Showing posts with label CONTESTS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CONTESTS. Show all posts

Monday, January 19, 2015

I LOVE DK

 

i-love-dk-button- 2015It has been a few years since I received my first DK book to review and since them I have received numerous gem that are precious in our homeschool as well as in our day to day life.    Today, I find myself pondering on which book I should present to you, my readers, from all the titles I have received so far.    There are so many choices that it is a bit difficult for me to pick only one.    So I am presenting you three of the books I really like from DK Canada.

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9781553630906H_thumbWhen it comes to baby and toddler meals, I am a huge fan of First Meals by Annabel Karmel.

When my oldest son was a baby we purchased an older edition of this book.   It was a marvelous book to own for us as we made purée at home.    The taste of these were so authentic to real food that when the transition time came around, our kids were not as fussy as other children we have observed through the years.   My husband was so amazed by the quality of the food we made for our babies that he often said that we needed to keep the book just in case one day he can’t eat regular food.    We still have our old copy of the book which I hope will be a blessing for my grand-kids.   This newer edition of the book contains over 200 tasty and healthy recipes that offer a balanced diet for babies and toddlers.    The recipes will help your little ones to develop the taste buds they will need in order to not become the fussy person in their adult life.    From the creamy vegetable purée to the sticky mango chicken you will find a humongous variety of ideas to introduce new flavors and textures in the mouth of your kids.

Let me tell you that my kids are not fussy eaters and they each love to try new food in their plates.    And kids do grow fast!   Now they are used to have healthy food in their plates and don’t hesitate to go for seconds when they can.

As babies

Today

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So if you want to have kids who enjoy good meals and love to try new flavors in their mouth in order to develop a love for food, I strongly recommend the book First Meals from Annabel Karmel.   This book makes also a perfect gift for a baby shower for a future mom and dad.

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But kids grow up and one day you have to make a decision on how you will educate them.    In Ontario, you have numerous choices offered to parents – you can send them to public school (French or English), to Catholic school (French or English), to Christian school, to private school (French or English), and you can decide to homeschool.  We have chosen to go toward homeschooling after our oldest spent two years in the French Catholic board in JK and SK.    So having the opportunity to review books is a huge blessings for us.   Two books I have received from DK Canada allows us to expand our taste buds based on meals from different countries.

9780756637446H_thumbThe first book I really enjoy with my family is Around the World Cookbook by Abigail Johnson Dodge.   This cookbook contains more than 50 international recipes for children ages 8 to 13 to make.   Yes this book has been written with kids in mind and will allow them to develop skills that will be essential as they grow up – cooking a meal.  

http://canadianladybugreviews.blogspot.ca/2011/07/around-world-cookbook.html

This adorable cookbook will allow you to experiment with your kids and discover meals from countries from around the world.   While cooking the meals, the kids will also learn more about the countries where the meals come from whether it is from Asia, India, Indonesia, Australasia, the Middle East, Africa, the Mediterranean, Russia, Northern Europe, South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, US and Canada.  IMG_8509_thumb

We have two recipes that have become part of our menu – the Pavlova and the Jamaican Jerk Chicken with the Mango Salsa  .  These two recipes are marked with sticky notes for quick access to the instructions to make them.   As my kids grow up, they use this book to discover techniques and skills for the kitchen as well as wonderful recipes.   They slowly build their own repertoire of recipes and I wouldn’t be surprise that they will cook the meals that have become a favorite in our home for their future spouses one day.

If you want your kids to become more versatile in the kitchen and surprise you with delicious and mouth-watering meals for supper, get them Around the World Cookbook.  You will be surprise with the meals they can prepare with simply instructions.   Each recipe is accompanied with a list of equipment needed and photo of the end result.   

9780756640897H_thumbAnother cookbook that we have used in our homeschool would be the Jewish Holidays Cookbook.  No we are not Jewish but as part of our daily life we study the Bible – the kids are involved in Awana and memorize Scripture each week.    This cookbook will offer  recipes based on the Jewish Holidays.    It can be a great book to help a child raised in the Jewish faith to learn more about the Jewish history and heritage or for families interested in learning more about it.

My oldest son has a special assignment for a gold level in his Awana book a few years ago.  Thanks to the Jewish Holidays Cookbook, he decided to make Challah bread which is traditionally served at the beginning of the Shabbat dinner.   A prayer is said over the freshly baked bread before dinner is served.   It was surprisingly very easy to do.  More recently, our second son decided to tackle the same challenge and decided to make hamantaschen which are reminders of when Persian Jews were saved from Haman’s cruelty in the time of Queen Esther.

