In the back of my mind, there's almost always an undercurrent of thought looking for ideas for new videos for kids. I know that everyone reads most words by sight, not by sounding out the words. For example, when you read the word "STOP," you don't look at the ST combination, sound it out, add on the AH sound for the O and then finish off by adding the P sound at the end. No, what we do is recognize the basic shape of the word. This is how we can read as quickly as we do. We actually read several words at a time, piecing together - not individual words - but whole sentences.
That is the basis behind "sight words" or "frequency words." Kids need to know them just by glancing at them, not actually reading them.
As I was driving along with my 3 year old in the back seat, I remembered some of the first words either of my boys learned to read. They were the words they see from their carseats as we drive along! STOP, YIELD, SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD, SPEED LIMIT....
With that, I had the idea for my next video!
I had another idea floating around in the back of my head for my next video, as well. My 6 year old has been taking piano lessons for a few months, now, and has gotten pretty good (for a 6 year old, anyhow.) It's going to take me a few days to gather all of the pictures I need for the video, and in that time, I'm going to see if there's a "public domain" song he can play for the background music!
Like I said, I'm always looking for new ideas, so if you have an idea that you think would fit in with the educational videos, let me know in the comments below!
Thanks!
New Video! The Numbers to 30 in Spanish!
This one is pretty self explanatory. Looking to expand on some of my other very basic videos, I decided to do one for the numbers to 30 in Spanish. Obviously, knowing a little Spanish can go a long way in America, today!
I was wanting something a little different for the background of my videos, so as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac blew over Georgia, I laid my camera on the ground facing the sky. I had to speed it up a bit so you could see the movement, but I like the results. Tell me what you guys think!
Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for new videos!
I was wanting something a little different for the background of my videos, so as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac blew over Georgia, I laid my camera on the ground facing the sky. I had to speed it up a bit so you could see the movement, but I like the results. Tell me what you guys think!
Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for new videos!
My oldest son who was the catalyst into me making educational videos for little ones is now six years old. When he was about 12 months old, I made my first home movie for him on my PC. It was primitive and simplistic, but he liked it. For me, it was little more than a tool to help pre-occupy him while I cat-napped. You see, I was working at night and was getting very little sleep. So, if I could find something that would pre-occupy him for even 20 minutes, I was in heaven!
I had looked at what was already on TV, and while many of the shows for tots are great, I didn't feel like they were what I was looking for. Yes, I admit that I clearly was looking to use video as a babysitter, but I wanted the best video-babysitter I could find. So, I made videos of me reciting the ABC, numbers and what were essentially "video flash cards" for vocabulary words. Mind you, he wasn't even talking, yet.
By the time he was 18 months old, he knew his ABCs and 123s.
Re-read that if you need to. That was huge.
We didn't put him in public school until he was old enough for the 1st grade. We just skipped kindergarten (he knew all that stuff and then some by the time he was 3.) Last night, we had a sort of open house with his teacher to see how he was doing and what they were learning. She covered tons of stuff they're learning, and it was a real eye-opener for me. One thing she said that caught my attention was that by the end of the 1st grade, they would have to be able to read at "level D."
Uh... I had to ask what that meant. So, I was directed to examples of what a "level D" book was. After reading it and sharing it with my son, I had to contain my smugness. This wasn't even close to challenging him, and it's what he's supposed to be working up to! I'm not saying my son is gifted or that I'm a super-dad or anything, but just that this experience underscores the fact that spending a little extra time focusing on educating your kids BEFORE they're school age goes a very long way. My kid is reading at a level well above where he's "supposed to be," is above where he's "supposed to be" in math as well as other subjects. This is not only going to pay dividends for him via direct academic strengths, but also through making school something more fun and less stressful.
Don't wait until you think your kid is "ready" to start learning. If your is old enough to track movement with his/her eyes, your kid is old enough for you to start teaching them how to read. Avoid shows like Curious George or Pokoyo. They don't need all that flash. Just find videos online that are simple and straightforward. The simpler, the better, in my opinion. Sit down with them in front of those videos and make "TV" something you do together for fun and education.
God Bless!
Here are my "eductional videos" in Youtube playlist form. Enjoy!
