Download N Go: Summer Sensations Review and GIVEAWAY!

Summer Sensations from Download N Go is the perfect unit to ease out of Summer and into the school year. The subject is fun and entertaining. You might even forget it's school :). This is our third Download N Go and by FAR my favorite! I wasnt expecting much more then a simple study of the season and was so surprised at the unbelievable content in this unit! We didnt just learn about hot weather and the fact that the first day of Summer is June 21st {though that is very important since its my birthday ha ha!}, we learned lots of extra cool things-like who invented the snow cone machine-there should be a holiday for this guy!

What is Download N Go? Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse have teamed up to bring you the best of unit learning lessons. 5 days of fun, engaging learning that covers history, geography, reading, science, spelling, vocabulary, writing, art, and more all in one. You and your child choose the subject you would like to explore, download, print the packet and GO! At the end of the lessons you will not only have newly learned knowledge, but also a lapbook, and notebook for your reference {great for a portfolio}. The best part is that it is reusable. So, if you are like me and have multiple children, you only have to buy the unit once!

The Summer Sensations Download N Go is all about...you guessed it...Summer!



Turn school into . . . cool!
Make a splash to start the new school year --

Your child will investigate how seasons change,
what summer is all about, how shadows work,
why trees are important in the summertime,
and yummy--discover some history about
snow cones and ice cream!

And it's a great time to seize many of those cool summery interests that your kids are intrigued with.

Day 1: What is Summer?
Day 2: Science Secrets of Summer
Day 3: People and Places of Summer
Day 4: Time for Tips and Treasures of Summer
Day 5: Goodies and Surprises of Summer

Exciting changes abound for kids of all ages to experience, so why not take all of their pent-up excitement and enthusiasm and put it to good use
as they dive right into learning about summer
and all that it holds?

It's time to watch the trees grow and enjoy their shade,
feel the hot temperatures, take a plunge in the water,
and enjoy a slower pace of life as summer spreads
through the neighborhood.

To learn more about Summer Sensations and to order your unit check out DownloadNGo.com.

But if the thought of snow cones isnt cool enough, I'm so excited to announce that Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse have graciously offered to give one of you the Summer Sensations Unit!!!

Here's how to Win:
Visit Download N Go and tell me your favorite unit.

For extra entries:
1. Follow or subscribe to Our Country Road. {2 entries}
2. Grab my button and put it somewhere on your blog. Let me know where to find it {2entries}.
3. Visit the Download N Go Facebook page and like it {2 entries}.
4. Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link {3 entries}.
5. One extra entry for anyone who is offering items in the Curriculum Cleanout.

This giveaway is closes Wednesday, September 1st. It is open to ALL readers because it is a download. Good Luck & God Bless!


**This is also linked up at the Curriculum Cleanout at Homeschool Creations. It's not used, but I think it would be useful to many of you! Thanks for stopping by!**

This is a Litfuse Publicity Group Review. Thank you to Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse for providing me with a copy of Summer Sensations for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Product Review & Giveaway: Download N Go

Over the last few weeks, thanks to DownloadNGo by Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse, we have been learning about Davy Crockett-'King of the wild frontier.' Now we are both humming the same tune :). And we will be spending the next few weeks learning about Whales. To be fair, I hadnt thought of introducing my kids to historical figures just yet, but we were asked to try this lesson and of course we said yes! I am all about trying new curriculum as I try to find the best fit for our family.

So what is Download N Go? It is exactly that-Download and Go. You choose the topic you want to study from the 38 units currently available. You DOWNLOAD and print off the five lessons, put them in a binder, and GO teach it to your student.

Each lesson is interactive. Your child keeps a hard copy of the lesson in front of him or her. They also read the lesson on the computer, as it is hyperlinked with all kinds of great internet resources on the given topic. For our Davy Crockett lesson, we watched a couple movies, looked at maps, and of course listened to the Davy Crockett song-which was Charger's favorite part. We listened to the song every day.

The binder has lots of hands on work to go along with the internet resources. There are questions, word problems, a few games, and cut and paste activities. There are also ideas and templates to use when putting together a lap book. At the end of each lesson, your student will have a lapbook AND a notebook to keep as a resource that can be referred to over and over. They are also great documentations of your learning, if your state requires samples of your student's work to be presented to them.

What I LOVED about Download N Go:

~NO planning

~Hands on learning

~Multi-Age activities

~Unique subjects

~Affordability! Each lesson is $7.95 individually, and they are a little cheaper if you buy a set. And right now, multiple packs are an extra 20% off!! Enter the code DNG20PKS at checkout to receive this awesome discount!!!

Download N Go would be a perfect for an individualized lesson if you needed extra time with another child. Download N Go would also be a great breather from the normal subjects. When I presented my review for our local Mom's of homeschoolers group, one mom thought it would be great to buy two biographies and have each of her 2 sons do one. Then, they would give a report to the other on what they learned. I thought this was a GREAT idea!!

I did have a few challenges along the way....

The suggested age is K-3. Mustang is a beginning K, and it really wasnt 'for her.' She cant read more then basic CVC words, and cant write creatively. She still loved the subject matter and getting to use the computer {which she can do well}. I did end up adjusting a few things to make it fit better for us {the freedom of homeschooling}.

I am working with multi-level learners that were under the suggested age-Charger is 2.5. Because I couldnt just let Mustang go with it on her own, I had to incorporate Charger, which really added some challenges.

There is a great book list included with the study, but I dont have a library! If I had chosen to purchase this study, I would have allowed myself enough time to buy the needed books. I do own a few Little House books {the ones adapted for young readers}, so we pulled them out for the Davy Crockett lesson. For the Whale Tales lesson, I prayed about it, and the Lord sent me a stack of Whale books at a yard sale!

One other thing to be aware of, is that printing the unit is both paper and printer ink intensive, so keep that in mind when you are budgeting.

We have been reviewing two different lessons, Davy Crockett and Whale Tales. Both lessons were well written and engaging. I highly recommend them!! You can read more about {and purchase} Davy Crockett here, and about Whale Tales here.

I will be posting more about our experience over the next few weeks, since these lessons have been the focus of our learning.

Overall, I really enjoyed the DownloadNGo experience. I will certainly be using the lessons again in a year or two. If you are looking for something a little different for the 2010-2011 school year, or maybe a summer learning unit, then check out DownloadNGo from Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse!

THE PRIZE:

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and Amanda Bennett Unit Studies have teamed up to celebrate the successful launch of Download N Go™ with a Sweet Treat Prize Package in The Adventure Begins ... Giveaway! They're offering one lucky winner the SWEET chance to go EXPLORING this FALL!

The entire FALL curriculum lineup of Download N Go™ (Wow! That's 19 studies!).

A $25 gift certificate to Baskin-Robbins (yummy ice cream).

A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com (for those back-to-school supplies).

A $15 gift certificate to Starbucks Coffee (a special treat just for the teacher).

A full year's subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine (encouragement and resources all year long).

A "sweet" blue and brown Homeschooling With Heart tote bag (THE must-have accessory for FALL!).

ENTER HERE!For more information just click on the icon above! Contest will run May 24 and through June 12!

Thank you to Amanda Bennett & The Old Schoolhouse for providing me with a complementary copy of the Davy Crockett and Whale Tales Download N Go for my review! I was not paid for my review, and the opinion provided is my own.