Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Mad Science KNOW "Science Magazine for Curious Kids" Review

As a mom of a gifted child I struggle on a daily basis to find things that work for my son. From mathematics, to science, to sports and recreation, every thing that happens in our life I evaluate to see if I think it will pass my son's high standards.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may have noticed that we've had some problems with the public school system. Last year, academically speaking, he spent bored, reading the same material he had in previous years, completing monotonous work that really taught him nothing. Education wasn't fun, or engaging, and I felt that he needed a change. This year, he's attending a new school with higher standards of curriculum, and he's excited about experiencing new things. He hates being the "new kid", but we're working on that.

When he was younger, we purchased a magazine subscription for him to encourage creative thinking, and thinking outside the box. He enjoyed it for the most part, but craved something more. I had no idea that anything like that existed, until I was presented an opportunity to review the Canadian magazine, KNOW, from Mad Science Publications. Although at first skeptical about a science magazine for kids, I became more excited about reviewing this magazine the more I learned about it.

KNOW is a science magazine for children ages 6-9, which is perfect for my 7 year old. KNOW News brings kids up to date on the latest discoveries and newest inventions; Alex loves creating and inventing, and even has his own invention book.

The 'Science in Action' section covers real scientists working in a field related to the topic or theme of the issue. I love the fact that my son can see a real-life application of science in the world today. The articles are age-appropriate, colorful and fun, and packed with oodles of information for your budding scientist.


One of the best parts, one that sets this magazine apart from others, (aside from delighting in the way my son seems to absorb all of the information from the pages), is the fact that KNOW magazine is free from outside advertising. Yes, you read that right. No ads for noisy, cheap toys, designer shoes, or cartoons with the social skills of a rock. This magazine is full of intelligent, coherent, well-formed stories, articles, comics and illustrations, hands-on experiments, and fun for you and your child.

As your child matures and their love of science grows, Mad Science also offers YES MAG. YES MAG is geared for kids 10-15 and delivers information on technology, biology, archaeology/palaeontology, Earth science, and scientists.

I am excited and eager to see future publications, and as of right now, my only negative critique is that this magazine is only published 6 times per year, simply because my son craves more! While browsing their site, I learned that you can purchase previous issues, and they even have a clearance section loaded with educational books and past issues.. so who knows- maybe Santa will drop a few under the tree this year, as well!

I know that science is not every child's forte, but I truly believe that as the world grows and changes our children need to become more excited about science. Utilizing tools such as KNOW and YES MAG may just be the fire we need to ignite that passion for learning.


"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by  Mom Central on behalf of Mad Science and received the products necessary to  facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me  for taking the time to participate."

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Monday, August 2, 2010

Jumpstart Online Provides Educational Fun for PreK-age 10! Review + GIveaway!

About a year ago our family was introduced to JumpStart, an online educational program for children from preschool through about 6 years of age. When we first reviewed JumpStart, my son loved it. He went on for about 6 months almost daily.. and then it slowly faded. He went on every now and then, when the themes changed because of a holiday, or because he wanted to play on the computer. He loved seeing the new changes, but the educational games were not so educational for him any more. As a gifted kid, he runs into that problem often.


When summer began, on rainy days or 'boring' days Alex started visiting again, and noticed there were tons of changes. You can have a pet dragon now, (when I visited with him earlier, it was sleeping!), and there are more areas on the map. The Jumpeez (avatars, computer people, characters) can interact with their pet dragon and go through these different areas and worlds ('like Future Land and Story Land', Alex says), on learning adventures. MarineLand, FutureLand, and Uncle Milton’s Amazing Science Land are the new lands, and Alex says 'they're pretty cool', too.

I love hearing him play on JumpStart, and I love listening to him teach Abbie the new worlds. She's starting to get really good at the computer (now that her big brother has given her the ability to work on it alone) and enjoys her little Jumpeez too! The names of the Jumpeez are anonymous and fictional, and always gets a giggle from her as it pops up over her character's head, which is new to her!

Today, we got a "mission" as we signed on, and both of the kids were so excited!

They had to go and find pieces of a treasure map in order defeat an evil Sorcerer that is trying to take all of the energy from JumpStart.

They were even more upset when I told them that they could do their mission tomorrow, as it was bed time.

