Trident Case for iPad (TOS Review)

A few weeks ago we received in the mail a new case for our iPad--the Kracken A.M.S. Case for iPad 2/3/4--from Trident Case for review. When I saw the Trident Case I was immediately intrigued. This is a very sturdy and strong case that won't be wearing out anytime soon, something I couldn't say about our current case. So what makes the Kracken A.M.S. Case so intriguing (besides the name)?
The Kracken A.M.S. Case for iPad 2/3/4 are the sturdiest and strongest cases that Trident Case offers. Here are a variety of features that come on this case.

• Hardened polycarbonate shell 
• Shock-absorbing silicone 
• Built-in screen protector 
• Protection for device controls and ports 
• Enhanced audio Meets or exceed military standards for vibration, drop, dust, sand, and rain 
• Optional accessories are available 

A couple of other pluses are that this case is made in the USA. Trident Cases are also made out of bio-enhanced plastic which can be recycled, is degradable and compostable. Oh, and my favorite thing--the variety of colors! You can pick from black, blue, pink, red, Trident green, purple, orange, and maroon. These are not dull colors, but very vibrant colors.
I had picked the maroon case, which met everyone's approval. I first wrapped in the shock-absorbing silicone, then placed the built in screen protector on the front, and finished it off with the hard polycarbonate case placed on the back. The silicone shows through on the corners and along the sides along the back. This is handy in helping you have a good grip on your iPad. Also, the silicone has a cover for every port and button to keep the dust out.

We have never put a screen protector on our iPad and I wasn't too sure how well the screen protector would work. Well, I didn't have anything to worry about. It worked great and responded to touch just like it was the original screen. My only complaint with the screen protector is that it did show fingerprints which at times made it hard to see things on the screen. I think this is due to be just a little bit raised off of the screen and it caused more glare than the original screen.

At first I found the buttons being covered by the silicone a little different, but it didn't take long to adjust. I don't think my kids had an issue with it at all! I also found that the sound wasn't hindered in the least and worked great.

The case does not come with a stand or holder, which was missed by all of us. A stand and holder is available as an accessory for and additional $19.95. For the price of the case, a stand included would make it a much better investment for families that are willing to spend a little more for a sturdy case that hold up to kids and regular wear and tear.

We have always traveled with out iPad and haven't had any mishaps with it. Being in the Kracken A.M.S. case I felt if it was dropped was better protected, but we didn't try it out to see. The biggest problem we had with traveling was that Siri kept getting pressed on and we would have turn her off. I also take the iPad to church all of the time and many times I felt funny carrying in my iPad in this case. It is very clunky to carry around and for a nice occasion I like my iPad better in a case that makes it look more like a book.

Overall, we have been very happy with the Kracken A.M.S. for iPad 2/3/4 so much so that we are seriously looking at getting a Trident Case for my husband's iPhone. These cases are sturdy, tough, and user friendly for all ages!

The Kracken A.M.S. for iPad 2/3/4 is available from Trident Case for $69.95.

Here are the social media links for Trident Case:
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/tridentcase
Instagram – http://instagram.com/tridentcase#
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/tridentcase
Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+tridentcase
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/tridentcase
Vine - https://vine.co/Trident.Case
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/Trident Case
 

Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum by Golden Prairie Press

I love history and was excited to be able to review a new elementary American history program called Digital Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum by Golden Prairie Press.
Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum is for primary grades 1-6 and its focus is all about bringing history to life. Each section contains 5 lessons. Most of the lesson were overviews of the time period. These lessons are divided into two sections. The first is for 1st and 2nd grade and are simple overviews. The second section is for grades 3-6 and are filled with a lot more information. Some lessons also contain stories about heroes and heroines written by authors from the past to present. Included in each lesson was:

• A memory verse - It is recommended that they write it out on an index card and study it for the week. On day 5 they recite it. 
• Questions from the text 
• Writing topic suggestions 
• Maps and geography questions 
• Activities (Crafts, cooking, timeline, etc.) 
• Recommended literature books available for purchase 
• Answer key and recommended resource lists for each historical division. 

Beside the reader text, the heart of this program lies in the activities that are included. The author contends that to bring history to life recipes need to be cooked, games played, historical art looked at, doing crafts, listening to the songs and speeches of the past. Here is a sampling of the activities that are included:

• Historical art Games of the Past 
• Recipes from the past 
• Songs from history 
• Listening to  speeches, poems, and sermons from history
• Craft projects
•  Experiments 
• Watching events 

 

1. Text  2. List of audio resources 

3. Timeline 4. George Washington Snake Game

I used Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum with Chantry (5th) and Destini (7th). We started in Book 2 in the time period of National Expansion since that is where we were in our current American history book.

I read a lesson a day and instead of using the chapter questions I would have them narrate. We usually did one or two activities a week. We have always focused on American songs in music study and so learning about where these songs came from were a big hit. We also listened to different speeches, watched a video about Alexander Graham Bell, filled in timelines, looked at maps, looked at art, and played games. The writing suggestions are a great fit for kids who like creative writing. If your child struggles with creative writing you could suggest a topic that would work for them.

We did not use the recommended literature. These selections are available through Golden Prairie Press and have been edited by Amy Puetz. Instructions on where to use these are included in the American history books. These are available in print format or e-book format. I did think the price for the the e-books quite steep. Honestly, we had plenty to discuss without the extra literature and at the end of each time period is a list of recommended resources filled with literature, biographies, and movie selections that would give you more than enough to enhance your child's learning.

