Make Math Fun with PyraMath Cards

PyraMath is one of the innovative products created by I See Cards Educational Games. PyraMath provides a fun way to practice math skills and helps promote a greater understanding and confidence using basic math operations. You can read an overview of the PyraMath card game here.

I was first introduced to PyraMath when the owners generously offered a free deck in return for sharing my experience with their product. The deck comes with 54 cards and I first played it with my 13 year old son. You lay down a row of cards midway between yourself and a partner. Players are dealt a hand and then try to lay down cards that will complete a math equation (can be arrived at through addition, subtraction, multiplication or division). The object is for each player to build a pyramid toward himself by completing math equations.

I then used the cards with my 6 year old. I had her draw three cards to represent ones, tens, and hundreds place and then she used her math manipulatives to show that number.  She loved playing this. As she gets more confident in math, we can start tackling the game using addition. I love that this game is adaptable and can grow with a child's skill level.

As you can see from the image of the cards, the numbers are written so that opposing players can both easily view the numerals. Plus having both Arabic and Roman numerals included is a nice way to sneak in some additional learning.

Here's a little background on how this game came about:

Visit the PyraMath Wiki page to get ideas from teachers about how they are using Pyramath in their classrooms. You can also download the article, "Dr. Ron's Succeeding in Mathematics with Games."

You can play a fun (and free) version of PyraMath online (or try your hand at FracTazmic online). If you are a high scorer, you just may snag a free deck!

And if you'd like to hear about new games as they come out, make sure to sign up for their newsletter.

Product Strengths

• Solitaire or multi-player versions
• Adaptable to various levels (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
• Economically priced
• Portable
• Fun way to practice math facts
• Numbers are written in multiple languages for some extra learning fun (English, Spanish, Chinese, French translations as well as Roman numerals)

Purchase Information
You can purchase the card decks individually or in selected bundles for some great savings:

• Single decks for $6.95
• Combo deck (PyraMath/I See Cards) for $10.95
• Math Bundle (PyraMath/Prime Bomb/FracTazmic) for $18.95
• Pack of 5 decks for $30.00
• Pack of 10 decks for $55.00

Great deals if you need multiple decks for a classroom, co-op or want to share an order with friends.  Any of the decks would make a marvelous stocking stuffer this Christmas!

Disclaimer: We received a free deck of Pyramath for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received. We ending up buying three additional decks we were so pleased with their products!

Stuck

Stuck. A jar lid that stubbornly refuses to turn. A highway of immobile traffic during rush hour. A zipper refusing to budge.  A car that won't start--again.  An impossible math problem eluding a solution.  A relationship on the same old rutted path.  All of us get stuck at some point in our life. 

We can get bogged down by habits, thinking patterns and pathways that keep us stuck. Stuck in despair, sin, suffering or depression. So stuck that we may feel like there is no hope for any other kind of life.

Jennie Allen knows what it is to be stuck and she wants to help other women get unstuck. Her new DVD Bible Study, aptly titled, "Stuck" is a comprehensive learning experience that draws women out of the stuck places in life to the freedom of God's grace and forgiveness.

Meet Jennie Allen and get a taste for what this study is all about:


The study kit comes with the following:

• See: DVD with Jennie Allen offering instruction
• Study: Participant's guide to the study
• Lead: Leader's guide
• Ask: set of conversation cards

My husband and I viewed the videos and while it is marketed to women, my husband found the study insightful and convicting.  So while the material may have been written with women and their struggles in mind, I think men will also be challenged and encouraged by the material.  The video lesson is very down-to-earth in which the author shares the struggles that she is all too familiar with. She serves as a guide on this journey toward becoming unstuck--a fellow pilgrim just a bit farther along the path.

The study materials are in a fresh full color style of glossy, magazine-like pages.  Each lesson provides an introduction to the lesson along with a study on a selected portion of Scripture. This is followed by a section entitled, "Who are you, Lord? & What do you want from me?" with space to journal thoughts and action points derived from the lesson. Each lesson then closes with a project that gently helps the participant probe into their "stuck" places. 

Following the introductory segment, the lessons cover the following topics:

1. Broken
2. Mad
3. Discontent
4. Scared
5. Overwhelmed
6. Sad
7. Unstuck

The author makes it clear in the leader's guide, that the leader's job is not to counsel and she encourages leaders to make referrals to qualified professionals when someone needs additional help. The teacher's guide was very user friendly with very good suggestions for making discussions flow smoothly.

