Super Why is showing February 2010 in Movie Theatres (US ONLY)

Two SUPER WHY episodes, Comic Book: Attack of the Eraser and The Big Game, will be in movie theaters on weekends in February as part of the Kidtoons program.

Soar to new places in February with SUPER WHY, as Super Why, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and Alpha Pig go on reading adventures like you’ve never seen before. Wham! Pow! Join the superheroes inside a comic book, where they’ll use their literacy powers to stop the diabolical eraser from erasing the words in Reader Valley in Comic Book: Attack of the Eraser. Then get ready to cheer for Super Why and his friends as they learn the importance of practicing in The Big Game. Visit http://www.kidtoonfilms.com for more information and to find SUPER WHY in a movie theater near you! Super Duper!

The Kidtoons program is dedicated to helping parents connect with their kids by bringing family friendly animated movies to the big screen every weekend at participating theatres across the country. Participating Kidtoons theatres showcase a fun, affordable family friendly matinee movie and provide a family experience filled with entertaining, kid-friendly characters, as well as cartoon shorts, music videos and sing-alongs before each movie. We even have fun giveaways for the kids, such as stickers, temporary tattoos, activity books or toys after every film.

Super Why soars into a new kind of book!

GET A “TASTE” OF READING WITH SUPER WHY!

Hip Hip Hooray!  Super WHY whips up a whole new reading-powered adventure when the Super Readers soar into the pages of a cookbook for the very first time!  Super WHY and the Cookbook will premiere January 29 on PBS stations from coast to coast (check local listings).  Whyatt wants to bake his little sister a special birthday cake - but he doesn't know how.  So Super Why and his friends soar into a new kind of book  - and get the information they need from a rhyming chef with a silly sense of humor as well as a recipe for fun!  In the end, Whyatt learns how to create the perfect birthday for Baby Joy.

Here are some awesome tips to help you cook up your very own yummy reading adventure!  Encouraging preschoolers to read recipes, signs and more helps them navigate their world and gives them a real reason to use their new-found literacy skills.  Asking questions will expand their creativity as well as reinforce comprehension.  It can also inspire them to write their own signs, recipes or stories! 

• Pick out a simple and tasty recipe with your budding Super Reader.  Ask them to point out all of the letters and words they already know in the ingredients
• Write a grocery list together, sounding out the words as you go along
• At the supermarket, have your kids help read the signs so you can find the ingredients you need
• As you cook, read the recipe out loud every step of the way
• Before serving your delicious treat, create colorful place cards for each member of the family, assisting your preschooler in writing out the names.  Have fun – and bon appetite!

Each episode of Super WHY, the award-winning literacy series from Out of the Blue Enterprises, engages young viewers in fun, interactive alphabet and word games, as well as imagination-stimulating spelling, vocabulary and comprehension activities, helping to instill a life-long love of reading all along the way!

Girl Guides of Canada launches 2010 website

*News from Girl Guides of Canada*

In 2010, Girl Guides of Canada-Guides du Canada (GGC) is celebrating our 100th anniversary of giving girls the tools and resources they need to achieve greatness. To help you connect with all of our exciting 2010 activities, initiatives and events, we’ve launched a dynamic new website – http://2010.girlguides.ca.

This website is your online destination for all GGC 100th anniversary information. The site includes details on:

· 2010 events for all levels including the National Celebration Launch Party and National Rally Day

· National Service Project – Eradicate Hunger and Poverty

· National Program Challenge – 100 in 100

· Fact pages on Guiding’s rich history in Canada, including the role of Girl Guide cookies

· And much more!

In the coming months we will also be posting resources, tool kits and a calendar of events to help you plan your 2010 activities. Celebration initiatives and events will take place at all levels of the organization across the country throughout the year, so be sure to check the website regularly for updates.

Winning Techniques Camp - Scholarships Available

Just Passing Info Along...

Twenty (20) $500.00 camp scholarships for various 2009 camp programs to be awarded to children who demonstrate a love for sport, contribute to their communities and excel academically.

Winning Techniques Camp (15 minutes North of Huntsville, Ontario) wants to reward 20 children from various communities with a $500 camp scholarship. A simple online nomination form is available at http://www.winningtechniques.com. If a child in your community stands above the rest and you want to nominate them, simply fill out the form and submit it. Nominations will close May 30, 2009 and winning individuals will be notified June 15, 2009. Scholarships available are 10-Hockey, 5-Figure Skating, 1-Golf, 1- Horseback Riding, 1-Dance, 1-Leadership and 1-Intense Watersports.