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The Jewish Holidays cookbook contains festive meals for celebrating the year.   As homeschoolers and Christians, I find it important that my kids understand the history of Christianity and the fact that Jewish meals were important during Bible time.    We also have a special curriculum explaining the various Jewish holidays which I intend to use with this special cookbook!  Each holiday presented in this cookbook has between three to six recipes.  In a way you could plan a whole meal for a specific holiday based on the Jewish calendar.  

The holidays covered in this book are Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, Pesach, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Lag B’Omer and Shavuot.  What I particularly like about this book is that it gives a little introduction on the holiday covered with the recipes.    It is unique and very creative I find.   Having included a Rabbi as well as a co-author was a marvelous idea.

This cookbook has also become a favourite in our household.    It allows the kids to expand their taste and try food of Jewish origins.  

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DK Canada would love to encourage you to review some of DK booksthat you love.   All you have to do is to send us a short review or shout out (one or two sentences) about your favourite DK book of all time and why you love it.  This could be done on a blog or using social media with a special hashtag.

On Valentine's Day DK Canada will select one of the reviews as a "winner" and that reviewer wins a $250 DK shopping spree where they get to choose $250 worth DK books of their choice.  Also as part of the promotion, 20 of the submitted reviews will be selected and DK Canada will create a boutique out of them for Valentine’s Day.  So don’t wait any longer,  post your own I Love DK review on Twitter with the hashtag #ILoveDK as well as on DK Canada facebook page between January 19 and February 4th.

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The books presented above are available at your favorite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

  

  

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for the opportunity to participate to the I Love DK Promo. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

I Love DK Contest

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Every February DK Canada create a boutique of our most popular books as selected by readers. Throughout this month of January DK ask their readers to submit their choices for their favourite DK book of all-time.   Out of the submissions, they will pick 20 of the top books and offer them up at 30% off in February.

So everyone who votes between now and January 30th will be entered into a draw for a $250 DK shopping spree where they can choose whatever books they like from our website!

So if you want to have a chance to win the shopping spree – click on the icon below and tell DK Canada what is your favourite DK book of all time!

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Good Luck everyone!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I’m a shweeter. Are you?

I just discovered an interesting new social media site called Shweet! What is Shweet? Well simply put you have a change to win something every time you share a link with your friends. Every day, you can include links on twitter or facebook to funny videos, trailers, stores and much more. Once you have shared the link with your contacts in facebook or twitter, you have a change to win something.

The site is pretty easy to use I find. One column is showing you the prize to win and the other one is giving you the link which you can share on facebook or twitter. How do you win? Apparently when enough people have shweeted a link, the swwepstakes is closed and a random draw is made. You can only shweet once through facebook and once through twitter. That's it!

Also every time you shweet, you earn points. What the point are for I currently have no clue whatsoever since they have not explained this on their site just yet. I think they are trying to figure it out.

I suspect that some people will go overboard and shweet about anything and everything. Me? I am the kind of person who will pick and choose the post to shweet. For example as my first shweet, I decided to pick the one to promoto CoolCanucks and I have now a chance to win a 25$ Starbucks gift card.

The idea is original and very creative I find. A way to encourage people to spread the word on products, sites or other things and give them a chance to win something for their efforts. It feels like have a carrot in front of you to use a French Canadian expression... The funny part is takes literally two clicks to get two chances to win something.

Shweet can be found at http://www.shweet.com , on their tumblr blog, on facebook and on twitter.

What do you think of this innovative way of helping to spread the word on something?

Would you be interested in signing in? Why or why not?

What kind of prize would interest you?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Blissdom ‘11 contest

 

     
 

The Great BlissDom Conference Package Giveaway

One2One Network is kicking off a HUGE contest to bring you bliss!  We are going to be giving away conference passes to three lucky One2One bloggers for BlissDom'11 in Nashville, TN January 27-28.  There are three levels of prizing and all include a full conference pass ($399 value).

BlissDom is the premiere conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online.  Speakers and panels feature the best blogging, public relations and social media pros gathering to mentor new and old friends alike. 

This is Blissdom’s most exciting year, with even more incredible content, events, networking and surprises scheduled than ever before. This year's mantra - Think Big. Be Bold. Create Your Bliss.  Whether you are a blogging newbie or maven, BlissDom'11 is designed to superserve everyone! 

