Simple Father

Headsprout: Learning to Read

scott — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Over the past few months, Princess P has been using an online, animated series of lessons to learn to read... or at least start recognizing more words. Since I deal with online learning on an almost daily basis at work, I was curious to see how effective the Headsprout Early Reading program would be for Princess P.

Early Reading

When the materials arrived, I must admit I was very impressed. Not only are there 80 online episodes, but there are 80 real, physical books available that supplement the online lessons. Plus, there is a large progress chart (complete with stickers) that helps give Princess P a visual reminder of how far she's come, and how far there is to go. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped to plop Princess P in front of the computer and see what happened. Deep down somewhere Princess P is a little like me, so she too was excited to try out this new 'computer game.'

During the very first episode, Princess P was introduced to two happy little aliens, San and Vee. Very quickly Princess P was starting to recognize (by clicking) what letter combination's make what sounds (like ee and an). On top of that, there are many 'speak out loud' sections that allow Princess P to practice connecting the dots between what's on the screen, and how it sounds.

I could ramble on and on about this program, but to spare you wading through the fluff, listed below are my top pros and cons.

Pros

Great 'reward' system (if your kids like books) - After finishing milestones in the online lessons, the kids are rewarded with one of the 80 books, which they are now able to read on their own.
Length of the Lesson - They average about 15-20 minutes.
Remediation - If the child is having a hard time, the lesson adjusts accordingly and spends more time in those areas.
Hands-Off - I don't mean that you sit the kid down and go run errands, but more that the lessons do a good job teaching, so you don't have to hover over you child's shoulder and explain things.

Cons

Remediation - I really only have one con, and it was also a pro. Princess P seems to have a hangup with the name 'Fran.' There's something about that word that frustrates her to no end, and she can't get past the remediation loop associated with it... so she gives up. I know her personality lends itself to getting frustrated easily, but be careful not to push too hard, or let your child sit too long without making progress, it only ends in frustration.

Reading Comprehension

Headsprout has recently released 'Reading Comprehension' for slightly older children (2nd to 4th grade). Although I don't have as much hands on experience with these lessons, the format is very similar. The child goes through the online lessons, which are supplemented by hard copy materials.

The goal of this program is focused more on reading passages, then answering questions about the passage. In some cases you have find a fact that was revealed in the passage... like "Where was Sally going?" Other times you are asked what a particular word in the passage means, and using clue words are asked which available answer makes the most sense. As expected, since at this point your child can read, the supplemental materials are more in depth than the early reading program.

Overall Opinion

If you're homeschooling, or just wanting to help your child out with his or her reading, I highly recommend the Headsprout reading programs. This post probably could have been twice as long, and there is so much that I haven't covered (like viewing your child's scores, what words they should know upon lesson completion, and all the more parenty stuff).

Free Stuff

To go along with the release of 'Reading Comprehension,' if you purchase the program with the promo code SIMPLEBEE, you will recieve a free Headsprout Scout (the bee) puppet.

39 Clues Giveaway: Sorry I'm A Moron

scott — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:33:29 +0000

Sorry I'm a moron and somehow turned comments off for nearly a full day. As a result, I'll extend the giveaway 1 day and it will run through the 16th, winners announced the 17th.

If you wanted to comment but were unable to, please try again by posting a comment on the original post. Thanks, and sorry for the trouble.

photo courtesy of heza

39 Clues Book Giveaway

scott — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

**UPDATE: Somehow comments were inadvertently turned off. It should be fixed now...sorry.

When the opportunity came along to give away a few signed copies from the 39 Clues series, I wasn't sure that I wanted to participate. Princess P is a little young, all about princesses, and not so keen on adventures, unless they involve the Little Einsteins. Plus, I haven't had a chance to fully review the books. However, during my research, I found enough positive (and a little negative) comments to feel comfortable putting the books up on simplefahter.com. I also found out that the books tie into an online game where you search for clues through a series of online missions.

That said, in anticipation of the April 6th release date of book #8, The Emperor's Code, Scholastic has released a video with the author, Gordon Korman.

My wife thinks I'm special, but not so special that I can get book #8 before it's out. So you'll have to wait for my review, but I couldn't pass up getting books in a few kids hands.

The Giveaway

Up for grabs are 2 autographed book sets which include books 1 and 2 (The Maze of Bones & One False Note). This giveaway will run through March 15th. On March 16th I'll draw the 2 winners at random. To enter, simply leave a comment below. Good luck, and thanks for stopping by.

Blogging and Working Full-Time Sucks

scott — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:56:36 +0000

Blogging and being a professional nerd are two things in this life that I enjoy very much. When they complement each other, life is good. Staying on the bleeding edge of technology allows me to connect with more people, through more avenues. While writing gives me a creative outlet for the weird things that roll around in my head.

