Children’s Feature Film Highlights

Annie – The iconic musical based on the stage play about an orphan girl named Annie who seeks a family to take her in.  Listen for the famous song “Tomorrow” during the opening and closing credits.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Dick Van Dyke invents a flying car and adventure ensues in this musical.  The movie is loosely based on a novel by Ian Fleming (known for his James Bond novels) and acclaimed author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) worked on the script.

High School Musical – Two students who couldn’t be more opposite team together to follow their dreams of leading the school musical.  The movie’s soundtrack was the highest selling album of 2006 in the USA.

Feature Film Highlights

Carmen Jones – Dorothy Dandridge stars as a factory worker who has to wrestle with the emotions that love brings. Selected by the National Film Registry in 1992 for preservation by the Library of Congress for being among “culturally, historically, or esthetically significant films.”

Phantom of the Opera – The 2004 film is an adaptation of one of the most popular stage musicals from Andrew Lloyd Webber.   Staring a then unknown Gerald Butler as the phantom. Emmy Rossum stars in the film as Christine and she also released a new album recently (her first in six years) called Sentimental Journey.

West Side Story – The widely known musical from 1961 that won ten academy awards follows a young couple from rival gangs as they fall in love.  The film is adapted from the classic play Romeo & Juliet.  While Natalie Wood did not get to perform her singing parts in the movie, she got another opportunity to show off her singing talents in the 1962 film Gypsy.

-Erich, West

I really like it too as the Alphablocks are 26 living letters who fall out of the sky and discover that if they hold hands and make a word, it magically comes to life.

Alphablocks is based on the best-practice phonics teaching and helps children develop essential skills and confidence with reading. Alphablocks was created to follow the school curriculum helping children to learn to read at home.

A few weeks ago, Learn to Read with the Alphablocks, Phonics First Steps Volume 1, was launched. Based on best-practice phonics, your child will laugh and learn with the little letter people and their adventures, songs and all kinds of fun and games.

This DVD features 18 episodes and Parent Guide, it also comes with a free Alphablocks Alphabet poster.

Little man will be starting school in September, so he’s at the perfect age to start reading. Volume 1, Phonics First Steps, introduces the first letters and sounds that children are taught at school and starts them off making simple words.

With repeat viewing, children can build key phonics skills and boost their reading confidence while having lots and lots of fun. Little man loves Alphablocks DVD, they are great to watch and learn to read at home.

I love the fact that it is an educational DVD, perfect for little learners. Learn to Read with the Alphablocks DVD can be purchased from all good DVD stores.

For your chance to win 1 of 4 Learn to Read with the Alphablocks DVD, please follow the instructions below:

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Tweet:

Follow and RT @LilinhaWorld and @AbbeyKids to win 1 of 4 Alphablocks DVD. Enter at http://lilinhaangel.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/competition-and-review-win-1-of-4-learn-to-read-with-the-alphablocks-dvd/

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T&C’s: The winners will be picked by http://www.random.org after the closing date on 12th April 2013. Lilinha Angel’s World will contact the winners by email or Twitter within 7 days wherever possible and will allow 7 days for a reply. Open to over 18′s and UK only. If I do not hear anything within this time period I reserve the right to redraw a winner. Lilinha Angel’s World decision is final.

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

 Are you a person who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge? A type of brain food is currently on sale until February 15, 2013. The Great Courses ww.ordergreatcourses.com  offers educational DVDs and CDs from top college professors. Available on a full range of subjects, from the arts and humanities to history, religion, math, health and science. At very reasonable costs, you can learn and be inspired in the comfort of your home, office or while you are stuck in traffic. Some of the topics contain as many as 24 half hour lectures, most ranging in price from $19.99 to $69.99, far less than enrolling in classes at a top university or college. 

Here is a small sampling of The Great Courses Offered: 

• A History of European Art
• How to Listen to and Understand Great Music
• Nutrition Made Clear
• The New and Old Testaments
• Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writers Craft
• The Everyday Guide to Wine
• Our Night Sky
• Optimizing Brain Fitness
• Practicing Mindfulness
• The Science of Natural Healing
• What are the Chances: Probability Made Clear
• Secrets of Mental Math 

This is just a small list of courses offered by professors from colleges such as:  University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, GeorgetownUniversity, Northwestern, Colgate, Scripps Center for Integrative Healing, Vanderbilt UniversityDivinitySchool, Yale School of Medicine, The Peabody Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. 