One of Alex's favorite places on the JumpStart map is the Stadium. At the Stadium, kids can go and play either football, volleyball or basketball (all with an educational twist!). The only thing Alex says that he doesn't like is the fact that they don't have soccer. Overall, he does enjoy all of the new upgrades they have done, and honestly has the desire to play every single day again. He's excited about it, and as a mom, that makes me excited.

I have a tendency to want to try all of the games my kids play, and before they played JumpStart for the very first time screened it completely. That said- I tried playing the volleyball game at level three today, and it was CRAZY! Even though the words are not hard it's like mind-hand-eye coordination at it's finest. Of course, if I wasn't still sick, and had a mouse for my laptop, it may have been easier.. but I digress!

I love the fact that you can link your Facebook account with your JumpStart account, so you can keep track of your kid's progress on Facebook, earn extra coins and meet up with friends (using top-secret-buddy codes to locate them).  If you prefer the traditional way, you can see your child's progress right in your email, or on your account page at JumpStart.com.

The bottom line is, now that Alex is older and brighter, he's found a place that he's familiar with to fit into his world that's both educational and fun. It's fun enough to keep him coming back to it, and once again, advanced enough that he can really learn and sharpen his skills on the educational side of it. The boy is happy, and mom is happy- win, win!

Speaking of winning... Our very good friends at JumpStart have offered one lucky reader their chance to score a 6 month paid subscription to JumpStart online!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!!


Please refer to our WINNERS PAGE for more information on how to claim your prize!

This giveaway is open to residents of the US & Canada. This giveaway will end on August 15, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and all winner information will be posted on our WINNERS PAGE and on this post. Any unclaimed prizes will be redrawn accordingly and at the discretion of 4BabyAndMom. Disclosure: I received a membership to JumpStart to review at no cost. This did not affect my opinion of the product and any opinions expressed are 100% that of 4BabyAndMom. Your experience with these products, website and companies may differ.

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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Cloud B Twilight Sea Turtle Review and Giveaway!

My kids used to go to bed with no problem. Lately, they've wanted night lights. I hate traditional night lights, I feel that they are a fire hazard, and often kids climb out of bed to play with something that's plugged into a wall. My husband's an electrician, and he agrees traditional night lights are just no good. My son is a science geek in training, and loves the stars, and even has a telescope, so I knew when I found Cloud B and the Twilight Sea Turtle that we were in luck!

We received our beautiful Twilight Sea Turtle, and immediately the kids wanted to tear it out of the package. The green and blue turtle comes with a story book about the endangered species that are illustrated on the shell of this sleepy time turtle. There are three buttons on the rear end of the turtle that control the light features. The single circles of endangered species light up individually every time you push the fish button, the blue and green buttons allow the lights shine through and illuminate your child's ceiling with constellations.

It is not a squishy-lovey type toy, but my daughter was carrying around the turtle non stop for the first three or four days. My son loves hitting both the blue and green buttons and seeing the whole room in stars. The only thing that would make this turtle even cooler is if it was offered with a sound button to play rolling waves, or whale sounds or something of the like. The simplicity of the turtle makes it easy for Abbie to love and operate, and the illuminated sky in their room makes bed time that much easier.

Want it?
Head over to Cloud B and view their many sleepy time animals and pick out your favorite one!

Win it!
Our friends at Cloud B have offered one lucky reader the chance to win their very own Twilight Sea Turtle!

Here's How! (mandatory entry)
Head over to Cloud B and browse their selection of tools that help babies and children fall asleep. Fan Cloud B on Facebook, and then come back here and tell me which product you love best!

Extra Entries:

  • Follow 4BabyAndMom AND Cloud_B on Twitter and tweet about this contest. Please re-post "Twilight Sea Turtle Review and Giveaway~Ends 5/18 http://bit.ly/PHsb @4BabyAndMom @Cloud_B" on your tweet!
  • Follow 4BabyAndMom and add our button to your site, include link in your comment!
  • Subscribe to our Email feed!
  • Blog about this contest and include a link to 4BabyAndMom. Post your blog link in your comment, please. (3 Extra Entries for this one!)
  • Email at least three of your friends and CC: 4BabyAndMom {at} gmail {dot} com
  • Fave this post on Technorati, Stumble this post, or DIGG this post, include link if possible.
This contest ends on May 18th, 2009 at midnight, EST. Winner will be chosen at Random, using Random.org. Winner will be announced on May 20th. Special thanks to Cloud B for sponsoring this great giveaway!

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