Frugal Family Fun

Did you know that according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, there are projected to be close to 1 billion adults in the world that are illiterate?

That’s 25% of the adult population in the entire world that cannot read, write, or know the joys of the written word. With two-thirds of numbers belonging to women and girls alone. Research shows that education, especially the education of women and girls, is one of the most effective ways to fight global poverty and extremism.

According to the Global Campaign for Education, no country has ever achieved continuous and rapid economic growth without first having at least 40% of its adults able to read and write.

Even in the United States literacy rates are dropping. In a 2013 U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy study showed that 32 million adults, nearly 14% percent of the general population, cannot read and 21% of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th-grade level, and 19% of high school graduates can’t read at job proficient levels. 

But issues of literacy do not reside solely at the public school doors. Other American education statistics regularly show that and there is no systematic state-by-state record of the percentage of homeschooling children that suffer educational neglect, poor academic performance, or have never received proper IEP services, particularly in terms of learning disabilities such as Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, and Language Processing Disorder (LPD).

As many homeschooling statistics are composed not of sample data but instead represent findings ascertained from interest group recruits, volunteers, and paid participants. None of which give accurate literacy statistics for those homeschooled in this nation.

This can also be true of many private schools. As many independent charter and private religious schools do not receive federal funding and are not always mandated to follow Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination based upon disability, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a four-part legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) tailored to their individual needs, and in some cases are not subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ACA), a 1990 civil rights law that prohibits acts of discrimination based on individual disability. 

Which makes facilitating the need to increase rates of literacy across the board for all public, private, charter, and homeschooling students to be of the utmost public importance. For until educational literacy goals are met for every American student, regardless of your educational styling, we will not fully prosper as a nation. 

Which brings me to the significance of today, International Literacy Day. A day where the importance and impact of literacy on a child’s future are brought to the forefront for every man, woman, child, parent, and teacher in this nation. Despite such bleak reminders, there is still hope for falling literacy rates. We can help show the world the importance of literacy by celebrating International Literacy Day and every other day of the year.

Despite the reminder of such bleak statistics, literacy is nothing if not audacious in nature. We as a people can help show the world the importance of learning by celebrating and honoring International Literacy Day each and every other day of the year.

If you’re looking for ideas, check out these 13 ways that you can raise awareness for International Literacy Day at home:

Educate people on illiteracy facts: People who cannot read are more likely to drop out of high school, have poorer health, and will face more limited job growth throughout their lives. Share facts on social media or with people in your inner circles on how illiteracy can help liberate others from poverty! Share with them this universal truth: The best way to end poverty is through generational wealth. And generational wealth begins with an education founded on the principles of literacy. 

Tutor an adult or child in your community: Ask your local public library for a list of volunteer reading and illiteracy programs. Give others the greatest gift you can, the love of the written word!

Start a book club: A book club is a great way to get others in your town excited about reading. Invite a circle of friends to your home, pick a new book each month, and get together each week to discuss it. Looking to save money on starting a book club? Consider using free Kindle Books! For ideas and more information on how to start a book club, click here.

Cultivate a book drive: Does your child’s classroom, school, or kid’s annex at your local library need books? A book drive can help! Drives are a great way to help raise money for a reading or literacy after-school program. For tips on starting a book drive in your area, click here!

Volunteer at your local public library: Libraries are an important learning hub in many communities and are intricate means to help foster a love of learning for many children. Volunteer at your library. Ask about afterschool reading programs, summer reading series or weekend storytelling programs. 

Sponsor a read-a-thon in your community: Spark community interest in literacy by hosting a reading marathon. Encourage children and adults to read as many books as possible in a given time frame. Ask local businesses to sponsor prizes and incentives for readers. Or if you’re looking to get your family involved in an existing incentivized literacy program check out Pizza Hut’s Book-It Program, a program I participated in as a child myself! 

