Educents Freebie: Social Studies Scavenger Hunt Set

Hello everyone! We have been very busy homeschooling, trying to get organized, and unpacking. I wanted to let you know about Educents limited time freebie. They are offering a Social Studies Scavenger Hunt Set created by Michele Luck as a freebie retailing for $13.80. You will need to create an Educents free account if you do not already have one. Be sure to sign-up for their newsletter to receive updates and other freebie notifications.

Description Taken from Website
"Have fun puzzling your way through North America! In this 3-Country North America Scavenger Hunt Bundle Set, you will find the complete Scavenger Hunt Games for the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico. Each set includes 24 Student Clue Cards, 24 Answer Cards, Student Handouts, and Wrap-up Questions. Each set helps students to learn more about the culture and geography of the country, and can be used as a fun and competitive game or as an archeological dig for information activity!"

Set Includes:
America Scavenger Hunt
Canada Scavenger Hunt
Mexico Scavenger Hunt

Age Range
This set is suitable for 3rd grade and up. Educents stating the age range of 2nd-5th grade on Facebook. I believe that you can adapt many things so grab it while you can. Then, decide whether you will use it now or later.

Recommendation
This product can be used in the homeschool or classroom setting as a supplement to any geography or social studies curriculum.

This deal ends in SOON! Visit the website TODAY! I just downloaded my set and plan to use it this summer.

I will link this post up at Three Boys and a Dog: Homeschool on the Cheap, Frugal Family 2013, Montessori Monday, and Homeschool Freebie Fridays.

 

  

Disclaimer: This post does not contain referral links. This is not a review. I am also not an affiliate for the company.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Moving Beyond the Page

Moving Beyond the Page is an interdisciplinary literature-based curriculum published by Epiphany Curriculum, LLC for children in preschool through middle school. I had the honor of reviewing the Language Arts unit Poppy and Life Cycles Science unit from Moving Beyond the Page (MBTP) as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. There are four concepts (lasting approximately 9 weeks each) per age range. These units are from Concept 3 (Cycles) - Unit 1. Each concept has three science or social studies units and three literature units. I am reviewing just one literature and one science unit. This curriculum was intended for children within the 7-9 age range usually children in second or third grade. The units are meant to take approximately 3 weeks (about one month) to complete. The language arts unit integrates literature, reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, story elements and structure, genre, figurative language, and writing. She was learning about prefixes, suffixes, past and present tense verbs, quotation marks, paragraph writing, alliterations, synonyms, antonyms, diamante poetry, cycles of power, and more. The science unit covered the characteristics of living things, life cycles, plants, soil, circle of life, animal parts, designs or adaptations, food chains and energy, food webs, and energy pyramids. 

The units were chosen based on Alyssa's interest. I purposely chose a Science unit that would work concurrently with Poppy so that deeper connections (text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text) could be made related to the literature read. The hardest part was choosing the appropriate grade level, but I believe I made the right choice and that she was working at her instructional level. Be sure to read the information on their website about the prerequisites for Choosing the Right Age Level which will enable you to make a more informed decision about the appropriate grade level range for your child. You can always contact the company for more help with your decision.

What I Received:
The package arrived securely in a box including the following curriculum, literature, and manipulatives:

• Online Poppy Language Arts Unit Guide
• Poppy written by Avi
• Owl Kit
• Hard Copy Life Cycles Science Unit Guide
• Green Earth Butterfly Kit
• Who Eats What? written by Patricia Lauber
• What Is a Life Cycle? written by Bobbie Kalman

You MIGHT Need:

• You will need to purchase the caterpillar larvae for the Science Life Cycle unit. This was Alyssa's favorite Science activity! The cost can vary depending on where you purchase the caterpillars. I also suggest purchasing the caterpillar larvae in advance, because it can take some companies 2-3 weeks for delivery. Our larvae arrived in about one week which is another aspect that will vary depending on the company and your location.

• Access to a set of encyclopedias, the Internet, and/or planning time to find informational books to check out at the library for independent research.

• The curriculum would be considered complete once you add a math curriculum. Click here to see the company's math curricula recommendations.
• Depending on your child and their needs you may want to add a reading (phonics) and spelling program for younger children utilizing this curriculum. Spelling is included in the program but it will depend greatly on your child's abilities and needs as to whether or not it will be beneficial to use that component. If you teach reading (phonics) and want to continue doing so to maintain skills, you'll need to decide which curriculum to use. The company recommendations can be found here. If your child is reading chapter books fluently at this level, phonics may no longer be needed.