It is important, at every age, to continue to grow for a fulfilling life. Seek new knowledge; become a life-long learner.  Baby boomers will enjoy keeping their minds active through the topics offered. For more information, to search and order through the catalog, go to www.thegreatcourses.com. Search for brain food that suits your individual taste.

Visit us on Monday, on All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

When  Emery was 6 months old I started to teach  her American Sign Langauge as another way to communicate when she couldn’t say a certain word. I read somewhere that the “terrible two’s” is due to the fact that the child is frustrated and can’t communicate what they’re saying or want to say. I picked up Signing Illustrated to teach myself and my daughter. This book was easy to learn from, its describes the actions and easy ways to remember them. Currently Emery knows about 30 signs before the age of 2, and those are just basic ones. She’s able to pick them up just after a few times of me teaching her. I’m able to either just sign her what im telling her and she knows what the sign is and will say it aloud or I will say the sign as I sign it. A few words she says sound the same, this is one example where signing comes into play. I ask her a few times what she’s trying to say in sign (if I think its something she knows or is trying to say). Another way to make it fun for a child is to buy a dvd. Theres a lot of sign dvd’s out there that make it fun to learn. Emery loves to sign, there’s time she just starts signing and I realize she telling me emotions or when she’s using the restroom she’ll ask me, “more” in sign if she should pee more. It makes me happy to see her using the tools I’ve given her to use.

In addition to learning English and ASL we are teaching her a few things in Spanish. My husband and I are both Mexican with family members that speak spanish. Not only for this reason would we like Emery to learn the language but why not have her  learn as much as she can now while its fun, easy and can benefit her later in life if we use the words she learns now. We purchased a Spanish DVD that’s easy to learn with, I was able to pick up a few words while I cleaned up around the house. Before this movie I taught Emery keys and lights, I didn’t know many spanish words before having her, but thanks to baby books & dvd’s I can teach her the english version (once she knows it well) and then try to switch it on her telling her, “in spanish apple (say it in english then sign it) is manzana”.

Theres nothing wrong with bettering yourself and your child by learning as much as you can. If you feel like 3 languages is too many then just teaching your child your primary langauge the best you can is awesome. Manors is a huge thing for me, I grew up having to speak correctly and having to use manors with everything. Just remember like anything else saying things over and over is key.

Emery is 21 months (nearly 2) and has her favorite cartoons. She follows along with the story and claps, repeats what Dora The Explorer says & dances along. Theres been times im impressed with what she’s doing and really paying attention. She knows characters names and enjoys seeing the animals (such as Diego & Little Einsteins). Even when she’s playing with other toys and not actively looking at the television screen, if the characters tell audience to say something she will. I’ve noticed this with conversations with me and her father, she’ll just jump into what we are talking about, Time to learn Pig Latin.

Currently my husband and I have bought her a Spanish learning DVD & a counting 1-20 DVD. This is the age where kids pick up everything thrown their way, with a bit of help. It’s all about repetition, Emery often says things out of the blue that I’ve been teaching her but never heard her say or she will remember something I taught her and use it. Days like that amaze me. I’m not trying to raise a genius, I just want her to use all of her brain and learn now while its easy. Dvd’s should never replace a parent or guardians naturel way of teaching and care. It’s just something to be aware of when you let your child watch television.

If you are one of the people who believe that such DVDs are important and are planning to source them, you should definitely try SoftonSales.com. It is a site where you can find many software on sale along with other DVDs. An OEM and DVDs ecommerce company, SoftonSales.com is located in Shenzhen, China. I had an opportunity of dealing with the company numerous times and I realized that there are many benefits that the company offers.

Firstly, the company has a large stock of various DVDs and OEM softwares. An extensive collection of Fitness and Educational DVDs, softwares, OEM and others are available with this ecommerce company. Moreover, the company believes in letting the customers have top class service. It is hence that they offer exhaustive information about the products before they are shopped. This helps the customers in taking informed decisions.

