Winners
Everybody have a piece of mulberry pie, and lets talk about giveaway winners!
Travel Felt Board and Story ended 3/15: congrats to comment number 40, Jen Mc!
Motherhood DVD ended 3/16: congrats to comment 60, Cheryl W.
Organic Peanut Butter (US and Canada) ended 3/17: comment number 29 Jackie.
Little Thinker Doll (US) ended 3/18: congrats to comment 44, Jessica!
Yays!
These winners were brought to you by my freakishly short pinkies.
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Jojo: Trouble At School
Jojo is a very enthusiastic, high-energy 5-year-old.
Currently he loves Lego, Indiana Jones, insects, and the idea of creating his own language and civilization.
That last interest came from his admiration and enjoyment of a picture book called Weslandia, in which a social-outcast boy named Wes creates his own society as a summer project.
Because of his enthusiasm, Jojo is a natural leader. Other kids just WANT to do what he is doing, because he makes it look so awesome.
Yesterday, during recess, Jojo found a broken ink pen on the playground. He managed to get the ink to come out all over his hands, which he then used to decorate playground equipment and an outside wall of the school.
Three other kids joined in and it was actually amazing how much area they were able to cover with the contents of a single pen.
They got in big trouble.
Jojo was embarrassed and sad. The other kids that joined in cast blame on Jojo for “making” them take part.
Jojo drew this picture of the incident (he is the one with clothes on), and even signed his name all over the picture to represent where he personally made ink marks.
Next he wrote about his own feelings in code.
And wrote about the feelings of the cleaning staff in English.
I feel so sorry for him. Not only did he get to experience what it is like for “friends” to throw you under the bus, I feel like he probably really thought he was doing something constructive, like in Weslandia, and it blew up in his face and became a big hairy deal.
School people were really upset since it involved damage to school property.
I worry about him because he is bright and energetic, but also sensitive.
He has figured out how to read (without having been taught), where other kids in his class are still saying things like, “I need go poo poo” and have no phonemic awareness.
I worry that his intense behavior is overshadowing his intelligence.
I worry that he won’t get what he needs. I worry that his effervescent spirit will be crushed.
Not that I don’t ever scold him (just today I told him off for peeing in the dust pan. Granted, he was outside but still, gross!), I just worry that he isn’t in the best possible setting for his cognitive, physical, and emotional development.
Maybe he needs more.
And I don’t know what I can do about it. Since my husband and I both work at this school, I feel like we are stuck.
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Brainy Baby
Given the relatively recent controversy about Baby Einstein DVD’s, I was surprised to see Brainy Baby - Shapes & Colors in a genuine school supply catalog when I was preparing orders for my preschool classroom.
Well, it happens that a study conducted by the University of Texas, Austin, found that infants/toddlers under the age of two can learn from DVDs designed to teach young children shapes.
The study used Brainy Baby - Shapes & Colors DVD and will be published in The Journal of Children and Media, (JOCAM), Fall 2010 (Vol.4, Issue 4).
Using excerpts from Brainy Baby’s® Shapes & Colors DVD, two leading research scientists in the field of children’s media studies, Dr. Elizabeth Vandewater (RTI International) and Dr. Rachel Barr (Georgetown University) exposed two groups of children to a series of shapes commonly familiar to the young participants.
In addition, the children in the experimental group were exposed to a novel shape, a crescent, using the identical teaching style used in commercially available Brainy Baby DVDs.
The results showed that toddlers between 18 and 24 months, in the experimental group, were 22 times more successful identifying the crescent shape in a book after being exposed to the crescent in the DVD.
The test also confirmed that after exposure to the DVD, the crescent could be recognized in other traditional 2-dimensional media.
Very interesting, isn’t it? 
Brainy Baby has quite a selection of educational DVD’s for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Brainy Baby : ABC’s : Introducing the Alphabet (Ages 2 to 5 Years) teaches about letter recognition and sounds.
I was provided with samples of both of these DVD’s by Brainy Baby.
I think they will be making their way to my 3K classroom!
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Lego Atlantis Fantasy Camp Sweepstakes
Remember all of the cool things Jojo and I got to experience at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas?
