『This is a 10" Diameter Dreamcatcher with Feathers and beads. The leather comes in assorted colors and availability will determine which one is shipped. One legend suggests that when a dreamcatcher is hung over your bed that good dreams pass through the center hole to the sleeping person and the bad dreams are trapped in the web, where they perish in the light of dawn.』
IPhone 3G used's review (The fun is over all too soon) 『This little gadget is cute and fun to watch, but the liquid flows so quickly the process ends in less than two minutes and every iteration is more or less the same, with little variance. I recommend sand sculptures much more highly. The flow of the sand can be adjusted to run more quickly or slowly, it forms a different pattern every single time, and when it is done flowing it shows a pretty and unique pattern while it waits to be used again.』
(Definite conversation piece!) 『Everybody who saw this had to stop and try it. It's nice and relaxing when you are stressed or bored. Sometimes it's fun to get something that you really don't need, just for fun, This is it!』 『Blip Blop Color Executive toy consisting of a translucent plastic container, roughly 4" wide 6-3/4" tall x3/4" thick mounted on a swivel on a stand. The container has (1) clear and (2) colored, translucent immiscible fluids. Flip the container on the swivel and an ever changing series of blips and blops of color drift slowly down from the top to the bottom while bubbles and steams of clear rise from bottom to top. A mix of colors results as the blobs appear singly or overlap: red and blue single colors also yield purple patterns. Fascinating.』
Kakaku：699 saved$6.99
NCircle Entertainment
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (My Little BUilders) 『My three grandsons are mesmerized by trucks and equipment so this is just great for them』
(Toddler Truck DVD) 『Overall, not a BAD DVD for toddlers but alot of SLOW action that loses the interest of young children. Quality of the movie filming is mediocre. Truthfully, not a lot out there to choose from, so this qualifies as the lesser evil.』
(2 Year Old Couldn't Ask for Anything Better) 『My 2 year old absolutely loves this video. He asks to watch it repeatedly each day and he'll sit completely captivated when it's on. I'm personally tired of hearing it play over and over again. I'm hoping to find him a similar DVD to give us a little variety but I can't imagine that anything else will compare.』
(Perfect for my toddler) 『My two-year-old son remains captivated by this DVD and asks to watch it daily. I think it's a little corny with the truck's names and voices, but I'm not exactly the target audience. I think kiddos who are used to television programming (Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network) are more likely to find this boring. I love that this is live-action and somewhat informative. I've learned a thing or two about diggers and dozers in the process. Now if I could just get that interminable background song out of my head...』
(GRANDSON LOVES IT!) 『My two year old grandson loves this DVD. He's into DIRT and any large tractors and dump trucks. The crane segment is boring for him. But otherwise he will watch this DVD several times a day if we'd let him.』 『Studio: Ncircle Entertainment Release Date: 05/15/2007』
Kakaku：801 saved$8.01
Hip-O Records
Usually ships in 1 to 2 days IPhone 3G used's review (floyd fans light up!) 『The first time I saw this I was excited and found when viewing this film that not only do you get to see pink floyd displaying how extremely talented and creative they are, but get to see them as individuals struggling with the world around them, their relationships with each other and themselves. very cool rare footage of pink floyd during the recording of dark side the moon! They play live and oh man is it swweet!』
(Same good show, with a little bit more) 『Since I lost my VHS version of this film, I had missed the occasional nostalgic viewing. This DVD version brings it all back. It's as good as ever, and includes some new enhancement to the setting at Pompeii. Worth replacing your old version.』
