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How to Help Kids Master Tricky Words and Phrases

May 13, 2016 By: Nanette

I recently received the Tricky Words & Phrases Teaching Cards – Set 1 free of charge from Lakeshore Learning to try out with my son. No other compensation was received. This review is 100% my own thoughts and opinions. This post may include affiliate links.

how to master tricky words

Even before becoming a homeschooling mom three years ago, I have always been on the look out for tools to help me teach my son and/or reinforce what he was learning. For some kids with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) language can be very difficult to understand.

My son is a visual and concrete learner. Everything is black and white to him. There is no gray. It’s either right or it’s wrong. If the clock says it’s 6:29 and you say it’s 6:30 he’s going to correct you and tell you it’s 6:29. He takes everything literally. That can be challenging and even frustrating on my end at times.

Now keeping that in mind, think about language arts skills such as idioms, homophones and multiple meaning words that can’t be taken literally. Even for typical children these skills can be difficult. Can you even imagine how hard these skills are to learn for a concrete, have to be able to see it type of learner like my son? It’s not easy but these cards help. This is the Tricky Words & Phrases Teaching Cards – Set 1 from Lakeshore Learning. They are a set of 120 7″ x 9″ cards within 3 sets – Understanding Multiple Meanings, Understanding Homophones and Understanding Idioms. ll405x We’ve been working on idioms in Language Arts here at home and in his speech therapy sessions for some time now. With summer coming up, I wanted to make sure we could keep him on track with what we have learned so far and continue mastering the skill.

Understanding Idioms

Each card has a funny, colorful illustration depicting the idiom stated at the top of the card.

idioms

It shows just how silly it would be if the idiom were taken literally word for word which is how my son is probably picturing it in his brain to begin with. Below that is the idiom being used in a sentence and then the idioms meaning. This will help him not only recognize the statement as an idiom but it also helps him understand the true meaning of it. Plus at the bottom of each card is a discussion question. This keeps our discussion going and we aren’t just going over the card once and moving on. It also helps me to be sure that he truly understands how to use the idiom correctly in a real life situation.

Understanding Homophones

Teaching homophones increases vocabulary and teaches children how to use the surrounding context to determine the correct meaning and how the same sounding words are used in different situations.

Once again the colorful illustrations come into play for visual learners. They help children grasp the concept if they can see both, all three or even all four homophones and how they are used in sentences. Understanding homophones help practice context clues as well which is another skill my Bug is working on.

Understanding Multiple Meaning Words

Words with multiple meanings are another area that can be very tricky and a difficult skill to master for children with an ASD. Fortunately my Bug is now at a point where he is asking me what words mean when he comes across a word that has more than one meaning. I remember a time when he didn’t.

Again having a brightly colored illustration helps with the understanding of the words. This set illustrates both uses of the same word and provides a sentence for each below the illustrations.

For visual learners the Tricky Words & Phrases Teaching Cards Set’s funny and colorfully illustrated cards are perfect. They take words that can’t be taken literally and turn them into funny visuals kids will remember. They use illustrations to visually teach words that have more than one meaning. All of which increase vocabulary and help children learn to use context clues for understanding words and phrases.

So as you can see it’s going to continue to be a great tool for not only understanding homophones, multiple meaning words and idioms, we’ll also be building vocabulary skills and the use of context clues this summer. I’m looking forward to another summer of learning and I’m sure these Tricky Words & Phrases Teaching Cards Set will help these tricky words not be so tricky anymore.

This post may include affiliate links.

Review of the iCoffee Opus Single Serve Brewer

May 3, 2016 By: Nanette

I received the iCoffee Opus Single Serve Brewer from Remington free of charge to facilitate this review. This post may contain affiliate links.

icoffee opus review

I will tell you even before I opened the box I found so many aspects of the iCoffee Opus that I liked. For one thing, it’s BPA Free, includes an iCup Reusable, has a 75 oz. water reservoir, an energy saving feature and an automatic shut off if it’s not used for 2 hours. All that and I hadn’t even taken it out of the box yet!

