Archives for September 2, 2014

The Republic of Cuba is comprised of many islands in the Caribbean spanning hundreds of miles, but in less than 30 minutes you can take it all in thanks to Worlds Together Cuba, the newest title in the DVD series from Master Communications, landing on DVD September 9, 2014, just in time for National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15, 2014).

Worlds Together Cuba takes you on a whirlwind tour of the intriguing nation known as the Pearl of the Antilles.The country includes the main island of Cuba, the Isla de le Juventud, several archipelagos and over 4000 smaller islands and islets. Its economy is comprised mostly of agriculture, with an abundance of sugar plantations, tobacco farms, maize fields, mangoes, pineapples, coffee and rice.  Cuba has many wonderful theatres, museums and churches throughout its beautiful cities, including the capital city of Havana, one of the oldest in the Americas. The country provides free education for its citizens from kindergarten through University and free day care for children seven and under.  You’ll learn all this and so much more … and you won’t even need your passport!

Also available Sept. 9 in the Worlds Together series are Ecuador, which provides an overview of one of South America’s most diverse countries, and Colombia, which takes you throughout the beautiful and fascinating country, from the colonial jewel of Cartegena to the backstreets of Bogota and through the sprawling Amazonas region. Viewers can choose either a Spanish or an English track for these three new releases..

The Worlds Together series originated out of the travels of photographer/songwriter Elmer Hawkes.  The series visits some of the most remote places on Earth, examining topics ranging from history and culture to sports and cuisine and giving viewers an up close and personal introduction to cultures quite different from their own.  Each title introduces facts about the various climates, languages, religions, wildlife, architecture, agriculture, ethnicities and more. Other titles in this series include West Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia and Tibet.

Each 25-minute World Together DVD title includes a teacher’s guide with more detailed information about the country, quizzes and more. For more information and to purchase these and other Master Communication titles, call 1-800-765-5885 or visit www.master-comm.com.

I received a DVD to review and I love how educational the DVD is! My son loves geography and learning about other cultures so this is a great addition to our homeschooling resources.  I like that it also includes a Teacher’s Guide and that there are other titles in the series.

Self Disclosure: I received a free DVD to facilitate this feature but any opinions expressed are truthful.

 Over 3.5 million children start kindergarten each year. With the 2014/2015 school year these numbers will increase and new kindergarteners exhibiting signs of anxiety approaching the start of the school year can look to the new children’s book Stewie Boomstein Starts School to help ease the transition from a fearful experience to an exciting adventure ahead.

Author, and mother, Christine Bronstein (daughter of Borders Books founder and wife to journalist Phil Bronstein) successfully founded her own social network (A Band of Women) and publishing company specializing in female authors (Nothingbutthetruth.com), yet she was not aware how important a child’s transition into school was until her middle son had a rough start entering kindergarten.  Educating herself on the transition, Christine learned from the experts that in order for children to feel safe and secure in their learning environment, they needed to be equipped with information. Parents have the same needs. For seamless, successful transitions to occur, children and their families need to know what is going to happen and how it is going to happen. A smooth transition into school sets the stage for a child’s long-term relationship with education.  Christine shares what she learned along a bumpy path so that other parents don’t have to learn the hard way.

The 48-page book is divided into two parts. It has an engaging children’s story about Stewie Boomstein—a loud, sometimes cranky, funny boy—who has a very bad day at school and how he and his family overcome his problem. It is aimed for ages 3-6. The end of the book contains a parent tips section The parent tips section includes simple, concrete tips for parents wanting to smooth their child’s transition into school.  The tips are drawn from interviews with two renowned child and education specialists.

Stewie Boomstein Starts School is aimed to help parents and children smooth the transition into school and  launched on August 5th, 2014.

I received this book to review and the story is delightful. Young children ages 3-6 will love the story about Stewie Boomstein. Parents will love the great parent tips section. This is a Must-Read for parents who have children starting school this school year! 

Self Disclosure: I received a free book to facilitate this feature.