Library Visit

We made a visit to the main county library last night. I don't go there very often because it is a bit of a drive for me, and there is a local library that is generally sufficient. Every once in a while, though, I like to go to the bigger location because they have such a wide selection. When I select movies for our viewing, I tend to drift through the stacks and pick up whatever appeals to my interests as I wander. The selection of movies is far better at the main branch. I drifted along and selected about 16 movies last night, only to find that the checkout limits have decreased to a maximum of ten movies at a time. I had to finagle to get a card for my husband so that I could bring home all the movies I had chosen. It's just easier that way. In the end, I brought home all the movies I had selected, so it was worth the extra hassle.

I talked to the library assistant for a bit about audio books last night because Kira adores The Magic Treehouse audio books. Unfortunately, there is a limit to just how many of those books there are and how many my library actually has. After a bit of discussion and browsing, I chose to bring home 4 new audio books.

     - Judy Moody Declares Independence
     - Cam Jansen and the Ghostly Mystery (Kira enjoyed the story, but I did not enjoy the narrator.)
     - Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the U.F.O.
     - Kit: An American Girl (Okay, I have to admit that I was prepared to dislike this. I have a natural aversion to History in just about any form. I decided to bring this home at the last minute even though I knew I would be seriously miserable having to listen to the story. Last night, in hopes of boring Kira to sleep, I put this in. Kira and I sat up until nearly 1:00 AM listening to Kit's story. Even after Kira was asleep, I continued to listen. I was absolutely captivated. The narration is engaging and the story is just amazing. I will definitely be finding more of these. )

Along with the four audio books, I also brought home several movies.

     - I Want to be a ... Firefighter: Explore a Career in Firefighting (I would really like to know where THIS movie was last year when Kira first became obsessed with fire. This movie would have saved me a ton of hassle and frustration.)
     - Savage Skies: Fire and Rain
     - Wetlands: Georgia's Vanishing Treasure
     - National Geographic: Ballad of the Irish Horse
     - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Going to School (I watched all of 5 minutes of this and turned it off. Did I really used to watch this show? )
     - National Geographic: Ocean Drifters
     - National Geographic: Dolphins, the Wild Side
     - National Geographic: Born of Fire
     - National Geographic: Killer Wave: The Power of the Tsunami
     - Life Science: All About Fish
     - National Geographic: Dinosaur Giants: FOUND
     - Eyewitness: Shark
     - Amazing Animals: Endangered Animals
     - National Geographic: Volcano!
     - Amazing Animals: Armored Animals
     - Eyewitness: Elephant
     - Eyewitness: Jungle

I also picked up one book - Real-Life Homeschooling by: Rhonda Barfield.

All About Soil

Right now we are watching All About Soil from the Earth Science for Children series. I added the link because the website has a teacher's guide that can be useful in developing lessons for this topic.

Here is what the back of the DVD case says.

"Soil is the loose top layer of the Earth's surface, but what is it made of, and how does it form?
And why is it so important? In All About Soil, children will learn what components are
needed to make the best soils for growing plants while discovering the important role that the
forces of erosion play in the creation of this valuable resource. A visit to a grade school
showcases a unique program that uses lunch leftovers and hungry earthworms to improve
the soil in the school's garden, while an informative demonstration illustrates how sand is
created from the continual erosion of rocks. "

My favorite feature of this series, and others like it, is that after the information is given, the "computer" reviews what has been learned. The program is geared to help children retain the information. It's also really cool to watch.

I enjoy finding programs that will appeal to the children without being overly tedious for me to watch, too.

Planets Movie Review

Title: My Fantastic Field Trip to the Planets

Time: 70 Mins

Rating: Kids Say - Might Be Good (Mom says - Rent, Borrow, or Buy it Used)

Major Players:

Jake - Cayman Mitchell

Jake's Mom - Jennifer Wydra

Singing Ranger - Car'ynn Sims

Sun - Ed Cosico

Moon - Fred Gallo

Mercury - David Trim

Venus - Rena Wolf

Earth - Jennifer Wydra

Mars - Grant Rosen

Jupiter - Thomas Patrick

Saturn - Irene Ritter

Uranus - R. G. Clayton

Neptune - Michael Chanslor

Pluto - Jack Rein

Well, this movie is definitely different.

Jake missed the bus for a special field trip to the planetarium. He was very upset by this, of course. After his mom puts him to bed for the night, he travels by spaceship to all the planets as he searches for the moon.

Jake gets to meet each planet, starting with Mercury and working all the way down to Pluto. (Yes - in this movie, Pluto is still a planet. )

Each planet gets to tell Jake a little bit of information and then sing a song about itself.

The songs are rather entertaining for the kids. They are also well designed for the use of music to enhance content retention. The songs are short and easy to learn, so kids can sing them even when the movie isn't playing.

The final song is a walk through all the planets. It's a rather catchy tune - if you're five. (Adults will find this to be somewhat annoying.)

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We watched this movie twice this morning. About halfway through the second viewing, Kira determined that she was done watching this. I'm hesitant to recommend this movie. It's a bit annoying from a parent's perspective. There's also the issue of Pluto no longer being considered a planet. I suppose this would be easy to explain, though.

Basically, Kira likes the movie. I didn't really care for the movie, but there is educational value. The movie gives specific detailed information about each planet. For example, Jupiter sings about his red storm. Saturn sings about her rings. Mercury sings about being first. The last three planets sing about being cold. It's pretty clever for helping kids remember small bits of information.

