Family Briefs

MOVE OVER KINDLE

Sylvan Dell’s innovative eBook format promises
to improve reading speeds, comprehension, and language learning skills

MT PLEASANT, SC - Sylvan Dell Publishing goes LIVE this week with its next generation eBook, proving the company represents “so much more than a picture book;” it represents a full-fledged campaign for literacy in America.

From Sylvan Dell publisher and co-founder Lee German: “These are the most technologically advanced eBooks in the world today, featuring Auto-Flip, Auto-Read, and Selectable Language. There is nothing even close to this on the market. Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble eBooks are not even in the same category. I encourage parents and teachers to take a test-drive and see for themselves. Let the children play with these for a few weeks, and you’ll be amazed at their excitement and improved reading performance. For children wanting to learn a foreign language or ESOL families learning English, these are phenomenal tools.”

Below is a link to a trial of all 45 Sylvan Dell eBooks:

http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooktrials.php?e=MSBL9J

Code expiration date: 10/31/2009

For guided directions: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/documents/eBookOperatingInstructions.pdf

“Whether in Auto-Flip or Manual Mode, switch back and forth between English and Spanish text and audio (more language choices on the way) and remain on the same page,” said German. “With the addition of Auto-Flip and Auto-Read features, our Sylvan Dell eBooks are powerful literacy and language learning tools to complement our mission of teaching ‘Science and Math Through Literature.’”

Sylvan Dell is no newcomer to literacy education and no stranger to technological advances. Since the company’s founding in 2004, co-founders Lee and Donna German have been ahead of the picture book publishing curve. Last year, Sylvan Dell awarded free eBook site licenses to over 2600 elementary and Title I/III schools nationwide through their School Resource Grant Program.

What’s next? According to German, “We want moms, dads, and grandparents to be able to record a reading of our books and add that audio to the language selection list. This is especially important for military families with a parent overseas. We are also developing an iPhone, iPod, and iPod touch application so that our eBooks will be available on handhelds and an online data capture system to allow teachers to track student reading and quiz performance.”

Sylvan Dell eBooks are available on the company website, http://SylvanDellPublishing.com, as are an array of free educational resources, which include Teaching Activities and Interactive Math and Reading Comprehension Quizzes. For more information about the eBooks, visit http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooks.php. For more about the eBook Resource Grants: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ResourceGrant.htm.

You know all those little pre-packaged fruit snacks? They come in all shapes - princess, Dora, smiley faces, and on and on - the manufacturers make these VERY appealing to little people! I don’t buy them, however, citing to my kids that “it’s not on the list so we’re not buying it.”

These little packages simply don’t provide any snack-worthy benefits, and the dentist says they are awful because these little sugary “snacks” stick to kids’ teeth. So, we only enjoy these “fruit snacks” when they are included in a birthday goody bag or the kids go to grandma’s house. I wish there were a REAL fruit snack that the kids enjoyed as much . . .

Ta da! Here enters Doug with Jerky.com. Doug contacted me about trying some of his products and reviewing them, and you know how I’m all about FREEBIES! He sent me some pineapple jerky for us to sample. The kids quickly devoured it, and my husband almost didn’t get to try it. I salvaged a package for him so he could share his thoughts on it too.

With four children, we’re on a pretty tight budget these days and I was disappointed to find that the pineapple jerky wasn’t $1/box like at the grocery store. Of course, it’s much better for you - why is it that it costs so much to eat healthy?? Well, that’s my soap box for another time. Anyhoo, where was I . . . oh yes, my budget. We buy pineapple every week, have a food dehydrator and decided we could duplicate Doug’s creation - I mean, the label says the only two ingredients are pineapple and honey. How hard could it be?

Apparently they have a magical brew there at Jerky.com. Our jerky just didn’t measure up . . . it fell flat. So, guess we’ll splurge every now and then . . . ‘course with Father’s Day coming up, I should have already ordered one of their Beef Jerky Gift Baskets. You have to splurge a little on fabulous fathers, right? I’m really eyeballing this one. Reckon’ they could get it here in time? I’m off to order!

As I find another podcast coming together, I’m very excited to be ahead of schedule! We may actually be finding our “podcast groove.” Maybe - you be the judge!

