We started Zoodles in late 2008 with the ambitious mission of improving the lives of children across the world.  Since our launch in early 2009, the feedback from parents, teachers, and children has been incredibly positive and over 2 million children across the world have used Zoodles to safely and independently play and learn on phones, computers and tablets.

Today we are excited to announce that we will be joining HTC with the goal of bringing Zoodles to the billion+ children in the world who haven’t yet played and learned with our product.  Like Zoodles, HTC puts users at the center of everything they do, and we have a shared passion for creating a safe and educational environment for children across their products.

We know that parents have many different types of devices from many different manufacturers, and we want to make sure that all those devices continue to have Kid Mode.  Therefore, we will continue with our strategy of making Zoodles available across different devices (smartphones, tablets, computers) and different platforms (Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, etc.).  Simply stated, Zoodles will continue to be available on both HTC devices and non-HTC devices.

Having said that, we’re really excited about the unique and deeply integrated experiences we can create for kids using HTC devices.  On the HTC Flyer, for instance, we’ve been able to combine the innovative HTC Scribe technology with our Art Studio feature!

We have a lot of work ahead of us and so we have a simple favor to ask of you… if you know any great engineers, designers, product managers or business development professionals please encourage them to contact us at careers@zoodles.com since we will be hiring aggressively in the coming months!

Finally, we would like to thank all our users, team members, advisors, and investors (especially Michael Dearing from Harrison Metal Capital) who have helped us get to this point.  You helped us put smiles on the faces of millions of children and we intend to make millions more smile over the years!

Best,

Mark Williamson & Rich Humphrey (co-founders of Zoodles)

A little over a month ago, we released an awesome new feature that lets parents add any of the apps on their phone to Kid Mode.  Before, your three year old had to leave Kid Mode to play their favorite matching app.  Now, you can simply add that matching app to Kid Mode and your child can play it, and everything else their little heart desires, all from one place!

In the days that have followed, we’ve collected some brand spanking new data on what the most popular Android apps for kids are!

Without further ado, here are the top 5 most-played apps inside of Kid Mode:

Angry Birds -  This might not come as much of a surprise, but Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Seasons, and every other addictive version of this app lead the pack in what’s being added and played inside Kid Mode.  If you’re one of the five people who haven’t done so already, give Angry Birds a whirl and start slinging some birds inside Kid Mode!

Ant Smasher – Here’s an app you might not have expected… Introducing Ant Smasher, a game that is all about exactly what it sounds like…smashing ants.  If the concept strikes your fancy (or more likely, your child’s), make sure the mayhem of Ant Smasher goes on within the safety of our app.

Kids Doodle - The third most played app in Kid Mode is Kids Doodle by Bejoy.  With Kids Doodle, even the youngest kids can have fun drawing!  As your child draws, the colors, textures and tools randomly change so their drawing is different every time.  If your child likes art and neon colors, hook them up with some Kids Doodle in Kid Mode!

Kids Connect the Dots Lite - Published by educational app maker Intellijoy, Kids Connect the Dots is a simple game where young ones connect numbers and letters to make fun shapes and pictures come to life.  If you haven’t checked out Intellijoy’s apps already, definitely try Kids Connect the Dots Lite and include it in Kid Mode!

Talking Tom Cat - Introducing Android’s favorite virtual pet, Talking Tom Cat!  Not much to say here except that kids love animals and boy, don’t we know it :-)  [Insert plug for the adorable puppy in our Zoodles computer app.]  If you’re interested in adopting a new messless pet, check out Talking Tom Cat and make your Kid Mode menagerie complete.

We hope you’ve been enjoying using Zoodles Kid Mode, and thank you for all your support!

As a company, we pride ourselves on offering kids a high-quality educational experience, and it’s important to us that we continue offering this essential experience for free.  Over time we’ve also introduced several new features that help families stay connected, including Video Mail and Storybooks.

We’re writing today to let you know about some important new changes we’ll be making to our Zoodles Storybooks feature:

On Tuesday, May 10, we will be transitioning storybooks out of our free offering and into our Premium offering.

Don’t worry, if you’ve already recorded a story for a child, that book is yours to keep! After the transition, every family will still have one FREE storybook that kids can read or have recorded for them.

For the families that would like more books, we’ll be offering two new options: users can either purchase one book at a time, or they can gain access to ALL the books as a Premium Member.

Whatever books you purchase will come with a default recording available across all our devices and can also be replaced by as many family recordings as you’d like!

With several days left until we make this change, we encourage all of our families to record the books they love while they are still freely available. Again, any recordings you make prior to the transition will be yours to keep. We’re looking forward to this transition, and we hope you’ll find our classic Zoodles storybooks compelling enough to buy!

Your support and feedback is invaluable to us.  If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email us at feedback@zoodles.com.

Mark Williamson, CEO & Co-Founder of Zoodles

Our mission at Zoodles is to create the best digital experiences for children across the world.  Children using a computer, phone or tablet should be treated as first class users and given the opportunity to leverage all the possibilities that these devices offer.  We believe our Kid Mode apps live up to this mission, and in the last few months we’ve seen a great response from families across the world.

Today is a proud moment for all of us here at Zoodles as we announce that 1 Million children are using our Kid Mode apps!  As the graph below shows, we’ve been experiencing tremendous growth recently, with more than 500,000 children joining just in the last few months:

One of the things I love about the increased usage of our apps is that we can measure, in the aggregate, what children are learning.  Since launching Zoodles, over 3 Million hours of games and videos have been played, with over 1 Million of those hours spent in math and reading.  1 Million hours is more than 110 years of time!

This growth is directly related to the launch of our mobile offerings as well as the new family features that allow kids and relatives to stay in touch through digital storybooks and video mail.  There’s just nothing better than watching a child on Zoodles go from learning and playing one minute to connecting with family the next.