(See Gilmour Play) 『Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii - Great, great, great, great!!!! This DVD contains the "Director's Cut" as well as the original concert film. Basically the Director's cut features lots of extra visuals, including computer graphic recreations of Pompeii, the exploding Vesuvius, and other things like NASA shots of rockets going up into space, space walks, images of suns and stars and moons and planets, all the usual things you'd expect of someone depicting a "space rock" band. It also has some extra bits from the studio in Paris when they were recording "Dark Side of the Moon." The Directors Cut starts out with space and planets animated instead of the big zoom-in to the arena in Pompeei of the original film. Not really an improvement, although it's nice to see something different I guess. Cool to see a grand piano in a roman ampitheatre. Gilmour and Wright shirtless, Waters and Mason in black. Integrates black and white studio shots with colour live stuff from Pompeii. Guys walking over steaming earth, awkward cuts to Wright and Gilmour screwing up their Echoes lyrics. Mason flips his drum stick. Broken drum heads on his kit - 8 drums and 5 cymbals. Racks and racks of amps - one shot goes behind them and we see the cameras and crews that face the band. Back of amps all say "Pink Floyd. London." Shots of the London Underground, clock going backwards, empty platform. Throwaway film experimentation. Pink Floyd's psychedelic breakfast at Abbey Road studios as Nick goes weird about apple pie, Roger's veins as he tries out weird keyboard sounds. Talking about over-using equipment. "It's like saying `give a man a Les Paul guitar and he'll become Eric Clapton." Did Clapton play a Les Paul? Constructing the "On The Run" sequence with sequencers and keyboards. "Careful With That Axe Eugene" with wild lava flows and screams. The and eating oysters. "There's the danger of becoming slaves to the equipment, it happened before. Can't hide behind equipment." Saucerful of Secrets - Waters smashing cymbols with toms, Wright attacking his grand. Fly on Waters' arm - smashes gong that we see on the cover art - all of the guys thin and trim and gangly in t-shirts and jeans, barefoot sand getting into the effects pedals. The band talks money and economics, "rock is not dying like they say," and there's still money in it. Wright doing piano parts in shades fo r "Us and Them" as camera sweeps around. Gilmour "we're not a drug-oriented group. You can trust us." "One of These Days", mason on toms on ctymbols, weird geographic CG. Slow-mo on Mason as the song kicks into high gear, all you see is him, no Gilmour solo or Waters screaming. Mason loses a stick, then pulls a new one out. Nice butterfly logo on blue long-sleeve shirt. Keyboard too high in the mix. Interesting quotes about how well they've learned how to get along, "we're happy together." That wouldn't last. While the others are chatting, Gilmour pulls a perfect "Echoes" guitar solo. "Mesdomoiselle Nobs" with the wailing dog - Wright holding the dog, who sings on cue, Gilmour on harmonica, Waters on guitar (although it sounds like a bass) Address the topic of arguments and in-fighting by claiming that they have the same sense of humour and lust for money. "We can still combine our interest. That's when it breaks down, when one person finds that wheat he's doing isn't interesting, thinks he can do better by himself," says Mason. Then shifts to Gilmour noodling on the guitar, gives a big beautiful smile when he notices the camera. "What would rock `n' roll be without feedback?" Gilmour plays heavy, thick guitar solos on "Brain Damage," they obviously were never used since the finished product is much more relaxed. "Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun", Mason's purple butterfly t-shirt - he has two? "Echoes" in studio - Gilmour stops singing - is he being a prick? Images of Roman erotica, humans cavorting with fauns. Closing "Echoes" - sunnyday Pink Floyd with other backdrops. TERRIBLE computer graphics bit (1:23:35). DVD extras. Generally not great, although there is some good stuff. Three posters, one of which calls the show "A Zappaesque musical pastiche." Three newspaper articles from the day. Five "covers of bootlegs" pages with two on each page, so 10 covers. Four previous covers. Four albums' with graphics, two songs' lyrics (why only two? why bother?), one 24-minute interview with directore Adrian Maben that was very interesting. No voice of the interviewer, questions appear as banners. He explains some of the reasons why there were so many wanky graphics and things, he complains that "you are always unsatisfied with something, you never get it right," and I think that even after 30 years he's ruined his chance to "fix" his mistakes. But he didn't have much to work with - apparently the rushes were lost, so he couldn't add any material from 1972 into the film, so he put 2003 stuff in. Big mistake. I read on the Wikipedia that the shots from the studio in Paris that was supposedly of them recording "Dark Side of the Moon" was actually faked - the band had already finished recording the album and were mixing it. Other fake shots were done on a sound stage somewhere. You can tell which ones they were because there are no ruins of Pompeii, the band are squeezed together, and Rick Wright is beardless. But at least they try.
