This best-selling beginning reader series combines the best of phonics and literature-based reading. Each original title has 10 storybooks, 40 incentive stickers, and a parent guide. This is a level 2 book: Long vowel and short vowel sounds More simple consonants Beginning sight word reinforcement
Customer Review: Great for Dyslexia and other reading impairments
This series is perfect for children who are having a difficult time in learning to read. Each book starts with a simple two or three word sentence and continues to build upon the sentence through to the last page of the book. This reinforces the spelling as well as the phonic side of the language. The series also goes along well with the Wilson Language method because the words are consistently placed in the books at the correct levels. I found that my son is able to tap out the words that he does not know because he has a clear sense of what the words should sound like.
Customer Review: My daughter really start to read using this books
Nice, colorful, easy to read and has 40!!! stickers, which are the most important part after the kid reads the book. Organized in one full book.

Math teachers are important, knowledgeable people. But in most middle schools, math classes along with science, english and history, are not always the most popular among students. Imagine being the teacher for a class titled "Movie Making 101." Your movie making class would most likely have a waiting list of kids wanting to sign up!

Today's kids are well schooled in high tech toys and gadgets, especially computers, cell phones and video games. As a 'movie making for kids' teacher, you can provide them with the perfect platform where their technical skills can shine. And since movie making builds self esteem, is team oriented and highly creative, even the most technically immersed students will be able to express themselves with a movie script kids can make.

If you would like to teach movie making for kids through a class you hold through your recreation department, after school program, girl scout troop, or in your own elementary school classroom, here are several tips to help you become a Movie Director.

1. Class One: Get to know your "cast" - what their skills and talents are. Find out who is familiar with video cameras, video editing, acting, make-up, costumes. If anyone has special talents such as singing, playing an instrument, note that these can be incorporated into your movie. By observing and learning about your students, you can cast your movie more successfully.

Teach them movie making basics such as the importance of being quiet on the set (so no background noise is heard while filming). When acting in a scene, don't look at the camera - look at the person to whom you are speaking. Don't worry if you goof up a line - that's why we have "bloopers" at the end of our movie!

2. Class Two: Announce the movie script that you will produce. Tell them the story of the movie as if you are a storyteller. Be animated by acting out the movie as you describe it. Announce who is playing which role. Pass out the scripts and do a "read-through" where the cast reads the entire script out loud. Do some rehearsals of complicated scenes. Assign students which props and costumes they will need to bring to the movie set. Lastly, scout your movie locations - where each scene will be shot.

3. Class Three: Shooting Day! Inventory all the props and costumes making sure you have everything you need. Assign one student to be the Script Supervisor. This person must glue them self next to you, so you can feed each line to each actor. If you are not the camera operator, make sure this person is well versed in camera operation. You want to make sure they know where the REC button is located!

Apply make-up, decorate the sets, put on costumes, open the script, turn on the camera, and you are ready to shoot your first scene.

4. The next two to three classes will all be shooting days similar to Class Three.

5. Movie Premier: Once the movie is edited with all the special effects, credits, and music, you are ready to roll the red carpet for the big premier event. Hold the premier at your local library, the school auditorium or even one of the cast members home. Make sure that wherever the premier takes place, that the audio system is acceptable. Once the audience is assembled with their popcorn and drinks, give a short speech introducing your cast and giving a short overview of the movie. After the premier, let the cast take questions from the audience.

Kids may remember their math and science teachers, but having the DVD's of their very own movie they will be sure to never forget their experience with you as their Movie Director.

If you would like more tips and resources for kids on how to make movies, visit http://www.makeamoviestudios.com for free downloads, plus movie scripts for kids and training materials such as workbooks and DVD's.