Reaching 1 million kids is huge for us, and when you combine that with crossing 10,000 fans on Facebook, our team has really been jumping for joy.  Stay tuned for more coverage on our celebration event!

We have a lot of work to do before we reach the 1.2 Billion children in the world who still don’t have Kid Mode.  But before we get back to work I want to personally thank all the parents and children using our apps.  We appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us.  I also want to thank the entire Zoodles team that has been building this product.  Rich, Michael, Jeff and Adrian (our engineering team) can build any concept that Dave (our designer) and Rachel (our product manager) can come up with.  Often the founders or the executive team get all the credit when it comes to the success of a start-up, but success in our case is due to the dedication of this team and the passion they have for changing the lives of kids.  So if you have a minute and love the product feel free to leave the team a note on our Zoodles Facebook page.

Best,

Mark
CEO & co-founder

Today we’re excited to share that two of our most popular features — the Zoodles Art Studio and Zoodles Storybooks — are now available on phones!  Now all of our budding artists and eager readers can do more with their phones (oops, we mean your phones)  no matter where they are.  Whether they’re riding in the backseat, fidgeting at dinner, or lying out in the grass, Zoodles is there in full force with Art and Storybooks!

Since phones do have smaller screens, we’ve adapted both features to work a little differently than usual.  Let’s take a look.

Zoodles Art Studio

Here are some pictures of the experience on your phone.  The first thing you’ll notice is that there are now more “tabs” at the top of the screen, and the tabs don’t have labels anymore!  Your child can use these tabs to navigate to the different areas of our experience, just like with our computer and tablet apps.  They might need a little guidance at first, but let us know how it goes!

To get into the Art experience, all your child needs to do is tap on the Art tab at the top and then select the first thumbnail.

The Art Studio has changed a bit, but not by much.  There are fewer colors and we’ve removed the ability to toggle brush strokes, but it is all in the name of giving your child the most drawing space possible!

Every new drawing your child creates will automatically be saved to their Gallery and synced to your account.  All your child’s drawings — whether they’re done on the computer, tablet, or phone — are visible at http://www.zoodles.com/parent.   Be sure to star your favorites!

Zoodles Storybooks

Our Storybooks feature is just as exciting.  For the first time ever, we’ve made it incredibly easy for little ones to “bring their relatives along” on the next vacation or car ride.  Family will never be forgotten again!

All you need to do is have relatives record a reading for your child and the reading will appear in your child’s Books tab.  As usual, the recordings that your relatives make are shared across all our devices, so you and your child can watch them no matter you are.  Now Grandma can be a lifesaver without even being there!

Our Books interface on the phone is very similar to what it looks like on other devices.  We give every child an example recording of Mark and his kids reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the rest of the books available are displayed alongside it.

Once a reading has been recorded, your child can tap on its book cover to have the story read to them.  Again, with such limited screen space, you’ll notice that the illustrations are slightly smaller and that in lieu of text, we decided to include the relative’s video instead.

All in all, we couldn’t be more proud of our team’s efforts to bring these features down to phones and make the Zoodles experience better and better across all devices.

We’d love to hear your feedback, so please do leave us a comment or shoot us an email at feedback@zoodles.com!

Contributed by Debbie Heimowitz

Learn how the Zoodles Education team screens their video content. Then, create videos of your own for a chance to be featured in Zoodles!

Behind the Scenes

When we started our quest to find the best YouTube videos for kids, our first results were…well… questionable. Finding great content is our team’s central mission, and it is also one of our biggest challenges. For every hundred videos we evaluate, it can be tough to find even one that’s worth adding. So why does this happen? And what do we look for?

The first reason it’s a challenge to find high-quality video content is that the content itself is scarce, and it’s also hidden amongst a ton of other content that’s not always appropriate. We run across an unbelievable number of videos that are supposedly for kids, but are inappropriately named, have foul language dubbed over them, feature bizarre characters, or are even so misleading that they connect to shady spam or porn sites.

The high-quality content we look for is harder to find, because less of it exists to begin with.  Educational kids content can be expensive to produce and design. When companies do produce children’s content, it tends to be in formats that are unusable to Zoodles, like thirty-minute television shows. So, when we do find great content in short formats, we definitely try to promote it and find other content from the same filmmakers.

Here’s what we look for:

Entertainment: First, the videos must entertain us. We know that if it’s not fun, your kids won’t want to watch it. Specifically, we look for bright colors, high concepts, and ideally a strong production value. In our team discussions, questions like “Was this only funny to me?” get tossed around as part of our evaluation process.

Educational Value: Secondly, we want to know what your children will learn from watching the videos. Will the video help reinforce concepts about the alphabet? Will the video bring your kids to another planet? Does it tie into the national standards for education?

We love when videos focus on specific learning standards, but we also value concepts that aren’t as obviously educational.  We place just as much importance, for instance, on videos that encourage physical and emotional wellness like this yoga video for kids or this video about cyberbullying.

If a video is able to meet our educational and entertainment standards, we know we’ve found something for our Zoodles families!

Now create your own!

Are you interested in creating your own educational videos and being featured in Zoodles? Here are some ideas to think about as you start your process:

1. Pre-design the show. What is the “learning problem or learning need” you are solving? For example, do you notice your child struggling with spelling concepts that you’d like to teach in the video?
2. Set learning objectives. What do you hope the audience will gain from watching your video? How will you measure these results?
3. Think about what techniques you would like to add. Filmmakers use several tools to help reinforce educational concepts including: relatable fictional characters, the use of repetition and rhyme, music, dance etc.
4. How long do you want the video to be? We will accept any videos less than 3 minutes in length.
5. Have fun!

If you’ve created a video that you believe meets our standards, send us the link at feedback@zoodles.com!

In an effort to kickstart this blog back to life, we thought we’d share some great news.  We’ve been recognized by Babble as one of the top 25 Android Apps for Moms!  Reaching over 6 million moms a month, Babble is a parenting site for “a new generation of parents.”  Their editorial crew sifted through tons of apps and highlighted our Kid Mode app as the #2 app for “Best Family Fun.”  Awesome!