One very unique aspect of this study is the deck of conversation cards. There is a set of open-ended questions for each lesson. The idea is that the questions are laid out among a small group (one kit is recommended for 8-12 people). Each person can select the question they would like to answer (more than one person can choose to answer the same question). I like the fact that people have some control over what they feel comfortable sharing. This also provides a fun way to guide discussion from the lesson.  I thought this aspect was a really clever and innovative part of the study.

The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time and often our stuck places become magnified. Why not do something for yourself and order this study to help you work through some of the stuck areas in your life?   Or if the holidays are too hectic, then plan ahead to begin this study as a part of turning over a new leaf in 2012.  Whether done alone, with a small group of friends, or as part of a small group church study, the time you invest will be well worth the effort.

Purchase Information
This study is published by Thomas Nelson and can be purchased directly through them for $39.99. This includes the complete curriculum: DVD, student and leader's guides as well as the conversation cards with all the contents packaged in a sturdy box.

For a limited time, you can purchase the curriculum kit from Christian Book Distributors for the incredible price of $24.99 (no idea how long that price will last so I suggest you act quickly!).  Additional study guides can be purchased separately from either retailer (ISBN 9781418548742).

You can read what other bloggers thought about this study here.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Stuck from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of their Book Sneeze program for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma was one of the most delightful non-fiction books I've read in a long while. The book is really a celebration of a very special relationship forged between a dad and his daughter over the 3,218 days straight that he read at least ten minutes with his daughter. There is one very memorable chapter about a time when they came perilously close to breaking their streak as the clock approached midnight but Dad came through (not without a bit of daughterly embarrassment at the time).

The author's father was a popular school librarian passionate about reading books to children. This love naturally spilled over into his homelife. And at age 8, they decided they would first try to read 100 nights in a row. When that goal was reached, they just kept going all the way until the eve of the daughter's start to college.  This process was a constant, predictable, secure tradition that helped anchor a young lady whose parents split up. Sadly her mother moved out and the mystery of that is really only hinted at later in the book. What struck me was that while this would normally be an incredibly tragic event, the daughter came through childhood with quite a head on her shoulders. Largely due, I am sure, to the influence of the connection she had with her father through books.

Her father was not a demonstrative man and the author mentions that sitting next to her dad during reading time was about the only physical contact they had--he wasn't really a hugger or an affectionate dad but he could READ!  He would practice and rehearse before reading each evening so that voices and inflection were perfect.  He would sometimes do some selective "editing" as he read (a very great benefit of reading aloud!).  Through books they shared a very special bond. The author's olders sister wasn't interested in the reading promise so this was something unique to just Alice and her father.

Literature even had a hand in the origin of her name (Alice Ozma is actually only part of the author's name given at birth). She shares the background on her name and how she came to adopt part of it as her identity.

The Reading Promise served as a daily anchor that connected a young girl throughout adolescence to the heart of her father.  What an incredible legacy that anyone on the planet could replicate.  At the back of the book is a sample "Reading Promise" agreement that a parent and child can fill out.  The author also includes a list of the books she and her father read--there are a lot of great suggestions on that list.

I highly recommend this book to any teacher, parent or librarian. It will change the way you think about reading!  And your promise to read to a child just may change their life forever. Read the first chapter today. 

Go make your own Reading Promise,
Jill

The Bone House (A Bright Empires Novel)

In an age when it seems fiction titles come off an assembly line of predictable plots and shallow characters, Stephen Lawhead's new Bright Empires series is definitely a breath of fresh literary air. You can read my review of the first in the series, The Skin Map here.

On his website, Stephen Lawhead provides an interesting glimpse into how this current series took root in his mind. Read about it there or listen to his thoughts in this video:



Even after reading The Skin Map, it took some time to adjust to all the hopping around. The story almost makes it seem as if alternate time periods are happening simultaneously with threads of Burleigh the rejected boy, and Burleigh the power hungry mogul going on concurrently in the story. It would be helpful to have a date listed at the chapter heads but I imagine Lawhead would say that dates are only useful in a unilateral one-track reality.

In this installment, Cosimo and Sir Henry are still dead, Kit is still racing for missing parts of the map (with Burleigh hot on his trail) and Mina is using her charm and friendship with the king's alchemist to get a copy of a device that helps her navigate her time travels. A missed rendezvous leaves Kit in the Stone Age for quite some time offering an interesting glimpse of a primitive culture.
There are many questions that are still unanswered...will Sir Henry and Cosimo be rescued from death? How exactly did Burleigh first get introduced to the concept of ley travel? How did Flanders stumble upon this form of travel? Who or what is En Ul in the Stone Age? He seems to hold god-like qualities so is he some form of the deity?  And there has been a hint that characters who have died can somehow be revived. This book doesn't bring the reader any closer to those answers.

