Review and Giveaway! The Woodcarver DVD

My family enjoys watching movies together at home.  Our youngest is 9 years old now, and is just beginning to enjoy some of the same movies we do.  The Woodcarver, with John Ratzeberger, was a great movie for our entire family to watch together. About the movie, which was just released on March 13 by Faith and Family Films:


"Matthew Stevenson is a troubled kid from a broken home. When he vandalizes the local church to get back at his parents, Matthew has to repair the damage to the church to avoid criminal charges. While working at the church, he meets Ernest (John Ratzenberger), an accomplished wood carver who created the intricate woodwork decoration that Matthew destroyed. Ernest has become something of a hermit, but reluctantly comes out of reclusion to help repair the church. Now Ernest and Matthew must work together to preserve the church's beautiful antiquity, and along the way, they also manage to restore their faith in God and in life."

The Woodcarver has great messages in the storyline that are important for us all to reflect on, such as God not always answering our prayers in the way we want or expect.  The actors did a wonderful job portraying the characters, and the movie sparked some good conversation among us.  This will definitely be a movie we watch again!   If you are interested in buying The Woodcarver, you can purchase it at Christian Cinema for only $10.92. 

Now, for the GIVEAWAY!!!  *look at the end of this post for another way to win*

I have one copy of The Woodcarver DVD to give away!  Here's how to enter:

1. Just leave a comment below!


For one additional entry each, you can do the following (must leave a comment for each entry letting me know what you did):

* Follow me on GFC  or Linky Followers (on right sidebar)

* Follow me on Twitter (right sidebar)@athenalang

* Tweet about this giveaway

* Blog about this giveaway

* Post on Facebook about this giveaway

The winner will be drawn at random on Monday, March 26, 2012 at midnight MST. Good luck!

****Guess What??  Doreen over at Our Homeschool Ohana is also giving away a copy of The Woodcarver!!!  Here is the link for her giveaway: http://www.ourhomeschoolohana.blogspot.com/2012/03/woodcarver-dvd-review-and-giveaway.html
If you go over and enter at her giveaway, come back and let me know you did and I will give you one additional entry!!




“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Sharing Smiley360

 I just became a Smiley360 member! Sign-up for free at http://bit.ly/lTDqVw
 Be heard. Be happy.   Try free, full-sized samples of products and share your opinion!

A Little Break.......

My youngest and I are taking off on a week-long break to visit my parents and enjoy the California sunshine. It's snowing like crazy here in Utah, so it will be a welcome break! I'll be back around the 15th with a new giveaway for you!!!

Product Review~K5 Learning

Members of the TOS crew were recently given the opportunity to use and review K5 Learning, an online after-school supplemental study program.  Lessons are available in math, math facts, reading, and spelling.  

First, Chad was given math and reading assessments.  Parents are able to view the results and see exactly what grade level their child is at in each area.  Chad thought the assessments were too long- he was moaning and complaining about halfway through.  What is nice about the assessments and this program, though, is that the material your child works on after the assessments is entirely assessment-based.  Children are not just given work that corresponds with the grade they are in.  Also, the program adjusts to how your child is doing, making problems harder or easier if needed.  Below is an example of  reading assessment results:

K5 Learning lessons are multi-media, which always works best in our house.  Your child can work independently-I only needed to help Chad a few times.  There are fun games to play as rewards, and Chad enjoyed designing his own Avatar to use in the program.  Parents can check their child's progress at any time.  The characters used throughout the lessons look modern and fun, although Chad complained about a few voices being 'annoying'. 

The price for unlimited use of all K5 Learning programs is $25/month for the first child and $15/month for each additional child, or $199/year for the first child and $129/year for additional children.  You can see how the pricing works here.  For my family on a limited budget, this price would be too high for us, especially since it is a supplemental program and not a full curriculum.  I'm sure for some families K5 Learning would be the perfect after-school program. Before deciding for yourself, you can get a free 14 day trial!  Be sure to check out K5 Learning's website for sample lessons, an introductory video, and FAQs. 

Click here to read more reviews of K5 Learning from the TOS crew. 
Disclaimer: I was given a free trial of this program in exchange for my honest review.