresh my memory.)

From there, the Planner goes into a Homeschool Forms section.

This handy section contains any form you could possibly think of to keep track of your homeschool's progress. (I'm not kidding.) Literally, a registrar's office at your finger tips.

Forms such as:

• Annual plans, yearly goals, and educational objectives
• Lesson planning and recording
• Test scores
• Support group and co-op info
• End of the year evaluation and report cards
• Field trip planning and log
• Science lab data sheets
• Extra curricular and outside classes logs
• Nature journal
• Reading log
• Curriculum vendors and contact info
• Even a Continuing Education & Recreation form for the parent(s), are all included.

I was duly impressed with how it also included forms for both Unit Study and Unschooling record keeping. With ours being a more eclectic homeschool, this was especially nice to see.

The final section is all Household Forms. And this folks, is where my list-making addiction soars to new heights!

Not only does it contain the usual lists for grocery shopping, menu planning, chore charts, etc. But it also contains incredibly helpful pages like;

• Budget planning and bill paying
• A gift wish list (think holiday time!)
• Handy food inventory sheet (so you don't end up with 4 bottles of syrup in your pantry--ahem)
• Babysitter info
• Pet health log ("When is Fluffy due for her rabies shot again?")
• Loaned & borrowed list (useful when there's a lot of curriculum or book swapping going on)
• Monthly and weekly home keeping reminders
• Garden planning
• And, something I'd never seen before, a Directions to New Places sheet! (No more getting lost! Ha!)

Oh, and another thing. Because of its handy PDF format, all the forms are interactive. Meaning, you can simply type in your necessary info onto any page, and hit print!

No writing cramps. :o) Neat, huh?

As you can tell, this is one incredibly detailed, and highly functional planner. Honestly, only a group of homeschool moms could have put such a complete directory together. (Talk about your brain-in-a-binder!)

And as promised, one of my lucky-ducky bloggy pals will win their very own copy of this fantabulous planner.

To enter, simply post a comment telling me why YOU need this Planner. No need to be detailed. A simple, "Because I know where you live" works just fine.

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Wednesday morning. Good luck!