Clifford the Big Red Dog
Clifford is an animated television show for the preschool aged children (ages 3-7) based on the books of the same name used in classic storytelling to present universal social, emotional and moral messages to young children. Each episode follows Clifford and his friends (dogs and humans) and they play and discover and interact with each other on Birdwell Island, learning that goods friends is what life is all about. Each of the episodes deal with what kids have to deal with in their daily lives whether it is bragging, not wanting to share, learning to tell the truth is the best policy, and most of all they learn to discover the world around them. In episode they try to put in all ten of the ideas that represent social and emotional challenges that children face in the course of their development.
Be a Good Friend
Clifford teaches the children to make friends, and when you have a friend, be the best friend you can be, because a healthy friendship early in life will lay the foundation for a rewarding relationship and social growth as a child matures. It also teaches that while you interact with other children that will experience many disputes and trials, which will help teach them empathy, understanding, compromise and other skills that friendship requires.
Be Kind
Kindness is a great quality that a person young or old can posses. Being king requires empathy, the ability to imagine how another person is feeling. A great example of kindness is the Emily Elizabeth loves and takes care of Clifford even when he continued to grow and grow.
Be Responsible
Being a responsible child comes from observation and practice. It is a child natural instinct to please and every child wants to be recognized for good work. Encouraging a child to retell the events of the story, make predictions, and interpret character feelings allows you to informally assess the child's comprehension and conceptual understanding
Be Truthful
Communicating with a child about choices, consequences, and honesty on a regular basis gives the child positive reinforcement about the value of being truthful. By encouraging discussions about honesty and truthfulness, you can help the child become more aware that this characteristic is an important part of his or her individual personality. In many of the episodes it shows that every action honest or not has it consequences. Children can learn the value of being honest and truthful by relating their own experiences to those of the characters.
Believe in Yourself
Children are so impressionable at a young age. Most children need encouragement to try again after making mistakes or having an unsuccessful experience. Welcome life’s new encouragements with enthusiasm and confidence at an early age.
Having Respect
Learning to respect and accept others is the basis of social maturity. It is not always easy to accept people at first glance. Children sometimes have fears and apprehension about people they are not sure about. As a parent you need to teach them the importance of looking beyond appearances is one way of helping them understand themselves and others. Having respect for individual differences, personal space, and the ideas and feelings of others will help a child appreciate what others have to offer, make friends, and cooperate in groups. Clifford and his friends often find themselves in situations where differences are really strengths, and where having respect also means not teasing or being boastful, even when you are better at something and someone else.
Help Others
Children love to help one way they can help is sharing their knowledge and skills with someone who needs their assistance. For many children helping is like a reward to them, because it boosts their self-esteem. Some of the episodes illustrate that it is quite normal for people to be unsure or afraid in situations that they can't handle on their own and that it is ok to ask for help people will not judge you because you can not do it.
Play Fair
The foundation of playing fair is treating others how you want to be treated. Teaching them at you need to treat people fairly and equal. Taking turns, following the rules, avoiding favoritism sharing roles or game pieces equally, and other learning experiences within group activities and games all promote good social and emotional growth. Reinforcing acceptable behavior in situations where a child has to play fair to get along with someone else is great experience for the social challenges that all children face as they grow.
Sharing
Sometimes it can be hard for children to let someone else share what is really special to them. The best thing about sharing it that it brings friends together. Just think of a time when someone shared something with you, recall your feelings, and you'll recognize that sharing rewards both the person who gives and the person who receives.
Working Together
Children learn to interact with others most often through observing how others treat them within their own environments. By cooperating with other children to achieve a goal, a child learns to enjoy people for their individual strengths and their contributions to a team effort. Clifford and his friends often experience the concepts of teamwork and cooperation. The characters model working together in a group successfully to meet a cooperative goal or accomplish a personal task in fun and meaningful ways.
Even thought my son is too young to truly understand all of the great things that Clifford and all of his friends are teaching him he really enjoys watching Clifford. As a parent I don’t feel guilty having him watch television as long as I know that there is a good message behind the show.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Curious George
Curious George
Curious George is an animated series of a very curious Monkey it is aimed at the preschool child (ages 3-5); the goal of the series is to inspire children to explore science, math, and the world around them. George lives to find and discover new things in every episode. This new television show is trying to say true to the books by Margaret and H.A. Rey, in the television show Georges meets new characters and locations. Each episode features two animated stories followed by a live action segment by local kids investigating the same things that George just learned. The television show is narrated by William H. Macy and produced by Ron Howard.
