Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | Paid | My Orble | Login

DVDs - Always Learning

Should Babies Watch TV?

September 3rd 2011 15:53
Babies and TV ....how much is too much? Programming geared toward babies has always concerned me. There is so much real world to explore. At the same time I will admit to being quite smitten with Sesame Street. ( to this day )




I love how they pull in pop culture....
Check out Mad Men by Sesame Street

.....keep it relevant ( for adult fans too ) like with the awesome iPogo episode or Grover's parody of the Old Spice commercial, Smell Like a Monster

....but still run the tried and true "1,2,3 - 4 5 - 6,7,8 -9 10 - 11,12"

I can like this show and still be concerned about plopping a baby in front of the electronic babysitter. These little people need to move around, touch things, learn to talk, discover and PLAY that is their job.


Preview shows before letting little minds absorb the info, consider this new show aimed directly at preschoolers....
Remake of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood: Will you be Daniel Tiger's Neighbor? Would Mr. Rogers approve? I feel somewhat okay with this remake since it is being done by the Mr. Rogers Foundation....but I am still holding out all out approval until I see what they have done to the Land of Make Believe.


......just my two-cents on the issue. I'll leave you with Ma Na Ma Na enjoy!






28
Vote
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Sylvie Branch - Category: Age 3-4, DVDs
   


Prepare your little CEO

April 23rd 2011 15:21
Are you raising the next CEO? What are you doing to prepare them? Veritas Prep is an option.

While most high school junior and seniors prepare to take the SAT, (and teachers and parents have done the same) the GMAT is for those students planning on heading off to business school....and need specific preparation. Since the test is taken generally by people in an older age range, 21-45, the truth is, they will often not have someone pushing them to study up, like for the SAT.

You can give your future business leader a heads up. Check out some of the rules behind the GMAT, and offer scenarios, maybe from your work place, that will make them think through situations. If you've taken the test, or maybe attended something like like the New York GMAT classes, then you can relate what you've gleaned from the experience.

My son, a sometimes struggling student, gobbled up his Economics course in ninth grade. He aced every test, made shockingly accurate connections and really, just surprised everyone around him.

One part of the GMAT though that I discovered he will be at a disadvantage is that calculators are not allowed. Over all his years of school, literally from second grade, his teachers encouraged using calculators in class. It was required. He will need to brush up on that portion for sure.

Comprehension is a large part of the test, "recognizing what to do-almost instantaneously-" is something to work on in order to save time and helps accuracy. If you know what your child wants to do in the future, take steps now to help them prepare....whether they are in second grade or a senior.








10
Vote
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


A is for Always

April 2nd 2011 12:52
For 26 days in April (minus Sundays) I will be posting a blog for each letter of the alphabet.
"Sylvie's word of the day"
I am all for challenges, so when this was dangled in front of me in my writers group, I grabbed it.

Hundreds of people signed up, literally 1037 people. Go ahead, Sign up here, if you dare.

This mini adventure is fairly mundane, but with 1000 bloggers jumping in, stalking each other, chatting away everyday, something good is bound to happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Always is my word of the day, in honor of ALWAYS learning. Life is too ....oh wait, I'll just quote Henry Miller, he said it best.....


"develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music, the world is simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." ~Henry Miller

28
Vote
Comments (1)Comments (1) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Coraline

November 20th 2009 01:26
My daughter loves the animated movie Coraline so loudly announced that it is Coraline week in our house giving me about five minutes notice to organise some activities for us to do.

Thankfully Coraline.com came to our aid and we were able to button eye images of both myself and my daughter as well as create online button flowers. There was also a fun print image in which the circus mice could also spell out my daughter's name.

We sat down to watch Coraline the movie for about the tenth time and if she was a little older I am sure she would enjoy the original novel from which the film was adapted from.

We also discovered a website which featured numerous Coraline pictures to colour and set out on a counting exercise to find out exactly how many windows and doors we had in our house.

Luckily I had some buttons set aside for just such a crafting exercise and we drew some dolls and created our very own button eyed dolls and button gardens.

It is amazing what you can come up with in five minutes if you put your mind to it!



45
Vote
Comments (1)Comments (1) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Return To Neverland

July 1st 2009 05:22
Return to Neverland is the dvd sequel following on from Peter Pan although being that this week's post is a two part post, I thought it a very apt way to start. We will of course endeavour to watch Return to Neverland which follows the capture of Wendy's daughter Jane by Captain Hook and the rescue attempt by Peter Pan.

Pirates and Indians feature in this week's activities and Sparklebox came to our aid in the way of pirate masks. We also made a pirate hat, eye patch and flag banner. This afternoon we are going to adorn our faces with war paint and make a feather hat to represent the Indians.

Reading to Kids provided some discussion points on the story as well as some craft ideas.

