What is Brainfood Learning
(The Fascinating World of Insects DVD) ?
Brainfood Learning was started by a husband and wife team, Bryce (Ph. D.) and Jennifer (M. Ed) Mooney. They have 2 small children and as they looked for educating entertainment, they felt as though they had no luck. In turn, they began the "The Fascinating World of ..." video series.
This series currently contains the following:
The Fascinating World of Mammals
The Fascinating World of Insects
and
The Fascinating World of Birds
As stated on their website (www.brainfoodlearning.com), the creators of the "The Fascinating World of ..." video series can benefit children of all ages. They have been given positive feedback from a range of ages, all the way from 2-13.
This series was created in order to provide entertainment for children and to educate them at the same time. Their main goal is to capture the attention of children and when doing so, teach them a great variety of words and concepts. The videos show the creatures in their natural habitats.
On the lower end of the age pool, toddlers and preschoolers are captured by the vivid pictures of insects in their natural habitats and eventhough they may not be able to truly understand all of the definitions given, they are still given the opportunity to hear the names of the insects. My oldest son is super close to being 7 and several times he would randomly tell me facts about insects and could vividly describe what he saw in the videos. For us, the above statement has been very true. My 7,5, and 3 year old have been positively influenced by this video.
Our particular video covered mosquitos, ants, rhino beetles, honey bees, butterflies, preying mantis and much more.
What We Received and How We Used It:
We received the DVD of the Fascinating World of Insects and a free download of lesson plans to correspond with our video.
My children do the majority of their movie watching while we are on the go. Our car has a DVD system and often they end up watching "junk" movies, as I call them. You know the ones that are entertaining for them, but provide little to no educating material. Fortunately, the Fascinating World of Insects provided both. I would love to tell you the number of times we have popped this video in on a car ride, but somewhere between 15 and 20, I lost count. My boys have truly enjoyed watching and learning by way of this video. And what a relief for me. In the words of my Daddy, it was like "killing two birds with one stone". My children were entertained and educated in one car ride.
Several times I could here the words "rhino beetle" and "ant" and "mosquito" being said over and over. Several times thorughout the video, the viewers are quizzed - they were answering the questions. And at the end of them answering, I would hear "Yessssss". Talk about my Mommy Score moment - they were excited about learning and I love moments like that.
Another bonus was this review came at the perfect time of year: late spring/early summer time. Bugs are out and about and this video would set my children out for exploration. Although our summer was not "official" school, we are in a constant state of learning. This video was perfect for our insect study during the month of June.
My children do the majority of their movie watching while we are on the go. Our car has a DVD system and often they end up watching "junk" movies, as I call them. You know the ones that are entertaining for them, but provide little to no educating material. Fortunately, the Fascinating World of Insects provided both. I would love to tell you the number of times we have popped this video in on a car ride, but somewhere between 15 and 20, I lost count. My boys have truly enjoyed watching and learning by way of this video. And what a relief for me. In the words of my Daddy, it was like "killing two birds with one stone". My children were entertained and educated in one car ride.
Several times I could here the words "rhino beetle" and "ant" and "mosquito" being said over and over. Several times thorughout the video, the viewers are quizzed - they were answering the questions. And at the end of them answering, I would hear "Yessssss". Talk about my Mommy Score moment - they were excited about learning and I love moments like that.
Another bonus was this review came at the perfect time of year: late spring/early summer time. Bugs are out and about and this video would set my children out for exploration. Although our summer was not "official" school, we are in a constant state of learning. This video was perfect for our insect study during the month of June.
My Opinion:
If you can't tell already, we loved this video. I feel like I should let my children write the review since they were really the ones to use this video. I asked them their opinion and this is what I got:
"My favorite part was the ants. Did you know they don't have any ears? They have those antennae things instead."
Kollin (Age 6)
"I liked the preying mantis. It has these front legs that strike out. And they eat little birds, snakes and frogs. They are so cool."
Kolt (Age 5)
"I liked the ants. They climbed all over the trees."
Kruz (Age 3)
Their opinion matters just as much as mine does, so I thought sharing their thoughts would give insight to how much we enjoyed this video and obviously how much they learned.
I plan to purchase the other videos in this series to keep with us in the car. Educating while entertaining is a ginormous bonus in my book and this video did just that.
Thank you to the Mooney Family for providing an adventure filled video for my children to enjoy for many years to come!
"My favorite part was the ants. Did you know they don't have any ears? They have those antennae things instead."
Kollin (Age 6)
"I liked the preying mantis. It has these front legs that strike out. And they eat little birds, snakes and frogs. They are so cool."
Kolt (Age 5)
"I liked the ants. They climbed all over the trees."
Kruz (Age 3)
Their opinion matters just as much as mine does, so I thought sharing their thoughts would give insight to how much we enjoyed this video and obviously how much they learned.
I plan to purchase the other videos in this series to keep with us in the car. Educating while entertaining is a ginormous bonus in my book and this video did just that.
Thank you to the Mooney Family for providing an adventure filled video for my children to enjoy for many years to come!
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Price: $14.99
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