The company also boasts of being able to provide the cheapest prices around. There are continuous discounts running on some of the hottest selling products in the market. Products like Windows 7 Home premium, some hot selling Fitness DVDs and various other OEM Software seem to be selling the most with the company at this moment. One can make the most of these DVDs and software on sale by being able to order at any time through the website of the company which is accessible 24 / 7 / 365. One can also have a word with the friendly customer service staff of the corporation.

Finally, what impressed me the most is the objective of the company of not letting a single customer be disappointed with the products and the service offered. All the products are checked for their quality before they are dispatched to the customers’ place. Therefore, now you can sit back and have anything from an OEM software for sale to a Windows 7 Home Premium kit without any apprehension and at some of the best prices in the market.

It’s not enough that the room didn’t have toys and books, it also didn’t have padded walls, which I would have used even if the Toddler did not.

Madonna and Toddler, by the Norwegian Artist, Steve Henderson

What it did have was a flat screen, and apparently the idea was this:

While one family member disappears to the back room for an unspecified time with a dental professional, the rest of us read tattered fishing magazines or watch educational fare on the screen.

I’m sure you can guess how well the fishing magazines went over with both of us, but does it surprise you to learn that the Toddler was uninterested in obscure miniature monkeys of Borneo?

Well the receptionist was flabbergasted, having changed the movie several times for another small person, a bored four-year-old who, after 80 minutes, was probably wondering if she was an orphan.

“Now just sit here and watch the movie until your mother comes out,” the woman instructed the child.

Sumptuously attired in a red princess dress with velvet sleeves and tulle skirt, the four-year-old twirled around the room, skipped into the wall, then pirouetted in front of me and demanded,

“Doesn’t this look like a wedding dress?” which led me to believe that she wasn’t interested in the miniature monkeys of Borneo either.

Little One, by the Norwegian Artist, Steve Henderson

But for a glorious 15 minutes, she and the Toddler clambered over chairs, peered out the window, and stuffed their arms through the mailbox slot, which I agree with them was the most interesting element of the room.

In other words, they behaved like normal children in a 12 x 15 room with nothing in it but fishing magazines and a flat screen, and they didn’t sit still, and they weren’t quiet, and they didn’t just watch the movie and stop bothering people the way adults, trained to glue their eyes to the screen, expect them to.

The amazing thing about this particular office is that a healthy percentage of its clientele is under the age of 10, and while great pains are taken that the movie collection is superlative, there was not a single block, a single puzzle, a single book, a single toy of any kind to occupy a mind that races as fast as the feet that rush it around from place to place.

And so the kids climb the chairs, shove their hands through the mail slot, and act like brats, which they’re not, in this case – not only because one of them is part of my tribe – but because they’re really not interested in watching monkeys pick through one another’s hair.

This is normal, you know  — kids being active and noisy and unwilling to sit still for long periods of time, but we have forgotten this. A generation ago, parents and teachers sighed, “Kids will be kids,” and sent the beasties outside with strict instructions to run until they collapsed.

Youth, by the Norwegian Artist, Steve Henderson

Today, however, the default is to rely upon a screen, video drugging the culprits into submission while reassuring ourselves that we are providing rich, edifying, scholastic content. It is more important to us that our child read by three than that he can climb a tree, or that she know how to run a software program as opposed to actually run.

Or that he or she just sit still and be quiet and color within the lines. This, apparently, is how the next generation of scientists will come about.

There’s a reason God gave us kids – to keep us from being old, boring, static, dull, inactive, unengaged humans who don’t know how to skip anymore.

Awakening, by the Norwegian Artist, Steve Henderson

Parents should note that TV should be limited or not shown at all to children under the age of two, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Several studies, including one published in the February 2010 American Journal of Epidemiology, have concluded that hyperactivity and inattention are associated with TV exposure before the age of two.

Picture books and books on emotions can be used to introduce reading to children too young to watch TV.

To read the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.

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On January 29, the United States Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., First Lady Michelle Obama, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new plan to help Americans lead healthier lives through better nutrition, regular physical activity, and improving communities to support healthy choices. Some of the facts shared:

• Two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese.
• 70% of American Indian/Alaskan Native adults are overweight or obese.
• The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. more than doubled (from 15% to 34%) among adults and more than tripled (from 5% to 17%) among children and adolescents from 1980 to 2008.
• An obese teenager has over a 70% greater risk of becoming an obese adult.
• Obesity is more common among non-Hispanic black teenagers (29%) than Hispanic teenagers (17.5%) or non-Hispanic white teenagers (14.5%).