I do have to add one final note on this. The conversation between Jupiter and Saturn has a couple of sexual innuendos embedded. It is VERY discrete, so young children would never catch on. Saturn wants to be told she's pretty and Jupiter comments that she should tell him he's the biggest. It's a lame attempt at parental directed humor. I can understand the use of this type of writing in major movies where parents will be taking their children to the theater to watch lengthy films. It has no business in a child's educational video. That one little exchange just irritated my parental sensibilities.

Liberty's Kids

This has been an absolutely beautiful day. I was blessed with a visit from my brother today. He stayed with the girls for a couple of hours while I was able to visit the thrift store. I love the thrift store. That is my number one source for school supplies. I hit pay dirt today. I stumbled across this series that I had never heard of before - Liberty's Kids. I bought three VHS tapes. I would have bought more, but they only had three different tapes.

Here are the titles I bought:

The First 4th of July

The Boston Tea Party

Give Me Liberty

This series is an animated adventure that depicts the historical events of the founding of The United States of America. Well, since tomorrow is the 4th of July, I chose to play The First 4th of July first.

I have to say that Kira isn't all that impressed at the moment. The content is a bit older - aimed for ages 8 to 14 - but the entertainment value is still there. She'll absorb some of the information just from watching the adventurous cartoon. It's a start...

Killer Jellyfish

We watched Killer Jellyfish from the Natural Killers series today.

The Jellyfish DVD is a documentary that talks about jellyfish from Australia that are known killers. The kids get to learn how jellyfish are born and how they hunt.

Here's the information from the back of the DVD cover.

- The sea wasp, a type of box jellyfish, is the most deadly creature on earth, with enough venom to kill 60 people within four minutes. It haunts the beautiful shores of north Queensland in Australia. But it is not alone.

- It has an almost invisible cousin, known as the Irukandji jellyfish. Packed in this fingernail-sized creature is a sting so agonizing that not even morphine relieves the pain.

- Discover how two researchers risk their lives to unlock the secrets of the Irukandji jellyfish, and how Queensland's swimmers are learning to protect themselves.

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Kira was prompted to ask me what the word "gravitate" means because the researchers were talking about how the jellyfish gravitate to certain areas to follow their prey.

Personally, I love watching this particular DVD. Each time I watch it I learn something new. This time I learned how jellyfish polyps clone themselves to create multiple jellies from one single fertilized egg. It's really cool to watch the computer generated animations of the process.

There is also a computer generated animation of the stingers process when the jellyfish sting. That is pretty neat to watch, as well.

Magic School Bus

I'm starting out Marisa's day with a Magic School Bus DVD. Kira is still sleeping, so she isn't enjoying the show just yet.

The Magic School Bus Catches a Wave

This DVD has 3 different episodes about water. The first episode covers the water cycle. All the kids go on a field trip where they turn into water and live the water cycle for a while. They change from water drops to water vapor and then to ice crystals and then to clouds. After they turn into clouds, they turn back into water drops and rain. The cycle continues for a while until they are able to make their way back to school via the water purification system.

Even though I've seen this DVD several times, I can't quite recall the other episodes. I believe one is about erosion and how water can break rocks and shape mountains. There's a third episode, but I really can't remember what that one is about.

UPDATE: The third one is about sinking and floating. They talk about water displacement and other such concepts.

I love The Magic School Bus. It's perfect for teaching Science concepts. The kids love watching the shows and don't even realize just how much they are learning.

The Magic School Bus also has a series of books that the kids enjoy reading.

Movie Review: Money & Making Change

Movie Title: Rock'N Learn: Money & Making Change

Length: 58 Minutes

Recommended Age: 6 & Up

Movie Description From the Back of the Box:

Penny and Bill know how to shake things up when it comes to counting money and making change. Cool songs and games give you plenty of practice with real-world skills. You will learn about coins and how they relate to one another, strategies for counting coins and cash, "skip counting," expressing money in written terms, strategies for making change, and more. You'll have fun as you learn valuable new skills you can bank on!

Characters:

Penny, as her name implies, is a person shaped like a penny. She has a pretty bow in her hair and likes to sing her heart out.

Bill is her friend. He, of course, is shaped like a dollar bill. He sports an electric guitar.

What the kids think: Kira really enjoys this movie. She likes the skip counting and the section where the characters are "shopping" and counting out their money to "pay" for their items. She did say she wouldn't want to watch this movie over and over. Marisa is a bit too young for me to get her opinion on this movie.

What the mom thinks: I like the skip counting section. I really like the skip counting section. The shopping section seems a bit technical for my girls, so I probably won't rent this movie again for a while. The shopping section does address the issue of not having enough money to buy the things you want and the fact that you can't get it if there isn't enough money. Did I mention that I like the skip counting? This movie gives a real good introductory exposure to skip counting and why it's an important skill to learn.

All in all, this is a really good introduction to money and what money is used for. It isn't as interesting or catchy as I would have hoped it would be for kids. The voices are good, though. The movie can play while I work, and I'm not grinding my teeth from the sound of annoying voices. This is a good thing.

At the end of the shopping section, the characters also address the reality of taxes. That's a good thing, too, because children always seem to forget about that one particular reality.

Final Say: This is a pretty good movie for the educational concepts of money. I do recommend the movie, but be aware that this is more technical than fun. Your child's level of interest will depend on her personality.