Well, US and Canadian residents can enter to WIN one of TEN trips to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
The trips are worth up to $14,000.
You can enter once per day.
The Lego Atlantis Fantasy Camp Sweepstakes ends April 15, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
…
Our awesome Lego Atlantis Adventures:
JetBlue Flight from NYC JFK airport to the Bahamas!
Marine Life Exhibits at The Dig
Making and Doing at Atlantis Resort
And More Swimming with Dolphins!
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Help Your Child Learn Mandarin
Mandy and Pandy Play Sports is the 4th book published by Mandy and Pandy Co. for introducing kids to the basics of Chinese language.
Each Mandy and Pandy book includes an audio CD that reads the stories in both English and Chinese for great listening practice.
The text in the book is printed in both English, pinyin (the phonetic pronunciation) and Chinese characters.
When I worked in China in 2002-2003 I was given erratic Mandarin lessons. I learned enough to bargain in the markets, order food in restaurants, and give basic instructions to taxi drivers.
I enjoyed studying Mandarin and decided that since more than 1.2 billion people in the world speak Mandarin, it is probably the ideal second language for a native English speaker.
I love that Mandy and Pandy Play Sports includes both pinyin and Chinese characters, opening the door for future Mandarin literacy.
Mandy and Pandy books are a wonderful learning tool for anyone ready to jump in to beginning Mandarin!
1.) To enter to win a copy of Mandy and Pandy Play Sports, visit http://www.mandyandpandy.com and comment here with another of their book titles that interests you.
2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.
Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.
Want to subscribe? Just click here: Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)
3.) Twitter about this giveaway (include a link to this post, and@MomMostTraveled ) and comment here with your Twitter name. (once daily)
4.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post. Leave me a comment with the link so I can check your post!
5.) Become a fan of Mandy and Pandy on Facebook and let me know you did so!
This giveaway is open to those with a US mailing address.
This contest will close on March 25, 2010, a midnight CST.
Winners will be notified by email and have 72 hours to respond.
These samples and prizes are sponsored corporately.
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Charlie and Lola New Release DVD Giveaway
Charlie & Lola are the cutest. I kind of want to be like Lola.
Charlie is ever-patient and Lola is stubborn yet adorable.
And don’t they both just play so nicely together?
Charlie & Lola, Vol. 10: I Can’t Stop Hiccuping gets its title from one of the nine Charlie & Lola episodes on this new DVD.
In I Can’t Stop Hiccuping, Lola and her friend Lotta are practicing their song for the school concert, but Lola gets a case of hiccups that won’t go away!
What about the concert?? Nooo!!!
Other episodes on Charlie & Lola, Vol. 10: I Can’t Stop Hiccuping:
- I Am Completely Hearing and Also Listening
- Our Shop Sells Everything
- I’ve Got Nobody To Play With
- Thunder Completely Does Not Scare Me
- I Really Absolutely Must Have Glasses
- It Is Very Special and Extremely Ancient
- But Marv is Absolutely Charlie’s Best Friend
- I Am Inventing a Usefulish Invention
Enter to win a copy of Charlie & Lola, Vol. 10: I Can’t Stop Hiccuping!
1.) To enter to win a copy of Charlie & Lola, Vol. 10: I Can’t Stop Hiccuping, leave a comment here with something cute you once heard a child say.
2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.
Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.
Want to subscribe? Just click here: Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)
3.) Twitter about this giveaway (include a link to this post, and @MomMostTraveled ) and comment here with your Twitter name. (once daily)
4.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post. Leave me a comment with the link so I can check your post!
This giveaway is open to those with a US mailing address.
This contest will close on March 24, 2010, a midnight CST.
Winners will be notified by email and have 72 hours to respond.
These DVD samples and prizes are sponsored corporately.
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Music Class For Preschoolers
Cathy & Marcy’s Song Shop have released two new DVD’s that each have 10 mini music lessons suitable for toddlers to kindergarteners.
Meet the Instruments: Things With Strings introduces children to the characteristics of stringed instruments like guitar, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, autoharp, Appalachian dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, mouthbow, fiddle, and electric guitar.
Each "lesson" is between 2 to 7 minutes long, and is like having a preschool music teacher at your finger tips.