Roopull's Giggling Brains
I had looked at what was already on TV, and while many of the shows for tots are great, I didn't feel like they were what I was looking for. Yes, I admit that I clearly was looking to use video as a babysitter, but I wanted the best video-babysitter I could find. So, I made videos of me reciting the ABC, numbers and what were essentially "video flash cards" for vocabulary words. Mind you, he wasn't even talking, yet.
By the time he was 18 months old, he knew his ABCs and 123s.
Re-read that if you need to. That was huge.
We didn't put him in public school until he was old enough for the 1st grade. We just skipped kindergarten (he knew all that stuff and then some by the time he was 3.) Last night, we had a sort of open house with his teacher to see how he was doing and what they were learning. She covered tons of stuff they're learning, and it was a real eye-opener for me. One thing she said that caught my attention was that by the end of the 1st grade, they would have to be able to read at "level D."
Uh... I had to ask what that meant. So, I was directed to examples of what a "level D" book was. After reading it and sharing it with my son, I had to contain my smugness. This wasn't even close to challenging him, and it's what he's supposed to be working up to! I'm not saying my son is gifted or that I'm a super-dad or anything, but just that this experience underscores the fact that spending a little extra time focusing on educating your kids BEFORE they're school age goes a very long way. My kid is reading at a level well above where he's "supposed to be," is above where he's "supposed to be" in math as well as other subjects. This is not only going to pay dividends for him via direct academic strengths, but also through making school something more fun and less stressful.
Don't wait until you think your kid is "ready" to start learning. If your is old enough to track movement with his/her eyes, your kid is old enough for you to start teaching them how to read. Avoid shows like Curious George or Pokoyo. They don't need all that flash. Just find videos online that are simple and straightforward. The simpler, the better, in my opinion. Sit down with them in front of those videos and make "TV" something you do together for fun and education.
God Bless!
Here are my "eductional videos" in Youtube playlist form. Enjoy!
Roopull's Giggling Brains
New Video... "Home Repair"
I promise to get back to the educational stuff, but since I had a repair to do, I thought I'd do a little "how to" video.
I hope someone finds it useful!
I hope someone finds it useful!
Back To School!
Well, for us, it's not actually "back to school."
Since we'd done a lot of "home school" type of stuff with our oldest son beginning when he wasn't even able to talk, he's a little ahead of the crowd. Putting him in kindergarten to learn the numbers while we'd already started teaching him multiplication seemed silly. So, we kept him out until 1st grade... this year!
He's doing fine, and while he knows most of the material, they are covering some things we didn't. Hopefully he won't get too bored too soon! With this being a pretty big event for him, a lot of attention has been focused on hiim. While we have attempted to not let it get out of hand, our other son has made it quite clear that he feels a little left out.
Our schedules have changed since our oldest was that age, so we don't have as much time to focus on education as we did, However, it's still a high priority! Seeing his big brother going to school to LEARN and READ has not gone unnoticed by this little tot. He has actually asked myself and his mother to teach him to read so he can go to school like his brother (imagine what a wonderful world it would be if all kids could read by the time they went to school!) He already knows all of the letters and the sounds they make, but until now, he hasn't exhibited his brother's zeal for learning. Perhaps we can put his jealousy to his advantage!
Last night, after he repeated his request to learn to read, I put him in front of one of the sight words videos I'd made for his brother. Actually, we watched four of them! He sat in my lap, bolt upright, and soaked it up like a sponge. Later, his mom read to him from the Bible and then a bedtime story.
I hope you can find some quiet little way to encourage your little ones to WANT to read! Don't leave it up to the schools to do all of the teaching. The difference between a mediocre student and an excellent one is often the involvement of the parents!
Here's one of my kindergarten sight words video I have on Youtube.
Try setting your little ones down in front of it in full screen mode and reading the words as they come across the screen. Before long, they'll be reading the words to you! If you combine these with early reader books with stories composed exclusively of these words, the results can be amazing!
Good luck and feel free to share any thoughts you have!
