Virtual Notes - February 2010
The SecretBuilders Monthly Newsletter

SecretBuilders – Smart Can Be Fun

Jamie Skelton, a gaming expert and writer for the Exmainer.com has written a great review of SecretBuilders. Here is an excerpt of what Jamie has to say about SecretBuilders:

“There's at least half a dozen other features I could delve into to highlight the great things that SecretBuilders has built and the way the community interacts and evolves, from clubs and parties, to homes and quests. The short of it is, however, that SecretBuilders is not only fun for kids, it's mentally nutritional for them too, and it possesses and encourages social awareness. It's been used by teachers, schools, and parents; it supports education and charity.”

“You really can't find a bad point about SecretBuilders. If you're looking for an educational online game for your kids - or for your classroom - SecretBuilders can deliver on its promises.”

You can read the entire review at Examiner.com.

Fundraising Partners Receive Checks

Schools and non-profit organizations participating in SecretBuilders’ fund raising program have received their checks.

Schools throughout the world are beginning to implement SecretBuilders in their classrooms. With math, reading, writing, logic, adventure and fun education tools, SecretBuilders offers schools a great interactive website. SecretBuilders' fund raising program allows children to raise money for their schools simply by correctly answering math, logic, trivia, vocabulary and geography questions.

To enroll your school in SecretBuilders' fundraising program, please contact sandra@secretbuilders.com with the following information:

• School Name:
  
• Address:
  
• Contact:
  
• School Email:
  
• Phone Number:
  

Learning On SecretBuilders – Story Builders

Story Builders is a fun way to motivate kids to write. Kids are given the beginning paragraph of a story that they have to finish. Story Builders gives kids an initial spark of inspiration that helps to bring out their creative writing skills. There are several stories to choose from. The submissions can be read by other SecretBuilders users.

What Are Perceptual Processing & Executive Functioning?

Imagine the following scenario: It's the first day of school, and Mrs. Smith is showing her second-grade students how to arrange their school supplies inside their desks. She draws a picture on the blackboard to demonstrate the proper placement for pencils, erasers, crayons, rulers, and other supplies. After a few minutes, most of the students' desks begin to resemble the teacher's diagram. But several students encounter difficulty. Johnny's supplies have been carefully arranged on top of the desk, instead of inside it. Jennifer's supplies are crammed into the left side of her desk, while the right side remains nearly empty. David's desk contains a heap of jumbled supplies with no apparent organizational scheme whatsoever.

Read the entire article here.

From A+ Test Prep and Tutoring January 2009 Newsletter.

Teacher’s Console Is Now Online

SecretBuilders is excited to announce the launch of the Teacher’s Console. The console allows a teacher to create accounts for their students as well as setting up a reward system for them.

If a child performs well in a certain assigned activity, they can be rewarded with benefits on SecretBuilders. As part of the program, SecretBuilders has added certain premium benefits to your account so you can start right away! For more information visit the Teacher’s Console page on SecretBuilders.

Manage Your Child’s Account With Parent Console

SecretBuilders provides a wholesome online outlet for kids where they can have fun and learn at the same time. The Parent Console allows you to manage your child's SecretBuilders account. After creating a parent login, you can track your child’s usage, manage curfew times and add virtual currency to their account.

Get Your SecretBuilders Gift Cards

SecretBuilders gift cards make a good gift for all children 5-14!

Become a member with one of these great gift cards and have full access to all the exclusive items, places, features and more that make SecretBuilders so much fun to explore. Choose from a 1, 6 or 12 month package or a SuperShill package.

Partner Spotlight

Learn4Good

Learn4Good is an international education, employment and travel resource website for students and travelers seeking schools, study abroad programs, job search and travel resources worldwide. Learn4Good currently receives over 30 million unique visitors per year, who search for detailed information on a wide range of subjects and activities. Learn4Good provides free access to hundreds of educational games, activities, worksheets, lessons and top schools websites for kids and teens.

Fun4theBrain

Fun4theBrain provides many math, English and science games for kids. It’s the perfect online resource for teachers looking for fun and educational games for their students.

For a full list of all our partners, visit our partners page.

The Crooked Pencil Featured Story -- The Perfect Snowman

We got about a foot of snow in the middle of the night. My school was cancelled for the next day. I had a nice, big, hot bowl of oatmeal some orange juice and a ripe banana for breakfast. I put on a couple layers of warm clothes and my winter boots and coat. Don't forget your stocking hat and gloves mom yelled out to me. I was ready for a morning of fun and laughter in this wonderful white stuff! I rolled out three huge snowballs, taking my time to be sure that they were perfect in size and shape. I took great care and time to place them on top of each other just right. I found two perfect sticks to place on each side to make arms and hands. He looked like he was waving to me. I placed some small stones where his eyes are and a carrot for his nose. I carved out a nice, big smile so everyone would smile back at him. I wrapped a long, wool scarf around his neck and knotted it so the wind wouldn't take it away. Then I placed an old felt hat upon his snowy head to finish him off. I was done. I stepped back to gaze at my creation… "THE PERFECT SNOWMAN." I was filled with joy and pride at that moment. I heard someone shout my name. I turned around to look and my little sister hit me square in the head with a snowball!! I was so surprised that I stumbled backwards and fell into my perfect snowman knocking him completely over!! At least I had a soft landing!!

Moral to this story -- "Watch out for sneeky sisters with snowballs.

Submitted by SecretBuilders user pdppace.

Staff Pick – Build It! Idea

“I think there should be a surfing game that you earn shills for tricks and/or tournaments.”

Submitted by SecretBuilders user antwan74.

“You really can't find a bad point about SecretBuilders. If you're looking for an educational online game for your kids - or for your classroom - SecretBuilders can deliver on its promises.”

Excerpt from Jamie Skelton, Examiner.com, January 20, 2010.