We started off talking about some of the struggles we’ve experienced with helping our kids get enough sleep. There was a great interview that we heard on a Jumping Monkeys podcast that gave us lots of fascinating facts about how our bodies react to not getting enough sleep. It certainly gave me a lot to think about (especially after I put our podcast intro at both the beginning AND end of today’s podcast! Not to worry, Rylan pointed out my error and it’s been fixed!).

We went on to discuss our kids’ latest idea to manage their screen time. We touched on the subject in a previous podcast when the topic was a fantastic family meeting we’d had. It’s a great system that’s been working beautifully during the school year. We may really put it to the test here in the first few weeks of summer, so we’ll be reporting back on modifications and improvements we make along the way!

Finally we talked about some of our favorite toy companies that stand behind their products (Tonka, Air Hogs, and Melissa & Doug, to name a few). Of course, what we found that we REALLY love are the kinds of toys that you can “add on to.” You know, something you can add to an existing toy to revive it - like a new Playdoh mold or a blender for the toy kitchen. We’ve added a couple of cool pirate accessories to our backyard play set, and the kids haven’t been able to resist playing on it - even though it’s been 90+ degrees!!! It’s been quite a treasure!

We hope you enjoy the show, and we’d love to hear your feedback. We might even build a future show around your comments or questions! If you’d like to subscribe to our show, you should be able to find us at iTunes by searching for “FamilyBriefs.”

When I think about how much time I spend in the kitchen, it sometimes makes me mad! After the school and preschool drop-offs, I usually spend 30-45 minutes cleaning up from breakfast. Then I spend 20-30 minutes preparing lunch, after which I spend another 20-30 minutes cleaning up. Dinner prep usually takes around 30 minutes to an hour (depending upon that day’s menu), and then cleaning up usually takes another 30 minutes or so. While going out to eat would Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know how many brands of baby wipes there are? Billions! Well, not really; but it sure seems that way when you’re standing in the baby wipe aisle trying to decide which ones to get.

I’m frugal in many ways, and I don’t apologize for using “off brand” diapers.” I did a comparison between name brands and off brands somewhere along the way (using coupons, of course!), and I determined that the off brand was just as good (and sometimes better) as the name brand diapers (obviously, they aren’t paying me to tell you this).

But when it comes to baby wipes - Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever used these? Oh, I was skeptical at first. I’ve used the feather dusters. I’ve used the electro-static dusters (if that’s even what they’re even called). So I just figured these little Swiffer dusters would move the dust around just as well as these other tools.

I decided to take the plunge and purchase a little Swiffer Duster Starter Kit a little over a year ago. I’ve been VERY pleasantly surprised with the results! I still use my feather duster for some cobweb dusting, but I give the kids the electro-static dusters because they are completely useless to me (the dusters, not the kids ). And I really thought with 4 kids and a dog in our house, we’d be burning through those little refill duster packs like toilet paper. Not so, thank goodness (remember, I try to be frugal)!

Now, I’m not a frequent duster by any stretch of the imagination. I actually have this really complicated rotation system for dusting each room in the house that I Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve decided to start sharing something that is a favorite of mine on Fridays - I need a little more structure in my life this late in the week, so maybe this will help us both!

I needed some personalized note cards for our business, and just couldn’t find anything locally that I was willing to use. Then I stumbled across Oopsie Daisy Designs. A few emails and a Paypal transaction later, and I have these personalized business cards that impress our customers!

This is not my first purchase from Oopsie Daisy Designs - I’ve ordered Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t you hate when you spend a few minutes cleaning out your fridge and find things growing in the Tupperware containers in the back? No tellin’ what the contents once were, but they could be donated to a scientific study now.

I put leftovers on the menu plan just to avoid these less-than-appetizing discoveries. This last week, however, Read the rest of this entry »

When I first saw the Lunchables, Jr. advertised, I never thought I would ever purchase it. Convenience foods aren’t cheap, and I am awfully frugal. Of course, I held onto the coupon I received at the check out just in case.

I.LOVE.THIS.PRODUCT. Just one use - that’s all it took for me to realize how many ways these could make my life a littler easier. Isn’t that what convenience foods are all about, anyway?

When the rest of the family Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a little bug-eyed getting this typed out - we’ve spent all week planning and preparing for my 5-year-old’s bug-themed birthday party this afternoon. It went great, and I’ll be posting lots of FUN, crafty ideas that we used at the party. But boy, am I pooped! Well, we still gotta’ eat this week: Read the rest of this entry »