Say Anything Family

Say Anything Family by Northstar Games

Another great game from Northstar Games!  Say Anything Family Edition is geared toward ages 8 and up and for 3-6 players.

The game itself contains 60 question cards with a total of 360 topics, 6 dry erase pens and 6 dry erase boards, 1 SELECT-O-MATIC-6000 which is a spinner used to determine player order, 12 player tokens, 1 dry erase score board, and 1 full color rules booklet.

The Bentz Testing laboratory is LOVING all the games we've gotten to test this year.  Little do they know, I've been sneaking some learning in as well...shhh - don't tell them all of these games have been excercising their brains too!

Say Anything Family starts with the "judge player" choosing a card and reading a question.  The questions are thought provoking, subjective type - i.e "If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be?"
Then, the players write down their answer on a dry-erase board (except the judge) and they place it face down.  The judge chooses the answer they like best.  Everyone else uses chips to guess which one the judge picked.  Finally, the judge reveals which answer they picked.  If you had the answer the judge selected, or one with chips on it, you get a point.  The game ends after everyone has been judge (you decide how many rounds to play).

This one was a huge hit - Say Anything Family doesn't have a "right answer" - you can discuss the questions.  And, judging from the conversations I overhead - that's what it encourages - family conversation!  In fact, while looking for "icebreakers" for our small group night - my son said, "Mom- go get Say Anything Family - it's full of topics for you to talk about!"

The Bentz Learning Laboratory has been playing this game non-stop (when they aren't playing Wits & Wagers Family).  They even invited friends over to play this one!

We have become HUGE fans of Northstar Games - we also were sent - Wits & Wagers Family, you can read our thought about that game here.  Find a retailer near you here - the game retails for $19.99 (I think it would be a great "family" Christmas present!).

See what the other members of the TOS Review Crew thought here.

I was sent a complimentary game in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.

Wits & Wagers - Family

Wits & Wagers - Family by Northstar Games


Here's their description:

"Wits & Wagers Family simplifies the rules and scoring system of the popular Wits & Wagers. Now families and kids can get into the Wits & Wagers action! First, every player writes down a guess to a fun question. Then players try to score points by choosing which guess is closest to the right answer without going over. That is it!

The game features 300 new family-friendly questions. And even better than that, Wits & Wagers Family includes Meeples-- fun, cute, human shaped wooden pieces that the players use to select which answers they think are correct. Meeples have been a hallmark in European style strategy games for years, but this is the first time they have made an appearance in a party game.

So check out Wits & Wagers Family, the game that combines laughter and learning in a way that all ages can enjoy together!

A Family Edition of the Most Award-Winning Party Game in History!"

The Bentz Testing Laboratory LOVED this one, in fact - once the tester's got their hands on it - I had to search to find it again!

The "head" tester reports that even the 5 year old "mini tester" can play this one.  That's a big hit - when a game can interest the whole range from 5-14 year olds!

Here's the detailed description of how to play - directly from my testers:

The players read a question, everyone writes down the number value (from the questions) on their personal dry-erase board and places it facedown.  Each player reveals their answers - if two people have the same answer, the last one to put it down has to rechoose.  Next, everyone places their Meeples on the board of the person that you think has the correct answer (or your own if you know you're "right").  This is where it gets fun - how well do you know the people you're playing with?  Finally, the answer is revealed and the answer with the most Meeples that's closet without going over or the "correct" answer gets a point.   First person to 15 points - wins the game.

We love board games, especially the ones that make you think!  I would highly recommend you check out Northstar Games - we have become HUGE fans of this company.   We received Say Anything Family as well see what we thought here. These are well constructed, high interest games for the entire family.

See where to purchase Wits and Wagers Family Here.  This game retails for $19.99. 

See what the other members of the TOS Review Crew thought Here.

I received a complimentary game in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.

Educating the Whole Hearted Child

Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson

This is a well-loved, family favorite.  It was one of the first resources that a dear friend lent to me when I first asked that question, "How do you homeshool?". 

That was 9 years and 8 children ago, and my copy is very worn and marked up!  I was delighted to be given the opportunity to review the New - 3rd Edition of this book (a huge nearly 400 page resource!)

Educating the Whole Hearted Child is  available from Apologia for just $22.00.
You can see a Sample Chapter here, or the Table of Contents

From their website:

"Clay and Sally Clarkson's Educating the WholeHearted Child is about rediscovering God's original design for the family. What you'll find in this book is a homeschooling model that makes sense. It's an approach that is based on sound biblical principles of nurture, discipleship, instruction, and learning. Newly revised and significantly expanded, Educating the WholeHearted Child is about much more than homeschooling; it is about life. "

I can't tell you how much this book helped shape our homeschool journey. Re-reading it now, I realize that the Clarkson's  encouragement and practical tips started us down a learning path that has been so enjoyable and rewarding!  Don't let the volume intimidate you - it's designed to be your tool and guide.