This is a book of science fiction based on science that reminds me of Jules Verne. One of the most fascinating parts of the book was the afterward with additional information about Thomas Young, an archeologist mentioned in the book. Young learned to read by age 2, read through the Bible twice by age 4 and was composing letters to friends and family in Latin by age 6. No wonder that one character in The Bone House referred to Young as the last living man to know everything.

As mentioned in the author spot, the series will eventually be five books. With book number three not coming out until September 2012, readers will have a bit of a wait to discover the ending. But I'm certain that each installment will be well worth the wait.  You can read several other reviews of this book at Book Sneeze.

Get Your Copy
You can order The Bone House directly from the publisher Thomas Nelson for $25.99 or from  Amazon or Barnes and Noble (print and Nook versions). 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of The Bone House from Thomas Nelson as part of the Book Sneeze program for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Across the Wide River by Stephanie Reed

Lowry's father is a minister who isn't afraid to vocalize his opposition to slavery. Originally from Tennessee, his mother and father had decided to move to Ohio to live in a free state but on their journey, a Kansas church asked Mr. Rankin to be their pastor and they'd stayed. Then a young black boy who'd been coming to learn about the Bible was found by the pastor brutally beaten by a white man. That was enough to nudge the Rankins to move on to Ohio.

Once there, Rev. Rankin did something unusual: he built a huge house with three front doors! The townspeople wondered why a minister was so uppity thinking he needed such a big house. They didn't understand that Mr. Rankin had the foresight to supplement his meagre pastor's salary by renting out two portions of the huge house while they lived in the third part. But the Rankins were restless to do something more than just preach against slavery. They soon moved to the country where they became a part of the Underground Railroad. They relied on Lowry to assist in transporting runaway slaves to the next stop.

This wasn't always an easy task. Lowry would often lose a whole night's sleep and still have chores and school to attend. And if the fatigue weren't bad enough, he got tired of everyone assuming he would become a minister like his father. He summons up the nerve to ask to go live with his uncle and apprentice as a carpenter. At first, this seems like a good fit but he soon becomes restless again and falling under conviction, Lowry ends up enrolling in seminary after all.

And this is where the real battle of character and endurance begins. Lowry wasn't exactly received at the school with open arms. Thankfully he finds at least one faculty member who encourages him in his studies and his faith. This is a fascinating story not only of a young man's journey to manhood but an important documentary on a family helping slaves journey to freedom.

My Thoughts

When the book first arrived, I asked my daughter (11) if she wanted to read it first. She breezed right through it in a couple days and enjoyed it. I, too found it a great read and thoroughly enjoyed meeting the Rankin family and seeing how they worked together believing that the Lord would have them assist slaves to freedom. This was a family endeavor. Lowry helped with transportation but the whole family had to work together to keep the secret. One thing I really appreciated was that while the topic of the treatment of slaves was discussed, it was done so in a way that middle schoolers could handle (without overly graphic depictions of abuse). Having such a beautiful example of Christians acting in obedience to God and risking their lives is a great tool to talk with my children about this time in history. When they are older, they will undoubtedly will learn of the reality of just how cruelly slaves were beaten and abused. For now, Ms. Reed's book is an excellent introduction to this time in our nation's history.

You can learn more about the author, Stephanie Reed at her website. While you are there, read the first two chapters of Across the Wide River. You might also enjoy reading an interview with Stephanie here.

Visit other bloggers who reviewed this book at the Across the Wide River Blog Tour.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Across the Wide River from Kregel Publications for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Christian Encounters: J.R.R. Tolkien

While having heard about Tolkien growing up, I had never read any of his books until after I married someone who'd read the Lord of the Rings dozens of times. In an effort to understand my husband's fascination with the series, I jumped in and tried to find time during my son's naps or after he'd gone to bed to read the trilogy (I can't recall if I read the Hobbit at that time or if it was later).

I had never read anything about Tolkien himself and was therefore anxious to read the Christian Encounters biography about him. Not an exhaustive biography (many others have done that job quite well), Horne's biography has taken a very prominent figure in literature and made his life accessible to the masses in just 130 pages. While I enjoyed reading The Lord of the Rings, I wouldn't consider myself an avid fan. Seeing a bit of the man behind the legendary work, brought him into the realm of being human like all of us. He was plagued with the same challenges and pressures that we all face in one form or another.