I appreciate that Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum goes all the way through modern history yet has the feel of an old history book (yes, even though I read it off of my iPod). The overview stories are filled with many facts, which my kids found a little dry, but the stories that accompany many of the lessons were big hits and help make history come alive, even for my 7th grader. Another thing I liked was integration of listening to history with songs, speeches, and poetry.

Digital Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum Package comes with:

• Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Part 1 and 2
• Additional Materials CD
• Historical Skits
• Sing Some History CD
• Listen to Some History CD

This curriculum is available at Golden Prairie Press for $98.99
The literature pack that includes the five additional literature books is available for $59.99.

Social media links for Golden Prairie Press:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenPrairiePress

C is for Cookies

Measuring ingredients and very excited to make cookies.
 

Delani have been working on a review for Progeny Press using The Frog and Toad Together Study Guide. An activity included making cookies like Toad and Frog. Now I am going to interject here that I am the world's worst for cooking with my kids in the kitchen. It stresses me out! But Delani was begging me to make cookies so I braced myself for the adventure and an adventure we had. 

 I picked out a recipe for the Best Oatmeal Cookies recipe that I had found on Pinterest. She was a little miffed that I picked out the recipe because she wanted to pick it out. (Yes, I have a little choleric on my hands.) I finally convinced her that these would be good and we would add chocolate and butterscotch chips to them and make them really yummy. Everything was going great and then it came time to add the dry ingredients. She asked me if she could turn on the mixer and I told her yes. Then...she proceeded to turn it all the way on high and boy, did the flour fly!!

 

 Oh, no!!!!!!

After getting the mixer turned off I looked at the mess and I'll be honest, I felt irritated. I also a little girl who was very disappointed. So we laughed and we kept moving on. I prayed the cookies would still turn out since we had lost quite a bit of the dry ingredients. 

 Ready to go in the oven.

  

 The finished cookies which were delicious.

The cookies turned out successful and were a big hit with the family, plus I had a very happy little girl. We also made a special memory that we can laugh about for quite a while.

 

Now to clean up.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: School Work Resumes!

 

I know most people are winding down their school year, but we are just gearing up to get our third term finished. With out move and the kid's being involved in a competition it didn't make life very conducive for school work. This week we pulled out a majority of work and got to work. Even though a term lasts 12 weeks I believe that we can wrap it up a little bit faster. I have shown the kids what the need to finish for the school year and am letting work until they are finished. The thing that will take the longest is finishing up our history reading. Here is a look at our week:

1. Planting seeds with Daddy.

2. Ummm, how did this table get in this condition?!

3. A couple major chess games were happening.

4. We picked up school work again this week. I told Destini what I wanted her to do to get this book finished and she sat down and did it.

5. Playing Rook.

6. Delani gave her presentation in co-op. She gave a "book report" on two of her favorite books,Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed or Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree.

7 . Delani's cookies. I'll be sharing our adventure in cookie making later this week.

B is for Boxes

We moved at the beginning of April and I have had many people ask me if we are all settled. Well, I'm going to show you just how not settled I am. On a good note my kids' bedrooms are unpacked along with the living room and kitchen, but the rest of the house--oh my!! Here is a small glimpse.

1. Corner of the dining room. 2. A couple of stray boxes in the living room. 3. & 4. Playroom (those boxes are filled with a lot of school curriculum which I need to unpack ASAP!) 5. Office.

You can see I can't complain that I don't have anything to do. Caleb will be graduating in June so I have a goal to get everything in a place by the time of his open house.

A is for All Finished

I am joining up with Marcy at Ben and Me for her next round of Blogging Through the Alphabet. I am a little behind since I was out of town last week with my kids while they participated in the West Coast ACTS Student Convention. For the letter "A" I want to show my daughter's project that she submitted for competition.

I took a these pictures last Thursday morning of Destini with her projects all finished and ready to be turned in. Our move at the beginning of April really put her in a time crunch and she put in some very, very late hours getting these projects completed.

 Here is a close-up of her cross-stitch pictures:

  

All the flowers and greenery were french knots (see bottom picture), which turned out to be a nightmare for Destini. She said that she is finished with french knots!!

And here is her quilt:

 

She quilted around the spools doing stitch-in-the-ditch. Due to time constraint she then quilted the spools in a staggered pattern across and down the quilt. She used the Spools quilt pattern from Thimble Blossoms. She used the Scrumptious Jelly Roll by Bonnie and Camille for Moda along with other fabrics by Bonnie and Camille to complete the quilt.

After all that hard work she came home with two first place medals. I am very proud of my girl! 

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - A Job Well Done!

 

This was our big week. The kids worked really hard on their projects for the West Coast ACTS Student Convention that they participated in. They entered in 21 different categories that included photography, sewing, art, recitations, chess, dramatic signing, track, basketball and preaching. Between all three kids they came home with 18 medals ranging from first to third place. Here is  small look at our week.

1. & 2. Destini's finished cross-stitch project and finished quilt. Out of all the events entered these ended up being the toughest and near the end required an all-nighter and half of another night. Needless to say we are still pretty tired.

3. Do you see that number? Yes, we had two days last week that were in the high 80s and even climbed into the '90s. These are very rare temperatures to see in Oregon at this time of year. I'm not too concerned since the weather is now back to its normal rainy, windy, 55-60 degree weather.

4. Shade broke down and got a smart phone and Caleb inherited his dad's old phone.

5. Chess playing at Student Convention. Caleb lost so he was eliminated. This was the only event he did that he didn't place in.

7. Basketball.

8. A job well done. (I will do a more complete post on their entries and winnings later this week.)

9. All finished and enjoying an sundae when it was all over.