The "Beastie Boys" made a funny tribute to this movie for the video of their song "Gratitude." Cz-Cz-Cz-Czech it out!"』
(Can Pink Floyd be any less than fantastic?) 『Compared to the original version of "Live at Pompeii" this one has more material in it, without anything dropped. There are some more interviews, where Roger makes fun of the interviewer, that's so much fun! And some Odyssey like video parts have been added to the songs that looks pretty cool.』
(Too much tampering with a good thing) 『"Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii - The Director's Cut" could have been a better film than it is, even with the extra and new footage, if Adrien Maben hadn't tried to run the gamut here. It's total overkill. The audio is now more clear sounding, and the picture is now sharper than it was, and some alternate footage from the time is included to enhance the experience, but there is some serious inconsistency in the bigger picture.
In its original form, the viewer gets an opening sequence made up of some eerie music the band recorded for the film, some shots of the Roman ruins, and the preliminary stages of the road crew setting up the equipment. Now, there is a black screen, with a heartbeat and some heavy breathing. I felt like I was watching "Friday The 13th." You then get some nice spacey images during the first bars of "Echoes: Part One," looking suspiciously like Stanley Kubrik's "2001: A Space Oddessy." It does fit the music, and it's probably what the band would have shown on "Mr. Screen," as they called it, in the shows from those days, so I took this in stride. It is, after all, a new version. The visuals are really very beautiful during this, but the majesty of this performance is belied by footage of David Gilmour and Rick Wright recording the vocals to the original version in the studio. The sound itself is from the "concert," but seeing them fumble through outtakes during this, takes the covers off them. And even though there is no acting, per se, Gilmour does what every film director says not to do; he looks directly at the camera between lines. But even with these glitches, the film still does look and sound good.
And even cleaned up, the original footage, already in existence, as well as some other exposition, has a slightly gritty look to it, causing the "documentary" feel, and it works. But there is some computer-generated imaging which jars the viewer out of the lull they achieve while enjoying the band's performances. Time and circumstance do not allow a complete play-by-play in this forum, but if the original footage had a digital-era clarity, or the segments of new digital-era footage were slightly grittier looking, the transitions would have worked wonderfully. This is only my opinion. But, usually, new treatments are supposed to fit seamlessly into the original piece; here, it's the metaphorical "sore thumb." And too bad, because it is a very ambitious cut, worthy of watching anyhow. The scenery shots, previously unused, are unbelievably beautiful. The landscapes, from the original cut, and the shots taken from the vault and added in, are breathtaking. For real.
Certain things I wouldn't have done (I know, this is Adrien Maben's film, not Jerry H's film) if I were the director, though, include one thing I didn't care for, in the original film. It's not bad, but not what I would have done. In some of the outdoor footage, there are some stunning landscapes, with the band members walking through it, on an outdoor hike, looking something like The Beatles in "Yellow Submarine." These shots should have been done without Waters, Wright, Mason, and Gilmour, out on some nature-hike. It's just pointless. They only worked together, they didn't go hiking and whatnot, but this is only a viewpoint. And the other thing: The newly included black-and-white footage of the interviews from the cafeteria. The only saving grace here, is some conversations with Rick Wright, conspicuously absent from the original cut. But, really, watching Roger Waters eat oysters for lunch, is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. I cringe at the sight of this, and even writing about it. And he obviously has a holier-than-thou attitude as well. He makes some very valid points in his conversations, but here, he is showing just how boorish he can be. But I guess, these parts show us that they are just a bunch of regular guys who laugh and joke with one another, they aren't embassadors from another planet. I just wouldn't have included these clips.
But, as I have said earlier, sometimes the new edits work very well. During the climax of "A Saucerful Of Secrets," there is some stock film of a volcano erupting, and the flooding of a city with hot lava, including a shot of a horrified little girl watching her home town being destroyed by one of God's temper tantrums. But, some of the additional visuals look like something you'd see while using a Play Station video game. This is what cost this video a star for me.
Also, as a gift to the purist, the original "concert" is included in the bonus features, in tact, the first of the three releases, no interviews, no toying with the running order, just the band playing their best material of the day for the camera crew, and this is a 5-plus rating on the 1 to 5 scale available here.