Characters
Curious George is a monkey that investigates everything because everything fascinates him even things he already knows about. George usually gets into some mischief but he usually manages to get himself out of it and even saves the day.
The Man with the Yellow hat is Georges best friend and mentor, his parental presents that trust George unconditionally. He never expects him to get into trouble. He is well likes in the neighborhood and a little goofy around the edges.
Bill is George’s neighbor in the country. He has got a lot of new things for Georges to get in trouble with and explore, he has a bike, paper route, a collection of kites and a lot of bunnies.
Professor Wiseman is full of great information about all sorts of things for George. She is a good friend to the Man with the Yellow Hat. She gets excited about George’s adventures.
Jumpy the squirrel is a bit of a daredevil he loves to collect things and share them with George. He likes hanging out with George, even if George forces him out of his comfort zone from time to time.
I feel that Curious George is a very good educational television show for young children to watch. My 20 month old son loves to watch George. He will even ask to watch Curious George by name. My son is a very active little boy but when I put on Curious George he will just sit and enjoy the show. He will act out some of the scene that George is doing. If George gets into to much trouble he will yell out Ah-OO. George teaches the children not to be afraid to explore new things that it is health to get into some trouble as long as it does not get you hurt and you are learning something new.
Curious George is an animated series of a very curious Monkey it is aimed at the preschool child (ages 3-5); the goal of the series is to inspire children to explore science, math, and the world around them. George lives to find and discover new things in every episode. This new television show is trying to say true to the books by Margaret and H.A. Rey, in the television show Georges meets new characters and locations. Each episode features two animated stories followed by a live action segment by local kids investigating the same things that George just learned. The television show is narrated by William H. Macy and produced by Ron Howard.
Characters
Curious George is a monkey that investigates everything because everything fascinates him even things he already knows about. George usually gets into some mischief but he usually manages to get himself out of it and even saves the day.
The Man with the Yellow hat is Georges best friend and mentor, his parental presents that trust George unconditionally. He never expects him to get into trouble. He is well likes in the neighborhood and a little goofy around the edges.
Bill is George’s neighbor in the country. He has got a lot of new things for Georges to get in trouble with and explore, he has a bike, paper route, a collection of kites and a lot of bunnies.
Professor Wiseman is full of great information about all sorts of things for George. She is a good friend to the Man with the Yellow Hat. She gets excited about George’s adventures.
Jumpy the squirrel is a bit of a daredevil he loves to collect things and share them with George. He likes hanging out with George, even if George forces him out of his comfort zone from time to time.
I feel that Curious George is a very good educational television show for young children to watch. My 20 month old son loves to watch George. He will even ask to watch Curious George by name. My son is a very active little boy but when I put on Curious George he will just sit and enjoy the show. He will act out some of the scene that George is doing. If George gets into to much trouble he will yell out Ah-OO. George teaches the children not to be afraid to explore new things that it is health to get into some trouble as long as it does not get you hurt and you are learning something new.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Playhouse Disney's Little Einsteins
Little Einsteins
The Little Einsteins is an animated television on Playhouse Disney that takes us on adventures with four children. Its creator is Eric Weiner who also is the creator of Dora the Explorer and has an Emmy Award winning director of Olexa Hewryk. It debut was August 23, 2005 with a direct to video movie Our Big Adventure.
This show is an educational preschool series which teaches art and music appreciation by featuring famous or culturally significant art works and classical music. The music and the painting or artwork is placed in the scene of the show. The show is designed to get the preschool children to join the Little Einsteins on their mission by patting their hands on their legs to start rocket, by listening to the music to find the correct path they need to take to help who they are saving on the mission. Not only does it teach preschool children art and music appreciation it also teaches them about new countries and different environments.
Characters
Leo, who is a six year old boy, is the leader of the Little Einsteins and the one that flies Rocket. His main hobby is conducting; he always has his baton with him in all of the missions. He is able to conduct anything on the missions.
June is a six year old girl who loves to dance ballet. She also likes to look at the stars at night.
Quincy is a five year old boy who loves to play musical instruments. He is afraid of the dark.
Annie is a four year old girl who is the little sister to Leo. She is the only other one who can fly Rocket. She loves balloons and making up songs for each mission.
Rocket is the Little Einsteins main form of transportation, Rocket has a lot of accessories that help the Little Einsteins complete their mission.
Big Jet who is Rocket and the Little Einsteins nemesis, he tries to ruin parties and steal things from the Little Einsteins so they can not complete their mission. But the Little Einsteins in the end always steal back what Big Jet stole from them and teach him a lesson.