Winning Techniques Camp offers co-ed day and resident camp programs for children aged 4 to 16. Camp is structured so that children spend approximately half their day on their chosen specialty program. The balance of a camper’s day will be spent participating in traditional camp programs including Archery, Arts & Crafts, Badminton, Barefooting, Board & Card Games, Bocce Ball, Bonfires, Canoeing, Fishing, Hiking, Horse Shoes, Kayaking, Low Ropes Course, Movie Night, Paddle Boating, Rock Climbing, Snorkeling, Swimming, Tubing, Waterskiing, Wakeboarding, Wakeskating, Variety Night & Volleyball.

Winning Techniques Camp is about excellence. Instruction is provided by highly qualified professional coaches including a 10 year NHL veteran & former Figure Skating National Team member. The camp wants to reward excellence in outstanding young people by giving them the opportunity to attend camp and make life long friends with other young people that share similar interests.

Leapfrog's New Web-Based Parent Resource (plus giveaway!)

Leapfrog Sets Benchmark For Learning Products With New Web-Based Parent Resource
The LeapFrog Learning Path Allows Parents to Participate in Children’s Educational Progress

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 28, 2008 - Parents now have a groundbreaking new way to connect with their plugged-in kids, with the arrival of a powerful online resource available today from LeapFrog, a leading developer of technology-based learning products. A free and private resource, the Learning Path makes it possible for parents to see the educational skills their kids are exploring with their LeapFrog products, from infant learning toys to grade-school gaming platforms. The Learning Path, available through www.leapfrog.ca, functions as an interactive roadmap for parents, allowing them to observe, shape and personalize each child’s individual progress.

"LeapFrog is the first company to provide parents a comprehensive insider’s view into what and how their child is learning, based on actual play data,” said Dr. Jim Gray, director of learning for LeapFrog. “Based on our extensive experience developing educational products for schools, the Learning Path details the skills a child is engaged in, giving parents insights into what excites their children to learn, as well as where they may be struggling and need extra attention.”

The introduction of Learning Path marks the first time that LeapFrog has made its Scope and Sequence available to parents. The Scope and Sequence is the company’s proprietary curriculum of educational skills that is the backbone of all LeapFrog products. The Learning Path encompasses more than 2,000 individual skills in areas such as language and literacy, mathematics and science.

How it Works

The Learning Path links with LeapFrog products to provide parents an explanation of the skills their children are engaged with, how often their children play a particular game, what kinds of questions they answer and how they are progressing. The only resource that offers details on kids’ interaction with these skills, the Learning Path also provides parents with personalized recommendations for products best suited for each child’s growth. To get kids on the LeapFrog Learning Path, parents can easily create a Learning Path account through www.leapfrog.ca.

For LeapFrog’s USB-enabled products such as the new Tag™ Reading System, Didj™ Custom Gaming System or Leapster2 Learning Game System, parents simply connect their LeapFrog product to their PC or Mac to view detailed information on skills engaged and progress made. This information then populates each child’s personal LeapFrog Learning Path, allowing parents to share their children’s individual accomplishments and engage each child in discussions about what they play and what they learn.

For children who continue to enjoy legacy LeapFrog products without USB connectivity, such as the Leapster L-Max™ Learning System, or who have LeapFrog learning toys such as the Learn & Groove™ Musical Table, parents can register these products online through www.leapfrog.ca to see the skill areas each product is designed to encourage, as well as receive guidance on the next logical product to further enhance their children’s learning.

The Learning Path, with its one-of-a-kind connection across LeapFrog products, takes kids and parents beyond individual toys, offering a window into each child’s overall learning experience and guiding parents who want to know what products will best match their kids’ interests and needs.

Availability

The LeapFrog Learning Path is now available for parents with children from 4 years to 10 years old (or 5th grade) who are using the Tag Reading System, Didj Custom Gaming System or the Leapster2 Learning System. Later this fall, additional products from LeapFrog will also be added to the Learning Path, expanding the range from birth to 13 years old. There is no cost to start a child on the LeapFrog Learning Path, and parents may set up accounts for up to 10 children.

