Preschool Home Learning Ideas Contest - Prizes: $100 + $200 Giftcards, iPad Mini and iPad

Giveaway

This is a compensated post

8/5/13 Update: Vote HERE for the winners of the Zorbit's Math Home Learning Ideas Contest for your chance to win 1 of 3 $100 giftcards just for voting! Vote daily until end of contest on 8/9/13.

Hurry! 

Contest Entries Due 7/29/13

Since my own kids were young, as a mom of four I've been an advocate of leveraging all the ways technology enhances family life, especially when it comes to expanding the minds of children. So, when I was offered the opportunity to promote the importance of early childhood learning via a fun contest with awesome prizes hosted by Zorbit's Math Adventure, I was onboard from the get-go.

MommyBlogExpert.com

Thinking back to my own sons and daughters early years working with numbers and learning basic math, they always seemed to retain the most when the activity involved was fun and creative. For example, one of my kids was born in October so when he was three years old we started carving a pumpkin each year with the number birthday he was celebrating. He's a teen now that has grown to love math, continuing this tradition he started as a toddler every year since, even after taking his last Calculus class.

Now it's your turn to come up with something novel from your own experiences. Zorbit's Home Learning Ideas Contest has just begun and the deadline to submit your entry is Monday, July 29, 2013.

Awesome Prizes

Simply for entering this sweepstakes you have a chance to be one of three random winners who will win a $100 gift card.

Then participants also have the opportunity to win one of three even bigger prizes if your entry is chosen during the contest's voting phase including

• 3rd Prize ~ $200 Gift Card
• 2nd Prize ~ iPad Mini
• Grand Prize ~ iPad

I can't think of many things sweeter than winning an iPad Mini or iPad, can you?

MommyBlogExpert.com

How to Enter

Entering is easy. All you have to do in 100 words or less is share a creative way that parents can inspire kids ages 3 to 5 years old to learn the basic building blocks of math skills. Think along the lines of enjoyable and engaging learning ideas where kids use things such as toys or every day household objects like sorting LEGOs by color or counting out 10 small candies (like M&Ms) and then getting to eat them.

For your contest entry, just think outside the box to come up with your own original activity or idea for preschool children to learn one of these concepts

• Counting
• Identifying shapes
• Recognizing colors
• Comparing amounts (more than, less than)

Image from ZorbitsMath.com

Zorbit's Home Learning Ideas 
Contest

Entry Deadline: July 29, 2013

Enter HERE

Help spread the word about this great competition by Tweeting the following:

Preschool Home Learning #ZorbitsMath #Contest Deadline 7/29; Prizes: iPad, iPad Mini, $100+$200 GCs http://tinyurl.com/m867coy Pls RT

About the Contest and Brand

The purpose of this contest is to get those with kids thinking about the importance of early childhood learning.  Best Boy Entertainment, will be introducing an iOS app for children age 3 - 5 in mid-August called Zorbit’s Math Adventure and will be posting the best ideas on creative home learning as part of the contest as well as sharing ideas from real moms for encouraging learning all year long.

You can learn more and stay up on the latest news about Zorbit's Math Adventure on the official site and by following the brand on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

FTC Disclosure: The content for this post was sourced from Best Boy Entertainment, online resources and family traditions and I was compensated for this post. However, opinions here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Preparing Your Family for #BlogHer13 While You're Away - Taking Care of Kids & Hubbie

Blogher

This post is especially for mom bloggers coming to BlogHer 2013 in Chicago who have kids still at home, like I me.

It's the last weekend before BlogHer and a great time to think about this...

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But before we do, each of us has our families to think about...

Having attended BlogHer San Diego 2011 and BlogHer New York 2012, this is my third BlogHer. I've already shared earlier posts about 8 Essential Tips to How to Pack Your Bags for BlogHer and Decisions About Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop, Camera, etc for BlogHer to bring to this conference. There's also the story I did How to Get Invitations to Brand Parties during the conference.

Now, I want to turn the attention away from what we're all doing before we get to BlogHer for ourselves to prepare for the biggest women's blogging event of the year. Instead, let's talk about what us moms are doing to prepare our families for the time we'll be away.