Here’s what they said about us:

When that 10-minute restaurant wait turns into 20 and the coloring book that you brought along just isn’t up to the task, what’s a mom to do? Hand your kid your Android phone, of course. But before your toddler starts e-mailing your boss or updating your Facebook status, be sure to install the Kid Mode app that protects your phone by locking the Home button and then provides your kids (ages 2 through 8) with a selection of fun, educational games and videos geared specifically to each child’s age.  See the full article.

Check out the other winning apps at http://www.babble.com/products/mom-products/25-best-android-apps-for-moms/

Big thanks to Babble for highlighting our hard work and putting us in some great company!  To all of our Zoodles families, we just can’t say it enough.  Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement – we would not be here without you!

Phew! We’re back from CES. (Alive!)  This year, Mark and Rachel served as Zoodles ambassadors and ventured bravely out into the tablet and 3D fray.

Of course, we were so busy working (and playing craps), we couldn’t document everything, but here’s the gist of our trip through pictures.

On our first night in Vegas, we attended a press party at the top of the Cosmopolitan. Check out the view!

Early the next morning, we showed up at the Motorola booth, where we were slated to demo our Kid Mode app!

Motorola had LOTS of foot traffic.

Speaking of (sore) feet, isn’t Rachel doing a good job keeping a smile on her face?

(It’s the awesome company polo.)

Panasonic, like most of CES 2011, was very focused on TVs.

3D TV’s in particular. (Whoa, a sand castle! With 3D glasses, it’ll look 3D!)

In case you didn’t detect the sarcasm, here are Mark’s thoughts on 3D technology…

“BUT IT’S THE FUTUUURE!”

Later that night, we attended a Lenny Kravitz concert hosted by Motorola!

At the concert, we were able to meet up with our good friends from Pulse, Akshay and Albert!

The photojournalism ends there, but rest assured that the ambassadors of Zoodles had an amazing time at CES.  We couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to demo all our team’s hard work, and it was great to be met with so much support.

Thanks to all our Zoodles families for keeping the dream alive!  Next year we’re hoping to bring the whole team, so look forward to the 2012 edition of Zoodles@CES, where more hilarious (and undocumented) stories will ensue!

We believe that every device a child interacts with should come with a Kid Mode… a simple, safe, fun way for kids to interact with age appropriate games and activities.  Today we are excited to announce that one of the most popular browsers on the web, Google Chrome, can now be put into Kid Mode!  So parents who use Google Chrome as their web browser can install our Kid Mode app from the Google Webstore.  Once installed there will be a simple icon that parents can click to put their browser into Kid Mode!

Here is a great video that highlights all the great features of our Chrome App:

We are looking forward to hearing about how we can improve this app so please be sure to send us feedback:  Support AT Zoodles.com

Best,

Mark Williamson CEO & Co-Founder

One of the challenges that parents face is ensuring their kids build meaningful relationships with their aunts, uncles, grandparents and other family members.  This can be especially hard for families that are spread across the country like mine is.  While we live in California my daughters have aunts & uncles in Denver, Columbus OH, and Bethlehem PA while their grandparents are in Seattle and Columbus OH.  This means that they only get to see some of these family members once a year and with time zone differences it is close to impossible to Skype with them.

Since we build software that puts computers into Kid Mode, we thought we could improve the lives of families by enabling kids to connect with distant relatives.  Today we are announcing two new features that do exactly this:

Video Mail:

Finally, the most common activity online for adults – communications, is available to kids of all ages.  Zoodles Video Mail enables kids and family members to easily record and exchange video messages.  After a parent invites a family member to connect with their kids, that family member can record a message using a webcam, and that message is delivered directly to the child inside of the Zoodles computer app.  When a child clicks on their Mail tab, their new messages will immediately start to play as the picture below shows.

A child can easily reply to any video message and it is so easy that my soon-to-be 3 year old daughter can do it too.

Storybooks:

This feature was inspired by a conversation with a grandma in Texas who recorded herself reading books on mini-cassettes and mailed them to her grandchildren in California.  She was looking for a way for her grandchildren to hear her voice before bed so they could stay connected.  With Zoodles Storybooks she can now select one of the Zoodles classic storybooks to record for her grandchildren and they will automatically receive the recording in the Books tab inside the Zoodles computer app.  As the picture below shows, the experience is really compelling for kids:

We hope that Zoodles can play a meaningful role in connecting families across the country, and we can’t wait to see how families use these new features.

Every smart phone today has an “Airplane Mode” which puts the phone in a state that is safe to use while flying on a plane.  Think about that, your phone has a simple mode that makes it safe to use on an airplane!  Why doesn’t your phone come with more “modes”?!?

Well today Zoodles is launching an entirely new mode for Android phones and we are calling it “Kid Mode”.  With our FREE Kid Mode app (available now in the Android Market) children 8 and under will have access to hundreds of age appropriate games and videos while parents will be able to relax knowing that their kids will no longer accidentally make calls, send emails or delete apps.  This is an app that the whole family will really love!

So here is how it works:
The Zoodles Kid Mode app is a really smart app that adapts to the child using it.  Games and videos are shown to a child based on their age and other optional information provided by parents (such as reading ability).  In addition to adjusting to the age and skills of the child, Kid Mode adjusts to the capabilities of the phone it is being run on.  For instance, on an Android device without Flash, the Zoodles app will detect the missing software and remove games from the system that require Flash.

Here is a sample 4 year old experience where Kid Mode is filled with letter recognition games, counting activities, and interactive storybooks:

Here is a sample 7 year old experience where Kid Mode is filled with fun logic puzzles, language activities, and fraction games.