Shelley Frost is a movie director for kids, author, drama teacher and videographer. Her company, Make-A-Movie Studios has had more than 1000 children star in her movies. Shelley has written dozens of movie scripts kids can produce, all of which have been produced into movies. Her movie scripts and resources for new movie directors can be found at http://www.makeamoviestudios.com

Kids Learning Toys

Keep kids safe while they play with this safety sign that can easily be positioned at the end of a driveway or sidewalk. The child-like figure stands 32" tall and holds a 39-inch red warning flag to alert motorists and set boundaries for kids. The fluorescent body and reflector strip belt is visible during twilight hours. It is recommended that you set it up and remove for each playtime experience. Minimal adult assembly required. Measures 52" x 22.5" x 18.25".
Customer Review: Shipped Overseas
We live in a compound in the middle east. People drive way to fast here and these really make them slow down. I am thrilled that they shipped overseas!
Customer Review: Safety First!
Great reminder to drivers and a welcome gift to young parents and grandparents who live on a busy street!

It's no surprise that the doctor's or dentist's office can be a nerve-wracking trip for many children and the waiting room is often the most distressing area of all. A child's imagination can prove to be a huge barrier to a pleasant visit. However, with a few simple elements, imagination can also make the time fly. That's why it is so important to create a relaxing and engaging space when designing your waiting area. This series of articles is designed to inform you of all the products that can help to transform your waiting room into a fun, interactive and educational space.

Space or lack there of, is certainly an issue for many waiting rooms. However there are some simple solutions that will allow you to fill the room with engrossing activities without crowding the floor. Wall panels and activity tables will provide hours of fun and require little clean up at the end of the day. This also allows for increased flow of activity without any "traffic jams." Not only can you include more of these in the office, but multiple children will be able to use them at once.

Activity cubes, are a great way to use your precious floor space to the fullest. With a total of five possible activities this type of waiting room toy can easily entertain four children at once and often more. Another bonus to the cube is that each panel contains an educational activity that will help expand the child's mind as he or she plays. Whether it is a bead maze that helps concentration and motor skills or a game that helps with tactile learning, activity cubes are sure to be a winner among the kids. Our favorites in this area are the circle of fun table by Anatex and the Happy Trails Sand Table by educo.

If floor space is simply not an option for your waiting room, why not try wall panels? Wall panels take up little space and provide decoration and entertainment all in one. These panels infuse any space with bright and friendly colors and often feature themes that are sure to spark the imagination of your patients. You can also be sure that these panels contain educational activities from mazes to fun mirrors there are a vast array of options that will satisfy both parent and child. Favorites in this area include the Outer Space Wall Panel and the Hands on Wall Toy.

Space doesn't have to be the deciding factor in creating a relaxing waiting room. With these options your waiting room can make a child's visit a pleasant one.

SensoryEdge is a leading provided of Waiting Room Toys and furniture. From Wall Toys, Activity cubes to Play Tables, we have put tens of thousands of smiles on kids across America as they play with educational and fun toys from trusted brands like Anatex and Playscapes.

Kids Learning Toys

How much puzzle power do you have? Find out by solving hundreds of puzzles that challenge your thinking skills. Guide spaceships, build bridges, create monsters and more. Playing these challenging puzzles will help kids develop logic, language and problem solving skills. Designed for use with Leapster and Leapster L-Max learning game systems. Subjects Include:
Customer Review: favorite leapster game!
My 4yr old daughter has 15 games for her leapster, and this is her favorite. It holds her intrest like nothing I've ever seen. She was so excited to gain all her "puzzle power". I even enjoyed playing the level 3 puzzles with her. GET THIS GAME!
Customer Review: Great product
I decided to buy it after reading all the reviews. My kids are 8 and 6 and they absolutely love it. My 6 years old needs help from time to time, but that really helps with his logical thinking. I tried playing it a little bit and it's pretty fun!

In order to learn the toys that are considered Toy Learning tools, you must first consider the age group of your child. For a child to learn from a toy, the toy must also be fun and entertaining so that the toy's pleasure time is not just a few minutes and then discarded. Toys need to be engaging as well as educational. These days there are a plethora of companies offering free Educational or Learning Toy Catalogs.