Me at the Lees Carpet booth at BlogHer San Diego

Like other typical mom bloggers, I'm with my family pretty much most of the time -- since I blog and do social media strategy counseling from my home office whilst also cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, carpooling and taking care of four teens plus hubby. In fact, we usually have a home-cooked dinner with the entire family each night. But lest you think I'm perfect, you should also know that I'm not the best housekeeper so it can be a tad messy around here.

BlogHer New York Fashion Show, MommyBlogExpert.com

So, when I am going out of town like this, my family does take notice. They may even whine just a little about what they're going to do without me (it's nice to know I'm loved and appreciated). I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a family that expects you to live up to your job description no matter what else is going on. Come on. Who else has family that sort of doesn't want you to be away from them, even for a day next week?

One thing I try to do to combat this quandry is prepare food ahead of time that my really really likes. That way they'll look forward to when I'm going away instead of bemoaning it. That's why I'm baking batches of their favorite Cowboy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies right now as I write this post this afternoon.

Making Cowboy Chocolate Chip Cookies Today, MommyBlogExpert.com

I still have some other things I want to do for them, like stock the refrigerator and cook some of the dishes they like most since -- believe it or not -- my kids have never been to a fast food restaurant and actually prefer homecooked (not frozen or pre-prepared). Another thought: like just about everyone else, I've got lots of blogging work and thousands of emails to go through before I can head off to Chicago.

How about you? How do you cope with all the pre-trip chaos at home? What are some of the things you're doing (or have done in the past) to get your family ready for managing on their own while you're at BlogHer? I'd love for you to leave a comment and share.

FTC Disclosure: I've attended multiple BlogHer conferences and have also been a speaker at this event. I have paid for my own 2013 full conference ticket and did not receive any compensation for this post. Thoughts here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one. 

Verizon Wireless Adds More Flexibility to Smartphone Upgrades With New Edge Program

Technology

This is a compensated post

As a member of the Verizon Wireless Lifestyle Blogger team I often am among the first to know when the carrier announces some big news. Yesterday we learned directly from top management all about the new Verizon Edge consumer program that just launched which adds more flexibility into the buying and upgrading of basic phones and smartphones that run on the Verizon Wireless network. For those of you who are always coveting the newest technologies and don't have the patience to endure the traditional two-year contract waiting period, this new offering may be music, literally, to your ears.

At Verizon HQ West for a recent conference, MommyBlogExpert.com

Me in row 2 with some of my #VZWBuzz Friends at CES

Verizon Edge Participant Benefits

• Upfront costs for a new phone are lower than similar offers from other carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile
• Gives you the option to pay for your device in monthly payments over 24 months with no interest added to the remaining balance
• After credit is approved, you're out the door after making just your very small first payment at the time of purchase which will be much less than buying a device outright that also requires a contract 
• The program is accessible to new customers when acquiring your first device as well as to existing clientele on any Verizon plan who have completed their contracts and are eligible for a product upgrade
• Once you've made payments for 6 months and you've paid 50% of the full retail cost of the phone you can exchange your old phone in working condition for a brand new one of your choice
• Since this program is a month to month contract, you are not obligated to stay with Verizon and there is no early termination fee if you leave -- You are only required to make the remaining payments till the device is paid off
• Tablet users may be eligible for a device payment plan that lasts only 12 months

My iPhone 5, MommyBlogExpert.com

How Verizon Edge works using example of an iPhone 5

If you don't mind a two-year contract, then you can buy the iPhone 5 outright for $199.99 from Verizon. But, if you decide to participate in Edge, then instead you would pay the full retail iPhone 5 price of $649.99 --divided into 24 monthly payments -- with only the first payment of slightly over $27 plus taxes due before you walk out of the store and start using it. With a contract, your phone is paid for and you keep it. But with Edge, once you've made payments for 6 months and you've paid about $350 (half the cost of the phone) you are offered the opportunity to trade in that working phone at Verizon for a newer iPhone if one is available.

See VerizonWireless.com for more information

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I disclose that I am a Verizon Wireless brand ambassador. However, opinions here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.