Here is what a Flash game looks like in Kid Mode:

Protecting your Android Phone:

The optional “Child Lock” feature of Kid Mode means you can hand your Android phone to your child without ever worrying about what they might accidentally do while on the phone (say good bye to random phone calls to the boss, erased emails and deleted apps).  To accomplish this we disable the built-in buttons on your phone, so your child can’t accidentally exit out while they’re playing.  While children can’t accidentally exit when our child lock is enabled parents will be able to exit easily by following on screen instructions that children can’t follow.

So head over to the Android Market on your phone and upgrade your phone with an entirely new mode – Kid Mode!

Finally, I want to say thanks to the team for working hard on this app and to all the kids who tested Kid Mode for us.

Best,

Zoodles recently won an award from the American Library Association for making Great Interactive Software for Kids.  This got us thinking… why not put Zoodles in libraries?

Kids spend a lot of times in libraries, especially after school when they’ve got a whole afternoon to burn before Mom or Dad gets home.  Why not give them a safe, fun learning alternative at the library too?

Kids who don’t have computers at home will finally have access to all the great educational content that Zoodles has waiting for them, and parents can feel safe knowing that their kids are on a site they trust.

With these thoughts in mind, Zoodles is partnering with families and librarians nationwide to give kids a fun after-school learning activity at their local library.

To do this, we’re going to need your help.

As most of you know, we’re an insanely small team, so if you want Zoodles at your library, we’re asking that you serve as our spokesperson.  Talk to your friendly local librarian and tell them why Zoodles would be great for your community.

If you need some talking points, print out the flyer below and bring it along.  On the bottom of the flyer, there’s a small form that you can scan or mail back to us once Zoodles is set up at your library.  If we get a form back from you, both you and your participating library will get a year of free Premium!

Click here to get your flyer (and entry form)

We have no idea if this will work, but hey, let’s find out.  If you love Zoodles, maybe your library will too.

Image Courtesy of Teaching Resource Center

When I was in about third grade, I was surprised to discover that my teacher did not, in fact, live in the classroom – she actually had a house and family, and she went home every day.

A teacher is your partner in the education of your child. It’s also important to remember that your child’s teacher is a person first, and would appreciate a consistent connection with you throughout the school year!

Get Some Face Time

I have a friend who takes her kids to school each morning so that she can connect with her kids’ teachers. While I think this is great, I can barely drag myself from my bed to watch my kids at the bus stop, so this plan wouldn’t work for me.

This is fine, because I know teachers are busy people and there are other ways to get face time with your child’s teacher. Before the school year starts, take a field trip to the school with your kids and arrange to meet. This will help everyone involved feel more comfortable on the first day of school. Also, if dropping your kids off at school doesn’t work for you, what about popping in a couple of times a week to pick them up, checking in with the teacher while you’re there?

Although they don’t involve face to face interaction, here are more ways to connect with your child’s teacher on a regular basis:

• Exchange email addresses – email is easier and faster than a phone call.
• If you call, leave a detailed message.
• Volunteer in the classroom on a regular basis.
• Schedule an appointment if there’s an important issue you’d like to discuss.

Give the Best Information

Teaching is a highly demanding and stressful job, and teachers can use all the help they can get.

Sometimes the best help you can give a teacher is information. Be up front about behavioral or medical conditions, like asthma, allergies, ADHD, OCD, and Autism Spectrum disorder to name a few, along with any pertinent medications that your child must take while at school. Keep the teacher informed of family changes, like adoption, divorce or remarriage – this helps teachers watch out for any behavior changes.

Giving this information to your child’s teacher may feel uncomfortable, but it helps him/her give your child the attention he/she needs from the beginning of the school year. Teachers are also required to keep this information confidential.

Stay Involved

As a former elementary school teacher, I would give one piece of advice to parents – simply, do what you say you’re going to do. This doesn’t mean that you have to do a lot, or that you have to actually be inside the classroom to volunteer.

Here are a few ways to stay involved:

• Complete volunteer tasks at home, like correcting spelling tests or cutting out shapes for a lesson.

• Go to all-school or family-centered events, like Back to School night, conferences, Open House, harvest parties or carnivals.

• Chaperone class fieldtrips.

• Donate classroom supplies or prizes.

Show Appreciation

To teachers working on the front line, a thank you goes a long way, and there are several easy ways to show your appreciation!

• Write a quick email once a week to share a joke, a funny story about your child, or to say thank you.
• Give teachers and students a smile in the hallway.
• Bring coffee – most teachers drink it and love free coffee drinks.
• Acknowledge his/her birthday with a card from your family.
• Observe Christmas and Teacher Appreciation Week with cards small gifts, or gift certificates to a restaurant or a book store. Have your child fill out the card.

Consistent connections with your child’s teachers will benefit them, you and your child!

Author Byline

Kelly Wilson

Kelly Wilson is an editor with Teaching Resource Center, a Teacher Store providing teachers and classrooms with low-cost, high-quality Teacher Supplies.

Guest blog by Jocelyn Gibbons

Does your child need glasses?

Though vision is an important tool for children, it is also the most overlooked health concern. More than 80 percent of a child’s learning relies on vision, from reading a book and seeing the blackboard, to watching a movie in class. While many parents want to believe that their child’s eyesight is perfectly fine, it’s important to consider if your child may need glasses.

Read the Signs of Poor Eyesight

Don’t wait for a teacher’s note to cue you into your child’s poor eyesight. Signs that your child may need glasses include:

• Squinting

• Sitting too close to the television
• Rubbing eyes excessively
• Trouble focusing or following an object with their eyes
• Tilting head while looking at objects
• Losing place often while reading
• Frequent headaches and/or dizziness
• Trouble seeing objects far away
• Sensitivity to light

Ease Children’s Eye Doctor Fears

If you have noticed one or more of these symptoms, congratulations! You have taken the first step in helping your child. Now comes the hard part—the trip to the eye doctor.