Comparing Guide Formats (Project Photos Included)
Hard Copy Guide
The Life Cycle Science softcover guide contained 124-pages spiral bound with a colorful cover. There were detailed lesson plans stating the big ideas and skills addressed within the unit. Facts and definitions for vocabulary words were also listed for the lessons. I appreciated the fact that the thorough lesson plans contained material lists. There were 9 lessons and a final project in the Life Cycle unit. The student activity pages for 2-4 activities per day with differentiated options provided for some activities were included as part of the guide. I was a little giddy when I saw differentiated options for activities, because it means the company wants to make sure all learners can learn the material in slightly different ways at their level. Several lessons may take up to two days to complete. Furthermore, the author tells you how to conclude the lesson. Life applications such as mini field trips or backyard explorations are included in the lesson plans which helps your child connect the concepts to "real life" experiences. There was an age level overview and summary of skills chart at the back of the book. Here are photos for several engaging activities from the Life Cycles unit. 

Butterfly Metamorphosis: Pasta Life Cycle Wheel

Our Version of Jeff's Life Cycle Chart
We borrowed photos since all of ours were in storage.
This is how we adapted the lesson. The stages are written on index cards. 

Comparing Two Human Life Cycle Charts
I figured out how to scan the borrowed photos for this project. 

Food Chain and Interdependence Activity
I used colored dots on cups instead of wrapping paper bands. 

Online Guide

The Poppy Language Arts online guide presents the same lesson plan format, however there are a few differences worth pointing out. The table of contents is organized by main topics from the book. The child reads two chapters each lesson. Each lesson contains discussion questions with some answers provided. The child may be asked to journal before or after reading. The language arts activities (3-6) follow the discussion before concluding the lesson. There is access to a complete reading materials list, summary of skills, student pages, and reading question printables. The guide includes twelve lessons and a culminating project. The guide must be read at the computer and the student worksheets are available in PDF format. I was able to access the spelling component online and see a list of vocabulary and review terms. 

Character Crafted Puppets

Written Script Using Quotations

Poppy's Victory Flag
Ragweed's green and purple earring represents bravery and freedom.
Ereth's porcupine quill represents the forest where Poppy learned the truth.
Poppy represents the mice and how you must stand up and face your fears.

Once we activated the online guide we were given immediate access for three months (90 days) to the materials in order to complete the unit. Unused or unactivated units do not expire. The online guide can be used on many mobile devices making lessons portable if you are traveling. The online guide's family license copyright enables the parent to print student activity pages for ALL children in the family. This helps families utilize the curriculum to its full potential with multiple children. One convenient feature of the online version is that it provides access to the clickable links related to the lessons. The online format costs a little less than the hard copy version and has a few more benefits including no shipping charges. I absolutely loved the ability to mark the lesson completed which is indicated by a line crossed through the lesson under the Table of Contents.

How Did We Use It?

Moving Beyond the Page was used with my five-year-old daughter who is capable of reading 3-4th grade chapter books with pretty good comprehension and great fluency. She has some experience with writing compositions and journal responses containing 3-4 sentences while staying on topic. Alyssa is younger than the intended age range, but she works above her age or grade level and meets the prerequisites mentioned on the website. 

We attempted to complete two full lessons (one Language Arts and one Science) 4-5 times a week on a daily basis. There were a few days that we fell behind especially with regards to science due to the number of activities suggested and big concepts covered. I intended on spending 2 1/2 to 3 hours per day using the curriculum in addition to math. However, we ended up spending the entire day working through the activities with necessary breaks. Math took a backseat for the majority of the review. Most days she would read independently. She would almost always ask me to read the chapter aloud, because she enjoyed the story and didn't want me to miss anything. The online guide was used on a MAC computer. 

I gathered and organized many of the supplies necessary for each lesson in a tub. MOST of the materials are items  we already had on hand. I alternated active and passive activities so that my daughter would not have to sit for long periods at a time. She has a long attention span, but I want to keep things as interesting and engaging as possible. Switching up reading, writing, and science experiments helped keep the lessons flowing while providing brain breaks. 