My favorite bands are Pink Floyd, The Who, Steppenwolf, and The Mothers. Videos like this are the reason.』 『Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/03/2006』 『Conceived by the French director Adrian Maben as "an anti-Woodstock film,"Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeiiwas shot in October 1971 in a vacant, 2,000-year-old amphitheater--a venue chosen to accentuate the grandeur and spaciousness of the band'sMeddle-era music. This disc contains a new, 90-minute director's cut as well as the original 60-minute concert film, whose production and effects feel inescapably dated. Maben's cut goes to great lengths to lend the film a more contemporary feel, but it's the earlier version that makes this disc such a gem, being more focused on the music and more wholistic in vision. The anamorphic, 16:9 director's cut interweaves the Pompeii performances with fascinating but distracting interviews and music snippets filmed later (mostly during the recording ofDark Side of the Moon). The movie was originally prepared in a 4:3 aspect ratio, however, and the widescreen version crops perfectly framed images like the nine-square mosaic of drummer Nick Mason in "One of These Days." The original offers plenty of closeups of fingers on frets and keys, with shots that are often luxuriously long in duration. And the picture quality from Pompeii is revelatory: outstandingly sharp and clear, rich in subtle grades of light and color.
Generous extras include everything from original posters, reviews, bootleg album covers, and song lyrics to a 24-minute interview with Maben. But for all the director's talk of the glorious acoustics in Pompeii's amphitheater, there's little natural ambience to be heard. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is clear, dry, and two-dimensional, though notably better than any previous video release.--Michael Mikesell』
Kakaku：399 saved$3.99
Good Times Video
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Fun and a really good workout) 『I bought this video for my 6-year old daughter to help her get more exercise. I figured, if she's going to watch tv, might as well make use of the time. She's in taekwondo, so this video really helped reinforce the kicking and punching moves. (you don't need to be in TKD to do this video)
What I loved was that they had lots of different kids. Boys, girls, younger, older, and some that had a little more chunk to them. It showed that any one can do it!
Bill Blanks is really motivating. It was nice to see him sweat too. I kept reassuring that you're suppose to get hot and sweaty. That's good! See, he is too!
My mother even is thinking about doing it too. It's a nice workout.』
(Billy's awesome) 『I love Billy Blanks and do his Tae Bo DVD's often. When I saw this one for kids I had to get it. It again....is a fabulous dvd.』
(Great for my third graders!) 『I teach 3rd grade in Florida where we are supposed to fit in 30 minutes of sustained physical activity daily. The kids really get in to this DVD! Its fun, and Billy Blanks makes it easy for the kids. I don't think they realize they are working out!』
(It's addictive) 『I recently adopted this DVD into our daily routine. My children are hooked. It is a great product to also use for postpartum mothers to get them back into the groove of exercising (use caution if a C-section was performed with the floor routine). Also, two of my family members were 8 and 9. Both children were 60 pounds overweight. The fact that the DVD features an overweight child helped them with their confidence. If she can I do, so can I, they said. After 3 months, they have lost 20 pounds each.』
(Billy Blanks, tae bo for kids) 『I teach physical education at a local elementary school and have used it this year for rainy days. It has been a big hit!!! Would definitely recommend it!』 『Studio: Gaiam Americas Release Date: 05/03/2005 Run time: 39 minutes Rating: Nr』
IPhone 3G used's review (Favorite Childhood Movie) 『This movie has sentimental value for me.. as well as it's hilarious... i've loved it since i was a kid.. had it on vhs... lost it as a kid.. wanted to buy it again now that i'm adult.
i'm sure one day my kids will enjoy it as well.. when i have them.』
(Not as great as I remembered...) 『I remember liking this movie quite a bit as a child, which was my sole motivation for purchasing it for my own two children. We sat and watched it together (or tried to). The youngest one wandered off about ten minutes into it and the older one was distressed over the pink squirrel left to cry her eyes out in the tree after one of Merlin and Wart's (Arthur) shape changing sessions. She kept asking me "Mommy why is the squirrel crying? Why don't they make her happy?" and so forth....and I could only answer with "I don't really know". It just seemed cruel hearted.
Everyone knows the overall plot (or should). The movie feels disjointed though, the shape changing bits being the best (fish, squirrel, bird) culminating in the scene where Merlin pits his skills against Mad Madam Mim. The actual sword pulling and becoming king happens in the final moments of the movie. It's all very underwhelming.