But when the worlds interfere with each other, at least one world suffers. Unfortunately, over the past weeks, blogging has been the casualty. During my time off, I've learned a few things, some of which I'd like to share.

Blogging is Hard Work

This is really nothing new, earth-shattering, or even something I was unaware of. However, my definition of blogging has most definitely changed. I used to think that blogging just involved me writing witty things about parenting, and while that in itself is hard work, it's the tip of the iceberg. Not only do you have to write (and write decently well), if you want your blog to grow you have to build relationships, submit comments on other blogs, maintain contacts with PR firms, and genuinely take an interest in the blogging community. These things take time... and in my experience they take about twice as long as actually writing a post. As my offline life has become more busy, my on-line life has suffered.

Blogging Friends are Real Friends

If you genuinely take an interest in the blogging community, you will start to build friendships, and begin to know more about some of your fellow blogger's than you do about your real life 'friends.' When 'real' life gets in the way of blogging, those relationships suffer, just as any relationship would. I felt I was beginning to form some friendships with some of my fellow parenting blogger's, so PJ, Keith, Eric, Chris, and Jason (just to name a few), whether or not you know it, you guys have had an impact on my life in some way. I'm bummed that I've allowed business to get in the way of supporting you and your blogs.

Don't Burn Yourself Out
For the past couple years my days looked like this:

4:30am - Wake up and shower
5:20am - Leave to catch bus
6:00am - Hop on bus and hope something crazy happens so I can tweet about it
6:31am - Catch train to work
7:00am-4:30ish pm - Work
4:45pm - Catch train
5:23pm - Get ride home from the train station
5:50pm-8pm - Eat, spend time with the kids and wife
8pm-10:30pm - Hang with the wife
10:30-12 - Blog... if there's any energy left.

To me that seems like a full day. Over the past few weeks when time became even tighter, the easiest things to cut were either at the beginning, or end of the day. My wife preferred that I continue to shower, so blogging got the cut. In hindsight, if I would have spread my blogging time throughout the day, I don't think I would have burned out so fast.

Things Keep Rolling

Thankfully, things in my little blogging world have kept on rolling to some extent. As a result, to kick of my first full week back in a while, next week will include a couple opportunities to help kids get into reading more. First, I will be giving away 2 signed book copies from the 39 Clues series, as well as an opportunity and review of some of the online reading programs from headsprout. So stay tuned!

photo courtesy of dgjones

When people tell me about their kids, they tell me...

scott — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:30:02 +0000

As my days at work have gotten longer, my nights of brainstorming have gotten shorter. Even though I haven't had a lot of time to dream up brilliant ideas, I do have a few rattling around in my head... but I need your opinion.

If you've been out there lurking, but not leaving comments, could you please do me a favor and at least vote in the poll to the right. I would really like to know what you tell people about your kids, or what you hear when people talk to you about their kids.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks in advance for participating.

photo courtesy of secretlondon

Control Yourself

scott — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

If people do something that surprises you, it's your fault.

I heard the phrase above a while back, and I just can't seem to get it out of my head. With some very minor changes, the same phrase applies to parenting. If a kid does something that surprises you, it's your own fault. Just to be clear, I'm mainly talking about the unpleasant surprises, like wiping a booger on grandma, streaking in front of company, dating a hoodlum... those types of things.

What does it mean?
Do humans, and therefore kids, have flaws? Do they get emotional and act erratically? Of course they do, that's part of the fun of being a kid. You get to figure out your likes, dislikes, and pet peeves. As parents you get to watch as your child grows into his or her own person, with opinions and ambitions that may be different than your own. So it should come as no surprise when a kid surprises you. Makes perfect sense, right? Well, maybe not, so in a nutshell... based on the fact that humanity isn't perfect, and kids are kids, it's guaranteed that at some point, your child will behave differently than the 'norm.'

So what?
Whether you believe it or not, if you're constantly thinking that there's nothing your child can throw at you that would catch you off guard, it allows you to do something. That something is removing the emotional response to whatever comes your way. It's at this point where my wife would accuse me of being a robot and having no feelings, however, if you separate your emotions from the situation, you can more objectively view, and handle, the 'surprise.'

Remember
Control yourself. It doesn't matter if your emotions are good or bad, your children feed off of them... this is why I've chosen to be a robot.
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photo courtesy of fotofortimbras

The Dragon Slayer

scott — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Long ago, in a distant land, there lived a king. The king ruled his kingdom with a fair and just hand, and life was good. However, after a period of stability throughout the region, an unsettling presence sought to disrupt the peace.

Enter the dragon... this was no friendly, PBS Kids Dragon Tales type of dragon, but a man eating, fire breathing dragon. After laying in slumber for many years, the beast was awakened, and seeking to devour all in its way.

