HEATHER from Feathered Friends Mementos! Congratulations! I'll be contacting you with the details! Thanks for playing!
And for the many, many of you who emailed me privately, concerned about winning and not being able to continue to provide your children with the service, please know that you can play for free on JumpStart.com. It's a great resource and one that should not be ruled out because of finances. I urge you to try the free version; your kids will love it!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Jump Start Giveaway
Win a JumpStart.com 3-month Membership Subscription! Contest begins Tuesday, July 13 and ends Tuesday, July 21st at 9:00pm EST.
I was super blessed to win a JumpStart.com 3-month membership from a blog giveaway that was featured on The Nest Home in June. When I was contacted by a company representative about doing a similar giveaway on my own blog, there was no way I could say no. JumpStart.com features an exciting, educational online learning game that's perfect for children 3-10.
As many of you know by now, we are a homeschooling family, so I'm constantly
searching for things the boys (7 & 5) can do online in a safe, educational setting. I was thrilled to find JumpStart.com and I can honestly say that the boys love playing it. Since we're in the midst of a "no television" summer, it has been nice for them to have something that they can do that feels a lot like playing, but that is actually educational.
There are different areas of the game that focus on various skill sets and curriculum tie-ins to math, language, and reading. Some of the lessons are very basic, but they allow my youngest son to reinforce his emerging skills and gives my oldest son a feeling of accomplishment when he can correctly zoom through them. I also like that the site encourages users to follow directions in a very gentle manner.
As the children (or the adults!) play the games they earn money that they can use
to buy new outfits for the character. One of the only drawbacks that I've found so far is that the boys enjoy spending a lot of time changing clothes. Who knew? Players also earn points which are used to compare their progress to other people who have played in a "Hall of Fame" type setting. The boys think it's neat, but are much more into the shopping.
For parents, there's also a blog, downloadable games, educational hints and discussion boards that are available. Not only do they provide tips and tricks, but
they're also a great place to go if you're experiencing any difficulties with the game. We haven't had any technical issues, but at times the games are a bit slow to load which has more to do with our computer than the site. I would also strongly recommend not using a laptop unless you have a separate mouse, because it can be a bit challenging to navigate using just the laptop's mouse.
So, now you're curious and want to try it out. You can visit the site online for free, but the membership option is very worth it. The best part? JumpStart.com is allowing me to give away a FREE 3-month membership subscription to one lucky blog reader.
Here's how to enter:
1. Leave a comment with why you think this would be great for your family and an email address for me to contact you.
You can earn one extra entry for each of the following:
a. Follow my blog by clicking on the "Follow" button on the right hand sidebar and leave a comment saying that you have. If you're already a follower, just leave a comment saying as much.
b. Twitter about the contest with a link to this post and @GymMama in the message. Leave a comment here to tell me you've twittered.
c. Blog about the giveaway and leave a link in the comment section to your blog post.
The contest begins on Tuesday, July 13, 2009 and ends Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 9:00pm. All entries will be assigned a number in the order that they're posted and the winner will be chosen using a random number generator.
Good luck! Now, ready, set....GO!
I was super blessed to win a JumpStart.com 3-month membership from a blog giveaway that was featured on The Nest Home in June. When I was contacted by a company representative about doing a similar giveaway on my own blog, there was no way I could say no. JumpStart.com features an exciting, educational online learning game that's perfect for children 3-10.
As many of you know by now, we are a homeschooling family, so I'm constantly
searching for things the boys (7 & 5) can do online in a safe, educational setting. I was thrilled to find JumpStart.com and I can honestly say that the boys love playing it. Since we're in the midst of a "no television" summer, it has been nice for them to have something that they can do that feels a lot like playing, but that is actually educational.There are different areas of the game that focus on various skill sets and curriculum tie-ins to math, language, and reading. Some of the lessons are very basic, but they allow my youngest son to reinforce his emerging skills and gives my oldest son a feeling of accomplishment when he can correctly zoom through them. I also like that the site encourages users to follow directions in a very gentle manner.
As the children (or the adults!) play the games they earn money that they can use
to buy new outfits for the character. One of the only drawbacks that I've found so far is that the boys enjoy spending a lot of time changing clothes. Who knew? Players also earn points which are used to compare their progress to other people who have played in a "Hall of Fame" type setting. The boys think it's neat, but are much more into the shopping.
For parents, there's also a blog, downloadable games, educational hints and discussion boards that are available. Not only do they provide tips and tricks, but
they're also a great place to go if you're experiencing any difficulties with the game. We haven't had any technical issues, but at times the games are a bit slow to load which has more to do with our computer than the site. I would also strongly recommend not using a laptop unless you have a separate mouse, because it can be a bit challenging to navigate using just the laptop's mouse.So, now you're curious and want to try it out. You can visit the site online for free, but the membership option is very worth it. The best part? JumpStart.com is allowing me to give away a FREE 3-month membership subscription to one lucky blog reader.
Here's how to enter:
1. Leave a comment with why you think this would be great for your family and an email address for me to contact you.
You can earn one extra entry for each of the following:
a. Follow my blog by clicking on the "Follow" button on the right hand sidebar and leave a comment saying that you have. If you're already a follower, just leave a comment saying as much.
b. Twitter about the contest with a link to this post and @GymMama in the message. Leave a comment here to tell me you've twittered.
c. Blog about the giveaway and leave a link in the comment section to your blog post.
The contest begins on Tuesday, July 13, 2009 and ends Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 9:00pm. All entries will be assigned a number in the order that they're posted and the winner will be chosen using a random number generator.
Good luck! Now, ready, set....GO!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
10th Anniversary, Blueberries, Music & Ice Cream
Friday was my 10th wedding anniversary! Mr. GymMama and I are both surprised, in a good way, that 10 years have gone so quickly. We took the kids to Willow Creek Orchards, a local organic farm, and picked our own blueberries. SIX pounds of blueberries from four small bushes. Six pounds is A LOT of blueberries! But they're delicious and organic and it was FUN! Normally, we go out to dinner and worry the whole time about the kids. It's nice, but this year we went to dinner and listened to music. It was great!
Through Blockhead Radio I'd heard the music of Chris Huff, who just happens to be local, and who just happened to be playing at a restaurant about 15 minutes from us on Friday night. So, guess who we went to see? Yep, the music was great and it was fun to meet him. The company of Mr. GymMama was pretty awesome too. =)
On Saturday, the 4th of July, we took the kids to a local parade and park where they had music and activities all day. Here are my guys and Baby Girl waiting for the parade to start.
The fireworks launch about 150 yards from our front door, so all we needed to do was look up to see them.We went for a family jaunt this morning to Valley Forge National Park. We walked about a mile to the Memorial Arch and then back again to the van. Since it's summer and the high-time for visitors, the park had "soldiers" explaining their outfits and weapons. There was also a demonstration of the cooking, etc. from some Revolutionary War period garbed men and women. Baby Girl was a little freaked out when one of the interestingly dressed men spoke to her, but the boys & Mr. GymMama thought it was neat. Then we went off for ice cream, because no trip is complete without it. It felt like a mini-vacation ten minutes from home. What a great morning!
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