Speakaboos Blog » 2009 » June

7-year old goes to work for Lego

Andrew — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:23:39 +0000

This story sounds a little like a big Lego marketing ploy, but it is too good to not share: 7-year old Quaid Guarino of Maine has a “new way of playing with Legos” that is so interesting, Quaid’s parents helped him contact Lego headquarters–and Lego wants to buy it.So what’s the idea?Well, nobody knows yet. Quaid has signed a release form that keeps him from telling anybody else about it. I’ll let you guys know more as soon as I do. This idea better be good, kid!For the full story in the Portland Press Herald, click here.Photo credit: Doug Jones, Portland Press Herald

Turns out”The Simpsons”were there first…

Andrew — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:34:20 +0000

So remember a little while back when we blogged about how the Huffington Post called our Crispin Glover-narrated nursery rhymes creepy? Well, a few weeks later, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon had Michael Emerson (the creepy guy who plays Ben on Lost) on the show, and Fallon thought it would be funny to get him to read a nursery rhyme in a creepy voice! (go here for video)I’m pretty sure Fallon’s writers got the idea from us, because weeks earlier his bloggers happened to pick up the Huffington Post story about Crispin Glover.But as it turns out, Speakaboos wasn’t the first to the idea after all! Check out this hilarious clip from The Simpsons:

Do we at least get points for having Simpsons vet Harry Shearer on the site?

Recall: Kids’hoodies from Macy’s

Andrew — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:38:54 +0000

This is one of the weirder product recalls we’ve seen, but you can never be too safe! Macy’s is voluntarily recalling 33,000 boys’ and girls’ hooded sweatshirts, in small and medium sizes, from the brands Epic Threads and Greendog, sold between July 2008 and March 2009.Apparently the drawstring poses a strangulation risk, though no injuries have been reported. Customers are advised to remove the drawstring, or return the product to Macy’s for a full refund. For more information, call Macy’s at (888) 257-5949

96-year-old grad student completes degree in Taiwan

Andrew — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:14:46 +0000

Chao Mu-he, or “Grandpa Chao” as his classmates call him, will receive his master’s degree in philosophy this weekend from Nanhua University in Taiwan.All you youngsters out there who think school is tough should take note, Chao decided to go back to school simply because he was “bored” after the hospital he used to volunteer at told him he was too old to work there.Congraduations, Grandpa Chao, Speakaboos applauds your lifelong pursuit of education.Read the full story at USA TodayPhoto credit: AP

$125K salary for teachers at NYC charter school

Andrew — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:27:28 +0000

A charter school opening this fall in Washington Heights, NYC is seeking to prove what educators have been saying all along–if teachers are paid more, we’d have a better education system.But sorry teachers, the eight teaching positions at the grade 5-8 school, called the Equity Project, have already been filled.So what kind of teachers does $125K buy? According to an article yesterday in the New York Times, the staff was selected out of over 600 applicants, 100 of which were interviewed, and will boast two Ivy League degrees, decades of experience, and a PE teacher who used to train Kobe Bryant.Lets just say expectations for the first class of 120, chosen in a lottery that favored kids from the neighborhood and low academic performers, will be very, very high.See the full story here.

Speakaboos partners with Glubble.com, a new online tool for families and kids

Andrew — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:33:42 +0000

Glubble.com is an exciting new online resource that helps families safely enjoy the internet together. Part social network and part web browser/filter, Glubble provides your family with an online meeting place to post pictures and messages for each other, and allows parents to monitor and regulate young children’s internet use.One of the cool things about Glubble is that it uses your existing web browser, but allows you to “lock” it for your kids so they can only access pre-approved websites. Glubble provides a list of suggested websites, and parents can pick and choose which ones they like, as well as suggest other sites they would like their kids to use.Once you are a Glubble member, you can find Speakaboos under the “New Collections” section of the family page. There, you can choose to activate Speakaboos and it will appear as an approved site under the “Collections” section of the kids page.

Breaking story: two-year old pool shark hits internet

Andrew — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:14:24 +0000

Check out this video of parent-proclaimed “pool prodigy” Keith Jr. showing off his skills:

Call me a cynic, but that’s not a regulation-size pool table… also minus points for some shady editing and poor choice of music. But plus points for being very good at pool and very cute!