Jack Black became a comedy hero to my sons when they saw School of Rock. Read my Parents’ Choice posting to find out why it’s a rockin’ way to help your kids start the school year. Here’s an excerpt: “So why is this proper inspiration for your children to want to return to school? Eventually, Finn discovers the kids actually play music, so he switches from talking about others playing rock to showing them how to play it themselves in a collective effort (aka, a band). Simply put, the film is about a teacher taking what inspires him, then finding the unique voices within his students.”
The Parents’ Choice Foundation, which has long been the country’s preeminent guide to children’s media and toys, continues to stay ahead of the curve with its meticulous reviews, broad range of content, and easily navigable Web site. After years of referring to their picks for the best children’s books, videos, games, and more, I had the privilege to write reviews and articles for the Foundation, headed by Claire Green, who never ceases to look for ways to help parents find the best media tools to help educate and enlighten kids. Recently, I began contributing to the Parents’ Choice blog, a regularly updated feature that covers everything from the finest chapter books to the must-see TV programs of the week. Take a peek at my first posting, called “Decade by Decade: An Autobiography Through Popular Media.” Here’s an excerpt:
“One way I’ve started to organize the telling of my life story through media is by decade. Born in the mid-’60s, my earliest memories include hearing Fifth Dimension’s 1969 version of ‘Aquarius’ on the radio of my family’s faux wood-paneled station wagon. This kicked off a discussion with my kids about the flower power generation and the hippie culture.”
Please post comments and provide your own memories of meaningful media in your life.
With Father’s Day coming around on June 20, I’ve gotten a chance to check out possible gift ideas. My personal wish list includes a new digital video camera and an iPad, but those aren’t fitting the family budget at the moment. In addition to my favorite presents — the one’s my children make for me (even if they draw pictures of me that make me look more bald than I am) – I appreciate gifts that make my life a bit easier.
Enter the Car Trunk Organizer and Cooler from RedEnvelope.com. As some of you may know from my columns, I am proud to drive a “Father Ship.” The ample trunk space is nice in my minivan, but it is a serious challenge to find anything amidst the piles of sports equipment, jackets, school papers, and more. So I wanted to try out this organizer, which promised to keep my car’s backside in order. The product is a rather sleek and classy looking thing, befitting a Jaguar more than an Odyssey, but it does look spiffy in black with the silver piping. Three easily washable main compartments flexibly hold a grocery bag in each one or any combination of the groceries, several baseball gloves, extra clothes, or even your laptop. The separate cooler has a sturdy handle to carry a small picnic or a passel of snacks. It can be slotted into one of the compartments or toted separately. Pockets on either side of the organizer can keep papers or paperbacks or sunscreen. I would’ve liked some kind of water bottle holders in case I only had a couple to stow in the organizer, but it can hold them upright if you prop other items against them in the cooler.
Fully expanded to its two-feet, the organizer won’t take much trunk space and influence the rest of your trunk to look neater. The whole thing can be velcroed down when you’re not using it, though you will likely want to keep it busy full-time. You can even take the whole organizer out with the reinforced handles to transfer it to another car or carry it out to the park if you’ve packed it with the day’s necessities.
After you read the Family Man Recommends review of Debbie and Friends’ More Story Songs and Sing Alongs, check out this free download of the band’s “So So Happy.”
And, grab this coloring page for your young one, too.
It’s difficult to show as much appreciation for the joy family-music entertainers as I feel. It’s even more daunting to select just 10 of the best. But I’m confident that parents cannot go wrong with acquiring this list of fantastic recordings, which represents the finest albums I had a chance to sample. Congrats to the winners and a tip of my hat to the numerous other excellents albums released during the time period of November 1, 2008, to October 31, 2009. (Click on the album titles for full reviews where applicable.)
1. Milkshake - Great Day - The hearts, minds, and talents of this group were in the right place. So is their ranking on this list.
2. Billy Jonas - Happy Accidents - Waiting such a long time after What Kind of Cat Are You? could have been a diaster. It wasn’t.
3. The Sippy Cups - The Time Machine - Clever themes and fine musicianship make for a great time for all.
4. Peter Himmelman - My Trampoline - This guy’s the Pixar of music. A hit every time out.
5. They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science - They’re making edu-tainment cool again.
6. Recess Monkey - Field Trip - They may have the deepest well of zany creativity of any trio out there.
7. Ziggy Marley - Family Time - Can I take some credit for this album after sharing a Piano Play classroom with Ziggy and his kid?