The animation is fair, the plot rather slow and boring (bits and pieces that don't add up to a satisfying conclusion), characters left undeveloped, the music being below average to downright embarrassing...there are alot of problems with this one. But it is fairly entertaining and atleast worth a single watch. However, this one is not destined for infinite replays like other Disney classics in my house are (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, 101 Dalmations, Robin Hood, The Aristocats being some of the top favorites - for comparision's sake)』
(Not a classic, but mildly entertaining) 『WARNING! Spoiler Alert - Am I the only one who feels sorry for that cute little female squirrel that becomes infatuated with the transformed young Arthur only to have her heart broken when he's turned human again? As silly as this may seem, this is the one reason why I do NOT like this film. Yes, there is a tough life lesson to be learned in this sequence and yes it is a testament to the effectiveness of Disney's storytelling and animation, but c'mon! Maybe the scene would've lost its poignancy if the story allowed for another male squirrel to be smitten with the heartbroken female, but ask yourself, would you have enjoyed "Dumbo" as much if his mom was never released from her cage? Apples to oranges, I know.
Anyway, other than my gripe about the aformentioned scene, I thought this was a fun movie overall. The animation is typical of Disney's high standards even though I thought the songs were a bit lackluster. Not in the same league as "Peter Pan" or "Alice In Wonderland," but not as bad as "The Black Cauldron" either.
If Disney ever does the smart thing and decides to start releasing traditionally animated features again, they should do right by that squirrel and get her a boyfriend!』
(Have always loved this movie) 『I bought this movie for my boys so we could have movie time with a movie I approved of. I watched it with my brothers when I was young and I wanted my boys to have those same great memories.』
(Liked it since I was a kid) 『If you've always liked Disney Classics then this is a must have. The Sword in the Stone has and will always captivate the child in me.』 『Based upon T.H. White's beloved novel, this Disney-fied version chronicles the tutoring of the Once and Future King, Arthur, as handled by the magician Merlin.Swordwas a portent of things to come, with slapstick upbraiding storytelling, and cultural in-jokes substituting for wonder. But there's much to enjoy here as Merlin shows Newt, the young Arthur, things that will help him become the ruler of the Britons. The transformation sequences, where the boy is turned into a fish, a bird, and a squirrel are vintage Disney. The oft-repeated scene of Merlin battling it out with the mean old Madame Mim still is worth a few chuckles, but it belies the problem with most of the film--the scenes are only there for the chuckles. References by Merlin to television and other items of modern life also mar the generally innocuous landscape. Children will like it, but they won't cherish it.--Keith Simanton』
IPhone 3G used's review (this is NOT the 1985 film.) 『I see alot of ppl reviewing like this is the 1985 special with just a new case. It's not I've seen this remake on television. It's been aired on Disney Channel I believe. They took the original book and the concept from Rankin-Bass' puppet adaption and just used tradition animation to remake the exact same film. I don't like how they remade alot of the characters and the original will always by far be the best because Rankin/Bass were and are cutting edge in my mind.』
(for kids) 『While I really enjoyed this alot I would recomend mostly for kids but veryy fun videao, seller sent fast and in good condition』
(Pale shadow of the stop motion version) 『This version of The Life and adventures of Santa Claus is a pale, saccharine sweet sham when compared to the supurbly done stop motion animation of the 1985 version of this same story done by Rankin / Bass. This felt cheesy and half-hearted whereas the stop motion animated one has the distinct feel of a classic and was more true to the heart and feel of the old story by L. Frank Baum.
The story is good but it feels dumbed down compared to the stop motion version. A seldom known fact, Baum connected this story to his loved The Wizard of Oz by saying the immortal faeries of this story are the ones who enchanted the land of Oz to begin with.
