funforkids

Great news for fans of Dr. Seuss!

 Tonight (December 1, 2008)  ABC Family (check your provider listings for channels) has a great line-up of Dr. Seuss movies!  Here’s what they have lined up:

7 p.m./6c Dr. Seuss on the Loose

7:30 pm/6:30c Dr. Seuss’ The Hoober-Bloob Highway

8 pm/7c Comes one of my all-time favorites by the master of rhyme:  How The Grinch Stole Christmas.   

Get the kids in the bath early, soap them up and shampoo,

then rinse them and dry them and pajama them too.      

Grab your pop corn, your pretzels, your juice boxes and more

and settle in on the couch for some fun with the ones you adore.

Come 8 o’clock this evening you better not flinch

Because if you do, you’ll all miss THE GRINCH! 

He’s heartless, he’s mean, but never you mind

In Whoville the folks will turn his heart kind.

Enjoy the movies everyone!  God Bless.

 

The Upside Down Show (shown on Noggin) is one of the Handley family’s favorite television programs.  I don’t know who likes it more–mommy or the boys.  When it first aired I scratched my head and said:  What the heck is this show about and who are these two annoying guys and this oddold fashioned lady who is always dressed in pink?  The lady’s name is Mrs Foil who will obviously play the tradition “foil” to the main characters.  I wasn’t sure if I liked it, if I wanted to watch it till the end, or if I ever wanted to see it again.  I have since changed my opinion-I love it.  Head Writer Belinda Ward is, in my opinion, one of the most imaginative writers of this generation.  Together with her co-writers, she has created a winner.  David Collins and Shane Dundas are her co-writers and appear as the main characters of the show.  They play two brothers and they play off of one another wonderfully.  The show is intelligent, playful and funny enough for kids and still manages to be witty enough to be appreciated by parents. 

     The show usually begins with brothers Shane and David (one bald guy and one with oodles of intense curls atop his head) on a quest for something–be it knowledge, the airport, a pet shop, a puppet named Mary Annette.   The quest begins in their house which has minimal furniture as props and lots and lots of doors which the boys jump through into imaginary worlds such as the “This way room” (a room in which you can only walk in one direction), the very hairy room in which everyone has rock and roll long hair, and “the very serious room” where no one can smile, laugh, dance or have parties.  The show invites your child to participate by having one of the brothers hand your child an imaginary remote control with which they can pretend to fast foward, rewind, stop, pause, and even rotate the actions of the characters.  For example, They will say:  “Would you help Shane and David lift the giant imaginary Elephant by pressing the “light” button on your remote?”  Your child will then pretend to push the button and the brothers who are pretending to hold a large elephant will react saying:  “Oh no you pressed the heavy button!” and their arms will sink to the floor from the weight of the elephant.  The show gets its title The Upside Down Show from the remote control concept–many times the brothers will say:  “Would you press the pause button?” and then they will appear upside down on the tv screen with arms hanging and say:  “Oh no, you’ve pressed the Upside Down Button.  Would you be kind enough to press the right side up button.”   My kids never get tired of it.  They love pushing “the wrong buttons”.  It is just the cutest show.  The writing is so inventive.  I really can’t even explain how sharp the writers and the actors are, nor can I explain in words how great the premise of the show is.  You really just have to watch it to appreciate it.  Those of you who have kids and have not checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and look into it.  You will thoroughly enjoy it. 

Those of you who have toddlers and pre-schoolers are probably already Privy to the wealth of amazing shows on Noggin, but for those of you who may not know about this wonderful television station, please allow me to discuss it with you.  Noggin is a television channel developed for your little ones (from birth to preschool) that is designed to be a virtual preschool for your children.  EVERYTHING on Noggin is SAFE, EDUCATIONAL, and FUN!  What I love the most (coming from both a mom and a teacher’s standpoint) is the fact that prior to every show they list the EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS that each show focuses on.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with “Educational Standards” , they are an outline that educators use when formulating their lesson plans.  When a teacher writes up his/her lesson, they are expected to include one or more of a state’s required “Educational Standards”; this is done in order to make sure that educational goals are met by all students.  Noggin lists each educational standard that its shows meet prior to the show.  For example, prior to showing “The Upside Down Show”, Noggin will announce that the particular episode helps children learn opposites such as up and down, right and left, etc, and enhances children’s  learning through imaginary role play.  I find the shows on Noggin to be the next best thing to my child being in preschool (he is still to little to actually go), and I know that he is learning many useful and many necessary skills, behaviors, and attitudes that he will need to be successful in the future.  I also love the fact that Noggin is all preschool ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT.  They used to cut the preschool shows at 6 p.m. and begin teen shows, but they apparently had a great demand to change to the younger audience, because earlier this year, they became a 24 hour preschool station.   I love the fact that I can turn Noggin on and not worry about my kids hearing words they shouldn’t be hearing or seeing behaviors that I don’t want them to pick up.  I have found that even some Disney movies are not worthy of praise as quite a few of them have characters calling each-other names like: “You moron” or “You Nerd”.  Other shows have the kids getting into jams and various scenarios that I would not want my kids replicating. I know they aren’t horrible words, and very bad behaviors depicted in some shows but when you are trying to teach your child to respect others, these words and behaviors can prove to be stumbling blocks on the road to respectfulness.  Some of my favorite shows on the Noggin station are:  MAX AND RUBY, The Upside Down Show, and JACK’S BIG MUSIC SHOW.  I even find myself sitting down to watch with the kids rather than cleaning the house, simply because I enjoy the shows and I like to interact with the kids while they watch.  Other shows include:  Dora The Explorer which teaches kids everyday Spanish words and deductive reasoning, Diego which also teaches Spanish words and introduces children to various animals and facts about those animals, Blue’s Clues (which I love too) which is really cute as kids get to help a man find clues that his dog leaves him in order to solve a puzzle at the end.  There are so many more shows worth mentioning, but I will leave it to you to explore the shows yourself.  If you don’t receive Noggin, I highly urge you to call your cable or satellite provider and order the channel-you will not be sorry and it will be the best investment you will ever make for your child’s education.