Source: The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation Fact Sheet


You can read the full Surgeon General’s report at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/index.html and as always, Healthy Learning offers one of the most comprehensive libraries of books and DVDs for your professional use.

Another product I ordered because it was in English AND Chinese is the Little Mammoth Big Adventure Series dvds. I had had them on a wishlist for a year, but only ordered when the store I frequented on ebay decided to close and have a clearout sale.

Big Science and Inventions Series

What a DISCOVERY! These dvds are produced in the states, and have enticing titles like “The Big Aircraft Carrier”, “The Big Submarine”, “The Big Christmas Tree”, “The Big Train Trip”. They are geared towards 5-10 yr olds or so, but my 4 year old just loves them. You can read some reviews on Amazon here.

Little Mammoth puts them out in English first, one title per dvd, for $19.95 US . But you get a REAL DEAL by ordering the Chinese/English ones: 5 dvds for only $24.99!

The first set we got (by error, from the ebay clearout, since we ordered the navigation set) is The Big Science and Invention Series. The titles included are The Big Christmas Tree, The Big Auto Plant, The Big Train Trip, The Big Boom, and The Big Newspaper. I thought these may not have such huge draw to a 4 yr old, but boy was I wrong. My son sits glued to the tv, forgetting to put his fork in his mouth (we sometimes share supper over new educational dvds), and other times overflowing with questions and “WOW! AMAZING!” comments.

The Big Christmas Tree follows the New York Rockefeller Christmas tree from the search (the man in charge scours the US in a helicopter all year for the right tree), discovery, cutting it down, delivering it (it lays on a huge semi-trailer that goes INSIDE a GIGANTIC freight plane), setting it up at Rockefeller Center, being decorated, and its public unveiling. There are asides about Christmas tree farms, a man who collects Christmas tree ornaments, and the origin of Christmas tree traditions. Fascinating for kids AND adults.

The Big Auto Plant takes us inside Mercedes Benz in Germany, from car design, prototype and testing, through the complete production line. The child narrators manage to impart so much technical information without it being overwhelming, and we are glued to the screen the whole while.

The Big Train Trip takes us from Toronto to Vancouver on Via Rail. We learn about how they get food on the train, how they take an engine apart to overhaul it, what one can do on a train, and many details behind the scene. I loved, being Canadian, that it was so close to home, and understandable for my son.

The Big Boom is a bit more esoteric for small kids, as it talks about explosions. Volcanic eruptions, the demolition of a large building, and sonic booms from planes. But my son has asked to watch it on his own repeatedly.

We haven’t seen the Newspaper one yet, but I assume it will be just as good.

Little Mammoth Big Navigation Series

The set we initially ordered, The Big Navigation Series just arrived two days ago, and so far we have watched The Big Plane Trip (SwissAir from US to Europe) and The Big Aircraft Carrier (the US navy’s largest carrier). They are uniformly wellmade, and take us straight to the top (and bottom): the pilots, the engineers, the designers. We learned everything from how the fighter pilots train (dumped into a pool to simulate being trapped inside a helicopter downed in the ocean) to how the planes stop (in 3 seconds from full throttle to full stop, hooked onto huge elastic cables!). We have yet to watch The Big Submarine, The Big Airshow and The Big Space Shuttle.

We did attempt to watch these dvds in Chinese, but the level of Chinese is way beyond us. It is spoken fairly quickly by child narrators, and I only caught a word here and there: da fei ji, sheng dan shu. Hopefully one day we will be able to understand them end to end in Mandarin. But in the meantime, they are super educational and a steal in the 5-dvd chinese/english boxed sets. The only thing I dislike is the incredibly long intro trailer at the start of each dvd, though my son is happy to watch it… remarking on things he recognizes from the dvds he’s already watched, and exclaiming at those yet to come.

Little Mammoth Big Amusement Park Series

I am happy to see that there is a third chinese/english set, The Big Amusement Park Series, with the titles: The Big Aquarium, The Big Hotel, The Big Zoo, The Big Park and The Big Renovation. We’ll have to look into those in the future.