Also, toys should present an outlet for creativity as well as encourage developmental growth. But what toys besides Multiplication Learning Toys are considered Toy Learning tools? From the time a child is a tiny helpless baby, that baby learns something with every waking moment. The proper toys such as the Children's Toy Bounce Spin Bull Learning Toy should enable their discovering minds to concentrate on focusing their environmental awareness, use their built-in creative expression, and expand their social understanding. Tall order? You bet!

Discovery and new physical skills are an important facet of 0-12 month-olds. There are numerous toys that fulfill that need, such as crib attachments that come in a myriad of colors that make interesting sounds when touched. Moving toys that can be set in motion by tiny little hands seeking to learn what each object is and what it does also fit this age group.

The 1-2 year old toddler will be more attracted to toys that develop new skills. Toys that need more than touch to activate are considered extremely educational, as the child winds, twists, or otherwise manipulates the toy.

Toy Learning tools for the 3-5 year old require toys that preschoolers will play with that stir up their imagination, while teaching them social graces as they play with other children. Considered the most critical developmental growth stage by both experts and parents, toys for this age need to be alluring, and inspirational, as well as starting to encourage a withdrawal from dependency on the child's caregivers. Cognitive development needs to be encouraged at this age and toys that need to be put together, change colors, or are somehow personalized by the child give confidence, self-reliance and will still stir the creative side of the child.

Once a child reaches the ages of 6-8 educational toys that bring the pleasure of actual learning to the child will be the best. Toy Learning tools at this point are those that require experimentation, such as construction sets, magic sets, arts and crafts and innumerable puzzles will meet that need. The toy that requires reading at their particular level is also perfect for that age group.

9-11 year olds will appreciate toys that expand their minds, and encourage rational thought, such as toys for science experiments, construction of various collectibles and anything involving outdoor play.

12 years and up value toys that involve more complex reading, help them with social graces and even propel them to seriously consider the opposite sex. Finding Toy Learning tools for this age will probably be the most difficult, as the child is now at the stage where their personalities are definitely set, and thus a toy needs to fit that personality. Those closer to the child will be of immeasurable help at this time.

Find out about the latest Toys Vehicles and Airplanes from Brian Garvin and Jeff West. Also discover where to find the best Toy Learning Tools available. Feel free to liberally distribute this article but please leave author bio and links intact.

Educational Toys

Customer Review: Natural does not mean good for you!
I bought a Zebra brownie kit for my son. He did have fun making it, and the brownies were ok. The nutritional info on the package doesn't look too bad, but when I ran the actual nutritional information, made as the recipe says, it was an eye-opener. The box says it makes 12 brownies. We cut our pan into 16. Even with that, the calorie count was 190 cal/brownie, 22 grams carbs, 10 grams fat. If you have active kids, this probably isn't a problem, but if they are on the sedentary side, this may not be the dessert you want them to have.
Customer Review: GREAT AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY
Once a week we come home from school and bake ZEBRA MIX-organic baking kits for kids! These kits are amazing they turn baking into a fun, smart and educational activity and it is totally easy for me (Mom)! Each kit comes with a SAFARI BAKING MAP which is double sided with two levles of learning. My oldest kids (9 and 12) work on side 2 and my youngest (age 4) works on side 1, he follows the pictures and large sight words while my older kids are doing time trials and learning the cooking verbs in Spanish. I am a total hero and word has gotten out at school abd everyone wants to come to our house. The organic cookies, brownies and cupcakes are so delicious that we seldom have left over for lunches but, I bake two kits and freeze a batch for lunches.

In continuation of my series on arithmetic, I present here a topic that was one of the cornerstones in my book Arithmetic Magic. To fully understand how this concept aids one in arithmetic operations, we need to lay some foundational ideas first. The Quick-Add is an enormously valuable tool to help children master quick arithmetic, particularly applied to summing numbers. Today the calculator has crippled even the ablest students. Hardly a one knows his fundamental multiplication facts, as the omnipresent calculator does this operation for him. This situation is understandable, and a comparison I can make is one regarding remembering telephone numbers. Since the ubiquitous cell phones store numbers, I no longer memorize peoples numbers as I have no need to. Analogously, students no longer can add or multiply because the calculator does it for them. This is a problem for the following reasons: 1) not mastering arithmetic leads to problems in mathematics down the road; 2) not being able to add or multiply engenders frustration when doing basic homework assignments; and 3) lack of doing = future lack of doing, which further increases the chance of mathematical illiteracy.