Eye doctor visits may be a bit frightening for a child, especially with the large, weird looking eye exam machines and the doctors poking and prodding eyeballs. Help ease your child’s fears ahead of time. Check online and at your local library for websites and books dedicated to helping children feel comfortable going to the eye doctor.

Nick Jr. even has a site stocked with pro-glasses games, coloring pages, pretend eye charts, stickers, eye exam flash cards, and more. Think of the effect the positive peer pressure can do for your child, from Dora the Explorer loving to wear glasses to the Backyardigans feeling better seeing with their glasses on during their crazy adventures.

Ways to Save Money On Glasses

Before you buy glasses at your doctor’s office, consider this: by simply being prepared and knowing where to look, you can save big—typically up to 80%—off the same pair of glasses.

Be Prepared

It’s not hard to buy glasses outside of your doctor’s office if you have the right information. All you need is your child’s frame size, their prescription (yes, you may have to ask for them to give you this, but they are required by law to do so!), and their pupillary distance (or the distance between the pupils of both their eyes).

For your child’s first pair of glasses, the best way to figure out frame size is by trying on pairs and writing down the sizes that fit well. Simply look inside the temple of the glasses for three measurements—this is the glasses’ lens width, bridge size, and temple length.

Via: Just Eyewear

Know Where to Look

Once you have the info you need, you are free to shop around. Let’s be realistic: your child’s glasses will probably be broken at some point (hopefully not too soon!). So you might as well save money investing in a pair that do the job for half the price. In fact, with your savings, you could buy two pair—just in case the inevitable happens to pair number one.

Discount Stores —Discount and warehouse stores often have glasses for sale for much cheaper than what you can buy at your local doctor’s office.

Pros: Savings; convenience of being able to buy glasses as you shop for other items.
Cons: Sometimes quality is lacking; frames may take a while to be ready for pickup.

Warehouse Clubs —A step further than discount stores are warehouse clubs, where your membership entitles you to even greater savings on usually better-quality glasses.

Pros: Savings even greater than discount stores; convenience again of buying glasses during a normal warehouse run; quality comparable to the frames at your doctor’s office.
Cons: Frames may take a while; requires another step in an already grueling process.

Online Retailers —Buy glasses online and save up to 80% over buying at the doctor’s office—for the same quality frames.

Pros: Savings the greatest of all options; fast ordering can be done from home; glasses often come money-back guarantees; glasses are shipped right to your door.
Cons: You can’t try on the frames in person.

Choose Frames Your Child Will Love

When you’re choosing eyeglasses, let your child pick the pair they like and will subsequently actually wear. Let’s face it—it was hard enough going to the eye doctor getting them to sit still and focus during the exam. Now you want to shove something new on their face and expect them to keep it there? Good luck.

Believe me: let them choose a pair, within reason (do you really want them going to school looking like Mr. Magoo?). Your child will likely care more about the actual color than the style of the glasses anyway. As the parent, you can figure out what glasses frames will look best on your child and steer them toward those frame shapes—then step back. Just be prepared to say no to the neon orange or zebra stripes unless you are one for originality.

Get to It!

Now is the important part—actually using this information to help your child! Look for symptoms that your child needs glasses. If you find the signs—follow them and get to the eye doctor. Your child will (eventually) thank you for it.

Author Byline

Jocelyn Gibbons

Jocelyn Gibbons has a background in both creative and technical writing. She is currently the creative marketing director for Just Eyewear, an online prescription eyeglasses retailer.

Lost Child

Guest Blog by Tara Shaw

As a parent, you will quickly realize that you can’t protect your kids everywhere they go. This can be quite scary, especially as young children may find themselves in a dangerous situation without even realizing it. Kids and even teens are often oblivious to the risks, such as the potential of being assaulted, bullied, kidnapped, robbed, or otherwise harmed. How do you prepare them to escape such situations without causing them to fear for their safety every single day?

Today, more and more parents are asking this question. Here are a few techniques for you to use to keep your kids safe:

Teach them basic safety information

From a young age, children should know their own phone number and home address. If they are ever separated from you, this information can lead to a quick reunion. Your kids should also know how to reach you at all times, especially when you are at work. For emergencies, teach them how and when to call 911, and to seek out a trustworthy adult if they need help in a public place. These basics will allow your children to get help from adults during emergency situations.

Work on your child’s recognition of potential dangers

Most children are fairly trusting and naive. They may not realize that a stranger is trying to lure them away from their parents, only that the stranger has a puppy or a bag of candy. Teach them how to recognize that someone may not have the best intentions at heart. Of course, children must also know about appropriate touching from a young age. Kids of all ages should be taught when it’s okay not to follow an adult’s directions, even if that adult is an authority figure.

Children should know who to trust

If you’re like many parents, you caution your kids to avoid interacting with strangers, yet instruct them to find a trustworthy adult if they feel they are in danger. When is it okay for a stranger to talk to them? As a parent, you must walk a fine line when teaching your kids what kind of adult to seek out if they are in trouble. You may want to instruct them to look for police officers or security guards in uniforms, mothers with children, or store clerks.

Provide your child with the tools to fight back

While running away from potential dangers is often the best strategy for children, what should they do if it’s too late to run away? Instruct your kids to yell as loud as they can to get the attention of nearby adults. Your kids should also have personal alarms to help them summon help. Look for child alarms shaped like panda bears and other animals. Your teens may be responsible enough to carry a canister of pepper spray, a nonlethal self defense device that gives them several minutes to escape a dangerous situation.

Self defense methods and strategies must always take into account your child’s age and responsibility level.

As a parent it is your duty to prepare your children to protect themselves. Children do not always recognize when they are heading into a potentially dangerous situation, which can make your job tricky as a parent. All children must know that there are dangerous people out there in the world, even though you probably want to protect your kids from this fact for as long as possible. Despite this wish, it is important to provide your child the tools and knowledge necessary to keep them out of harm’s way.