Even through my 19 month old son really does not know what he is learning I really enjoy this show for him. It is teaching him classical music and to always help other people in need. He loves to pat his hands on his legs to make Rocket go and when Annie starts to sing her songs he moves his head back and forth. Watching this show has also educated myself with the composers and the artwork they show.
The Little Einsteins is an animated television on Playhouse Disney that takes us on adventures with four children. Its creator is Eric Weiner who also is the creator of Dora the Explorer and has an Emmy Award winning director of Olexa Hewryk. It debut was August 23, 2005 with a direct to video movie Our Big Adventure.
This show is an educational preschool series which teaches art and music appreciation by featuring famous or culturally significant art works and classical music. The music and the painting or artwork is placed in the scene of the show. The show is designed to get the preschool children to join the Little Einsteins on their mission by patting their hands on their legs to start rocket, by listening to the music to find the correct path they need to take to help who they are saving on the mission. Not only does it teach preschool children art and music appreciation it also teaches them about new countries and different environments.
Characters
Leo, who is a six year old boy, is the leader of the Little Einsteins and the one that flies Rocket. His main hobby is conducting; he always has his baton with him in all of the missions. He is able to conduct anything on the missions.
June is a six year old girl who loves to dance ballet. She also likes to look at the stars at night.
Quincy is a five year old boy who loves to play musical instruments. He is afraid of the dark.
Annie is a four year old girl who is the little sister to Leo. She is the only other one who can fly Rocket. She loves balloons and making up songs for each mission.
Rocket is the Little Einsteins main form of transportation, Rocket has a lot of accessories that help the Little Einsteins complete their mission.
Big Jet who is Rocket and the Little Einsteins nemesis, he tries to ruin parties and steal things from the Little Einsteins so they can not complete their mission. But the Little Einsteins in the end always steal back what Big Jet stole from them and teach him a lesson.
Even through my 19 month old son really does not know what he is learning I really enjoy this show for him. It is teaching him classical music and to always help other people in need. He loves to pat his hands on his legs to make Rocket go and when Annie starts to sing her songs he moves his head back and forth. Watching this show has also educated myself with the composers and the artwork they show.
Playhouse Disney's Go Baby
Go Baby is about a 5 minute short show on Playhouse Disney in the morning. It features an African American baby and his playmate Sophie.
It is targeted for 2-6 year old age group. It is narrated by a human hand with the voice of Richard Kind (from Mad about You and Spin City) which encourages the viewers to help Baby and Sophie discover how to play a drum, build a sand castle, where a tail goes on a donkey, how to pick apples and plant flowers. After Baby and Sophie complete there new discovery they say Thank you for the viewers help.
My 19 month son who is a very active little boy will stop what ever he is going when he hears the theme song of Go Baby he sits so still and just smiles and claps with the music through out the whole show. There was one episode where Baby and Sophie where learning about animals and the sounds they make. My son was making all of the sounds with Baby and Sophie some of the animal I did not realize he knew but from watch Go Baby he has learned them.
It is targeted for 2-6 year old age group. It is narrated by a human hand with the voice of Richard Kind (from Mad about You and Spin City) which encourages the viewers to help Baby and Sophie discover how to play a drum, build a sand castle, where a tail goes on a donkey, how to pick apples and plant flowers. After Baby and Sophie complete there new discovery they say Thank you for the viewers help.
My 19 month son who is a very active little boy will stop what ever he is going when he hears the theme song of Go Baby he sits so still and just smiles and claps with the music through out the whole show. There was one episode where Baby and Sophie where learning about animals and the sounds they make. My son was making all of the sounds with Baby and Sophie some of the animal I did not realize he knew but from watch Go Baby he has learned them.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Handy Manny
There is a new Disney animated series called Handy Manny, which debuted on September 16, 2006, on the Disney Channel it is geared for the preschool age child.
It features Wilmer Valderrama(from That 70’s Show) as Handy Manny who is a bilingual handyman who lives in Sheetrock Hills who has his own Repair shop. Each episode starts with Handy Manny’s telephone ringing with a new job for him and his tools to do. Once he hangs up the telephone he starts by singing “Hop up Jump in” which teaches you how to count to eight in Spanish. Once at the job there is always a lesson to be learned. The popular lessons are getting along with others, lending a helping hand and always trying one’s best and valuable messages about friendship, your community and working together.