About LeapFrog Canada

LeapFrog Canada is a subsidiary of LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., a leading designer, developer, and marketer of innovative, technology-based learning products and related proprietary content, dedicated to making learning effective and engaging for all ages, at home and in schools, around the world. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog has developed a family of learning platforms that come to life with more than 100 interactive software titles, covering important subjects such as phonics, reading, writing, math, music, geography, social studies, spelling, vocabulary, and science. In addition, the company has created a broad line of stand-alone educational products for children from birth to 16 years. LeapFrog’s award-winning products are available in six languages at major retailers in more than 35 countries around the world

LeapFrog Canada began operations in 2002, with offices in Oakville, Ontario. LeapFrog Canada has received more than 30 awards and accolades for its products, including recent awards: 2006 Canadian Toy Testing Council Energizer Toy of the Year: FLY Pentop Computer, Children’s Choice Award: Learn-Around Playground and Today’s Parent Seals of Approval for Little Leaps Grow-With-Me Learning System and Bilingual LeapStart Learning Table. More information about LeapFrog Canada and its award-winning product line-up is available at http://www.leapfrog.ca/.

Giveaway!

In honour of the launch of The Learning Path, Leapfrog has agreed to give away a set of Counting Maracas from the Bilingual Collection to one lucky Canadian.

The Counting Maracas are for ages 6 months to 3 years and I can personally vouch for them as I happen to have a pair from a previous Christmas. My daughters (35 months and 18 months) love them, especially when we first got them. They count in English or French or Say the Colours or make music. One has all the settings and lights up as it's shaken and the other just makes a shaking noise. I've had the toy for over a year and the batteries have not died on me yet.



To enter, you must be Canadian and you must have an address that doesn't include a P.O. Box.

Simply comment on this post to be entered. Make sure that either your email address is accessible from your Blogger Profile or you leave you email address like this (yourname AT yourprovider DOT com) If I can't contact you, you can't win.

That's it! No extra entries for referring someone, stumbling this post, subscribing etc... but of course you are welcome to!

Contest closes November 21, 2008 at midnight EST!

This giveaway is linked at Scribbit's Message Board, go see other contests/giveaways!

Childhood Language Delays Go Unrecognized by Parents

One out of every twelve kids less than five years of age in Canada experiences a delay in language development. Yet a recent poll has revealed that 94% of Canadian parents of children under five rate their child’s language skills as average or above indicating that there is a potential to not recognize speech and language delays in pre-school children.

As a result, many children may be starting school without the fundamental language and early literacy skills that ensure academic success – and some of those children may never catch up.

Angus Reid Strategies conducted a one-day online survey on behalf of The Hanen Centre. The Hanen Centre is a not-for-profit authority in the development of family-focused early language intervention programs and learning resources. The survey was conducted among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1003 adult Canadians. The full report of their findings can be downloaded here. (pdf)


One of the learning resources available from The Hanen Centre is a calendar that can help parents of preschoolers to incorporate language and literacy tips into daily activities and play routines.
Here's a sampling of the tips included in the calendar:

* Follow the child's lead in conversation and keep conversations going as long as possible

* Create an environment full of meaningful print

* In addition to reading books together, make grocery lists, write birthday cards and read advertising flyers.

* Use unfamiliar vocabulary in everyday conversation, explaining what the words means



I will be receiving a copy of this calendar and will add to this post after I see it with my thoughts.

UPDATE: I've received my copy! The calendar has 8 tips for each month, 4 for in the classroom and 4 for at home. The classroom tips and home tips are similar under each category, but just tailored for teacher vs parent, class vs children. There are four categories of tips for each month: Daily Activities, Pretend Play, Reading Books and On The Go.

Each month is dedicated to a different skill/idea such as Follow the Child's Lead in Conversations, Increase Children's Everyday Vocabulary, Stimulate Children to Think Beyond the Here-and-Now and Encourage Play with Sounds, Syllables and Words.

The ideas are great and are things every parent (and teacher) should be doing with the children in their care. I've been doing most of these activities since my children were born and people often remark that they think they are older than they are because they talk so well and have such a rich vocabulary. I'm not trying to brag I just want to illustrate that I can vouch for these ideas. Below is a sample of some of the ideas.

In the Classroom:

Use new words when pretending with the children and explain them by using simpler, familiar words. "I am anxious because I can't find my baby. I am very worried." Use the new words often in other situations.

Ask children to find pictures in an alphabet book that begin with a certain letter. When they find the correct picture, talk about the sound the letter makes.

At home:

Read the words on cereal boxes. Count the number of words on each box and see if any have the same letters. Talk about words and letters and point to the words as you read them.

Collect souvenirs from a trip. Use the items to inspire your child to dictate a story about the trip. Create a book from his story and read it with him. Leave it where he can "read" it himself.

The poster is a quick at-a-glance chart that summarizes the emergent literacy skills that children need to learn and what months you will find activities for that skill in the calendar.

My only suggestion for a way to make this product better would be to make the calendar also usable as a calendar. Right now the ideas are printed across the weeks so you can't use the calendar as a calendar itself.