Meet The Instruments! Clap and Tap is an introduction to percussion.
Cathy and Marcy incorporate singing, clapping, and other percussion exercises into these fun lessons.
Each lesson is between 3 and 6 minutes long, teaching kids about all types of things from "Musical Spoons" to "Shakers from Around the World", and "Tap Dancing".
I love that the lessons are short and sweet so that your child doesn’t end up plopped down in front of the television for a long period.
I think the Meet the Instruments DVD series is a great teaching tool for a preschool program. I wish I had a DVD player at my school so that I could use them in my 3K classroom!
Thank you to Cathy & Marcy’s Song Shop for providing a review sample of each DVD.
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Sweet New Children’s Books
I’m Up in a Tree by Mark Alden Johnson, is a lovely picture book with appeal for children ages 4 to 8.
I’m Up in a Tree is about a little boy who has climbed a tree and gotten stuck.
While in the tree, he observes various fauna and listens to their advice (delivered in rhyme!) about how he might get down. Very cute!
How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read, by Rima H. Corral, tells of Lil’ Eddie, who gets a book for his 3rd birthday.
He wants to read it, so his family helps him learn how to count, spell, and act out stories.
How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read has ‘Help For Parents’ sections with ideas about how to help children to start reading before kindergarten.
Feeding Penny Pig, by Jeannine Fox, is about a little girl named Laney who gets a piggy bank named Penny Pig for her birthday.
Every day, Laney must do chores to earn money to feed the very hungry Penny.
Because Laney loves Penny so much, she begins to love working around the house to keep her happy and full. The friendship between them teaches Laney responsibility and the value of earning and saving money.
Feeding Penny Pig is the kind of story that could inspire your children to do the same, striving toward a long-term goal.
If your child is anything like Jojo, who always suggests that I just “go to the bank and get more money” when I try to explain why we can’t buy everything we see, Feeding Penny Pig is a much needed lesson about the nature of earning and saving.
Thank you Phenix & Phenix for letting me know about these great new books and providing a review copy of each.
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How To Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself
I was so excited to hear that How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself by Robert Paul Smith was being reprinted by Tinhouse Books.
Only a few months before, I purchased a copy of the still out-of-print Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing., also by Robert Paul Smith.
Robert Paul Smith has an easy-to-read writing style that still speaks to adventurous souls of all ages.
Personally, I’m nostalgic for the days when kids really did stuff when they were at play.
You know, stuff.
I’m talking about building things out of scraps, and performing feats of daring. (Here is where I should bemoan today’s kids being addicted to video games).
How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself is like the handy neighborhood mentor you never had, dispensing friendly instructions about how to do things like make a bracelet from a clam shell, a dart from a sewing needle, a rubber band gun, a boomerang, plus many frightening stunts involving a pen knife.
To me, the message of How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself is that there are lots of fun things for you to do, and solitude can have a purpose: i.e., independence!
It is celebrating a lost art.
I can’t wait until Jojo can read on this level, so HE can exercise a little independence when it comes to entertaining himself.
I might even get him a pen knife.
Enjoy this “vintage” interview with Robert Paul Smith:
Thanks to TinHouse Books for providing a copy for review.
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Banana Seal
I always feel miffed about how "chip clips" don’t really do anything to keep the contents of the bag fresh.
There is a new clip in town: the Banana Seal!
Peel it like a banana and put both parts on either side of the bag. Press it together and it forms an airtight seal!
The Re-Useable Banana Seal is designed to provide an airtight seal on any bag, and can even be used in the freezer.
The unique patented design is great for pretty much any type of food that comes in a bag.
Not only does the Banana Seal keep bags of chips and other food sealed airtight, it also works in the freezer and is dishwasher safe.
Banana Seals are available in three standard sizes, 11.5”, 9.5” and 7.5”. If you need a smaller one, you can cut them with kitchen scissors.
Single Large Banana Seals retail for about $1.50, or you can get a 4-Pack for $4.99.
Even better, get a set of 18 seals in assorted sizes for $19.99! Get yours at Rite-Aid, grocery, drug and hardware stores.
Thanks to Seal-A-Bag for my cool Banana Seal sample!
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