Host a speaker: Invite a local author, professor, teacher, poet, or historian to discuss the impact literacy has had on his or her life. Looking for an impactful speaker? Invite a volunteer involved in a reading charity, or a Peace Corps member, who can share with your audience how literacy affected the community where they lived and worked as a volunteer.

Start a Little Free Library: The Little Free Library is an organization that creates small book exchanges where anyone in the community can stop and pick up a book and brings another book back to share. Little Free Libraries help encourage a love of reading and with over 30,000 registered locations around the world, it’s easy to start one in your community. For more information, click here.

Tutor a refugee or immigrant in your community: Contact your local Migration and Refugee Services center in your area to sign-up for volunteer opportunities to help individuals and families adjust and assimilate to their new communities by way of better English language and literacy rates. Remember, our ancestors, our people, all came to this country as immigrants, refugees, pirates, and dissenters in one way, fashion, or time. Some trips had better accommodations and situations than others. But one thing remains the same, we all needed help once we reached these shores! 

Use your literacy skills to fight injustices: We all know how closely tied literacy rates are to poverty and social unrest. Utilize your love of the written word for change to fuel your focus for social change by writing letters on behalf of Amnesty International USA. Your words can help fight injustice around the world for those have been wrongfully imprisoned because of who they are or what they believe. Rights for refugees, reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, free speech, the death penalty, worker’s rights, fair trade practices, and other critical human rights issues. Including education and literacy worldwide. In fact, your girl here chartered her college’s inaugural chapter in 2005 and I can attest to the good these awesome folks do! 

Use the power of the press: Have a teacher in your area that goes above and beyond to foster a love of learning for his or her students? Know of students who are making great literacy strides? Contact your local newspaper with just such a story about. Share how literacy has impacted lives of those in your community in real and lasting ways! Turn your local newspaper into a beacon for positive human interest story in your neck of the woods!

Give a book as a gift: What better way of honoring World Literacy Day than giving the gift of the written word? In your gift include a note about why you believe literacy is so important. Perhaps share with a family member or friend a book that way especially meaningful to you as a child. Looking for a zero-waste way to give books? Find free Kindle books online and read aloud to your recipient tonight!

Share your favorite verse on social media: Share with family, friends, colleagues, children your love of a treasured story, book, passage, or speech on your social media channels. Inspire others with how inspired you are of the written word. Considering using today as a way to share your love and affection with your spouse too! Share with them how treasured they are in a new and exciting way! 

My favorite verse? Words from Jane Austen’s famed 1813 work Pride and Prejudice. Words that can melt my heart each and every time I read it! Big ups to my fellow Janeites and Bibliophiles!

So, friends, those are 13 ways you can celebrate World Literacy Day today and each day to come in your community, schools, library, and home. I encourage you all to discuss world literacy and find ways you can advocate the love the written word in your neck of the woods! Now I have to ask, how will you be celebrating World Literacy Day? And if you’d like to share your favorite book, author, prose, or passage, I’d love to hear about that below as well! 

Summer. It’s a glorious time of year. But if you’re like me you may say it every year, where did the summer go? It seems like just yesterday was early June and life was full of warm weather, cotton candy, and the endless possibilities that come from late afternoons in summer.  

So if the idea of summer suddenly crashing into fall leaves you scrambling to hold onto the warm summer sun you’re still in luck. There’s still three whole weeks of the season yet left! Check out these 7 last-minute summer bucket list ideas that can help you hold onto all that is awesome about the sensation of the late summer season.

Check out these 7 last-minute summer bucket list ideas that can help you hold onto all that is awesome about the sensation of the late summer season this year.

Sleep outside: Consider heading in the great blue yonder of your own backyard!  Becuase what’s more summer than sleeping under the stars? Just grab a couple sleeping bags and head to the front porch or layer a sheet over a couple lawn chairs to create a fort. All of which will help you create beautiful midsummer nights dream.

