Cha Cha Cha, French Learning Songs Product Review (Tomoson)

I reveiwed Cha, Cha, Cha, French learning songs via Tomoson. I wanted to review the CD for my nephew. He is learning French. My sister also visited France, this summer.

The CD is a collection of French Songs, produced by Whistlefritz. The singer is Lynn Veronneau and the composer is Didier Prossaird.

For people, like me, who know little French, the song guide provides a vocabulary list with an English translation.

Some of the songs include Bingo, Les Elephants (the elephants), Les Voyelles (The vowels), and Les Saisons (the seasons).

The CD can be listened to for fun, or added to your homeschool curriculum. Maybe you or your child(ren) want to improve their vocabulary.

The CD is $14.99 on Whistlefritz's website.

Social Media:

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

 

PowerMyLearning Review (Sverve)

I reviewed PowerMyLearning, in exchange for honest review from Sverve. This is a sponsored post. I wanted to work with PowerMyLearning because my oldest child learns better via the computer and visual aides. Even though Brad is home-schooled, he still needs additional help learning. I have to find different methods to help him learn new things. I also signed Kalen up for an account. Kalen is starting to show an interest in the computer, other than trying to break the keyboard, mouse, and the printer. I bought him a little laptop, to teach him 6 things: A, B, C, 1, 2, and 3. Kalen starts school next year. He will be in Head Start and a Pre-school for kids with intellectual disabilities.

PowerMyLearning is an educational website for educators, parents, and children. The website provides games and activities for children. The parents can monitor the children's progress through the parent account.

You do have to create a separate account for each child, as well as the parent. The children's account needs to be created first. Then, create the parent and add each child's user name. The website then sends a request to the child to connect parent to child.

Also, the kids accounts don't require an e-mail to sign up. They will need their username, password, city, state, and birthday, in addition to school name.

I did it backwards. I created my account first, thinking I can add my children through the parent account, similar to a few other websites. Then, to add your child, it asks for a user name. Can't have a user name if your child does not have account. So, I went to create Brad and Kalen an account. Logged back into mine and added his user name. The website then said it will send a request to Brad to add me as his parent (which is a good thing and a bad thing. What if the child does not want you to track his progress? I definitely recommend the parents setting up all the accounts. ). The process will take a minute for parents with multiple kids.

Then, you log into each child's account, click on their name towards the top, and go to account. There are two options. Link the accounts or select, not my parent. (Another reason, I recommend the parents set up the account).

The website has over 2000 activities in subjects, which include:

1. Math
2. Science
3. Language Arts
4. Art and Music
5. World Languages
6. Social Studies
7. Your Life
8. Technology

I played with the games at first to see how easy or hard they are? Do the games require a lot of clicking? Do the games require a lot of comprehension? You can select games based on subject or grade level. I started at Kindergarten because both kids need to learn the basics. Kalen starts pre-k next year and Brad is in the 6th grade, but still needs the lower grade basics, such as counting, learning numbers, and ABCs. For Brad, I may mix it up a bit, letting him work on activities ranging from K to 6th to see what he can and can't do. For Kalen, I am going to help him prepare for school next year. Kalen will be attending two schools: head start and the school for developmental disabilities.

One game I liked, is Energy City, created by the Jason Project. The game is more for advanced learners. It is a partial city builder game and part strategy. You complete missions, while also keeping the city from running out of money and energy. It teaches kids how to conserve energy.

Amidst Traffic by Michel Sauret

I read Amidst Traffic, in exchange for review by Michel Sauret. The book was published by One Way Street Productions. I received the paperback from Sauret. I also have the Kindle version and the Smashwords copy, I got on my own, so I can read it on my e-readers and the Kindle, of course.

About the Author: paraphased from the back of the book

Sauret, is an indie author, who was born in Rome, Italy.  Sauret graduated from University of Pittsburgh English writing department. He published "Breathing God", his first novel at 18. He also served as a public affairs specialist and journalist for the United States Army since 2004. Sauret also has won several awards, including Army Journalist of the year in 2008. He also was featured in the Northside Chronicle recently, but I could not find the article online.

My thoughts:

The book is a collection of short stories. First, I liked the coding at the beginning of the book which signified language, violence, or sexual references. The codes were the first thing, which stood out. I wanted to incorporate something similar into my next poetry book, whenever that may be. I loved the stories from Eli and his strange dream in Three Straws. I also loved Voice with a Reason. Trevor's story was emotional and intense. Voice with a Reason details the story of Trevor, voices in his head, and a bank robbery. I was entranced from beginning to end, and the end was not what I was expecting, neither was the middle. Another good story was Blessed are the War People. The story was about Myron, a military journalist, heading to Iraq. He had his camera and ammunition, ready to work, yet getting angry at a woman at the airport.  Myron also got angry at a few soldiers, but with the power of Christ, he forgave them. Though, Myron was in a war-torn country, he recognized the power of God and recognizing the enemy within ourselves.  He seemed to be passive. I saw part of myself in him. Being angry on the inside and not doing anything about it, until it builds up. The stories were descriptive, graphic, and detailed. Definitely would want to see this book in audio format. Next, I loved the cover. It was simply beautiful.

Articles discussing Amidst Traffic:
Pittsburgh City Paper:

Blogtalk radio podcast, featuring Sauret

Upcoming Appearances:

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Workshop: "Writing Short Stories with Long-Lasting Effects" | Allegheny Library

 | 6:00 p.m.


Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Workshop: "Self Publishing: Rising Above the Stigma" | Shaler Library

 | 6:30 p.m.