The 18 chapters cover the following topics:

•Learning to Be at Home with Christ

•Shaping Your Child’s Heart to Live for God
•Living and Learning Together at Home
•Understanding Your Child
•The Study of the Basics
•The Study of Living
•Keeping the Vision Alive
•Keeping the Home Together
•A full list of resources ranging from books to forms.
•and much, much more

This 3rd Edition was much more than just an updated cover.  The Clarksons have updated their resources with advances in the homeschool market and technology.  But, they still offer the same, solid Biblical advice that never goes out of style!

I strongly recommend that all parents considering homeschooling (as well as those already on this path) read this book!  It will encourage you over and over.

See what the other members of the TOS Review Crew thought here.

I was sent a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Revie Crew.

Always Ice Cream

Always Ice Cream

This is so much fun!  I know it's designed for girls 7-12, but this "slightly older" girl had fun playing it too!

From their website:
"Always Icecream offers fun and relevant drills in core academic subjects embedded in a safe and loving community experience. Parents are also given the option to choose Christian educational content if they want to offer this to their daughters."

From the Bentz Laboratory testers:
"This is the funnest thing you've ever gotten us, and mom - it's educational, so you don't have to worry!"

I love, love, love this website!  Finally, a place "just for girls" (understand the "why" here).  And, my testers are right, it is educational.

 Many of our educational games haven't had the same appeal to my daughters as to my sons.  They love this one - it's so....pink!  And, of course - there are cute pets to take care of, and places to decorate.  You get the point - it's for GIRLS!  But, in order to do all these fun, girl activities - you have to excercise your brain (the part I love!).  You earn "scoops" that you can use for fun activities by playing educational games from math, geography, science, languages - even Bible trivia.

Try the 50 States geography game for FREE (and test your own knowledge).

"As an added benefit, Always Icecream teaches your daughter basic internet skills in a safe and protected environment. Parents have the option to enable community features for their daughter, enabling her to communicate with her friends on Always Icecream. She also learns to provide feedback to the contributions of her friends. For added safety, communication on the site is monitored and reviewed before it is visible to other users. And, as parents, you receive regular email updates about the learning activities of your daughter."

The Bentz testers have enjoyed every minute of this website.  If you need a great "incentive" to get them motivated...why don't you give them some Always Ice Cream!

You can try Always Ice Cream for:

$4.99 per month (only $0.99 for your first month!)
$9.98 for a Two Month membership
$29.99 for a One Year membership
or
$99.99 for a LIFETIME membership

Parents can find out how to earn membership months by helping spread the word here.

Find out what other members of the TOS Review Crew think about it here.

I was given a complimentary membership in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.

Visual Latin

Visual Latin

Here's an introdution from them - it sparked my interest right away!

 "Visual Latin is a rather unusual Latin Curriculum that thinks:

It’s better to make students laugh than yawn. Shorter videos teach more effectively than longer ones. Small successes lead to big successes. Children like reading Latin more than memorizing it

That’s what we want to give your children: pure delight in learning a new language. And along the way, we want to strengthen their understanding of English grammar and powerfully expand their English vocabulary."


Well, that pretty much sums up most of my educational philosophy in a nutshell!

We have done alot of Latin at the Bentz Test Laboratory over the years.  In fact, tester #1 did Latin in Kindergarten (due to his over-zealous-very-nervous-going-to-cover-it-all mom/teacher combo).  Over the next several years (and children...) this Mom/teacher combo has relaxed a bit on the "covering-it-all" mentality, and Latin has been more hit-or-miss.

Recently however - with tester #1 about to start taking all those important college scholarship exams...I've been re-thinking the Latin subject quite alot...

So, Latin is back on the assignment sheet.  And, Visual Latin has been a huge hit here!  If you are looking for a way to add Latin to your schedule but not to "your" schedule (know what I mean - mom's schedule!), Visual Latin is a great choice!

Each of the lessons are prepared for you and available online, as a DVD, or even downloadable to your child's best friend..ummm - I mean "device" - the ipod, iphone, i-thingy that captures their complete attention.

The lessons are short, easy to follow, and Dwane (the instructor) has a sense of humor.  Really, Latin with a sense of humor - that's worth the price alone! 

My oldest students (ages 9-14) all found him entertaining.  The short lessons are followed by short worksheet exercises.  Did I mention they liked the instructor, and the lessons are SHORT!

Best of all, my students were able to jump right into their study of Latin (along with another adult telling them why Latin is such a valuable learning tool...) on their own.  I didn't have to spend alot of prep time making sure I understood it first. 

I don't like all subjects to be "independent study" at the Bentz Learning Laboratory, but in the case of Latin studies - if they aren't easily picked up and completed by the student, they may spend more time on the shelf gathering dust than on the desk...

Visual Latin proved to be interesting enough to capture their attention, easy enough to get started, and engagaing enough to keep going!  Read why their approach is working so well.