』
(Enchanting history of Santa Claus...) 『I am a mom of a four and six year old, and this is our very favorite Santa story to watch. The cartoon does a great job of capturing the enchantment and warmth of Frank Baum's story of Santa Claus. Many questions young children ask about Santa such as his age, etc., are magically answered in this must watch tale. I put this movie on for the kids when family came to visit and found even the grandparents sitting down and intrigued by the story. The music is perfect for the storytelling, and the lessons learned in this movie help my children appreciate their life a little more. This movie is an absolute must for children and adults of all ages. This is the perfect movie to watch with the entire family on Christmas Eve.』
(Don't try to fix what's not broken....) 『As a child of the 80's, I grew up with the Rankin/Bass version of "The Life and Adventures of Sants Claus", and it was and still remains one of my absolute favorite christmas specials. The music was gorgeous, the characters endearing, and it was obvious that great pains were taken to bring it to detailed life. Such is not that case here.
I saw this once through and can't stand to see it ever again. The supporting character, Whisk (Tingler from the R/B version is waaaay better) is as annoying as JarJar Binks was to SW Episode I. They made the Awgwas absolutely stupid and completely non-threatening in their appearance AND portrayal...AND the good-guys couldn't even pronounce Awgwa right...and let's not forget that in this version Nikolaus is somehow OBLIVIOUS to the fact that his best friends are going to war for him. The characters feel very wooden to me, and the animation of them is sub-par here as well. In addition, the music score is very forgettable...and as a musician that is a very hard thing for me to say.
Overall this is an extremely dissapointing retelling of a story that was already done to near-perfection. Stick with the book and the Rankin/Bass version, and avoid this like the plauge.』 『"Mama, when was Santa Claus born? Why doesn't he ever die?" Based on the popular children's book by L. Frank Baum (author ofThe Wizard of Oz), this 75-minute animated version ofThe Life and Adventures of Santa Clausprovides answers to these and other pressing questions from the 3- to 8-year-old set. As in Baum's book, the quiet, moderately paced video steers clear of Christian references, focusing instead on wood nymphs, pixies, and magic. A wizardly fairy named Ak (voiced by Hal Holbrook, who also narrates the tale) helps the young Nicholas (Robby Benson) understand human misery and charges him with the task of serving mankind. Nicholas's talent for charming little children and brightening the lives of the poor--and poor at heart--soon turns into a lifelong career. Baum's imaginative scenario involves many bumps along the way; most unusual is a fight between good and evil (here demonstrated by a group of naughty thugs who curiously resemble rock Pokémon). Lush, realistic backgrounds of misty forests and blustery, snow-laden towns contrast surprisingly with roughly drawn characters, detracting from the film's overall quality. But a pleasing Celtic score and a strong message of hope, giving, and caring easily outweigh this minor flaw. Puppet animators Rankin and Bass did a shorter version of the same story in the '80s.--Liane Thomas』
IPhone 3G used's review (If only my son would look at the screen...) 『My 4.5 month old got these when he was 3 months. He will not look at the screen for very long when I play these videos. After about 5 minutes he is bored. The entire premise is based on your child Looking at the words. There is not any background music or bright colors, as there is in the Baby Einstein videos. My son can't get enough of those. I'll keep trying periodically, though. Maybe when he's older he will pay attention to the screen.』
(Instant amassment with my 21 month old.) 『Very Impressed!!! My son started watching the videos a little later than the other reviews mentioned, but it didn't make a difference with us. My son saw Baby Einstein when he was 8 months old and was very bored with them. I was very skeptical to try another video, but my husband insisted we try them. My son was 18 months old when we first tried Dr. Titzer's videos. He loves them. He can reed about 75 words and is only 21 months old. It only increased his love for books. I am amazed.』
(Incredibly effective) 『I was an early reader (I learned off of shows like the Electric Company when I was three) and it gave me an enormous advantage in school. I wanted to provide the same head start to my daughter, so we started her on books, flash cards, educational videos, and alphabet-oriented toys early. She learned her letters at around 12-13 months, was very verbal, and loved being read to from the beginning, so I thought we might be able to get her reading quickly.
I first tried Glenn Doman's approach in "How to Teach Your Baby to Read" - make gigantic flash cards of a few common words and show them to baby several times a day. She eventually learned those 15 words, but it took months and she kind of got bored with it. I did, however, take to heart Doman's assertion that reading, like speaking, is actually easier to teach to a very young child than to an older child.
Around the time of her second birthday, we got Dr. Titzer's videos. They were an immediate hit. Unlike some learn-to-read materials, they are geared to a toddler. The images and sounds are gentle, with lots of animals doing interesting things. Within a few months, she could read most of the words on the video, and recognize them in other contexts, such as when we encountered them in books.
