Stop Summer Slide with Super Duper Publications {Review & Giveaway}

School is almost out for the summer here and we are already busy planning all the fun things we will be doing. Basketball and baseball camp for B, VBS and Princess camp for S, swim lessons, gymnastics, park and splash pad visits, checking out the new exhibits at the museum and zoo, these 7 weeks will fly by. One thing I will also be doing is fighting off the summer slide.

Summer slide is a real and true thing. Students on extended breaks, like summer, lose important knowledge and skills in both math and reading, some up to 2 to 3 months of learning. This can make for a harder transition back in to school in the Fall and require teachers to use more classroom time on review instead of moving forward with new material. One great way to fight off that learning loss is by making time each day for learning.

This time each day can be an assortment of things-reading, creative writing, math facts, etc. We will use a combination on things in our house. B will be participating in teen buddy reading once a week at our local library and doing small group enrichment with some classmates and his teacher once a week. On the days he does not have these activities, I have already prepared writing prompts, book lists, flashcards, and workbook pages to prepare him for second grade. S will do a scaled down version of these things as well, to prepare for her last year of preschool.

Super Duper Publications was founded in 1986 by Sharon (a Speech-Language Pathologist) and Thomas (an Attorney) Webber with two products and two types of stickers. Today, they make an enormous assortment of educational and therapy materials that are fun, creative, and engaging. You also have to check out the headquarters of Super Duper Publications, in South Carolina--it is a castle, a one of a kind castle that has 7 meeting rooms, 12 departments, and 16 themed bathrooms, you can tour the castle here.

To fight the summer slide with fun, Super Duper Publications handpicked six of their products to showcase for quick, easy learning. We were offered the chance to review a combination of the products and we knew that this would be a great addition to our summer plans. Our choices were hard because so many of the six sounded cool, but we finally decided on something for each B and S.

Here were the things we did not choose for our summer learning.
Grammar Chipper Chat

Grammar Chipper Chat • $64.95 • Grades K-5

Prepositions, future tense, subjective pronouns -- let the Syntax Safari begin! Using animal picture cards, this exciting magnetic chip game explores 16 of the grammatical structures found on most language assessments. The student fills in

the missing word on the question side using the pictures as cues. When play (learning) is done, wave the magic wand for easy clean up. Also available: 100 Extra Magnet Chips • $9.95 and 2-Pack Extra Magnetic Wands • $7.95

Granny's Candies

Granny’s Candies • $54.94 • Grade K-6

Hmmm, octopus and spider -- how are they alike? Combine the excitement of picking colorful "candy" tokens from Granny's candy jars with hundreds of opportunities to expand vocabulary skills. First, you fill up the "candy jars" with "candy" (soft, foamy, and colorful tokens). Then, players choose question cards from one of eight semantic areas (or mix and match cards). Youngsters answer the questions, roll the die, and pick "candy" from the jars. The player with the most "candy" at the end of the game wins. Sounds yummy!

Sentence Fill In Fun Deck

Sentence Fill-In Fun Deck • $29.95 • Grades 1+

The plumber fixes the house's ____. Word clues include stairs, wall, pipes or lights. Students look at 56 whimsical illustrations and finish four sentences that describe the picture scenes with a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Each of the cards teaches one part of speech. There are 18 noun cards, 10 adjective cards, 18 verb cards and 10 adverb cards. The cards with solid borders have four sentences that are missing the same part of speech. Students complete each

of the sentences using one of the four words listed under the picture. Cards with checkered borders offer three answer choices for each of the four sentences. Game ideas are included
Understanding Sentences Fun Deck

Understanding Sentences Fun Deck • $24.95 • Grades K-6

Kids look at the illustrated card (child throwing a stick to a dog) and listen to or read three sentences to find the one that describes the illustration (The dog is fetching a stick; The dog buries the stick; or The cat fetches a stick). After mastering this set, students move to Set Two where they read one sentence (The fish swims in the cool pond) and search for the matching illustration from a choice of three pictures (duck in a pond, fish in a fish tank, or fish in a pond). Students check their answers using the Super Duper Secret Decoder.

Don't these last four products look fun? I told you we had a hard time choosing. I couldn't wait for our package to get here with the two items we did choose so we could check them out.

Our Super Duper Publications package is here.

Love the box, bright, kid friendly, and clearly labeled.

S wants to dig in and see what is in here.

Inside we found a shipping invoice with all the important information, a quick letter from Super Duper Publications thanking us for the review, an insert with addition Apps and information, and our two products from the six showcased products-The Say & Glue for Language and Learning and The Auditory Memory for WH Questions Fun Deck.