Luckily, the noble king mounted his trusty steed, and rode out to confront the great winged creature. What happened next is the stuff legends are made of.

The king blindly rushed into battle, fearing not the threat of disembowelment. The beast was caught off guard, but quickly recovered, and drove the king back with a hideous screech and puff of flame. The king withdrew momentarily to formulate a better strategy (as opposed to bum rushing). After surveying the surrounding terrain, and weighing all the options, the king only had one strategy... to simply outlast the beast. If he could survive the dragon's initial attack, there was a chance that he could wear out the beast, swoop in, and pacify the giant.

A fierce battle ensued, but the king proved impervious to the tactics of the dragon. After fighting for many days, the beast finally retreated to it's cave to sleep once more.

The moral of the story: Persistence is key. When you think you are almost beaten, surely you're that much closer to victory.
photo courtesy of wili

Seven Suggestions for Spouses

scott — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:00:00 +0000

It's no secret that when a married couple has kids, soon their world revolves around the kids, and the relationship they once had starts to deteriorate. Less and less time is spent focusing on the person that helped you become a family in the first place. Below are seven suggestions that may keep you and your spouse from becoming strangers.

Be nice to each other - This was one of the very first pieces of relationship advice that my wife and I received. I thought the person was joking... isn't this a given? However, I now realize that this was great advice. It's so simple, yet so many couples have a hard time being nice. If you truly care, and are genuinely nice to each other, the other stuff seems to fall into place.

Turn off the Television - When the kids go to bed, it's too easy to flip on the tube and veg out. After all, the kids wear me out and I deserve some mindless entertainment.

Gang up on kids - Few things can be as rewarding as teaming up and putting the little whippersnappers in their place. As the children lay on the floor peeing their pants, you and your spouse feel a sense of accomplishment having just completed the perfect tickle torture.

Observe - Watch your spouse (but not in a creepy way), you never know, you may find out something you didn't know.

Quit living separate lives - Another easy trap to fall into is to be like ships passing in the night. You hand the kids off to mom so she can take them to soccer practice, then you go catch up with your friends at the bar. Next you go pick the kids up from soccer so that mom can have a ladies night. Before long the only time you see your spouse is in between running kids places.

Go on a date - This one is pretty self explanatory, and probably how you ended up with kids in the first place. Do you remember what a date is like?

Think about your spouse - Don't get so caught up in your routine that you don't take a few minutes out of your day to think about your spouse.

I'm no relationship guru, but I do recognize that your relationship with your spouse is either blooming, or wilting.
photo courtesy of francescominciotti

You're going to ___________ and you're going to like it!

scott — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:00:00 +0000

There have been times in the past when I have grown frustrated with my children... particularly the older one. One could say that I have been curt, gruff, and insensitive. Take what I like to call the "bike riding incidents" for example. They started out well enough, but always ended in me saying something like, "I'm not carrying your bike home, if you want it, you can ride it... or else we'll leave it in the park for someone else to enjoy." While reflecting on my parenting tactics, I had a hard time figuring out why my approach didn't work. Doesn't everyone like their stuff given away, especially when they're frustrated?

As a result of the biking, and other incidents, I've turned over a new leaf. No longer is it, "You're going to ride your bike, and you're going to like it!" or "You're going to throw the ball around, and you're going to like it!" Instead, I've decided to be supportive and say comforting things like, "If you desire to take a ride on a bicycle, I sincerely believe that you will receive enjoyment out of the experience." and "If you catch a baseball in your glove, there is no doubt in my mind that you will feel a sense of accomplishment and wish to continue playing catch."

Lucky for me, an opportunity soon arose to test out my plan. We live relatively close to a few outdoor ice skating rinks, which sounded like a fun family activity... and something new for Princess P to try out. We got to the rink and laced up. Princess P was getting used to walking on her skates and was ready to go, so we hit the ice. All was well in the world. I was being nice, gently coaxing Princess P into holding onto just one of my hands while I attempted to scoot her around the rink. Then it happened.

It was as if an invisible switch flipped in her head. Instantly she wanted to leave. She clutched onto my arm with a death grip, and pleaded for me to get her off the ice and back home. Up to that point, she hadn't even fallen on the ice, and I was being as kind and reassuring as can be. So what gives? Apparently when I'm mean, I don't get results, and when I'm nice... still no results. The man in me needs to fix this issue, so I'd like to pose a question.

How do you get your kids to willingly try new things?
photo courtesy of miskan

Some Days You Got It

scott — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Some days you got it, and others you don't. Today is one of those days that I don't have it. I pride myself on keeping my writing schedule, but for the sake of you, dear readers, I don't want to crank out a post even more lame than usual.

Stay tuned and check back Thursday for "You're going to ________, and you're going to like it!"
photo courtesy of jacorbett70