Our Experiences

Alyssa adored the high quality literature books included in our package. She looks forward to reading the entire Poppy series written by Avi. Alyssa thought Ereth's use of alliterations were hilarious! She's already halfway through the third book in the series. We have several of the Let's Read and Find Out Science books and appreciate the informative content. The Science of Living Things series is also a wonderful set of non-fiction books.  

What I Liked

1. I can honestly say we FINALLY found a curriculum that truly challenges my daughter. This program allowed her to reach her potential yet did not cause frustration. 
2. This is a comprehensive language arts and science curricula addressing a variety of learning modalities. The lessons are thought-provoking and require children to think critically about the concepts and how they apply to their life.
3. I loved the fact that the reading comprehension questions could be used as journal questions OR as discussion topics. I chose to use the questions as discussion topics, but tried to give Alyssa at least one or two journal topics to write about each day. If the introductory paragraph didn't contain a journal question, then I chose one of the discussion questions.
4. The well-organized curriculum was flexible enough to allow adaptations to accelerate or slow down the lessons. The program can be easily adapted for younger children by writing their responses or reading aloud the books. You can always allow your child to type responses. You can easily enrich or extend the lessons if you had more time. A wonderful way to extend lessons for enrichment would be to use more literature, related experiments, nomenclature cards, notebooking pages, and lapbooking. Although extensions are definitely NOT necessary, because this curriculum is very thorough.
5. The lessons were research and writing intensive which may be a possible con for your child depending on their learning styles and interests. Alyssa enjoys researching concepts especially if it has to do with animals. The program is also project-based which means your child will participate in hands-on activities and projects which tend to motivate learning and increase interest in the topic.
6. The literature book sparked some great conversations as we discussed the story elements, story structure, genre, main idea, and characterization. The plot was intriguing and maintained her attention for the duration of the book. 
7. I appreciated the fact that each unit had a culminating project for the child to complete. It allows the child to use their creativity and apply the skills learned into one project. It is definitely a better way to assess her knowledge rather than giving her another paper-based test. She enjoyed showing or “teaching” us what she learned. Her presentations to the family were clear and thoroughly detailed which tells me that she did indeed pay attention and retained the information over time.

 

Possible Cons

1. There may be too many activities or too many relevant concepts covered in depth for one sitting. I believe the number of activities could be spread out even further. If your child has perfectionistic tendencies or if your children are independent writers, researchers, thinkers, and readers then this curriculum may take longer than 2 1/2 hours per day. Alyssa insisted on writing and doing EVERYTHING herself. Since the program is writing intensive, research intensive, and project-based it took us much longer to complete assignments in the allotted time frame. 
2. The hand drawn printables appeared unclear or fuzzy when printing from the online guide. However, I am grateful that the black and white printables do not use a lot of ink.
3. The final Language Arts projects are Think-Tac-Toes. The activities may require parental assistance and a quick mini lesson such as how to write an acrostic poem or how to complete a plot diagram since they are not taught during the unit. It is assumed that children have exposure to these types of activities. I would recommend that parents have a premade example for a different story ready to show their children.
4. The owl pellet included in the kit sent was very small and crumbled into tiny pieces as soon as we opened it making it difficult to differentiate the broken bones. I have done owl pellet dissections in the past and find it easier to use the larger pellets with children in this age range. I eventually ended up using a much larger pellet we had on hand from a previous unit to redo the pellet dissection activity. On the plus side, the kit does include a mini hand magnifier and plastic forceps. This was her favorite Language Arts activity! I love how science was integrated into her literature lessons!

Possible Suggestions

• I would absolutely love to see more literature selections added to the science unit. These could be in the form of suggested introductory read alouds that grab the child's attention based on the daily science concept for each lesson. Additional books could be used by the parent to model project examples for children to help them gain an understanding of how to approach the lesson assignment independently.
• I was a little disappointed with the spelling component. The words weren't very challenging for my daughter. We eventually ended up not using the spelling words or activities suggested. We would occasionally use the vocabulary words as spelling words to make it even more challenging. The spelling activities reminded me of those I have seen used quite often in the classroom setting. Could you possibly provide a differentiated spelling list for each lesson either focusing on rules or concept words with a variety of suggested activities for practice? 
• I would consider adding completed diagram and chart examples in the guide for parents that may not have experience with these forms. 

