Review and Giveaway

If you enjoy checking these reviews of “hot off the presses” items, this movie will sound a bit familiar.

When this first hit the screens we had the opportunity to give out tickets to the screening, but now we have the actual DVD to giveaway!

Same great story, just the in-home version. We absolutely love finding family friendly films that we can enjoy together and re-enjoy together, so I was thrilled to add this to our movie collection.

This story line appealed to each member of our family and stayed clean enough to earn a “G” rating. Love that!

The triumphant underdog is a story that simply doesn’t get old. Seeing people come together as a team despite the odds stacked against them is an inspiring conversation starter and an encouragement on a personal level as well. The Mighty Macs does that and will easily draw your family together to cheer on this team of determined athletes.

About the Movie:

It’s 1971. Cathy Rush is a woman ahead of her time … and she’s about to embark on an adventure for the ages. A new era is dawning in the country and in collegiate athletics, where a national champion will be crowned for the first time in women’s basketball.

In the lead up to this historical season, major universities are preparing their game plans to win that first title. Meanwhile a tiny all-women’s Catholic college in Philadelphia has a more modest goal: find a coach before the season begins. Providentially, Cathy Rush is about to find Immaculata College.

Recently married, Cathy is dealing with the aftermath of a truncated playing career. While cultural norms would have her staying at home, she’s willing to do the hard work necessary to help her new team reach their goals—or perhaps she’s just trying to achieve her unfulfilled dreams through them.

From the beginning, her challenges are as imposing as the big-school teams Immaculata will face on the court. Cathy learns there is no gymnasium on campus, she receives little support from the school’s Mother Superior, and the school is in dire financial straits. To top it off, she may not even have enough players to field a team!

While it appears the Macs don’t have a prayer, all hope is not lost. With the help of Sister Sunday—a spunky assistant coach—and the support of a booster club of elderly nuns, Coach Rush creates a new game plan that just might bring the team—and the school—together.

Will this pioneer buck cultural norms and spur her rag-tag team to unexpected heights? Or will her hard-driving ways create a wedge between the coach and everyone around her? One thing’s for certain: there’s never been anyone like Cathy Rush at Immaculata!

Of course, with the DVD you get some bonus features that were interesting as well including a clip from ESPN about the movie. I definitely would recommend this film for a family movie night soon.
If you would like to enter into the giveaway to win a free copy of this movie, please leave a comment on this post with an email so I can reach you if your name is drawn. You are welcome to a second entry as well by simply sharing about this giveaway somewhere else (facebook,  twitter, etc.) and returning here to leave a second comment.
The giveaway will wrap up on Sunday night, March 4th in the evening.
Giveaway closed. Winner is commenter #4 — Melissa
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or
services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it
on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally
and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance
with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the
Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review: Math House Games

Math should be fun. Especially with young kids, math should start as a game and always involve an interaction with an adult and the real world. Domenico Marcario designed a math product that would build on that.

Carlito C. Caterpillar’s Math House Games teach real life math concepts through activities that use everyday objects, a parent’s direction, and fun challenges for kids to get excited about.

The 20 steps, with 2 games each, are broken into three stages that lead the child through quantity (comparing groups of objects), numeration (attaching numbers to those groups of objects), and operations (adding, subtracting, etc.)

You do not follow through the steps at a predesignated speed, but rather you evaluate each child and move on once they have mastered the concepts taught in the activity.

The games are fun. The kids get to eat during the process (small items — fruit, cereal, etc.) which is always motivation in my house. 🙂 Perfect for building and early love of math.

You can order these great activity cards — $23.95 including shipping — and use them for your early elementary math student that needs some fun in their math.  These would also be a great start for a preschool curriculum to help introduce math skills in a lighthearted way that they will just soak up. If you have a preschool through 2nd grader you would enjoy this. And, if you are busy teaching older kids, one of your other older kids could easily pick this up and begin teaching math concepts to one of your other young kids.

Each card tells you clearly what you are teaching, why they should learn it, and how to get that point across. Make the most of play time!

It wouldn’t be a great review without a giveaway, and I do get to give one of these adorable sets away to one reader. So, if you would like to enter to win your own copy of these math game cards please leave a comment on this post with an email address where I can reach you at. The contest will close Sunday evening and I will draw a random winner at that time.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or

services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it

on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally

and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance

with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”