Flicka 2

Posted on May 17, 2010 at 8:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	All Ages
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for some reckless behavior
Profanity:	Very mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Risk-taking and peril, rattlesnake
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	2010
Date Released to DVD:	May 4, 2010
Amazon.com ASIN:	B003NTGA90

Flicka 2 is a straight-to-DVD sequel of the most recent version of Flicka, the kid-and-a-horse story that goes back to the 1941 novel, My Friend Flicka, which inspired sequels, movies, and a 1956-57 television series.

In this latest version a city girl (Tammin Sursok) who has been living with her mother and grandmother comes to the country to live with a dad she barely knows (Patrick Warburton, Puddy from “Seinfeld”). It is very hard on her as everything feels strange and unwelcoming. And then she meets Flicka, the mustang, and realizes that they are alike, both high-spirited, sensitive, and in need of affection. Country singer Clink Black co-stars and is featured in one of the DVD extras along with more information about mustangs.

The Oracle of Omaha’s Lessons for Children

Posted on May 14, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Legendary_ American_Investor_Warren_Buffett.jpg The greatest investor in history is Warren Buffett, the only man ever to become a billionaire only through investing. He is giving the vast majority of his fortune to charity through the Gates Foundation.
Mr. Buffett’s investment advice has produced best-sellers (written by other people). His aphorisms are reverently repeated — and, if they had been followed, would have prevented the financial meltdown that still has our economy reeling.
Now Mr. Buffett has decided that the next generation needs to do better than the current one in understanding finance and economics. And so, he has created a terrific website for kids that explains the basic concepts of business and investing and lets them join his Secret Millionaire’s Club. Participants get $2000 in “Buffett Bucks” to invest. The investments are pretend, but the companies are real, including many companies kids know and will enjoy learning about like Google and Build-a-Bear. Kids can evaluate investment strategies and see how they do. And there are stories, games, and videos to explain business principles like location and advertising and even a chance to send Mr. Buffett a question of your own. The animated Buffett, like the real one, reminds kids to tell the truth and work hard and that “the more you learn, the more you’ll earn.”
I highly recommend this to all kids — and if their parents want to sign up for a few lessons, I can promise it will be well worth it.
NOTE: I also recommend the sensational audio magazine Boomerang, which has the best explanations of economic principles I have ever heard along with features about books, history, travel, jokes, and best of all the childhood memories of founder Dave Schmave.

Pixie Hollow Now Has Boys

Posted on May 11, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Disney’s online role-playing game Pixie Hollow is based on its DVD series about Tinker Bell and her friends. It gives children a chance to select a (female) fairy avatar and interact with other fairies. Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams reports that Pixie Hollow has its first boy avatar, called a “sparrow man.”

But children are pretty resourceful little gender warriors. The open secret around the Hollow has long been that if you make your fairy tall, with short hair, and give her an ambiguous name like Jamie, she can pretty quickly establish a reputation as a he.

It may be that little boys want to play. Or, it may be that little girls want to have boy characters to dress up and interact with. It may be that today’s children are comfortable exploring the meaning of gender boundaries.

The fact that when young visitors create characters now they’re presented with both a female and a male avatar and prompted to “please pick one” is a big deal for a generation that’s going to grow up spending a portion of its life online. It says that there are choices.

Teach Kids About Advertising

Posted on April 29, 2010 at 3:57 pm

The Federal Trade Commission has a terrific new online game for kids that will teach them to understand the difference between someone trying to tell them something and someone trying to sell them something. It’s called Admongo.
The FTC’s message to parents:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has created the Admongo campaign to help teach kids about advertising. The campaign has four parts:

* a game-based website at Admongo.gov;
* sample ads that can be used in the classroom;
* a free curriculum for use in the 5th and 6th grades, developed with Scholastic, Inc. and
* teacher training videos.

Together, these tools can help teach kids basic ad literacy skills.

As a parent, you can be a valuable partner in this campaign to help equip your kids with the critical thinking skills they need to be smarter consumers. With your help, kids can learn to ask three key “critical thinking” questions when they encounter advertising:

* Who’s responsible for the ad?
* What is the ad actually saying?
* What does it want you to buy, do, or think?

By applying the information they learn through this campaign, your kids will be able to recognize ads, understand them, and make smarter decisions as they navigate the commercial world.

The site also has resources for teachers to help them include media literacy in the curriculum.
The game is not enough to teach kids the difference between genuine opinion and advertising, but if it inspires conversations with parents that are reinforced throughout the week as we model our own responses to the messages in the media, that will remind not only kids but the rest of the family of how insidious these messages can be.
Many thanks to Pat Goslee for showing me this site.

Related Tags:

Advertising Elementary School Parenting

National Screen Free Week

Posted on April 20, 2010 at 3:41 pm

It isn’t TV Turn Off week any more. It’s now National Screen Free Week. As Aria Wallace discovered, turning off all of our devices can be difficult, but it can open us up to truer, deeper, more nuanced and more aware connections with our friends and family.
No_Television.svg.png ScreenfreeWeek.org has some great materials for families who want to try to unplug for the week. I also recommend the Center for Screen Time Awareness.
Give it a try. No television, no DVDs, no computer except for homework, for just one week. And Mom and Dad, no Blackberries or smartphones while with the family. Go to the library and bring home some great books and go into your closet to bring out some board games. You might discover that you like it, and keep no-screen days every week or every month.

Related Tags:

Elementary School Parenting Tweens