You can check out this video to see for yourself:


Visual Latin | A Quick Explanation from Compass Cinema on Vimeo.

Try Six FREE Lessons right now!

Latin 1 is a 3 Volume set containing 30 lessons.  You can get this for just $80.00 as a DVD Set (it includes PDF files of all worksheets).  You can also purchase it as a Download  in 3 -10 lesson downloads - $75 total. (this is the option to use when adding it covertly to their "devices").   I love that it is reusable - especially with multiple kids!

The Visual Latin website offers alot of great information - including this Free Latin Learning Resources Link.

See what the other members of the TOS Review Crew thought about it here.

I was sent a complimentary DVD with lessons 1-10 in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.

American Girl Club - Felicity - Week 1

We're back!  American Girl Club (and the MCA- Masculine Club of Awesomeness - what else do pre-teen & teenage boys call themselves?) is starting our new year with Felicity...

Our first craft is making Mob Caps and decorating Straw Hats...

I'm not sure who had more fun, the girls - or the moms?  We definitely took more pictures of us!

For the Mob Caps - I used a round platter I had to draw a large circle on white muslin.  Then, I used a smaller platter for the inner circle.  I found cute lace at Wal-mart which I pre-sewed around the circle's edge (we haven't taught the girls the sewing machine lesson yet!).  I carefully clipped small holes along the inner circle.  The girls then wove a piece of ribbon (with a saftey pin "needle) around the inner circle to make it gather.  And, it worked beautifully - instant Mob caps with minimal sewing (at least during our meeting..)

For the Straw Hats - my dear friends at Oriental Trading had the perfect hat, even with colorful ties.  We hot-glued silk flowers on our hats. Each one matched the owner's personality.  Some very flowerly, some not as much.

Our MCA continued on with their study of "Do Hard Things" by the Harris brothers.  And our "littles" played happily together. 

Have I mentioned - we have 6 families: 12 girls, 9 boys, and 9 littles with 2 new members expected any day?

I can't wait for the rest of our Felicity projects... Colonial Christmas is going to be so much fun!

Scrubble Cube

If you can spell you can play....SCRUBLE Cube!


The SCRUBLE Cube™ is a word game and a puzzle- on steroids!

We are huge Scrabble fans, and huge Rubics Cube fans - so what could be better?! It's like that old commerical - where people run into each other with chocolate and peanut-butter and say...Ah-Ha!


Their website says it this way:

"What if you took some of the known playing patterns of some of the most popular word games and puzzles in histroy and combined them in a brand new, unique format to create the World's Greatest 3-D Word Game? Well, you'd have the "Scrubble Cube" a patent pending game with over 7,401 septillion possible configurations that anyone can spell and play. All in a portabel format that can be played anywhere - anytime."


Once again, the Bentz Test Laboratory was in an uproar over who got to test this first! It just so happened, several teenage friends were here when the "package" arrived.

What happened next - well, after the fight for who got it first was over... a heated word - strategy - competition got underway. Being a wise mother (or at least one that knows to leave teenage boys alone when they have that competitive look in their eyes...) I stood back and let them figure it out. 

Very easily done.  And, I must say - I was impressed. The cube looks rather intimidating with all those letters and numbers...but - it didn't even slow them down! 

First, the visiting teenager builds three triple words..."take that!"

"No problem" - a few twists and flicks later - the Bentz tester adds several double word, double letter scores to his competitors word. "Done" - 88 to 300! (Never mess with kids who do vocabulary on their ipods - for fun!).


 "In SCRUBLE Cube™ there are 96 individually rotating letter and premium scoring pegs inserted onto a 4 x 4 x4 cube. The letters rotate to aid in pattern recognition when players are creating words. The cube offers a stimulating single or multi-player environment for spelling words of at least three letters on a single plane or over several faces: 3-Dimensionally. All of the letters have point values and scoring occurs at the end of each player’s turn. Bonuses are awarded for words that have a letter on at least three faces. And that’s the fun and challenge of SCRUBLE Cube: thinking in 3-dimensions!"


Watch this to see for yourself:

You can get your own Scrubble Cube for just $24.95 online here

Not really interested in word games, and prefer the challenge of puzzles.... no problem!

"Although primarily played as a word game, the SCRUBLE Cube™ can be played as a challenging puzzle with a single solution that returns the cube to its original configuration. That configuration spells “Scruble Cube” in two directions across multiple faces using specially colored letters. The instructions provide the original configuration of all of the game tiles to assist in solving this mind bending puzzle."

I'm all for using games to make learning fun and interesting. Scrubble Cube teaches important skills like Spelling, Math, Vocabulary, Sportmanship, Strategic thinking all while looking like a fun game/puzzle. Online lessons are available here.
I like their motto; "we can't guarantee that

playing this game will make you a genius ...but it might!"

See what the other TOS Crew Member thought about it here

I was sent a complimentary game in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.