The Quick-Add method gives students a viable alternative to performing quick sums without the aid of calculators or pencil and paper. This method is based on the idea of complements. The word complement means to complete, and this is exactly what these numbers do. A 10-Complement completes the 10; a 100-Complement completes the 100, and so on. Why this idea is so useful is that it aligns itself with the simplicity inherent in the metric system, in which all units and measurements are based on the number 10 and its multiples. To begin to understand this idea, let me present the following scenario: If I said to a child, What is 8 + 9?, and wanted a fast answer, the child would probably start and stumble, resorting to counting on his fingers or trying feverishly to reckon the sum. Granted, there are those children who are quick with this type of thing and, rather fast, can come up with the answer of 17. My focus, however, is not on these children. The healthy have no need of a doctor. My focus is on the children who struggle with basic arithmetic operations and experience tremendous frustration: which when germinated, leads to negative attitudes toward mathematics and ultimately crystallizes into self-doubt, fear, and dread of this most wonderful subject. The consequences are truly disastrous as many students I have worked with realizeafter I healed them of their mathematical illsthat they were actually good at math. Imagine what better problem solvers we would be in general if we had math on our side rather than against us!

Lets return to the idea of complements. In the 8 + 9 example, we see the sum is 17. How much faster would a child come up with the answer 17, if I said What is 10 + 7? Now the careful analysis of the difference between 8 + 9 and 10 + 7 reveals some very interesting things, and shows how the circuitry of the brain capitalizes on some very important mathematical facts. Let us examine these. It is indeed true that 0 and 1 are two very special numbers, but for addition, 0 is the number whose special property applies here. The number 0 has the Additive Identity Property. This simply means that 0 plus any other number yields the given number. That is 0 + 5 = 5; 0 + 4 = 4, etc.(From an addition perspective, I guess one could say that 1 is special in that adding 1 to any number is quite intuitive as we are only incrementing said number one unit: thus 8 + 1 = 9you get the idea.)

Now complements of a number are those numbers, which when added to the given number, yield a sum of 10. For example, the 10-complement of 8 is 2, since 8 + 2 = 10. The 10-complement of 3 is 7, since 3 + 7 = 10. How we tie the concept of complements to the Quick-Add is as follows: in analyzing 10 + 7, we rewrite this example as 10 + 07. We insert a 0 in front of the 7 as a placeholder for the empty tens column, and to bring the numbers into parallel structure. Now let us examine how the brain circuitry works in doing 10 + 07. The brain performs 1 + 0 in the tens column and 0 + 7 in the ones column, thus capitalizing on the Additive Identity Property of 0. This is in fact a no-brainer. Therefore, our strategy tool for addition will be to convert addition problems into their associated Quick-Adds. Once done, this simplifies additions enormously.

Stay tuned, as in Part II I will go into much more detail about this whole procedure.

See more at Help with Arithmetic

Joe is a prolific writer of self-help and educational material and an award-winning former teacher of both college and high school mathematics. Under the penname, JC Page, Joe authored Arithmetic Magic, the little classic on the ABCs of arithmetic. Joe is also author of the charming self-help ebook, Making a Good Impression Every Time: The Secret to Instant Popularity; the original collection of poetry, Poems for the Mathematically Insecure, and the short but highly effective fraction troubleshooter Fractions for the Faint of Heart. The diverse genre of his writings (novel, short story, essay, script, and poetry)particularly in regard to its educational flavor continues to captivate readers and to earn him recognition.

Joe propagates his teaching philosophy through his articles and books and is dedicated to helping educate children living in impoverished countries. Toward this end, he donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every ebook. For more information go to http://www.mathbyjoe.com

Educational Children Toys