Author Byline

Tara Shaw

Tara was born in England and moved to USA in 1998. Together with her husband James she started the Resist Attack website in 2009 to make available a wide variety of personal safety products and to educate families on how to stay safe. So far they have published over 250 articles on the subject.

Guest blog by Kelly Wilson

It’s time to head Back to School, which means new friends and play date opportunities for kids at any age.

New Buddies = Requests for Play Dates

Setting up play dates is part of the natural progression of your kids growing up, allowing them to practice social skills and have some fun doing it. Your kids will likely find children to play with from their new classrooms, along with kids from your neighborhood or other community groups.

Setting Them Up

The easiest way to begin setting up play dates is to talk with your own circle of friends or friendly neighbors. Decide if you’d rather have play dates with a larger group of kids. The advantage to this is that parents usually hang out while their kids play and you get some conversational time with other adults. This also builds community for all of the families involved.

Fun Play Date

If larger groups don’t appeal to you, choose one or two of your child’s friends to start with, decide on a day, and invite them over. Your child will probably be able to help you out by securing the necessary phone numbers during the school day. Don’t be surprised if parents hang out for a bit during the first play date – this helps their child feel more comfortable. Once families start reciprocating play dates, you may want to do the same!

The Ground Rules

Once kids come over, I like to review the house rules, where the bathroom is located, and when snack will be available. I go over with the kids where they’re allowed to play and if there are any spaces or things off limits, like my husband’s very expensive musical instruments downstairs (he’s a professional musician).

We also talk about making good choices, sharing, and talking nicely with one another. I warn all of the kids that if there are problems, there will be time outs issued and the sad final conclusion could be a friend going home. Although I’ve never had problems, it’s a good reminder to everyone involved to make good choices during the play date.

Snack is always served, and I check with the parents to make sure there are no food allergies. Try to keep snack foods healthy and fun, like grapes and Goldfish crackers or peanut butter and bananas. The kids always appreciate being fed!

Suggested Activities

If you prefer to provide structure during play dates, an easy way to think of activities is to go with the seasons. In winter months, provide a Christmas ornament or snowman craft. In the spring, paint small birdhouses or make an Easter craft. In the summer, water toys are fun in the backyard. Finding something seasonal to do can be very easy and require almost no preparation if kids use materials lying around your house.

However, there’s no hard and fast rule that says you need to provide any structured activities. One of the advantages to inviting your child’s friends over to play is that they get to play. Together, children develop social and cognitive skills through pretending, compromising and having the time and space to be creative.

Keeping Them Routine

Once you establish that you’re interested in play dates and host a few of your own, they’ll become part of your routine. Our neighborhood has had a play group once a week for a few years now, and it’s become an event that all of the neighborhood kids look forward to.

Important factors to consider when making play dates a fun family habit include:

* specific days and times that would work for play dates
* gathering email addresses of other parents interested in play dates
* putting play dates on the calendar
* scheduling play dates a week in advance

A couple of days before the scheduled play date, email or call the parents of the children invited as a reminder, and get ready to play!

Author byline

Kelly Wilson, Editor, Teaching Resource Center

Kelly Wilson is an editor for Teaching Resource Center, a Teacher Store providing high-quality, low-cost Teaching Materials for over twenty-five years.

Private School Uniform

Guest blog by Alan Murray

So does sending your kids to private school give them that extra advantage or is it all a waste of money? Do state schools provide the same quality of education? 90% of all American children attend public. Private schools in the US are exempt from most educational regulations however most follow the spirit of them.

So how much would a private school cost? The National Association of Independent Schools puts their average price at $20,000 per year but this varies across the county with many schools charging $30,000 per year. These fees are not the end of the financial burden, check to see what else you will be required to pay, for example, school books, trips and other misc fees that you may not be liable for at a state school.
What factors should parents look at when considering the benefits of the two types of schools?

Class sizes

What are the ratios of children to teacher between public and private? Normally smaller class sizes produce better education for children. This of course is not the only factor but it is an important one.

Resources/Budgets

This varies from school to school and applies to both private and state schools. State schools rely on funding from one resource and these funds can vary depending on tax revenues. Private schools don’t just rely on their annual fees there are development activities and grants from organizations,

Safety at school

This can be an issue with state schools. Many private schools screen students and have much better records with regards to the health and safety of your child.

Facilities

Normally private schools are going to come out on top but this may not be the case 100% of the time.  Parents should take the time to look at the facilities on offer in the private of public schools because they vary. Don’t expect private to always to have better facilities because this often is not the case. You should also be looking for facilities that suit your child.

Teaching

Public school teachers are on average paid more than private school teachers – does that make them better? Benefits for public school teachers are also general higher than private schools but that can vary due to location and individual resources of that school.

Conclusion

Personally I think you should send your kids to state school. That is my personnel opinion and parents need to make up their own minds based upon the facts. This situation may change upon the quality of state school that my kids were going to. If the reputation of the school is low then I would advise parents to investigate the school further and then if not suitable to consider private schooling.

I think both private and state schools have individual advantages over each other. I would advise parents to look beyond just hearsay about schools and get to the facts to make their judgment on whether to go private or state school.

Author Byline

Alan Murray is a dad of two and writes for a baby names site. This site has more than just baby names with Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and baby health.

Guest blog by Kathryn Jones

Summer is almost over, and with it, those last lazy days of book reading. I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting in the children’s book department inside any store and reading a good book is almost as fantastic as going on vacation. Just today I went on a journey through the children’s section of my local bookstore.  The experience was glorious. I almost forgot I was a grown-up. The words, the colors, the rhyming text and thoughtful stories transported me to another place—where I was five again.
Allow me to share with you a few of the books I stumbled upon and fell in love with.  In the process of sharing, I hope you’ll fall in love, too, and maybe go on a mini trip of your own.  Take your little ones with you for added fun.