My Friend's Bike
In my last post, I detailed my purchase of a bike from Bikesdirect.com. I also mentioned that a friend had ordered a bike from there on my recommendation, and that I'd be the one putting it together. Well, the bike has come, I put it together, and he's given it at least one test ride.
It came looking about the same way mine came... crammed in a box & looking like anything but a bike!
Once put together, though, it was a gorgeous bike! I was almost a little jealous of it. I'm not a fan of "flat bar" bikes, but this one sure is handsome! It even has carbon-fiber forks... mine has Chromoloy.
Here's something I want to point out. That's not a Mercier sticker or label of any kind. It's painted on, and all of the graphics appear to be beneath a clear-coat. These are gorgeous bikes!
It's pretty cool to see how my newfound enthusiasm for cycling has sparked interest in others. The guy who bought this bike needed an adapter for the Presta Valves it came with, so I swung buy and gave him one (they were two for $1.50 at Academy Sports.) While there, I re-tuned his daughter's bike which was in sad shape. It's an old Roadmaster, and every cable was just kinda' hanging there so loose they weren't doing anything. After a few minutes of tuning, however, she was pedaling around like it was new!
A different friend asked if she could borrow a bike to ride while her grand daughter was visiting. Since my new bike is actually too large for her, I lent her my old Schwinn. I told her that, if she thought she'd use it, she could just have it.
A couple of days later, knowing she probably wouldn't accept my offer, I extended the offer to her via her husband. He confessed that he actually wanted to try out the bike & maybe take up riding, himself! Now, my old Schwinn is in sad shape. It's over 30 years old, after all! So, hopefully, they'll enjoy it enough to prompt them to buy a bike or two from BikesDirect.com, too! I wonder if they have a referral program!!!
I'm recovering from pneumonia, so I haven't put any miles on my bike in weeks. I find myself just staring at it, though... like a kid staring at his toys from Santa on Christmas morning waiting desperately for his parents to wake up so he can dig in!
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These lovely pics were taken with this guy's little brother.
These are great sturdy little cameras that are super easy to use.
Many of my videos were made with this...
It's pretty cool to see how my newfound enthusiasm for cycling has sparked interest in others. The guy who bought this bike needed an adapter for the Presta Valves it came with, so I swung buy and gave him one (they were two for $1.50 at Academy Sports.) While there, I re-tuned his daughter's bike which was in sad shape. It's an old Roadmaster, and every cable was just kinda' hanging there so loose they weren't doing anything. After a few minutes of tuning, however, she was pedaling around like it was new!
A different friend asked if she could borrow a bike to ride while her grand daughter was visiting. Since my new bike is actually too large for her, I lent her my old Schwinn. I told her that, if she thought she'd use it, she could just have it.
A couple of days later, knowing she probably wouldn't accept my offer, I extended the offer to her via her husband. He confessed that he actually wanted to try out the bike & maybe take up riding, himself! Now, my old Schwinn is in sad shape. It's over 30 years old, after all! So, hopefully, they'll enjoy it enough to prompt them to buy a bike or two from BikesDirect.com, too! I wonder if they have a referral program!!!
I'm recovering from pneumonia, so I haven't put any miles on my bike in weeks. I find myself just staring at it, though... like a kid staring at his toys from Santa on Christmas morning waiting desperately for his parents to wake up so he can dig in!
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These lovely pics were taken with this guy's little brother.
These are great sturdy little cameras that are super easy to use.
Many of my videos were made with this...
Needed a New Bike for Little Cash
I've been a cyclist - of sorts - almost my whole life. I never decided as an adult to take up cycling. Instead, I just never quit riding from when I was a kid. It has always just been something fun to do. The fact that it helps keep me in shape is just an added bonus.
So, while I say I'm a cyclist, I am not your ordinary cyclist. This is especially true when it comes to what gear I use and what bikes I ride. For the last 15 years or so, I have ridden a steel Schwinn 15 speed road bike that was built in the early 80s. I have loved that old thing, even though I knew there were better bikes out there. I paid almost nothing for it, and it has served me quite well.
Alas, its time has finally come. While putting it on the bike rack on top of my car, I noticed some dirt on the underside of the frame. When I brought it down to clean it, I realized this wasn't dirt. This was rust. This was rust that went straight through the frame. Its days were numbered.