Check out this video highlighting the experience at last year's BlissDom.  You won't want to miss it! Keep reading to find out how you can enter the contest and win a trip to BlissDom'11.

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BLISSDOM'11 PACKAGE GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Contest runs Tuesday, November 9 through midnight (EST) Monday, November 29, 2010.  Now here’s the scoop and be sure to read carefully because there is a lot involved.

The PRIZES:

GRAND prize: Full conference pass (includes Wisdom Workshops), 3 nights at the Opryland Hotel, AND airfare/travel to the conference (up to $500)!!! (~$1500 value!)

FIRST prize: Full conference pass (includes Wisdom Workshops), 2 nights at the Opryland Hotel!! (~$800 value!)

SECOND prize: Full conference pass (includes Wisdom Workshops) (~$500 value!)

To be ELIGIBLE to enter:

1. You MUST be a member of One2One Network. Not a member? Join here!

2. You MUST 'Like' us on Facebook

3. You MUST Follow us on Twitter

(Eligibility requirements will be verified before prizes are awarded.)

To ENTER the contest:

Go to O2OBlog.com and leave a comment on this post telling us what you hope to learn at BlissDom'11

For ADDITIONAL entries*:

1. Tweet the Contest: I want to go #blissdom with @One2OneNetwork! http://bit.ly/O2Obliss Leave a separate comment with the URL to your tweet.

2. Post on Facebook: I want to go to BlissDom '11 with One2One Network http://bit.ly/O2Obliss. Please tag One2One Network in your post so we can see it. Leave a separate comment letting us know you've posted to Facebook.

3. Blog about the Contest: Let your readers know about this incredible giveaway!  Write a post on your blog and leave a separate comment with the URL to the post for another entry.

*Each additional entry requires a separate comment. Twitter and Facebook comment entries are limited to one per person.

Winners will be contacted via e-mail and have 48 hours to respond. If a response is not made, another winner will be chosen. Winners will be announced on our blog no later than Friday, December 3, 2010.

If you are selected as a winner of the contest and you have already purchased a BlissDom ticket, please let us know and we will work with you regarding your options.

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If you want to attend BlissDom'11, early bird discount registration is available through November 30, 2010.

Your Bliss. Your Blog. YOUR Conference!

*One2One Network’s Founder, Barbara Jones, is a Co-Founder of the BlissDom blogging conference.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Storytime Writing Contest

Exciting News from TOS! 

Attention writers!

Grab your pencils and get those creative juices flowing!

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine is hosting our second Storytime Writing Contest! We have two creative fiction categories: adults (16 and up 2,500 words or less) and children (15 and below 1,500 words or less). Deadline to enter is March 16, 2009. $7.95 fee per entry.

Grand prize winners in both the adult and child categories will receive prize packages valued at over $1,000, publication in the Summer 2009 issue of TOS, and publication in our Storytime 2009 Compilation E-Book. Eleven Honorable Mentions from each category will also be included in the E-Book in addition to receiving gifts from top homeschool companies.




We look forward to reading your entries!


For a detailed list of prizes, official contest rules, to meet our judges, and to upload your story, please visit: www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/Short_Story_Contest.php.
 
Need help teaching writing? We have over 200 writing products in the Schoolhouse Store!

Friday, May 2, 2008

The tutu is in....

A while back my friend Heidi had a contest on her blog.   I won the gift certificate at Little Piddles!!!


After much debate about what buying...  I had picked something that unfortunately was not available anymore.   Soooooo I picked a tutu and was willing to pay the difference and the shipping.   It was planned to get it shipped to my friend who lives in PA since I was going to visit her in June...


Well, I got blessed like no tomorrow.   Not only I just received the package at home but they waved the extra charges and the shipping.   How nice from them!   Thank you so much for the nice gift...


Jasmine needs to grow up a bit before putting this tutu... but I am certain she will like it.    For now, I will keep it safely in my wardrobe until she is 2-4 years old.   Right now she is 4 months... quite a few months to go before she can wear it.  


I love it.  So nice in turquoise with the brown and turquoise ribbon.


Once again, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, Heidi, Little Piddles and Fuzzy Me!!!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Book contest at scholastic...

Last year, Alexandre won 50 books through a contest with Scholastic.  They were celebrating their 50th anniversary in Canada and he was one of the fifty winners.   50 books fill a bookcase believe me.  But I am glad because they are all in French...