The creators have made Handy Manny a hard working repair man, who is polite and eager to please. He is also very patient with he tools having them try to figure out what is wrong and how they are going to fix the problem. He also teaches his tools one new Spanish word an episode.
The tools that Handy Manny uses are Pat the clumsy hammer, Tuner who is a grouchy flathead screwdriver, Felipe an overzealous Phillips screwdriver, Dusty a saw who looks after everyone, Stretch the perfectionist tape measure, Rusty a wretch who is afraid of his own shadow and Squeeze who is a little on the curious side pair of pliers.
There are other regular characters that Handy Manny visits in every episode Kelly who owns the hardware stores who the tools love. Mr Lopart who is the Handy Manny’s neighbor who owns a candy store who thinks he is a bit of a know it all, but when he tries to fix something without Manny’s help always has a problem either he puts it together upside down or it falls apart on him.
I watch this show every morning with my 19 month son even though he does not know that he is learning new things or moral values he still enjoys watching. Sometimes he even gets his own tools and sits down and tries to fix something.
It features Wilmer Valderrama(from That 70’s Show) as Handy Manny who is a bilingual handyman who lives in Sheetrock Hills who has his own Repair shop. Each episode starts with Handy Manny’s telephone ringing with a new job for him and his tools to do. Once he hangs up the telephone he starts by singing “Hop up Jump in” which teaches you how to count to eight in Spanish. Once at the job there is always a lesson to be learned. The popular lessons are getting along with others, lending a helping hand and always trying one’s best and valuable messages about friendship, your community and working together.
The creators have made Handy Manny a hard working repair man, who is polite and eager to please. He is also very patient with he tools having them try to figure out what is wrong and how they are going to fix the problem. He also teaches his tools one new Spanish word an episode.
The tools that Handy Manny uses are Pat the clumsy hammer, Tuner who is a grouchy flathead screwdriver, Felipe an overzealous Phillips screwdriver, Dusty a saw who looks after everyone, Stretch the perfectionist tape measure, Rusty a wretch who is afraid of his own shadow and Squeeze who is a little on the curious side pair of pliers.
There are other regular characters that Handy Manny visits in every episode Kelly who owns the hardware stores who the tools love. Mr Lopart who is the Handy Manny’s neighbor who owns a candy store who thinks he is a bit of a know it all, but when he tries to fix something without Manny’s help always has a problem either he puts it together upside down or it falls apart on him.
I watch this show every morning with my 19 month son even though he does not know that he is learning new things or moral values he still enjoys watching. Sometimes he even gets his own tools and sits down and tries to fix something.
Monday, February 19, 2007
The Wiggles - Wiggle TV Show review:
My wife and 17 month son have a ritual each morning after they awake. My wife gathers my son and brings him into our bedroom where she feeds him his morning bottle while watching Disney’s The Wiggles. I don’t ordinarily encourage an over abundance of television viewing for a boy of his age but The Wiggles offer the most basic of fundamentals for learning and growth. He loves watching them sing and dance and enjoys the variety of colors in the scenery and in the garb of Greg (Yellow), Murray (Red), Jeff (Purple) and Anthony (Blue). Although my son is unaware, he is actually learning about manners, nutrition, safety, how to count, learning animal sounds and his body parts. My wife doesn’t really mind watching this with my son as she finds the show entertaining and knows that there will be nothing bad for him to see.
The Wiggles act out various skits designed to teach children lessons from how to count to encouraging them to eat healthy. They also have individual personalities that can spark the interest of a young child. Murray Wiggle plays guitar, Greg Wiggle performs magic tricks, Anthony is always eating (but healthy) and Jeff tends to nap quite a bit.
In every episode there is a live concert where they are performing one of there songs and they encourage children to get up and dance around so they can have fun and reap the benefits of exercise too. There was one episode where The Wiggles are riding in the Big Red Car and my son starting imitating what they were doing by moving his arm up and down making a toot toot sound.
The Wiggles also teach life lessons in their songs. In addition to singing about colors and numbers, they also sing about the benefits of drinking water and eating fruit salad. They also sing about the benefits of going to the doctor and the dentist.
There are additional characters on the show as well that play a part in the education and entertainment of my son and children alike. There is Dorothy the Dinosaur who dines on red roses and teaches children a new dance step, which in turn helps them with following direction. Captain Feathersword, the friendly pirate, teaches them about adventures to far away places like Italy and England. Henry the Octopus teaches them about life under the sea while Wags the Dogs teaches them how to fetch and do the tango.
