Speakaboos Blog » 2009 » April

Swine Flu FAQ from CNN

Andrew — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:44:41 +0000

Misinformation about swine flu is rampant, as evidenced by the widespread, unjustified bans on pork products.CNN.com has a great FAQ that answers the most common questions about swine flu, where it comes from, and how it is transmitted (hint: not from eating pork).Swine Flu: Your questions answered

10 years on, Columbine principal still on the job

Andrew — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:33:25 +0000

In the wake of the most terrible events, life goes on–there’s no better example of this than Frank DeAngelis, who was the principal at Columbine High School during the tragic shootings that occurred 10 years ago this day, and continues to serve as principal now.The Associated Press’s Dan Elliot wrote a touching article about DeAngelis and the struggles he has faced in the last 10 years, including anxiety attacks, survivor’s guilt, and a divorce.”People ask, ‘Why are you still here?’” said DeAngelis. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”He says he felt it would have been unfair to ask his students to move on while continuing to attend Columbine if he had not done the same. So they did, and they still do.Full Story:10 years on, Columbine principal still on the job.

President Obama reads”Where the Wild Things Are”at the White House

Andrew — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:33:37 +0000

Here’s a great video of the President reading the popular Maurice Sendak book to a group of kids at a White House Easter celebration. Could there be a better commercial for the upcoming film adaptation?

Guest Blogger/Intern Darwin – Biggest worries

Andrew — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:40:03 +0000

The thing that worries me the most is not if I am going to be alive tomorrow, if there is a heaven or a hell or the fact that there could be life on other planets. The thing that worries me and scares me to death is college. I think that every student who is in high school and thinking about going to college is worried about it. In the instant that I think about college a bunch of questions come to my mind; am I going to be able to pay for college? Are college teachers different from high school teachers? Do teachers care about our education or they just care about earning money? Every person I talk to, they tell me not to worry but that’s just like telling water to not be wet.Darwin is Speakaboos’ high school intern. Please leave your college advice in the comments section!

The Top 10 Tech Skills Your Teen Needs Now – Education.com

Andrew — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:43:24 +0000

I first learned about computers in elementary school on MS DOS – everything was 5″ floppy disks, C:,

, and coded commands that I have long since forgotten. The concept of teaching technology is ever-changing, but former teacher Cindy Donaldson has compiled a great list of basic but crucial tech skills that every teen (and maybe younger) should have:The Top 10 Tech Skills Your Teen Needs Now – Education.com.

Why Speakaboos stories are not always nice

Andrew — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:36:22 +0000

Occasionally at Speakaboos we get a few complaints from people who object to the “violent” or “scary” content of some of our stories (the trials and tribulations of “Little Red Riding Hood” are well-known and well-documented). And yes, I would agree that a story like our original “Billy and the Witch” (it features a witch and a very, very mean cat) is probably not for every 3-5 year old.But an article by Liza Featherstone on Babble.com this week questioned whether or not modern kids’ media tries too hard to protect young children from violent, scary or sad stories.The article argues that parents (and children’s media) today are far more concerned than parents of yesteryear about “messing up” their kids, and this concern has led to the proliferation of more nice, safe, uncontroversial books and stories, and also the re-envisioning of many well-known stories.I tend to agree with Featherstone’s well-researched argument that a little bit of violence or negative emotion is not going to ruin a child. After all, just because many of us can remember the scene where Bambi’s mother dies as a traumatic experience does not mean that we are any worse off because of it.Of course, the majority of stories on Speakaboos.com are nice, fun, happy, and pretty much very safe and sanitary. And we love the fact that Arthur has become so popular simply by featuring stories that relate to everyday life.However, we are dedicated to featuring a wide variety of stories, both old and new, happy and sad, for caretakers to choose from.At Speakaboos we believe that kids should learn that a story is just a story, and hopefully learn to appreciate it as such.Featherstone writes about how she told her 3-year old son Ivan a version of “The Three Little Pigs” where nobody dies, but he prefers the 1988 Golden Books version with a body count of three. What’s great about this isn’t that kids enjoy violence or scariness, but rather, that now Ivan knows that there is more than one way to tell a story.So the moral of the story is, a little bit of scariness or violence isn’t going to mess up your child, especially if it helps your child understand the difference between fantasy and reality.With that in mind, if you think your child can handle a little bit of unpleasantness, feel free to enjoy Tim Daly’s reading of “Little Red Riding Hood,” where the big bad wolf gets cut open with a pair of scissors, or Mark Thompson’s version of Oscar Wilde’s heartbreaking story “The Nightingale and the Rose” (spoiler alert: the nightingale dies at the end), or our upcoming release of Judy Tenuta’s retelling of “The Three Little Pigs” (spoilers: pigs die, and it’s hilarious!).

Speakaboos featured in kids industry magazine Kidscreen

Andrew — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:36:57 +0000

Looks like we’re really starting to get noticed!http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20090327/speakaboos.html