Make a summer jam: If summer had a quintessential favor it would surely be berry. A juicy, ripe, mixed berry flavor to be exact. Lucky for you, you’re a short twenty-minutes away from jam making bliss. Check out my recipe for no-cook blueberry freezer jam. A jam that can help you preserve the flavors of the season for months to come! 

Roast s’mores: Break out your patio fire pits and chimineas and enjoy an end-of-summer roasted s’mores session. Afterall, what better way to spend planning your fall bucket list than while basking by the flames of the bonfire covered in gooey s’mores? You haven’t truly celebrated summer until you can smell bonfire smoke in your hair!

Tackle a garden project: Nothing makes you feel quite so useful as building something with your own two hands. So grab the family and build a birdhouse, plant spring bulbs, plant a cold-weather crop, or create a relaxing seating area for fall with DIY pallet chairs.

Dine al fresco: One of my favorite ways to enjoy the end of summer is by grabbing a blanket and heading to our patio for a fun family dinner, al fresco-style! Nothing screams summer like a dinner by way of fire fly lighting! 

Enjoy watermelon: Don’t let summer pass you by without enjoying some ice cold watermelon. Whether it’s eaten au naturale, frozen like popsicles, or blended into a smoothie or slushie, you just haven’t lived this summer until you indulge in this amazing summer melon before the end of the summer season!

Shop your local farmer’s market: Stop by your farmer’s market to pick up end-of-summer treats like fresh strawberries, corn, watermelon, blueberries, cherries, cantaloupe, squash, zucchini, and raspberries. It’s a great time of year to stock-up on fresh produce which can be canned, blanched, frozen, or dehydrated and enjoyed all winter long!

Ride a bike: The destination isn’t as important as the journey here- just grab your bike and take in the world even if you just ride a few blocks away from your home. The importance here? Taking in a few moments of feeling the end-of-summer wind in your hair!

Host a neighborhood scavenger hunt: Round up kiddos or even just a group of friends and neighbors and have an outdoor scavenger hunt! Look for items that are quintessentially summer-flowering plants, tall grasses, lady bugs, beach balls, pool noodles, bathing suits, baseballs, and more. Make it a zero-waste activity by creating a pdf list and emailing all participants on their smart phones and tablets and see who can find the most objects in a 30-minute minute span!

Have an ice cream cone: Drop everything you’re doing and hit up your local ice cream shop for a cone. Make sure to skip the cup and treat yourself to a waffle cone. Oh, and make it two scoops of ice cream. That’ll ensure the summer vibes last just a little bit longer on the way home. My favorite ice cream cone? One scoop of butter pecan and once scoop of peach ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone!

Take a road trip: There’s nothing as exhilarating than cruising along a sun-drenched country road while you listen to a loud stereo and snack on yummy, roadside foods. So research your state and take off on a weekend or day trip that you’ve never visited before. If the kiddos are already back in school and you’re short on time consider checking out a national park or a free, quirky regional summer festival or state fair. There’s fun t be found along every road in this great nation. Just be sure to pack sunscreen and your favorite songs of summer playlist for the drive! 

Well, friends, there is my list of 11 last-minute summer bucket list ideas. I hope this list will motivate you to take advantage of every last drop that this current end-of-summer season has to offer you in your neck of the woods! Whatever you choose to do, just remember to make the most of what’s left this summer. Afterall, fall is just around the bend!

Now I have to ask, what’s your favorite thing you’ve checked off your bucket list this summer? Or what fun activity will you be putting back on your list this September? I’d love to hear about it below!

This post is sponsored by BODYARMOR. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Even though school is out for the summer, our schedule is still jam-packed with various sporting events. This is especially true for our family as my husband teaches and coaches our public school district’s only Robotics course and competitive team. From assembling robotics to day-long practice drills, our family invests a lot of time cheering on our robotics team as we take the journey of exploration, from conceptualizing our team’s robot all the way through 10-hour competition day events. 