I was skeptical of inclusion of words like "chimpanzee" but now I understand the reason. Dr. Titzer explains on the video that very young children cannot simply be taught phonics components of words and then be expected to put them together to read. Rather, first they learn lots of words, and gradually they understand the phonics patterns and can sound out unfamiliar words. Thus it is important to expose them to lots of different words - short, long, with different vowel and consonant patterns. I knew we were on to something when I noticed her trying to puzzle out things in her books based on these patterns - for instance, when she saw the word "dinosaur" and thought it was "delicious." As she got more proficient, she made fewer of these mistakes.
She'll be three in a couple of weeks, and while she's not quite fluent, she's definitely a reader, considerably above the "Cat in the Hat" level. It's absolutely amazing to see her choose her own picture books in the library, bring them home, and read them by herself. She still prefers when we read them to her, and we do, but we also encourage her to sound out new words as we read to her, which she greatly enjoys doing.
She still loves the videos, but we strictly limit TV time so she doesn't watch them very often. These weren't the only tools we used (a set of Jane Belk Moncure's "Word Bird" books obtained on eBay was also vital), but they were extremely effective.』
(My Twins LOVE these videos!) 『My twin boys started watching these videos when they were 14 months old. They are now 21 months old. They love them. Whenever they are fussy or fighting I put in one of these videos and they become quiet and then involved in the videos. They have learned so many words! Their vocabulary seems so much larger than their peers. They still love the Baby Einstein videos, but these promote active involvement. I just wish that they were on DVD when I purchased them!』
IPhone 3G used's review (Perfect for our needs) 『We decided to buy a video baby monitor as our little guy is a difficult sleeper. In "training" him to sleep we found we were constantly going in while we were supposed to be "letting him cry" because we would think of many reasons why he was crying- has he lost his soother? is his arm stuck in the rails? etc. We have had this monitor for almost 6 months now and it has been great. we were amazed when we first hooked it up with how well you could see when the room itself was pitch dark. in the daylight you can see color and in the dark it is black and white which is fine as we just were wanting to see what he was doing/if he was ok. the sound is a bit staticky but i wouldn't use it anyway as we can hear our son just fine when he cries. all of our phones are 2.4GHz and the only time they interfere with the monitor is when you are actually on them. i have noticed when the microwave is on the monitor gets a bit distorted. my husband acutally broke our monitor a couple weeks ago and it has been too hard to be without it that we just bought a new one! It is perfect for my mohter-in-law too as she used to always go into his room to "check on him" and wake him up and now can just look at the monitor if she is worried.』
(Why it's your best option.) 『After six months of using the 4ucam ... it's clear to me that it was the best thing to buy. I'm not saying that it's the best quality product but it does more than everything that you want and at a reasonable price. Yes the sound quality is poor but sound is not that important. Here's what I mean.
First, forget about sound only monitors ... they're useless after your baby starts waking up without crying. But more importantly, you want to see her wake up and get to her before she start to cry. Why would you want your baby to cry every time she finishes a nap. .. or leave her alone in the dark until she starts to cry. 4ucam has great night vision.. excellent.
The screen is relatively big compared to other monitors but it's still too small to easily see her stir and about to wake. We connect the monitor to our TV using the adapter. We love watching her sleep while we read or surf on our laptops. We can easily see her start to wake up on our large TV screen ... and we're there to greet her the moment she rises. Priceless.
Rechargeable battery is a must because we have the monitor on every time she naps and most of every evening.
And yes, the touch sensitive light switch is cr#p but not a big deal. Takes a few extra seconds to get the light on or off. The same stem used to switch on the light holds the camera and is flexible and comes with a good clamp... this turned out to be surprisingly useful whether she sleeps in the crib or on our bed. You can direct the camera to her face really easily and makes watching the baby sleep that much nicer.
And finally the camera is decorative (duh!) and looks better than anything else on the market.』
(good for video) 『Love the video quality, but the audio get so much interference starting at about 15 feet away. Put a wall or two in between and you can't hear anything but static. The night video is awesome and It is easily clipped anywhere. Over all I am happy with this product.』