Overall Thoughts

It was an absolute delight to review this product! I was definitely impressed with the depth of the concepts and lessons taught. Moving Beyond the Page focused on higher order thinking skills, problem solving, and creativity. I was thrilled to find a curriculum that actually did challenge Alyssa. She was retaining and internalizing the material at a much deeper level than I expected. If I were to continue using this curriculum, then I would SLOW things down so that we could have time to enrich and extend the lessons based on her interests. I might even pick and choose activities to complete. I found several Internet resources related to the units to use as extensions at the Forum and through Idea Share. 

I noticed my daughter applying what she learned in real life. She verbalized the vocabulary quite often. For example, one day Alyssa asked me to come inside her room. Apparently, she assigned her Barbie dolls the protagonist and antagonist roles in her own story complete with a plot. She said, "My story is a fantasy because it contains magic, a wicked witch, and talking pets." 

This program would be a wonderful supplement to any curricula. It would also be a great stand alone curricula to prevent summer "brain drain" or learning loss should you decide to customize by only purchasing individual units. I only wish I could afford the full curriculum package for the entire academic year. The price range is out of my league right now even though it is very comparable to other comprehensive literature-based curricula. Although, I am thinking about purchasing a literature unit to utilize during the summer.

Recommendations

I HIGHLY recommend Moving Beyond the Page for ALL children especially if you are a homeschool family needing a more challenging curriculum. Individuals that implement a literature-based, unit study, or delight-directed approach to teaching may be interested in this curriculum. 

Pricing
Curricula products are available in either hard copy or online format. They offer a variety of package options with various prices on their website. Check the Moving Beyond the Page website for pricing on complete full year packages and more. 
Language Arts Poppy Package can be purchased for $29.97
Language Arts Poppy ONLINE Package is available for $25.91
Science Life Cycles Package costs $45.92
Science Life Cycle ONLINE $41.86

Note: If you have more than one child using these units, then you can purchase an additional set of consumable student activity pages separately for $4.99 each. 

THANK YOU MOVING BEYOND THE PAGE!

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read more Moving Beyond the Page reviews addressing a variety of language arts, science, and social studies topics while covering different age ranges.

Random Five on Friday (June 21st): OVERWHELMED!

In Our Homeschool This Week . . . 
1.) We are basically only working through review products at this time. There is no time for anything else. Alyssa is learning a ton this summer! She's working on her final project for her life cycle unit. I will be posting my review about Moving Beyond the Page this week. So visit me soon if you are interested in hearing about our experiences. This curriculum has given her the structure she needs during this chaotic time.

In Our Life This Week . . . 
2.) On Monday night we ate at a well known pizza place. The next morning we woke up sick. All three of us had food poisoning for two days with residual symptoms on the third day. It was not fun moving while stopping to hug toilets.

I was moving boxes to the classroom and twisted my ankle in the pallet step to the door. I am short so my hubby was trying to help by giving me something to step up on before entering the room. My flip flop got stuck and I almost dropped everything. I twisted this way and that way in hopes not to fall. I finally pulled my foot out. My entire left leg hurt the next day . . .  knee, ankle, and hip area. UGH! Hoping the pain will go away soon. My sweet husband placed a piece of plywood on top of the pallet before he left for work. Thank you Jeff!

We are FINALLY completely moved out of the apartment. It has been cleaned thoroughly. I am 100% completely overwhelmed with unpacking!!!! We had to move everything out quicker than expected, because new renters were moving in soon. We started out really organized and then items were packed in a disorganized manner without sealing or labeling the boxes. I pray that I can make sense of the classroom and house soon. Wanna see why I am so overwhelmed? I am embarrassed to even share the photos, but oh well . . . here goes. Every single room and classroom area looks the same. We are too tired to unpack quickly.

Kitchen Area

Part of the Classroom
I know . . . what a mess!
I need time to go through everything and purge unwanted items.
We are planning a garage sale in the fall. 

Reading or Library Area
So much to do . . . no time to do it.

Places We Went and People We Saw . . . 
3.) This week we actually saw the grandparents more than we did the entire nine months we lived in the apartment.  Jeff asked his mom to make dinner twice for us this week as we diligently packed. The other night she surprised us and invited us down for leftovers which was great because we didn't have to cook late at night or eat out again. We haven't been doing much this week besides moving, packing, and being sick.