When you think of competitive events for children, a robotics team may not be the first thing that comes to mind. While organized sports, such as football, basketball, and track are excellent ways to instill team building practices in youth, robotics teams and competitions can even better at preparing children for the future, especially for young women.

According to the National Education Association, young women who participate in Robotics teams average up to thirty percent higher on standardized test scores, are twenty percent less likely to drop out of school, and have fewer instances of low self-esteem. Making Robotics competitions not only competitive but character building. 

Robotics teams encourage student participation at almost every age group, starting with kindergarten and going all the way to college and post-grad programs. Of course, the structure and objectives of these competitions vary greatly depending on the age of the student. Early education robotics programs introduce kids to robotics and programming concepts, challenging them to start thinking like a robotics engineer by encouraging them to create solutions to fun, kid-friendly problems.

There are also highly competitive tween, teen, and college-age year-round robotics programs that train students to prepare for not only tournaments but possible careers in the medical, engineering, physics, construction, architecture, and space exploration fields, often including scholarship opportunities for students of all education styles. Our team is comprised of tween and teen 6,7, 8th 8th-grade competitive athletes, we like to call robothletes. 

As a Robothletes team mom, I want to make sure our children have everything that they need to stay well-equipped, hydrated, and healthy while in the competition. Since I was also into all sorts of sports as a kid myself, including competitive robotics, I know how important having the right gear on hand can be competition day, including snacks and drinks. Which is why I love being able to keep our team well-stocked with my favorite grab-and-go summer snacks and drinks from Sam’s Club. Products that keep our young robothletes hydrated and healthy on and off the competition floor. With this in mind, here are 7 essentials students need at each robotics events.

1. Fresh Fruit: If you were to bump into me at Sam’s Club, it’s a guarantee that you’ll see stacks of fruit in my cart. While I love keeping fresh fruit on hand at home and for our robothletes, my biggest reason for making fresh fruit a grab-and-go snack? It’s completely zero-waste! All you need to do is fill a reusable container with whole or sliced fruit and head out the door. Any leftover fruit scraps can be brought home to compost. Package-free snacking at its best! 

2. Granola Bars: Granola bars are the ubiquitous snack option. Options include low or no sugar options as well as bars that are high in protein too. Granola bars are easy to toss into a bag, are full of flavor, and are a great way to increase nutrient intake while keeping your child full when on-the-go. I like to pick up tubs of bars so that wrappers can be stored in tubs until we come home!

3. Smoothies: I love taking smoothies to robotics competitions! From squeezable smoothie options to pre-made freezable mason jar options, smoothies are simple to pack in bags, purses, and even coolers too! Consider purchasing smoothie packs that sneak in extra servings of veggies along with fruit, for mid-afternoon pick-me-up snacks!

4. Nutrient-Packed Snacks: I love to pack snack packs for the kids that include everything from whole grain cereal and crackers to dehydrated fruit chips and raisins, to low-fat string cheese. I make sure I have a bag full of nutrient-packed snacks so that the robotheletes have a power-packed snack to keep their energy level strong throughout the day.

5. Coolers and Coller Bags: I always make sure to keep a cooler full of ice for drinks and freezer bags that contain freezer packs to keep smoothie packs and jars, snacks, and fruit chilled throughout competitions days. 

6. Noise Makers: When it comes to cheering on fellow teammates during robotics competitions, the more noise you can make the better! Robotheletes are encouraged to bring noisemakers along with them so I always make sure to pack team-colored pom-poms, hand clappers, and air horns to each competition. These inexpensive fun-makers pack a punch in the cheer-making arena!

7. Beverages: Our robotheletes are always thirsty. Especially as they come off of the competition floor. So adding high-quality sports drinks into the mix gives kids a simple way to stay hydrated on and off the field. I recently came across BODYARMOR Sports drinks at my local Sam’s Club, which is premium sports drink that provides superior hydration. It is packed with electrolytes, coconut water, and vitamins and is low in sodium and high in potassium.

