SmartKidz Media - A Review

Our family has had the fun privilege of reviewing an up and coming digital media resource library in our homeschool for the last several weeks.  It has been a highly enjoyable experience for the kids and myself.  SmartKidz Media. is an ever growing digital collection of videos, e-books, games, study guides, and more.  The wonderful thing about this collection is that it is custom tailored to meet the needs of homeschoolers.
The video collection at SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers is constantly expanding.  In addition to the vast collection currently available there are many new ones on the horizon.  With my children being on the younger end of actively learning students they especially enjoy the animal and wildlife videos.  Of course they LOVE the games too!

As a parent there are a few things that I just love about this resource.  At the top of the list is the fact that there are ZERO advertisements, ZERO commercials, and ZERO pop-ups.  We've been living cable free for nearly four years now, and I cannot emphasize enough the positive impact on our life having removed our exposure to so much advertising.  It really adds to the quality of our life.  SmartKidz Media fits right in with that standard.  It's refreshing to give my children freedom to explore the content and not have to worry what they may be exposed to.  Rich content with no adverts is a HUGE plus in my book!
Another big bonus is that SmartKidz is compatible with any computer or mobile device that has internet access.  How awesome is that?  So many times we find something we love, but we are limited as to how we can use it due to compatibility issues.  We find and app we love, but we can't use it on the computer, or we find something we like online and can't access it on a device.  This resources crosses the boundaries.  We've even enjoyed it on our television via our blu ray player.  That is awesome!

Avery practicing his mouse skills with the Find the Hidden Treasure Game.

I also love the vast array of topics covered within the video collection as well as the variety of other media collections aside from video content.  SmartKidz has done a wonderful job of creating a place for homeschoolers to really enrich their learning experience.  Right now my children spend most of their time in the Fun Zone playing games and doing puzzles.  However, in the future they will highly benefit from the Quick Find Study Guides.  There's fun to be had in the Mighty Ebook Collection and the Animated Karaoke collection in Ready Set Sing.  The 10-year-old and I are very much looking forward to the Living Skills Program that is being prepared for launch.  There really is something for everyone here to enjoy as well as anticipate for the future.

All three kids playing the Dress the Divas! game.

SmartKidz Media has such potential for use within the homeschool.  It's like having access to an ever growing library of media resources right within your home.  Since I've been thinking ahead to the fall and the plans we have for focused learning within our homeschool I am always thinking of how I can use the content on SmartKidz, and I get excited.  Having a resource of this quality at our fingertips is a huge blessing.  It brings learning alive and feeds all of our excitement about the new subjects that lay before us as well as adds to the passions we've already been feeding.

Get social with SmartKidz Media on Facebook and Twitter.

Flourish by Mary Jo Tate - Apologia Book Review

Honestly, I was nervous to take on this review.  I, a homeschool mom, struggle greatly with finding balance in my day, my week, my life, and reading had somehow gotten knocked near the bottom of my list of priorities.  I had been existing in survival mode.  However, when the opportunity to review Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms came to me through The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew via Apologia Educational Ministries something in me told me to take on the challenge.  The big clincher for me was that Mary Jo Tate is a successful homeschool mom that works from home, and when I reviewed the chapters of the book I saw that she included one titled Home Business where she shares her personal experience and wisdom as a successful, SINGLE, work-from-home, homeschool mom.  Talk about some pretty big hats!  My attention had been peaked, and I accepted the challenge.

If I chose to focus on the perceived negative, I failed my challenge.  I have not finished the book.  However, I choose to focus on the positive.  There are 16 chapters in Flourish, and I am a mere five pages from completing Chapter 15, Home Business; the magic morsel that I had been searching for when I began this personal challenge.  I did get a little more than I bargained for.  Once I received my book in the mail from Apologia, and I read the first chapter, I was hooked.  What I didn't realize was that Mary Jo Tate would call on me to take some action on my own behalf.  At the end of each chapter Mary Jo a page titled Take Action!  I was a little nervous when I saw that first action step at the end of Chapter One.  However, I would not be so easily discouraged.  I grabbed a blank composition book from our homeschool cupboard and got to work.

The first Take Action! step was basically a review session for me.  See, I have been really working on self-reflection and have really been taking the time I need to evaluate where I am as an individual, where we are as a family, and where we stand as entrepreneurs.  I have been doing a bit of the dirty work already, so the first step didn't throw me any real curve balls.  The one glaring thing that did stand out to me though is that I do not have ANY written goals.  NONE!  I, the constant goal setter, had somehow allowed the waves of life to grab hold tight and beat me against the shore, over and over again.  Somehow, I have managed to lose my footing and stop doing something I consider completely essential to a successful life.  I have NO written goals for myself.  I have NO written goals for my family.  I have NO written goals for my homeschool.  I have NO written goals for our business.  ZIP.  ZERO.  ZILCH.  NADA.  This, thanks to Mary Jo Tate, will soon be remedied.

I have worked myself through each chapter so far diligently working on each and every Take Action! step at the end of each and every chapter.  I even completely read the chapter on single parents.  If you are not a single-parent this chapter is still for you.  Mary Jo does a wonderful job giving insight to both the single-parent that has made the commitment to homeschool her children as well as homeschoolers like me who have the benefit of a supportive husband.  She provides Take Action! steps for both groups of people as well.  I appreciate the wise quotes throughout the book as well as the personal input from real-life individuals in the trenches today, especially in this chapter.  The single-parent led homeschool family can easily slip through the social cracks, so to speak, and there is great advice given here that both empowers the single-parent as well as equips the traditional homeschool family to be both empathetic and supportive.

Mary Jo Tate has provided a true blessing in the writing of Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms.  I have been telling others about it since I read the first four chapters in one sitting.  (Your do remember what I said about my struggle to find time to read above, right?)  It's a breath of fresh air, and should hold a place on the shelves of all homeschoolers, both new and veteran.  It would make a wonderful gift for any occasion to any homeschool mom.  Flourish is loaded with practical advice given from personal experience.  It is real life lived successfully with bumps and bruises bared.  For me, this equates to wisdom, and wisdom shared is multiplied.  Mary Jo Tate has effectively shared with us wisdom worth sharing.  Reading Flourish has been a blessing to me, and I know it will continue to bless me and many others for years to come.  It may just be the best $15 investment you'll ever make in your self, your family, your homeschool, and your business; all in one fell swoop!

"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, 

for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. 

She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

~Proverbs 3:13-18

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