The first picture book, “But I wanted a Baby Brother,” is written by Kate Feiffer and Diane Goode. Oliver Keaton doesn’t want a baby sister, he is a boy after all, and boys want brothers. Oliver has the support of his dog, Chaplin, who agrees that a boy brother would be best. Oliver tries and fails to convince his parents that a boy would be the better sibling. He tries and fails to find a “used” baby brother from amongst his friends to make a trade, but all the boys seem to have more problems than his sister does. Does Oliver decide to keep his sister after all? “But I Wanted a Baby Brother,” published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers is $16.00; $21.99 in Canada and is written for ages 4-8.

Book two is entitled, “Chalk” and is illustrated by Bill Thomson. The story is about 3 children who discover a bag of chalk in an inanimate dinosaur’s open jaws, decide to draw on the sidewalk with the chalk, and are enlisted on a nature adventure throughout the park. Told in pictures only, the story of “Chalk” begins on a rainy day that quickly turns sunny because of the magic of the chalk. But what happens when the dinosaur is drawn out of his frozen stupor? You won’t believe your eyes!

“Chalk” is published by Marshall Cavendish Children and is $15.99; $20.95 in Canada. Perhaps a bit too frightening for the youngest of children, older children will enjoy the suspense and happy resolution of this beautifully illustrated book.

What if you hate books and some librarian is trying to get you to love them? In this story, “Miss Brooks Loves Books,” by Barbara Bottner, the main character is determined not to love books, even if Miss Brooks keeps trying to change her mind. The problem only gets worse when the main character gets an assignment to pick out a book for school to read during Book Week. Now what will she do? (Especially since she has to wear a costume too?) What book does the girl who hates books, pick? “Miss Brooks Loves Books,” is published by Alfred A. Knopf and is $17.99; $22.99 in Canada.

“Roly Poly Pangolin” by Anna Dewdney, is book four on my list. Roly Poly Pangolin is afraid of all the new adventures life brings—that is, until he meets a new friend and discovers he’s not alone. “Roly Poly Pangolin” is a simple rhyming story for ages 2 and up and is $16.99; $21.00 in Canada. The book is published by Viking. Pangolins are furry animals that live in Africa, India, China and Southeast Asia. They have no teeth and protect themselves by rolling into a ball. For more information on Pangolin’s visit the author’s website at: www.annadwedney.com .

Book five is “A Mother’s Song,” by Janet Lawler. A mother takes her daughter on a journey throughout the neighborhood. What do they see? What do they feel? What do they touch? Come and take a walk through the seasons with this delightful rhyming text. “A Mother’s Song” is $14.95; $19.50 in Canada and is published by Sterling.

Reading with your children is one of those things you can’t replace even with the most expensive trip. There is something about the cuddle time, something about reading and laughing together that transports you in only the way reading can.

Author Byline

Kathryn Jones is a freelance writer. She is currently a resident writer for Online Schools, which researches areas of higher learning, how to pick an online school, and education. In her spare time, Kathryn enjoys reading books to her four grandchildren. Learn more about Kathryn at her website: www.ariverofstones.com.

Guest Blog by Amanda T.

Kids health news is dismal these days; growing children are currently at risk for falling victim to one of the largest health epidemics this country has seen in many decades. Childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years, and the number of adults with serious health issues has increased significantly as a result.

Children who are obese during important developmental stages are more susceptible to lifelong issues such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma, Type 2 diabetes, and more. Rather than allowing your children to snack on processed foods and empty calories, try introducing more fruits and vegetables into their diets. Avoid defrosting frozen meals for dinner, and attempt making one healthy meal a week.

Preservatives, artificial hormones, and processed foods have the ability to alter a child’s tastes, as well as their metabolism. Do your best to eliminate sugary snacks and unnatural sweeteners and replace them with raw carrots and broccoli (or whatever vegetable you can get your child to eat). You will be surprised how your children’s taste buds can change! Eventually they may be happy to eat raw broccoli, or they may lose the taste for sugary cereals and sodas altogether.

The social implications of childhood obesity have the ability to cause severe psychological distress and trauma in kids and adolescents. Not only can children feel different than other kids, but they will also have trouble keeping up on the playground, they may not participate in PE programs and games, they may not feel confident enough to join sports teams, and they can often be chosen last for teams during kids PE games or recess.

These issues have the ability to create antisocial tendencies, low self-esteem, and feelings of self-worthlessness. In some children, this can cause lifelong psychological trauma and confidence issues. As they get older, they may begin to develop health problems, which will only increase the likelihood of depressive tendencies. The body and mind are very closely linked, and mental well-being can be greatly affected by physical health.

A great way to encourage mental well-being in children, despite weight issues, is to consistently encourage physical activity. Limit your kids’ sedentary time in front of the television, computer, or video games. Make exercising more about fun rather than about health or appearance. Implement exercise in daily tasks such as walking around the neighborhood after dinner, or if you live close enough, try to walk your kids to school, to the park, and to their friends’ houses. Simple steps such as these can make a huge difference in your child’s health.

The health and mental risks of obesity among children are very real, and very serious. Take action now to help your child develop into a strong and healthy adult with positive habits, and high self-esteem. There are more than enough obstacles for them to face without considering their weight, so do your part in ensuring their health at a young age!

Author Byline

Amanda is a writer and blogger living in San Diego, CA. She writes on behalf of SPARK PE which strives to foster environmental and behavioral change by providing Physical Education, After School, Early Childhood, and Coordinated School Health programs to teachers and recreation leaders serving Pre-K through 12th grade students.

Guest Blog by Susan Long

Child playing video game

Way back in that other life, the one before kids, I’d spend long evenings building Roman cities or searching for treasure while my husband shot zombies and eluded the police. We were dedicated gamers and with no kids, we had plenty of time to indulge our hobby. Now that we have kids, we’re constantly surprised about how little quality information is available for parents. Like drugs and sex, parents are being told that the only safe way is to tell them “no way”. It’s true that there are risks you may not have considered but if you are armed with accurate information and educate yourself and your child, there are some definite benefits too!