So, the search began for a new bike.
The first thing I learned was that the cycling industry has grown quite a bit. There are frames made of steel, aluminum, "cromoly" or carbon fiber. Then, low and behold, there are different grades of steel, different grades of aluminum, and even different utilization of carbon fiber! So, I started researching, reading, and visiting bike shops.
My local bike shop (LBS) sells a certain brand of bike with the cheapest road bikes costing just shy of a grand. That's a LOT of money for a bicycle if you ask me. Honestly, it's absurd. So, I started researching that brand to find out what was so special about it. As it turned out, not much! The frames were built by an enormous bicycle frame company called Kinesis. The components - brakes, derailleurs, shifters etc - were built by Shimano. In fact, not a single part of the bike was built by this vaunted bike brand that thinks their bikes are worth a grand. All they do, it would seem, is pay for custom graphics to be printed on the bikes. Is that worth a grand?
In my researching those Kinesis frames, I stumbled across many other brands that use those frames. Most of them charged close to a grand for their bikes. However, I found a handful of brands, only available via an online retailer, that used those same frames. They also used those same Shimano components. The difference? $750.
Enter "Bikes Direct Dot Com"
Bikes Direct's website isn't my favorite website I've ever visited. It's a little cluttered with tons of products and tons of links. But, it is well organized. It didn't take me long to find a Bikes Direct bike that had the exact same specs as one of those $1000 bikes. The big difference was that the bike from Bikes Direct only cost $350 tax and shipping included. Bikes Direct received my order on Wednesday. I had my bike the following Monday.
If you look at the website, they warn you that you'd better have a little mechanical knowledge before you attempt to assemble one of their bikes. I, however, was surprised at how little I needed to know in order to put the bike together. When I opened the bike, though, I was a little intimidated. It looked like I'd made a huge mistake. Here's a few shots of the box & the bike before I assembled it.
The box looked great! No damage at all!
When I opened the box, I didn't see anything that looked like a bike to me!
A mild taste of terror set in when I pulled the contents out of that box. This looked like it might be a bit more than I'd bargained for!!!
Fortunately, after I removed the packaging and laid out the parts, it looked much simpler.
Slide in the seat post, bolt on the pedals, put the quick release in the wheel, inflate the tires, make some minor adjustments, and it was ready to roll!
I am incredibly pleased with this bike. It is exactly what I wanted, and dealing with Bikes Direct was as easy and simple as you could ever want. I put 50 miles on it the first week, but near constant rain has kept me off of it over the last few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some more pedaling in the coming week to make up for it.
I have shared my experience with Bikes Direct with some friends, and one of them ordered a bike from them as well. In fact, he's asked me to assemble his for him, which is what I'll be doing, tonight. I will probably spend more time cutting the packaging off of the bike than I will assembling it!
This is my wholehearted endorsement of Bikes Direct. Ignore what the LBS is selling, unless they have sub-$400 bikes there. For $350, I got a bike that weighs about 22 lbs, has Shimano Sora/2300STI shiftgear, a Kinesis frame with a Cromoly fork, and looks fantastic. I opted for a "lower end" bike, but rest assured, they have everything from full carbon Di2 monsters to big ugly single speed granny bikes. You will find what you're looking for, but you won't find stupidly high prices.
Who shouldn't shop at Bikes Direct? If you're the type of person who is more impressed with brand names than substance, don't go there. All you'll find is some lesser known brands with great components for an insane bargain.
So... here's the link:
Bikes Direct
Next post... my friend's new bike from Bikes Direct!
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If you're going to ride on a regular basis, you know you're going to be needing to refill those tires on a regular basis. Most compressors for car tires simply can't handle the 90 to 120 psi demanded of bike tires. You'll be wanting something that can fill your tires up quickly and to the proper pressure. I purchased one similar to this one.
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If you're going to ride on a regular basis, you know you're going to be needing to refill those tires on a regular basis. Most compressors for car tires simply can't handle the 90 to 120 psi demanded of bike tires. You'll be wanting something that can fill your tires up quickly and to the proper pressure. I purchased one similar to this one.
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