8. Lunch Money - Dizzy - One of my favorite surpises of the year.
9. Captain Bogg & Salty - Emphatical Piratical - How do they keep making the priate theme so fresh and well seasoned?
10. Buck Howdy - Pete Seeger Tribute - It sounds like Buck is singing these timeless tunes just to your kid.
With its candy-colored emoticon graphics and remarkable ease of use, FaceChipz ™ serves as a holiday gift that will outlast most of the presents parents might buy. This is because it offers something its grown-up counterpart, Facebook, cannot — a community made of kids with abundant safety features and no chance kids can wander to inappropriate pages or have inappropriate adults trying to log on to their profiles. Because of this, it allows kids to be children and parents to breath easier if they are concerned (and there’s plenty of reason to be worried) that Facebook is just not safe enough — even with some decent protective layers that parents can use — for their sophisticated grade-schooler, tween, or teen.
The FaceChipz ™ team has collected every safey certification imaginable (including the Socially Safe Seal of approval). And collecting is a key mechanism for the social networking site. Here’s how it works: Once a child signs up for FaceChipz ™ with a parent (both must have logins), the child can set up a page at which the kid can chat, play games, get e-mail, share pictures, etc. To get a friend to join, the child must purchase and register the code of a FaceChip, which looks like a poker chip only cuter. Then, the child can deliver or send the chip to a friend, who also registers the chip. In this way, only a child given a physical chip by another child can be a friend on FaceChipz ™. This kind of safety does have a price, albeit a small one, as the FaceChipz cost $7.99 for a pack of 5. But the concept is ingenius because it incorporates kids’ love of collecting with high-end Web technology. You can also earn points with the FaceChipz ™ with which kids can buy stuff on the Web site.
This really is a terrific invention that is already growing quickly and will continue to evolve to keep up with kids’ demands. As a sort of a bridge between Club Penguin and Facebook, it makes a safe home (kids can even block members who are mean to them) in a world of social networking that is a staple of contemporary children’s lives. It’s an indoor activity worth checking out, particularly with the extra time many of us will have over the holidays and the cold winter months.
My eldest son and I are huge fans of the Alex Rider young-adult books by Anthony Horowitz. It’s a rare series aimed at boys that puts the protagonist in a young James Bond position while still grappling with the issues of growing up. So, we’re going to pass the coolness on to you. The first person to offer the name of their favorite young-adult novel at the blog entry about Alex Rider books will win a copy of the new Crocodile Tears: An Alex Rider Adventure.
For the third time, I joined the Fids and Kamily - Kids and Family Music Awards, run by Stefan Shepard of the Zooglobble family music blog. To be eligible, albums had to be released during the period of November 1, 2008, to October 31, 2009. A stellar group of family music critics, ranging from Gwyneth Buter of Gooney Bird Kids to Robbie Schaefer of Sirius/XM Radio (the Kid Place Live channel) each sent in their 10 favorite picks. This year, the They Might Be Giants snagged the #1 poistion, followed by Lunch Money. Get the entire poll and read about the runners-up and everyone else who was nominated.
And watch for the fourth annual Family Man Recommends list of the year’s best albums to be posted in January.
A few years ago, I sought the counsel of Dr. David Swanson when my wife and I needed more help with managing our parenting challenges. Swanson was down-to-earth, non-judgmental, and incredibly direct in his advice, which we use to this day. Now, any parent can access Swanson’s insights by reading his new book, Help–My Kid is Driving Me Crazy: The 17 Ways Kids Manipulate Their Parents, and What You Can Do About It. Part of what makes Swanson such a valuable resource — in addition to being a husband and father — is that he treats children, teens, and families as a whole. Even though he’s writing for parents who are beleagured by their children’s use of negotiation, self-victimization, and emotional blackmail, he’s also firmly advocating for the well-being of the children. This book can really help adults feel better and stronger in their efforts to parent their kids.
Decades after we last ran between high-school classes and around the campus track and field, Jeremy Toback sent me an e-mail to say hello and talk about our common interest of family music. Jeremy’s been performing and recording for many years, but he’s never sounded so good as on his newest album, C’mon (a review of which will appear on this site in a coupla weeks). In the meantime, check out this free song to hear what makes the duo of Renee and Jeremy such a warm and vibrant treat for the early holiday season.