This year there was another contest.   This time we had to write an acrostic with Junie B Jones...  The contests is close since April 20th and the winners won't be contacted until May.   So I am being very patient (yah!  Right!) and hope that he wins again this year.  


We could get the whole collection of Junie B Jones in French as well as a bunch of "Mots Mystères".   That would be nice.


Recently, we ordered a whole set of Geronimo Stilton (books 1-26).  Alexandre read the #31 about the Olympics and he loved it.    Since there was a good price on the May catalogue - we ordered that set...  I think we will miss only 5 books from the collection when we get them.   Anyhow, it's so nice to see your child enjoying books as much as I did...   The fun part is I read them too!   Now I will be able to surprise him with some new books for our trip in June.  

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Rosetta Stone to win...

We have being doing Rosetta Stone in our Homeschool to perfect the French Language.   We love the quality of the software.   It is amazing how fast Alexandre is grabbing things.  Mind you - French is his first language , English being the second one.   We want to get the Spanish version this year and prepare to go on mission with the kids eventually.   But this morning I learned about a contest on the blogosphere...  So here it is - if you want to win a Rosetta Stone Language Training software please see below...


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Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian. This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports. To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff !

Monday, December 10, 2007

Contest - The 12 blogs of Christmas... - from http://tnmomwith3kids.wordpress.com/

How many children do you have / homeschool?


We have currently 3 children and I homeschool my oldest.   My 3 year old is also interested in school and sometimes he would sit with us to work in his preschool book.   We are expecting child #4 with a c-section schedule for Dec 19th.


How long have you been homeschooling?


I started homeschool during the summer of 2007.   This is our first year and we enjoy it very much.


Have they always been homeschooled, or did they ever go to public/private school?


My oldest son has been in French Catholic school for 2 years before we decided to homeschool.  He did his junior and senior kindergarden at that school.


Do you plan on homeschooling until graduation?


Hopefully yes but I am taking it on a day to day basis.   So far so good... We are planning to continue next year!


Do you belong to a co-op?


No.   I want to take it easy for the first year and not put too much on our schedule.   There was one in my area but I think it is not meeting anymore as most of the families had teenagers...


Do you school all year long, or use some other schedule?


I would see it is sort of year long but we do take some time off.  For example, right now we are taking it slow with the coming of the baby and me having high blood pressure...  We are doing minimum schooling in the morning.  Also, we will take a break during Christmas time as well as most probably February.


Do you use textbooks only, or do you like to supplement with other materials?


We do have textbooks but we also complete with other things like computer software as well as devotions and outside activities.   This past Fall, we had swimming and gymnastics.   For Winter, it will be mostly playing outside and getting adjusted with the new baby.


Are field trips included in your school plans, or are they just family time?


I would say both - in September the homeschool association organized a field trip to Upper Canada Village and we had a good time.  We also go to museums in the area as we have a membership with three museums in our city.  This membership allows us to access other museums for free when we travel - which we take advantage!   Our trip to Toronto allowed us to go to the Ontario Science Centre for free...


Do you and your kids do crafty stuff together for school time?


No much... We will do something this week for Christmas decoration and we plan to do a Gingerbread Nativity Kit as well.   However, I am planning to introduce more crafts and sciences in 2008.


Would you consider everyday household life stuff ‘home ec’?


We already do!   There is cooking classes in a grocery store for the kids and we do cook with them at home too!   My oldest helped his dad to install Windows Server the other day and they learn how to take care of the household with both of us... They help with folding the laundry, emptying the dishwasher, putting the dirty dishes on the counter...etc.


Do you have any advice for new homeschoolers?


I would say to start slow with the basic to be covered and then when you feel comfortable to add more things in your planning.   Don't get discourage and take some days off.   It is a family affair and it takes adjustment for sure!  Investigate before diving in the homeschool...  We had about 10 families in my church and I've sent an e-mail to each moms to ask them questions.   A friend even sat down with me to show me how she schedule her day.   She took the time to encourage me.   Go to a homeschool conference before making your final decision.   Get connected with homeschoolers and don't hesitate to ask questions.   Read books on homeschooling - it was a great help too!   Be realistic...  some days are harder than others.... 


Do you have advice for homeschoolers with little ones under foot?


Encourage them to play by themselves but if it doesn't work take out the playdoh, the crayons and paper, educational toys related to their age, or even a video which they can watch without disturbing the older siblings...