Create Order Out Of Your Chaos

Disclosure: I got this product free of charge to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.

 

As someone that has managed to hold a full time job, go to school full time, take care of a family member during and after surgery, raise young children, and attend clinical all in the same day, I know what chaos is. If I did not remain organized, I would never have succeeded.

Do you ever feel like you cannot keep up with all of your commitments? Maybe you missed a homework assignment or forgot to remind your child to finish writing that paper that was due yesterday.

The academic planner from Order Out of Chaos is a great tool to help you stay organized. The large pages allow more room for writing in your assignments or appointments. Or if you are like me, I need the extra room for my large handwriting.

The academic planner is the same size as a spiral notebook. It will not take up anymore room in a backpack or on a coffee table than any other school item that your or your child may have. The pages are made from a nice durable paper that is easy to write on. 

As I used the academic planner over the last couple of weeks, I actually decided that this would be perfect or students and teachers. I think that teachers can always use help keeping track of when their assignments are due and when to set the next due date.

A few Special Features

An index page at the beginning enables students to record their class subjects once. The actual weekly planner pages then line up on a subject-by-subject basis. This system maintains continuity and creates an easy, natural method for students to look at each week and quickly see assignments and due dates they have for each of their classes.

The planner allocates space for after-school activities and weekend commitments. Coupled with the grid system for entering information, the recording of this information is essential for providing accurate visual cues of available time in order to complete assignments and prepare for tests. Each open page quickly reveals blocks of time when the student has scheduled activities and when they are free. This facilitates weekly time management and planning strategies.

Seeing open blocks of time helps students break down multi-step and long-term projects into manageable parts. It also enables students to plan their weekly workload and to feel more in control of their schedule and their time.

Ample, larger format pages to allow for more room to write assignments and appointments! The overall size of the planner is 8 1/2 x 11" and the interior pages are an ample 7 x 11".

Flexible plastic coil binding and more durably constructed covers

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Dohmie by Marpac #serioussleep

Disclosure: I received the product described in this review in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and may vary from your own.

As parents, we have all had those nights where our child just will not sleep. They fight going to sleep or they just keep waking up. If you have children, you know exactly what I am talking about. You also know the frustration that comes with these sleepless nights.

The Dohmie is a white noise machine that was created to help babies fall asleep and stay asleep.

When I received my Dohmie, it could not have come at a better time. My 6 month old daughter is teething and trying to adjust to the time change that just occurred. Her sleep patters are completely off and she has been fighting going to sleep at night.

 

Now instead of waiting to 11pm for her to fall asleep, I have been using the Dohmie. It is not perfect and does not "make" her fall asleep, but it definitely has cut the crying time down and keeps her asleep after she falls asleep. 

The Dohmie itself is what I would consider a medium size unit and does not weigh a lot. The actual unit does not require batteries which is a plus in my home. That does mean that you will need an open electrical outlet inside your child's room that is far enough away from where they sleep, or reach, to avoid injuries. 

The Dohmie is a white noise machine. That means that it makes a subtle noise to help eliminate silence in the room and provide comfort to your child. The actual noise that the Dohmie makes sounds a little like breathing. It is not loud, but it is noticeable from anywhere within the room that the unit is placed. 

After using the unit for several nights, I did notice that my daughter is sleeping longer through the night. I did also notice that the nights that she is not fighting falling asleep as long. To explain, before using the Dohmie, she would go anywhere from an hour to 2 hours crying as she fought the bedtime routine. Now with the use of the Dohmie, she spends about 30 minutes crying before falling asleep. 

The noise and volume of the machine is adjustable. With the turn of a button, you can control the level of noise. I am sure that adjusting the volume level to the perfect sound will vary from child to child. I live in a quiet town with very little outdoor noise, so I keep the volume fairly low. I can imagine that a family that lives in a large busy city or near a main street, may need to raise the volume a little more to drown out the exterior noises.

The Dohmie is designed to be portable, but I found that the size of the unit makes it a little inconvenient to take with me. The actual size of the unit is 2.4 pounds, 7.4 inches around, and about 4 inches tall. The size of the unit makes it difficult to toss in a diaper bag or just take with you on a trip.

For more information about Dohmie and getting serious sleep, please visit the Marpac website Here

You can also follow Marpac for more information on the Dohmie on the follwoing social media platforms:

Facebook

Twitter 

Pinterest

 

The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep

As a parent, I know that I struggled with exhaustion when my children were young. There were countless nights of fussing, wanting to play, and just flat out fighting going to sleep. I am sure that most parents out there will say the same they had a similar experience. 

My newest challenge has a diagnosed sleep disorder, but before he was diagnosed, there was night after night of complete frustration. If was lucky, he might fall asleep for an hour or two and then wake up refreshed and ready to run. That meant that I was getting just a couple of hours of sleep each night, working, going to school, and then coming home to a wound up toddler. 
 

There is a new book out called The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep, by Dr. Harvey Karp, that will provide parents simple solutions to getting your children to sleep. If you even wanted an instruction manual for your children, this is a good start. The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep will not stop temper tantrums or get your child to eat vegetables, but it will give you creative ways to get your child to sleep and help save a little of your sanity. 

Some information that you can gain from reading the book:

• How to train brand new babies to sleep better: Infants can be taught to sleep at least one extra hour from the first weeks of life! Dr. Karp shows how to safely boost baby sleep in just days.

• What’s the best white noise (and which ones worsen sleep): The right white noise (low pitched and rumbling) is the key to good sleep—even through teething—for all babies. Plus, it even gives parents a more restful sleep

• Why parents should always wake a sleeping baby: For good sleep, babies must learn how to self-soothe. The best way to teach babies how to fall back to sleep—when they rouse in the middle of the night—is to wake them just as they’re being put into bed.

• How to enjoy the benefits - and avoid the risks - of swaddling: Swaddling dramatically improves a new baby’s sleep. Yet, many states are shockingly banning this ancient parenting tool. Smart moms should do it and Dr. Karp will teach them how to do it properly and safely.

• The importance of powering down: Staring at bright screens at night (TVs, computers, phones) can wreak a toddler and a parent’s sleep.

• Easy "no-cry" tips that end infant and toddler bedtime struggles in just days! 

Disclosure: I am participating in a book review campaign with One2One Network. I received this book from Harper Collins for the purposes of reviewing it. I have not received compensation. My participation in the campaign enters me into a drawing for a gift card. All opinions stated are my own.

Summer Celebration Day 4 - What Children Need to Learn & Read

A Little Bit of Everything and Learners Lane are excited to bring you What Children Need to Learn to Read. I received this and have learned a lot of things. After thumbing through the book, I did notice that the book is laid out with all the age groups.  From infant all the way up.  Even for an adult who had trouble reading, they would be able to use the techniques shown in the book.  The author is Michelle Vallene.  She is an elementary school teacher, the founder of Learners Lane, and a mother of three children.  Learners lane offers up unique and engaging educational products.  She saw challenges that faced children to become successful leaders.  There are many ways to teach children.  It takes time and and some knowledge, and you can teach your child to read.  I feel the biggest piece of advice in the book is to read to your child.  If you start from an infant, you can help instill a love of reading for them.  But while reading, you want to interact as well.  Get them involved in the story and they will stay interested.  She has rhymes and songs and even tongue twisters in the book.  She has games and fun activities to do with your children and for the different ages.  They will help teach the letters, and sounds, and how the words form and go together to make a story.  Learners Lane is looking to get a grant.  They would like your help in that.  If you can go to https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/ and search for "learners lane" and please vote for them to receive the grant.  a Rafflecopter giveaway