What We're Cooking . . . 
4.) My husband decided to grill hotdogs and hamburgers for Father's Day. I made baked beans, homemade macaroni and cheese, a garden salad, and a toasted coconut chocolate pecan pie. We cooked a full meal in the apartment in the middle of packing. We brought it down to his family - they were visiting out of town. Alyssa finally played with her cousins.

5.) I Am Grateful For . . .  

• The abundant blessings God has provided our family this year. 
• My husband fixing the stinky egg odor that took over the new house when using the hot water. Luckily, it was a quick fix costing only $60 for each anode. We have extremely hard water and the sulfur smell was horrible. He replaced the magnesium anode on one side of the house with a nickel anode to eliminate the sulfur smell. It disappeared so he'll work on the other water heater tomorrow.  
• Our time together as a family
• Our home and classroom
• Curriculum review opportunities

I am looking forward to having a break hopefully this weekend. We are in dire need of a family outing. Poor Alyssa has spent too many hours sitting alone in her room as we packed and moved. Jeff wants to take her fishing or swimming tomorrow while I work. They asked him the other night to work a much needed RAT (meaning he works an unexpected, extra paid shift). This will help pay off bills and a few house expenses.   

I will link this post up at Random 5 on Friday hosted by Miranda at The Pebble Pond. Please join the fun and link up your random five thoughts, facts, or occurrences. I will also link this post at The Homeschool Mother's Journal at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler, and Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Sonrisas Spanish School Update: La Oruga Muy Hambrienta

I have been using Sonrisas Spanish School: A Preschool and Elementary Spanish Curriculum Level 1 off and on for over a year now with my daughter (Age 5). We were recently unpacking a few boxes and came across the curriculum book. Alyssa begged me to do a lesson and we finally had an opportunity to complete one. We would usually complete two lessons per week for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. My daughter's favorite part of Sonrisas Spanish School is story and art time. Well, honestly . . . she really LOVES all aspects of the curriculum because music and games are also incorporated into the lessons. I am impressed with the quality of the literature selections recommended in the curriculum. We will finish up our life cycle science unit soon so I thought it would be fun to revisit Lesson 23 "Tengo Hambre" utilizing the book the La Oruga Muy Hambrienta by Eric Carle from Sonrisas Spanish School Level 1. This board book has been an all time favorite since my daughter was a baby.

I must say our circle time including the greeting, calendar time, music, and games was a little disorganized during the lesson since most of our curricula and school items are still packed in boxes. One lesson is meant to last two days, but we completed the entire lesson in one day. I read the story and reviewed the days of the week, colors, and numbers. If you do not have the book, then you can listen to it on You Tube. This version is read too fast for children, but you can always do a Google search for a different one. I introduced the names of fruits and emphasized the life cycle stages in Spanish as an extension to our science unit. I usually add on a few fun extensions but we are still living in boxes.

A Few Lesson Extension Ideas
All extensions would use Spanish vocabulary and language.

• Caterpillar and Butterfly Crafts (Label the animal and/or animal parts)
• Sequence the Story Events Using Simple Phrases
• Sequence the Days of the Week
• Create a Pasta Life Cycle Wheel (huevecillo, oruga, capullo, mariposa)
• Match Fruits (Real, Plastic, Paper) with Vocabulary Word
• Play a "Concentration Game" 
• Match Number to Fruit
• Sort Healthy and Unhealthy Foods (Food Pyramid)
• Create a Like /Don't Like T-Chart for Foods (Taste Test Real Food)

The hands-on art activity kept my daughter's attention. She hasn't been able to color or do many art activities since the move. It was just the break she needed. Alyssa drew the facial features on la oruga. This is a great time to review facial parts or even feelings in Spanish. She colored her caterpillar to match the book's cover. As she worked, I asked her if her caterpillar was hungry and if she was hungry. Of course, I try to teach the entire lesson in Spanish. She responded appropriately. Alyssa walked around the room and had the caterpillar eat the fruits in our kitchen. She later played with the la oruga (caterpillar) and la fresa (strawberry) while skimming the contents of the book. Yes, she even tried to read the book in Spanish.

Art Time!