BODYARMOR Sports drinks contain natural flavors and sweeteners and no colors from artificial sources. BODYARMOR water is a premium sports water designed by athletes, for athletes. I love that it’s a healthier alternative to traditional sports drinks on the market.

Before I head out the door, I make sure to grab a cooler, fill it with BODYARMOR, and keep the drink on me throughout the day for the times when our robotheletes need to replenish their bodies as they enter and exit competition sessions. BODYARMOR provides their body with superior hydration and comes in 9-great tasting flavors: fruit punch, orange mango, strawberry banana, tropical punch, blackout berry, mixed berry, grape, watermelon strawberry, and lemonade. 

While my husband and I are on the move from one arena to the next all summer long with our kids playing on so many floors – BODYARMOR and high-quality snacks keep our robotheletes ready for each and every round! I also love that BODYARMOR is now available in a 15-pack at Sam’s Club so I’m never running out of drinks for competition day!

Moms are your young athletes, and robothelets, working to be their personal best? I know ours are! As I’m sure your are as well, be sure to check out how your robotheletes at home can become the next BODYARMOR athlete: https://goo.gl/hRK7tC. 

And don’t forget! The next time you’re at Sam’s Club, be sure to stock up on BODYARMOR, especially since it’s on sale for $12.98, a seasonal savings of $3.00, through July 16th, 2017!

Giveaway:

Our friends at Sam’s Club and BODYARMOUR are offering Lady Prefers 2 Save readers a chance to win a summer prize pack. To enter, simply fill out an entry form using the Rafflecopter widget below, and enter for a chance to win the following prize:  BODYARMOR cooler and 1-year Sam’s membership giveaway (ARV: $130.00)! This giveaway will end on 7/11/17 at 11:59 pm CST. All entries will be verified and multiple entries from single ISP addresses will be disqualified. This giveaway is open to all US residents 18 years of age and older. Please note, the winner will be notified by email within 24-hous of giveaway end. Good luck, everyone! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friends, I have to ask, what are your favorite grab-and-go items from Sam’s Club? And what items do you pack for your athletes and robotheletes in your life each summer season? I’d love to hear about it below! 

While many across the country today will be heading out into the cold, dreary November weather to shop this year’s Black Friday sales event, I myself have different plans in mind. As a millennial, my Thursday evenings were all together sacrosanct watching two of my favorite television heroines, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, and the crew of America’s funkiest little town, Stars Hollow, Connecticut.  

I loved everything about that show and I was a fan-girl in every way. From it’s face-paced monologs to it’s to never-ending run-on sentences, the Gilmore Girls was the first show that was etched into my heart and mind, and since its end in 2007, there has been no show to take its place. That was until this year when I found out that I would soon again be revisiting Stars Hollow as the “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” would be airing on Netflix on November 25th of this year!  Each of the four 90-minute episodes will reflect each season, Winter, Spring, Fall, and Summer, for a year, based on the Gilmore Girls.

So while you may find yourself scoring amazing deals in-store, I will be in my den preparing for this new four 90-minute episodes Netflix commissioned of pure Gilmore Girls bliss by throwing a Gilmore Girls binge party at home.

We will also be playing along with the Gilmore Girls cider drinking game (see graphic above), and eating Lorelai’s favorite dessert, pumpkin pie, my case, leftover Patti Labelle Sweet Potato pie!

Also, if you are a super fangirl like myself, who has always wanted a musical Gilmore Girls episode (omg, the dream), we’ll be treated to a part of one musical number during the episode, “Summer”. Another awesome fact? All the main cast members from the original series are back for the Netflix show, although their roles are in a limited capacity, except for the main players, Lorelai (Lauren Graham), Rory (Alexis Bledel), Luke (Scott Patterson), and Emily (Kelly Bishop).