Say and Glue for Language and Listening

Say and Glue for Language and Listening • $36.95 • Grades PreK-4

"Find the ladybug. Glue it on the ground." Early learners have a chance to be in cut-and-paste

heaven while they listen and learn six important language skills: categorizing, telling what

items are used for (functions), following complex directions, following conditional directions

(if…then), retelling stories (semantic recall) and understanding basic concepts. Appropriate

scissors and glue not included.

Your early learners have a chance to be in cut-and-paste heaven while they listen and learn six important language skills: categorizing, telling what items are used for (functions), following complex directions, following conditional directions (if…then), retelling stories (semantic recall), and understanding basic concepts (25 basic concepts in all!).

Language & Listening has 94 two-part activities, each one with:

A full-page picture scene with terrific artwork;
An instruction page with:
- 4-12 directions to follow. ("Find the ladybug. Glue it on the ground.")
- 3-5 language expansion activities. ("Name something a bird does.")
- Drawings of items to cut and paste on the picture scene page (e.g, bee, butterfly, duck, turtle, ladybug, and bird).

Language & Listening also has easy-to-follow instructions, a parent/helper letter, extension activities for each skill, and two motivating awards.

So, get out your scissors and glue! 198 pages.

S knew that the Say & Glue for Language and Listening was for her. She loved the animals on the front, especially the zebra (her current favorite animal). This book looks fun and inviting and nothing like a boring old workbook.

She wanted to get right to work, which I was not able to say no too. We opened up the first page and browsed through the dedication, introduction, how to section, and the table of contents, before we found the first activity.

Our first section was Categories. After giving her a copy of the first category, we got to working.

Step one was color and cut out all of the pictures.

Step 2 was find a fruit, drink, bread, dessert, vegetable, and utensils and glue it within the appropriate section. S did a great job identifying each object and where it belonged. This is a great skill for preschoolers.

Then we moved on to the additional activities. One extra was "Does a lemon taste sweet or sour?" We had a lemon laying around and instead of just answering, we investigated first.

We let Baby C get in on the learning too.

I think both kids agree that a lemon is sour!

Another additional activity was "Describe your favorite dessert"

I appreciated the additional activity section for teachable moments and more thought provocation. Another thing I love about this product is the information page on Super Duper Publications website, it has common core standards and state standards that are met by the book-bonus!

Our second item was

Auditory Memory for WH Questions Fun Deck

Auditory Memory for WH Questions Fun Deck • $12.95 • Grades 1+

With titles like Hairy Hank and Earl the Squirrel, kids will love listening to fun, short stories

and then answering questions about them. Each of the 56 imaginative, illustrated cards

always pose five WH questions -- who, what, when, where, and why. Students use their

auditory memory skills to answer, “Who found gold in Gold Mountain?” and “Why did Principal Ghostly nearly

faint?” Listening carefully has never been so much fun!

Your students will love listening to fun, short stories like “Spooky School” and “Pirate’s Houseboat,” and then answering WH questions about them! These 56 imaginative, illustrated cards have a short story and five WH questions—who, what, when, where, and why. Students use their auditory memory skills to answer questions like, “Who found gold in Gold Mountain?” and “Why did Principal Ghostly nearly faint?” You must listen to find out!

Includes 56 story cards, plus game ideas and content cards. Cards are 3” x 4”.

B was really excited to try out these cards. They come in a tin, almost like a Band-Aid tin, which is a great size to travel with or take when you go out to dinner for some quick and educational distractions.

We opened up the tin to find 56, colorful and easy to read cards.

B was intrigued that each card had its own individual story, picture, and questions. The story was just long enough to be entertaining and informational, the pictures match the story and give clues, and the questions answer the 5 WH questions. I know B can easily handle these stories, and I think even S could get in on them. They are great for working on active listening skills, something that they need to work on sometimes.

I am really happy with our choices from Super Duper Publications and know that my kids are both having fun and learning too, these will be used many times this summer. There are so many options to choose from but I highly recommend you check them out to help prevent the summer slide at your house.

Want It? Buy It!

With a list that goes on and on, you will definitely be able to find something for everyone this summer. Shop now with the 2014 Super Duper Publications Catalog. You can follow Super Duper Publications on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest for even more. Would you like to look over a Super Duper Publications catalog, click here to request one. Are you a teacher or parent, click here for handouts.

Want It? Win It!

One MBP reader will win your choice of Say and Glue, Sentence Fill-In Deck, or Understanding Sentences deck. Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below to enter to win. Remember- if the entry field appears in BOLD, it's mandatory.

Thanks so much to Super Duper Publications!