Increase of Technology Leads to New Teaching Methods

It comes as no surprise that more children are sitting in front of the television. It used to be Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Sesame Street, and Reading Rainbow providing us hours of enjoyment. However, now only one in four so called "educationaal" shows actually have even the minimum amount of educational value. In fact, only one in EIGHT have high educational value! You can read more on the study of educational television here.

One of my children's FAVORITE educational show creators has a KickStarter program that ends on Saturday and she is SO blasted close to meeting the goal to being able to finish her series!! I have NOT been compensated for this post. It is all my opinions and information that I have been given by the company to help finish with a bang.

Rachel is the producer of Signing Time that can be seen on Netflix & Nick Jr (or you can be like me and actually purchase the DVDs). Rachel's daughter, Leah, was born deaf and Rachel worked with her sister, Emilie, to help Rachel communicate with her cousin, Alex. It became obvious that others had the desire to communicate with their children, even if they weren't deaf. Signing Time was born and has blossomed in helping children learn American Sign Language.

So, if Signing Time is so popular, then why is a new program needed? Because the educational value of shows are decreasing, and screen time for children is increasing. TreeSchoolers is a new type of show that is family-funded!

Rachel has created TreeSchoolers that is designed to reach preschoolers preparing for Kindergarten. Through the use of signs, games, dance, and songs, your child(ren) will learn in a layered manner. Rachel uses the CORI Method (wonder, ask, learn, and share) to teach the children how something is done. She decided to use KickStarter because she did not agree that her show was too educational. In fact, there are five episodes that were fully funded by families in less than 30 days, but multiple studios turned down the pilot episode.


Here is a link to the other episodes: Ep. 2: Plants & Flowers Ep. 3: Incredible Insects Ep 4: (preview) My Amazing Body. Here is the direct link to the KickStarter campaign: http://kck.st/1kiEkps

So, real quick, what do parents benefit from if they choose to back this program?

• Decide which shows get made
• Get involved in filming: 270+ children filmed so far
• Interact with Rachel (Skype calls, postcards, pizza parties, concerts) 

As of this moment, Rachel has raised nearly $142,712 of her $200,000 goal and she has less than 2 days to go (the kickstarter ends THIS Saturday, June 14 at 10:00 p.m. MST). Can you help? Do you agree that children need more education in the shows that are on television? Do you want to have some say? Let's help her finish this off! The minimum pledge is only $1! Every dollar helps.