The Wiggles formed in 1991. Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Greg Page were studying Early Childhood education in Sydney, Australia and began writing songs as part of a class assignment. They asked Jeff Fatt for assistance as he and Anthony had played together in a band called the Cockroaches back in the 1980’s. The first album they cut has since reached Platinum status but that was merely the beginning. Now in their fifteenth year they have released 27 Videos and DVD’s and a myriad of CD’s world wide.
A large part of their success stems from their background in early education. They have an innate ability to write songs from a child’s perspective and have captured a niche absent from other children’s programs.
To date the Wiggles have released 27 Video/DVD and have been awarded 17 Gold, 12 Platinum, 3 Double Platinum and 10 Multi Platinum Awards for sales of over 17 million DVD and 4 Million CDs worldwide. They have also been awarded the Highest selling Children’s Video sales in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999 at the ADSDA Awards. They have also won 3 prestigious APRA song writing awards for the Best Children’s song of 1994, 1995 and 1996 by their peers.
Their top 10 best selling CD are Live Hot Potatoes, Whoo Hoo!Wiggly Gremlins! & Hoop Dee Doo, Wiggly Wiggly Christmas, …Here Comes the Big Red Car, Karaoke Sing Along #1, Wiggle Time, Toot Toot, Yummy Yummy, Wiggly Safari and Go to Sleep Jeff.
In 2005 The Wiggles have opened a multi million dollar amusement park at Dream World on the Gold Coast. They are also going to open another park in Dallas TX. They are also going to be open Wiggly Play Centre in Australia which will be an indoor play center with jumping castles, mazes, theme rooms, ball pits, plasma screens playing Wiggle movies and food from their Yummy Yummy Café.
Thank you for visiting our article: The Wiggles
The Wiggles act out various skits designed to teach children lessons from how to count to encouraging them to eat healthy. They also have individual personalities that can spark the interest of a young child. Murray Wiggle plays guitar, Greg Wiggle performs magic tricks, Anthony is always eating (but healthy) and Jeff tends to nap quite a bit.
In every episode there is a live concert where they are performing one of there songs and they encourage children to get up and dance around so they can have fun and reap the benefits of exercise too. There was one episode where The Wiggles are riding in the Big Red Car and my son starting imitating what they were doing by moving his arm up and down making a toot toot sound.
The Wiggles also teach life lessons in their songs. In addition to singing about colors and numbers, they also sing about the benefits of drinking water and eating fruit salad. They also sing about the benefits of going to the doctor and the dentist.
There are additional characters on the show as well that play a part in the education and entertainment of my son and children alike. There is Dorothy the Dinosaur who dines on red roses and teaches children a new dance step, which in turn helps them with following direction. Captain Feathersword, the friendly pirate, teaches them about adventures to far away places like Italy and England. Henry the Octopus teaches them about life under the sea while Wags the Dogs teaches them how to fetch and do the tango.
The Wiggles formed in 1991. Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Greg Page were studying Early Childhood education in Sydney, Australia and began writing songs as part of a class assignment. They asked Jeff Fatt for assistance as he and Anthony had played together in a band called the Cockroaches back in the 1980’s. The first album they cut has since reached Platinum status but that was merely the beginning. Now in their fifteenth year they have released 27 Videos and DVD’s and a myriad of CD’s world wide.
A large part of their success stems from their background in early education. They have an innate ability to write songs from a child’s perspective and have captured a niche absent from other children’s programs.
To date the Wiggles have released 27 Video/DVD and have been awarded 17 Gold, 12 Platinum, 3 Double Platinum and 10 Multi Platinum Awards for sales of over 17 million DVD and 4 Million CDs worldwide. They have also been awarded the Highest selling Children’s Video sales in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999 at the ADSDA Awards. They have also won 3 prestigious APRA song writing awards for the Best Children’s song of 1994, 1995 and 1996 by their peers.
Their top 10 best selling CD are Live Hot Potatoes, Whoo Hoo!Wiggly Gremlins! & Hoop Dee Doo, Wiggly Wiggly Christmas, …Here Comes the Big Red Car, Karaoke Sing Along #1, Wiggle Time, Toot Toot, Yummy Yummy, Wiggly Safari and Go to Sleep Jeff.
In 2005 The Wiggles have opened a multi million dollar amusement park at Dream World on the Gold Coast. They are also going to open another park in Dallas TX. They are also going to be open Wiggly Play Centre in Australia which will be an indoor play center with jumping castles, mazes, theme rooms, ball pits, plasma screens playing Wiggle movies and food from their Yummy Yummy Café.
Thank you for visiting our article: The Wiggles
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