Gaming – It’s Not All Bad….

Gaming can actually assist children with developmental stages. Depending on the game, children develop problem solving techniques, analytical thought and logic skills as well as developing better hand-eye coordination.  It’s a relatively safe, fun activity that allows awkward teens to “fit in” without exposing themselves to risky behavior. It’s also a fairly affordable source of entertainment for long school vacation periods.

The Real Hidden Danger…. Literally!

Most parents are unaware of “Easter Eggs”, “Cheat Codes” and “User Generated Expansions”. These are the real dangers to look out for and there is surprisingly little information out there for parents. Games that seem perfectly acceptable on the surface can contain unseen dangers!

Easter Eggs

Like the chocolate treat, gaming Easter Eggs are something the child must hunt for, it is hidden from sight and often missed by a parent testing out the game. In G and PG rated games, it may be something like a familiar cartoon character that goes unnoticed until the game has been played many times or a little feature that can only be seen after clicking certain background objects.

As the ratings move into M, R and AO, the Easter Eggs can get a little more adult. The most famous example of this is in the AO rated Grand Theft Auto modification where a series of codes unlocks graphic sex scenes.

Arguably, the first ever software Easter Egg may have been in a less exciting program. In an early version of Microsoft Word, spell checking the phrase “I’d like” came back with the suggestion “I’d like to see Bill Gate’s head on a plate” proving that it’s not just the cool game programmers that like to express themselves!

Cheats

A cheat code is a command that kids can type into the game to “unlock” advantages. Perhaps typing a line of code will give them unlimited money or allow them to skip to the next level. Usually these are pretty harmless but it’s worth investigating them before choosing a game for your child.

A good example is the EA Games best seller “The Sims”. Although it carries an M rating, it’s about raising families, buying nice clothes and pets, getting good grades at school and building a lucrative career. It can make game play feel like you are “virtually” playing dolls, and it is a favorite with 8-15 year old girls. Most parents are happy enough to allow their girls to play The Sims even though there are “implied” sex scenes. However, the built in game cheat “Censor Grid” allows the player to see the characters in a “mock” nude state and to kill the characters in strange and bizarre ways.

User Generated Expansions

Online Sims fan sites allow kids to download expansions for the game – letting them perform tasks or buy objects that are not condoned by EA Games. Unfortunately, some of this user generated content contains sexually explicit scenes and objects and anatomically correct skins. In other games, children can commit especially violent acts and engage in other activities with adult themes attached. This is especially common for PC games (it’s much harder for console games) so it is vital that parents thoroughly search fan sites, forums and any other game related site that their child visits. It may be possible also to block downloads from these sites using some parental lock software packages.

Physical Safety

Most parents are now aware of the physical downside to gaming. The rising childhood obesity rate is partly blamed on “screen time” and more and more kids are suffering back pain from sitting still at a desk or in a lounge chair for long periods. Like anyone sitting at a PC, it is important to make sure that the desk is ergonomically correct for your child. If they are playing on your computer, you may wish to purchase an adjustable desk and chair.

While the Wii Console is a bit of a revolution in gaming, it appears to be the main offender for gaming related injuries. Before you think about putting the Wii up on Ebay, you might want to re-assess how you think about it. If your children are playing active games on their Wii, treat it as a low level sport. Make sure they warm up a little first, that they don’t overdo it, that the playing area is free from dangerous obstacles, ensure they take plenty of breaks and that overall, it plays a healthy role in their lives (don’t let school results or social interactions be dictated by it). If your child starts to show signs of RSI, see your doctor immediately.

Although the experts don’t yet agree on how hard, too much screen time is definitely hard on little eyes. If your child shows any symptoms of eye strain, speak to your doctor or optometrist.

Online Gaming

With any online activity, children are at a small risk of being approached by inappropriate people. The same rules apply to online gaming as any other online activity:

• Mom must approve all new friends
• Mom must have all passwords
• Mom must monitor any conversations with people the child doesn’t know
• The child may not friend any adults, even ones they know well
• Mom must be able to monitor any “chats”

Most parents have the “stranger danger” talk with their children at quite a young age. As kids become interested in online activities, it’s time to have that talk again.

As with any game your child wishes to play, you should thoroughly investigate the online game to ensure it is age appropriate and that it does not allow user generated content. Popular online games like Second Life are not appropriate for young children for this reason.

On the flip side, online gaming is an especially good outlet for shy children and children who struggle to connect with friends. Children participating in multi-player online role playing games work with other kids to achieve quests and goals. This can be a wonderful exercise in building self esteem and social skills through feeling accepted.

This social aspect is however, one of the main reasons that online gaming is also the major growth area for “video game addiction”.

Video Game Addiction

It’s a controversial new topic but more and more, the experts are agreeing that video gaming can become an addiction. It is now listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders so is at least technically, an official mental illness. Kids get the same release of endorphins as they would gambling or taking drugs and any parent of a serious gamer will tell you that it can impact on their social, family and academic lives.

However, the addicted behavior is far less risky than more extreme examples like drug taking so it is probably more similar to the notion of television addiction than heroin addiction. The word “addict” has a tendency to create panic and over reaction in parents.

With any activity, it is vital to set boundaries and teach proper behavior early. Allowing children to explore gaming from a young age also allows parents to educate them about dangers and risks so that they can make informed decisions through to those especially difficult teen years.

If you feel that your child has a serious gaming problem, and talking, negotiating and setting boundaries have all failed, there are now support groups and psychological help available.

Video games are not all evil! Electronic entertainment is a phenomenon so great that it is definitely here to stay so, like anything in life, the best you can do is provide guidance and protection while they explore the big cyber world out there!

Author Byline

Susan Long is a mother of two mad gamers and one gamer of the future, when she finally has access to her computer, she writes about happy family holidays and Car Rental.