My daughter is a fan of the crocodile which features in the story but since our recent visit to the zoo, understands that they may not be as friendly as they appear on television. We found this easy crocodile craft and will revisit one of our favourite songs - Teasing Mister Crocodile.
46
Vote
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Books, DVDs
   


Peter Pan

June 28th 2009 05:11
"All this has happened before, and it will all happen again. But this time it happened in London. It happened on a quiet street in Bloomsbury. That corner house over there is the home of the Darling family. And Peter Pan chose this particular house because there were people here who believed in him."

Well it seems my daughter believes in him because this week is Peter Pan Week so we are off to Neverland. There is no shortage of colouring in pictures to be found for Peter Pan and all characters can be found from The Darlings through to Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the Pirates. We also discovered some fun pinwheels and puppets to make


[ Click here to read more ]
49
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Books, Craft, DVDs, Reading
   


Trains

June 20th 2009 05:24
My daughter loves trains and it is interesting to know that the subject is as equally fascinating for her as it is with little boys. When the mood arises she can often be found setting up her duplo train track and building trains and cities to go with and around the track.

This week is train week if you haven't already guessed thanks to The Little Engine That Could - the classic tale retold by Watty Piper. Trains feature in a number of other tales we hold including Tootle and Thomas The Tank Engine - both on dvd and book form in our household


[ Click here to read more ]
43
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Send In The Clowns

May 24th 2009 02:59
Admittedly I am not a fan of clowns, preferring to see them at children's parties rather than adorned all over my wall. So the inclusion of Clown Week into our schedule took me a little by surprise to say the least.

Loonette and Molly from the Canadian Series, The Big Comfy Couch, are a particular favourite in our house so at least I had a starting point on which to base our activities. And in particular I love the concept of a 10-second tidy which we are going to incorporate with a clown based cleaning chart
[ Click here to read more ]
58
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Chinese Dragon Craft

May 22nd 2009 00:10
My daughter was so impressed with our dragon handprint craft earlier this week that she has requested that we make a second dragon craft for Chinese week.

So we are going to attempt to make this colourful dancing dragon. We purchased a fax paper roll in order to make our chinese fan and the roll will also be useful for the dragon's fan-like body


[ Click here to read more ]
47
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Craft, DVDs
   


This Week's Theme: China

May 17th 2009 09:34
My daughter has a fascination for all things Chinese. Firstly because we live there and secondly, because facets of the colourful culture appeal to her curious nature. Therefore it is no surprise that she selected China to base our activities upon this week.

Lanterns are already a popular craft activity in our house as is the children's television show Kai-Lan, and both will of course be featuring in our weekly activities. Nick Jnr has come to our aid in particular combining both lanterns and Kai-Lan in this fun online paper lantern activity as well as a number of other online games for children to play


[ Click here to read more ]
59
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Craft, DVDs
   


Little Mermaid Week

April 9th 2009 02:07
We are taking a theme from one of my daughter's books and are basing activities and stories throughout the week on the theme of her choice. Her choice this week - The Little Mermaid - apt for someone who currently wants to be a mermaid when she grows up!

Doing a quick search on the internet so far we have uncovered sheet music and lyrics for a number of the tracks including Part of Your World and Under The Sea
[ Click here to read more ]
63
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Little Einsteins

February 20th 2009 11:12
Many children's dvds aim to be educational but one of the favourites in our home currently are the Little Einsteins. Not only do they introduce elements of classical music and art to the children but they also teach about geography as well.

I was browsing some photos of famous landmarks around the world on the internet when my daughter asked if I was watching Little Einsteins! It made me chuckle to think that what she sees as entertainment is also aiding her recognisation skills and knowledge of the world.
[ Click here to read more ]
70
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, DVDs
   


Leapfrog Learning DVDs

February 16th 2009 02:32
Admittedly I am quite fussy about the educational DVDs I purchase but my daughter and I both agree on one thing - we enjoy watching the Leapfrog Learning DVDs. We have Letter Factory, Talking Words, Reading Words and Math Circus and my daughter enjoys watching all of the dvds in the series.

Even though she is familiar with the sounds of the letters from the Letterland books and cds, she enjoys watching the Letter Factory dvd to cement the sounds in her mind. Reading Words is a little bit out of her reach at the moment but even still she is happy to watch it for the story alone.
[ Click here to read more ]
75
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, DVDs, Reading
   


Learning Basic Language Skills

February 3rd 2009 07:40
My daughter is a huge Dora The Explorer fan and needless to say her basic Spanish skills are pretty good because of the programme.

Not as popular as Dora, but equally as cute, is Kai-Lan Chow, a cute little Chinese American girl who is being particularly helpful in teaching my daughter some basic Chinese words. Kai-Lan, like Dora, hangs out with a monkey named Hoho, as well as Tolee the panda and Rintoo the tiger


[ Click here to read more ]
61
Vote
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Next Page (15-28)



[ Always Learning Home ] [ Create A New Post ]

Sylvie Branch's Blogs

8129 Vote(s)
31 Comment(s)
102 Post(s)
4262 Vote(s)
8 Comment(s)
60 Post(s)
Moderated by Sylvie Branch
Copyright © 2012 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]