All of that said brings me to my main point. Netflix recently launched both a video and a series of ‘invitations’ for their ‘Date Night with Mom’ campaign, stating that while the mother-daughter relationship is complicated, falling back in love wth your favourite show is pretty simple. Date night with your mom, or in my case, my best friend, my husband, will make watching the Gilmore Girls that much more enjoyable.

So that’s what I will be doing this evening. Enjoying leftovers and watching a mega marathon of the Gilmore Girls with my husband and family. So now I have to ask, are you also a fan of the Gilmore Girls? Will you be watching today as well? I’d love to hear about it below! 

(photos courtesy of Netflix)

Hello again, savvy savers! If  a mug of soup, a cup of hot tea, and a great, new book sounds like your perfect night, than that makes two of us! If you are anything like me, than you are nothing short of a bibliophile! Well, you are in luck, as this weeks Tutorial Tuesday post centers around being able to score free books.

How can be score free books?

1. You can become a book reviewer, with one of several dozen online book reviewer programs.
2. The best part is that you do not need to be a designated book blogger, to be able to review books.
3. You simply need to have a love of the written word, a social media following, and a verifiable mailing address.
4. Each blogger will need to apply for book reviews, and just wait for the reviews to come in.
5. Once your books are received (the books will generally be sent via UPS and FedEx for free), you will need to read the books within a 2-3 week time frame.
6. After your books are read you will need to write a small, yet promising review online. 
7. Keep in mind, you will need to keep reviews legal, by always disclosing your reviewer status. 
8. Beyond this, you will need to review books online, as well as reviewing on an online purchasing outlet, such as Goodreads, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. 
9. Books once read are yours to keep!
10. Also consider donating completed books, or to use them for giveaway materials for your blog!
11. That’s it… easy peasy! 

Here are a list of Reviewer Programs:

BookSneeze:  They have both print and e-books available. Booksneeze sends out a monthly newsletter informing participants of the latest books available for review.  

Blogging for Books: This program is ran by Waterbrook Multnomah. It has a pretty simple sign-up and I like that they send out email notices monthly informing you of the different books they have available. 

Bethany House: Here is a link to the latest newsletter with the list of books available for review.

Tywebbin: Offers a quick simple sign-up to be host of one their virtual book tours. Books offered from this review program tend to be primarily African American books. 

Cross Focused Reviews: This program is a service of Cross Focused Media, LLC. Once you have signed up on their list, you will receive email notifications of available books on tour. 

TLC Book Tours:  Offers a quick sign up process to get on their list of tour hosts. 

Tyndale Blog Network: This program is hosted by Tyndale House publishers. Each month they send out a list of available books once you have been approved. 

NetGalley: This program offers books from a vast number of publishers. According to their website, “NetGalley is a service to promote and publicize forthcoming titles to readers of influence. 

The B& B Media: I have done several reviews through this program. Once you’re on their distribution list, you receive an email notification of available books they have and you simply fill out the form to be a part of that book’s tour. They give you a date the review must be posted by.

Tips for Reviewing:

• This list provides a great start for book lovers and bloggers alike, that are looking to review books.
• Each program offers free books in exchange for an honest review and have their own requirements about review length and where you must publish your reviews.  
• Remember to disclose your reviewer status online, per 2013 FTC regulation.
• Pick books in your genre of choice.
• Have fun!

It also goes without saying that to be a book reviewer, after you start getting books, it can be hard to keep track of who sent them to you. Right now, I have a pile of books sent to me by publicists, authors, and book review sites making sure to:

• Creating a spreadsheet of all books received allows you to track titles, websites, dates you received the book, and the deadline you need to meet.
• Trust me, you’ll want to do this from the beginning.
• You’ll also want to carve out time to read the books. Don’t let them just sit on your nightstand. Read away!

So, today I challenge you look into saving on your monthly book purchasing costs, by becoming a book reviewer!

Here’s to saving,