Success was not instantly his and whatever acclaim he gained was earned through a great deal of hard work. I was surprised to learn that it took twelve years to complete the Lord of the Rings and that Tolkien's perfectionism drove him to write and rewrite manuscripts repeatedly. Quite a feat when you consider he didn't have the advantage of word processing!

This was a marvelous introduction to his life hitting on the main events and the primary people who influenced his life. I was somewhat saddened to learn that his initial interest in George MacDonald's works, faded over time and that his close relationship with C.S. Lewis significantly cooled over time. Yes, Tolkien was human and Horne shares the good right alongside the not so flattering. Horne has done a marvelous job of taking an incredible author and shedding light on his remarkable career in a fast-moving condensed way. In addition to the notes of his sources, Horne also includes a brief summary about five books he found particularly helpful. For the serious Tolkien fan, any one of these would provide additional insight into the author's life and works.

For additional reviews about this book, visit the Book Sneeze website.

Purchase Information

You can purchase Mark Horne's book, J.R.R. Tolkien directly from Thomas Nelson for $12.00.

Or purchase from one of the following retailers:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Christian Book Distributors

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of J.R.R. Tolkien as a part of Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

The Write Foundation--Part II

As you finalize your curriculum choices for the 2011-2012 school year, I want to recommend a writing program called The Write Foundation that we had the privilege of trying out this past school year.

The Write Foundation offers a three level writing program for students ages 11-18. Each level has a recommended age range depending on the competency of your student. Each level is a course of 30 lessons that can be completed in one or more school years.

Level 1: Sentence to Paragraph Writing (ages 11-14)

Level 2: Paragraph Writing (ages 12-16)

Level 3: Essay Writing (ages 14-18)

We had the opportunity last fall to review the first half of the Level 2 course. The teacher manual comes in a spiral bound format (shown below):

The student pages are three-hole punched that they can just put in their own binder. The purchase of the program also comes with some electronic files for additional help; you can choose what you'd like to print off. Read my review of The Write Foundation Level 2: Paragraph Writing (Lessons 1-15) here.

The author of the course, Becky Celsor, also provided us with lessons 16-30 for the purpose of review. Lessons 1-15 focused on the writing of single paragraphs. Beginning in Lesson 13, students transition to writing two-paragraph projects on up through a five paragraph essay for their final project. This is carried over into the first few lessons of the second half. The remaining lessons continue with incremental instruction on writing as well as including supplemental activities on poetry and a suggested resource for critical thinking skills. The critical thinking was an optional activity that we personally did not use. The curriculum also includes a reading list (with point values) to expose students to good writing in literature.

Students spend several weeks covering two-paragraph papers on a variety of topics:

• Memory Description
• Comparison
• Before and After
• Biography

During this process students are also learning specific writing skills such as using transitions in their writing and reviewing sentence structure of clauses, prepositional phrases, adverb and participles phrases. You can view samples from any of the levels at their website.

Program Strengths

• Flexible and adaptable for a range of ages and ability
• Flexible time schedule
• Good balance of creative and essay writing
• Emphasis on reading good literature that models excellent writing
• Students learn and write poetry
• Incremental instruction
• Reviews concepts of grammar and mechanics
• Use of highlighting helps students identify key parts of paragraphs
• Yahoo group for additional support

The Write Foundation definitely provides a solid foundation in writing. I appreciate that each level has an age range since not every child magically advances at the same rate.

Our Experience

I used this with two of my children--my 11 year old daughter and my 13 year old son. I really enjoyed having one curriculum I could use for both of them. I found the outlines provided for the kids to take notes on was very helpful. They both enjoyed highlighting their paragraphs which I think really helped cement their learning on the ingredients for a well-written paragraph. The poetry assignments were a refreshing bonus to the program. I also liked having some writing examples used from the Bible. We did not complete the whole program in one year, so we'll just continue on through the next school year.

I found Mrs. Celsor to be very helpful both in answering questions directly e-mailed to her or posted on The Write Foundation Yahoo Group. Having such great customer service is another great benefit of this program.

Ordering Information

Each Level retails for $70 plus shipping (and applicable tax). Complete pricing information can be viewed here. For a considerable savings, you can also order all three levels at once for $180 (plus shipping and tax).

Read the introduction to the program here. You can also view this video that provides a thorough overview of the program:

[TWF How To Video from Elizabeth Celsor on Vimeo.]

Contact Information

Website:www.thewritefoundation.com

E-mail: bcelsor (at) sbcglobal (dot) net

Phone: 281-356-3556

Join The Write Foundation Yahoo Group

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Level 2: Paragraph Writing (Lessons 16-30) from The Write Foundation for the purpose of review. No additional compensation was received.