The Peabody award-winning director of this series of educational dvds, which have won all sorts of accolades, is William VanDerKloot. He started working on this series after realizing, with his own children, what a dearth there is of good educational dvds to answer children’s questions. Too often the material is not enough in depth or turned into a cutesy animation or anthropomorphized. There is a very recent interview with him here, at Fivehens.com. Turns out the current Little Mammoth dvd in production is The Big Breakfast, where they examine how all the makings of a blueberry pancake breakfast get onto your table.

To purchase these dvds, click on the above title links (they are the AsianParent.com store) for English/Chinese, or go to Little Mammoth’s website for the English ones. If you are daring, you can probably save a lot of postage if you are not in the US by ordering the English/Chinese ones from CNEMAY Chinese Cultural Products. I haven’t ordered from them, but they have the same price, $24.99 US for 5dvd sets, $9.99 US for individual dvds, with Free International Shipping from Beijing. If you do order from them, please let me know how your experience was.

And if you are really lucky, your local school or library will have Little Mammoth Big Adventure Series dvds on hand to get your fix for free! Definitely worth your while.

A  few business owners know exactly what ages the children that will be  there are. If your business  specializes in infants, and most young people in your waiting  area are babies, you have some choices.  Clearly infants only usually learn certain  things, but you might be shocked by what  they can retain.

You can alter  your waiting room toys to this age group by supplying  educational DVDs that can entertain babies while introducing fundamental  concepts to them. For example, there are many videos available  that include animals, colors, shapes, low numbers, or a mixture  of many of these. Additionally, most babies  adore music, and many videos include lots  of songs. They can try to dance to such educational DVDs while  getting familiar with very simple concepts.  Clearly, these kinds of waiting room toys can satisfy  parents by keeping their little ones content for a while.

A lot of  businesses expect to have older children in their waiting area.  This age range might consist of preschoolers or those  attending elementary school. The educational DVDs suitable  for those in preschool are similar to those adapted  to infants, but may be either slightly more  advanced, or simply understood better by toddlers than by babies.  Therefore, you can utilize the baby educational DVDs  to amuse toddlers as well. However, you may also  choose to buy a single DVD that features  a little bit of everything, such as shapes, shades, numbers,  animals, and the alphabet.

A lot of older kids can entertain themselves, but you can also be all  set for anything with very  entertaining educational DVDs. One such  item teaches sign language to children.  Children of any age can appreciate this eclectic skill,  and many will enjoy going home having learned a new skill  to show off. Parents will likely also appreciate the attempt  at helping their children learn something new instead  of playing with the typical waiting room toys.

Of course, you should decide  on the educational DVDs that are best for your actual  business based on the ages of the kids that are usually  there. You can also mix it up by making sure you have traditional  waiting room toys, but not every kid feels like playing at all  times. Educational DVDs can be perfect when kids  wish to relax and learn something new, which can additionally  offer their parents some quiet time whilst waiting in  your office.

Preschool Prep.  I have viewed hundreds of DVDs for our store and have refused to carry all of them.  When I saw the Preschool Prep

DVDs I wasn’t completely convinced, even after reading all the literature and testimonials, until I allowed to daughter to view it.  Lacey is 3 years old with special needs.  Speech is one of the areas that are delayed.  We popped the DVD into the computer and she sat there memorized.  Every time the DVD said a word she repeated it .  The DVDs have a lot of repetition.  We tested her with several of these DVDs and she did the same each time.  These are her favorite DVDs and has learned how to place them in the DVD drive of the computer and turn them on herself.  Within 2 weeks Lacey has learned the concept (ie. shapes, colors, numbers) from the DVD and can use what she has learned in everyday life (ie. What shape is the placemat – Rectangle she answers).

The Award Winning Preschool Prep DVDs include Meet the Shapes, Meet the Colors, Meet the Numbers, Meet the Letters,

Meet the Sight Words 1, Meet the Sight Words 2, Meet the Sight Words 3.  Meet the words have 15 sight words on each DVD.

Preschool Prep has won 25 National Awards including  Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Educational Products, Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence, Creative Child Magazine DVD of the Year, iParenting Media Excellent Products, Dove Foundation 5 Star Rating and many many more.  These DVDs are truly amazing and can be viewed in our store 1SmartNoodle anytime.  For more information please check out our selection of Preschool Prep DVDs today.

Jenn

PRESCHOOL PREP Words 2