Getting it out of the box surprised me though. Check out the unboxing here. I was expecting something lightweight and small. The iCoffee Opus is anything but that. It’s rather large and has some weight to it that’s for sure. It’s pretty though, and I like pretty. The water reservoir lights up blue when it’s on. It’s really cool looking. I’d hate to have an eyesore of a coffee brewer sitting on my kitchen counter wouldn’t you. Here’s what it looks like when it’s brewing:

But honestly what it comes down to is taste. What’s the point in having a pretty coffee brewer if all it does is look pretty, right?

So how does it brew? Does the coffee taste any better than any other brewers?

I know the brand of coffee will have an impact on how your coffee taste I believe the brewer has some impact on that as well. Personally, I was impressed with the flavor. It was very smooth and had absolutely no bitterness to it. It also had no grittyness to it as I’ve had before with some coffee brands.

So how does the iCoffee Opus do it? With something they call Spin Brew technology.

SpinBrew Technology

Just how the brewer works to make you a smooth cup of coffee is pretty interesting and innovative (which by the way is what the i in iCoffee stands for “Innovative”).

Rather than just push hot water through the coffee, the iCoffee Opus has a spinning needle with jets that spin, steam and stir the coffee in the K-cup thus giving you a better, smoother flavor.

Dial-a-Brew

Do you need a stronger, smaller cup of coffee in the morning to get you up and moving? The iCoffee let’s you decide what strength you want between 4-12 ounces by dialing what you want in .5 increments. You are in total control of how strong your coffee is.

K-Cup Compatibility

Then there’s the fact that you can use ALL K-cups and K-cup compatible brands in the brewer so there is no need to limit yourself to just one brand. The iCoffee Opus includes in it’s package 6 K-cups (5 coffee K-cups and 1 tea K-cup) and an iCup Resusable so you can use whatever brand of ground coffee you prefer. This small addition I also like as some brewers don’t even accept reusable cups.

remington icoffee k-cup compatibility

The iCoffee Opus retails for ($139.99) and is available at all Bed Bath and Beyond’s nationwide and other major retailers.

So did I like it and would I recommend the iCoffee Opus? Yes, I would. Granted it’s a little larger than I expected but it makes a very good, smooth tasting cup of coffee and that’s what’s important.

Mother’s Day The Movie {Review}

April 27, 2016 By: Nanette

My freind and I received complimentary passes to attend a pre-screening of Mother’s Day the movie starring Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts and Jason Sudeikis. Mother’s Day releases in theaters on April 29th.

mothersday

My friend, K. really enjoyed the movie. She laughed through the entire film or so I thought. She did admit to me afterwards that she also shed a few tears here and there. I may have gotten a little choked up myself once or twice.

You could relate to the characters.

There were so many different stories and experiences going on that I think everyone could relate to at least one of the situations.

The single mom trying not to feel replaced and losing her place in her children’s lives while a new stepmom tries to find her place.

mothers day movie stepmom

The new mom struggling with her own doubts and unanswered questions about her own mom.

mothers day the new mom

The mom unwilling to accept her daughter’s choices.

mother and daughters

The mom who gave up her child.

the mom who gave up her child julia roberts

The dad and his teen and pre-teen daughters struggling with the loss of their mom and his wife.

mothers day the movie the dad

There are so many different situations and types of moms these days Mother’s Day tried to cover several of them, too many of them I think. I felt the movie had a difficult time really expressing what I guess I would say I would expect from a movie titled “Mother’s Day”.

Mother’s Day was directed by Garry Marshall and includes other stars such as: Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Hector Elizondo, Sarah Chalke, Margo Martindale and Caleb Brown.

I was disappointed that with such a great line up of some of my favorite actresses and actors this movie fell short for me. I was really hoping to like this movie. I guess we can’t all like every movie.

On a personal note: Because I value you, my readers, I feel it’s important to let you know that this is not a movie I would recommend watching with your kids. You may feel differently and that is completely up to you, I just wanted you to know how I personally felt about the film.

How to Help Kids Master Tricky Words and Phrases

Review of the iCoffee Opus Single Serve Brewer

Mother’s Day The Movie {Review}

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