La oruga

Coloring la fresa

Playing with the Props

Utilizing the Book

Please visit Sonrisas website for more information about their products. We adore the curriculum! They have a wonderful blog chocked full of informative articles that will help you with your journey when teaching children Spanish. Check out their Facebook and Pinterest pages as well. Samples of the Level 1 curriculum can be found on their blog or website. The scope and sequence can be found here.

Have you heard the news? Sonrisas Spanish School has introduced a business opportunity to their curricula users. You can contact the company or sign-up for their newsletter to receive more information. Are you fluent in Spanish? Have you ever been interested in teaching young students Spanish? Well, if so this may be something worth considering. I am currently weighing the pros and cons. The start up cost is one of the things keeping me from taking the step forward even though I know that with a successful year I can make the money spent back. I am not sure what the demand for Spanish classes would be in our small town. Please contact Sonrisas Spanish School for more information about this business opportunity.

No, I am not an affiliate and this isn't a review. I just absolutely LOVE the curriculum and wanted to spread the word a bit.

God bless,
Tracey

Random Five on Friday (June 14th) We're Moving!

Places We Went and People We Saw . . . 
1.) We went to the library's opening day event for the summer reading program. They had a variety of activities for the children including a jumpy house, balloon creatures, popcorn, blue light specials, and most importantly registration for the reading program. Alyssa looked at each bike and hopes she'll win Bike #5. Twelve children will win a bike. Alyssa started early. She sat down to read a chapter book to Bailey (dog visitor) on opening day for 45 minutes instead of "playing" outside. The two have a bonding relationship. The owner said that the dog "remembers" my daughter. Alyssa sat next to her petting her paw as she read a chapter book aloud. She really wanted to read Poppy and Rye written by Avi after our author research during a current literature unit.

This was the first time Jeff was able to join us. We walked a nature trail, pet goats, made a newspaper hat, designed a mask, and more. The two hours flew by! We spent a lot of time indoors because it was so hot outside. Alyssa cheeks turn bright red in the heat.

Alyssa pet the goats with her friends for a few minutes. 

Last weekend, I told you we were headed to Magik Theater to see Strawberry Freckleface, but I didn't get to share any pictures because my post went live before we left. Here are a few photographs before the show and from the autograph line. I love their stage scenery!

Goofy Faces

Ballerina Friend

Alyssa posing with Strawberry Freckleface and her best friend Summer

In Our Homeschool This Week . . . 
2.) We are still working through our Moving Beyond the Page curriculum. We fell behind a little with science assignments. We are in the middle of packing, but we are quickly catching up on activities. The review will post at the end of the month so be sure to visit me again real soon.

We added in cursive handwriting this week. Alyssa has been begging me to teach her how to write in cursive so it was an absolute blessing to make the review list for a newly released cursive program developed by Classical Conversations called PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing: Scripture.

Three of Alyssa's caterpillar friends came out of the chrysalis on Friday. We hope to release them today.

What I'm Cooking and Baking . . . 
3.) I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast this week. My husband was on vacation so he made us breakfast tacos twice this week. He also cooked some pork ribs in the oven since he couldn't stand over the grill while we moved and packed.

In Our Life this Week . . . 
4.) We hooked up the Internet in the classroom at the new house on Monday. Hopefully, it'll work once the computer arrives. Jeff purchased a water softener for the house after receiving the results from tests. He also wet sealed the fireplace rock.

We started actually moving items inside the house before we closed, because we were running out of shed space. The classroom is full of my "school" stuff - I realized why the hubby wanted it out of the house. I have a lot of stuff. I find it hard to get rid of teaching materials that can be used with my daughter in a few years. I saved everything from my public school teaching days and added it to my homeschool supplies.

Family Reward . . .
5.) Jeff found a great deal at Sears for an air hockey table. We ALL LOVE air hockey so of course I agreed when he asked if he could have it for Father's Day. It was an early gift. The deal was irresistible! It's a 7 foot table that is air-powered and keeps score. It even includes a ping pong table top. We always wanted one exactly like this but they are so expensive. I am not sure how he got it for under 100 dollars. He already assembled it and placed it behind our sofa in the family game room for now. We played a few games last weekend as we moved a few items.

I will link this post up at Random 5 on Friday hosted by Miranda at The Pebble Pond. Please join the fun and link up your random five thoughts, facts, or occurrences. I will also link this post at The Homeschool Mother's Journal at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler, and Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.