I just found out about Infant Swimming Resource.  I watched this video and my chest tightened as my eyes welled up with tears.  The 11 month old baby in the video is an ISR student, so he has the skills to survive if he ever finds himself in an unfortunate situation, like the one in the video.  While I watched, I thought about my own 10 month old.  I pictured her falling into a pool or lake.  She wouldn’t have the skills to be able to survive.  That thought is extremely hard for me to handle.  I’m planning to enroll her in Infant Swimming Resource lessons at a local facility.

I recently had an eye-opening conversation with Dr. Harvey Barnett, founder of Infant Swimming Resource.  He founded the program in 1966 when he was 18 years old and ever since, along with his team of professional ISR swim instructors, has been teaching infants from 6 months to children up to 6 years old, the skill of surviving in the water.

Have a listen to our conversation.  You will learn some excellent tips to help you while you’re at the beach, lake or pool.

Conversation with Dr. Harvey Barnett – Infant Swimming Resource

These 7 Water Safety Tips have been provided by Infant Swimming Resource:

7 Water Safety Tips:

CEO (Constant Eyes-On) Supervision – Never turn your back on your child around water. It takes just seconds for him/her to be in serious trouble. Assign supervision responsibilities so there are never questions about which adult is responsible for watching the child.

Safeguard Your Pool – Build layers of defense around the pool. Permanent four-sided fencing that encloses the entire pool area should be four to six feet high and equipped with self-closing, self-latching gates.

Put Toys Away – Remove all toys from the pool when they are not in use. These colorful objects can be very attractive to little eyes. This also includes furniture and other objects in the pool area that children might use to climb over the fence.

Eliminate Distractions – The leading cause of distractions around the pool is an adult leaving to answer the phone, attend to something inside the home or helping someone else in or around the water. If you must leave, take the child/children with you.

Teach Water Safety – Learn and enforce all the water rules and, above all, teach by your example — never swim alone, obey lifeguard warnings, refrain from running around pool decks, follow ‘no diving’ signs, and always wear a life jacket when boating, fishing or playing in or near deep or fast-moving water.

Flotation Device Dangers – Flotation devices such as armbands, floatation rings and inflatable toys give parents and children a false sense of security. These devices can shift suddenly, deflate or slip from underneath, leaving a child in a very dangerous situation.

Self-Rescue Swimming Lessons – Do your research in selecting an effective swimming program. Choose a program that will teach your child the skills to survive in the water. Self-Rescue skills are vital for infants and young children if they were to end up in the water alone. Instructors should have current CPR and first aid certification. Confirm that the instructor is certified to teach survival swimming skills.

Find a certified ISR Instructor in your area (the Instructor Locator is located on the left-hand side of the site).

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National Geographic is a name that I’ve known and trusted since I was kid. We always turned to our National Geographic magazines for school projects. I have done much research and have cut out many animals from these publications.  It was always so cool to me to have access to information about other places, people and animals, among other things, right at my finger tips.

That being said, when I learned about the release of the Nat Geo Kids Almanac 2010, I was pretty ecstatic.  I have a very curious preschooler and instantly knew this would make a great addition to her bookshelf.

This hard cover almanac is vibrant and full of facts and photos of far off lands and of things right in our own backyard.  It is history and present-day information at our finger tips.  I’m fixing to sit and read this almanac from cover to cover with my preschooler.  There are so many things to explore and this almanac provides a kid-friendly way to do it.

We are taking a family vacation to The Dominican Republic in just over three months and have spent some time explaining to our four year old that we’ll be traveling to another country.  I was able to refer to our Nat Geo Kids Almanac to point out to her where exactly The Dominican Republic is located and talk to her a little bit about the geography of the country.

This almanac is chalk-full of details about planets, all the way down to what happens inside of the earth.

Totally loving this book and highly recommending you pick up a copy of it.

National Geographic Kids has teamed up with New Media Strategies to give away one (1) copy of their 2010 Kids Almanac to one ParentSphere reader (MSRP $19.95).

To enter this giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post with your favorite National Geographic learning as a kid (or as an adult).  We encourage you to get your kids involved!  Are you traveling (or want to travel) somewhere in the coming months?  Use the National Geographic Kids website as an excellent resource.  Leave your feedback in your entry comment.

Tweet this post for an additional entry.  Just leave an additional comment on this post including the link to your Tweet.

We’ll choose a winner at random on Friday, February 26th and notify by email.  We’ll also update this post with the winner’s first name and comment number.

*We would also recommend considering a subscription to National Geographic Kids magazine for your child(ren) (10 issues for $15).  We have one and it’s the bees knees.

Additional resources, follow NatGeoKids on Twitter.  Become a fan on Facebook.

*Make sure to come back and visit in the coming months, as I’ll be posting information about travel preparations for the coming vacation season!

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Our winner has been notified via email

I’ve “played” with enough LeapFrog toys over the past three years to tell you my honest opinion of this brand.  I think they make phenomenal products.  Any LeapFrog product that we have owned has more than exceeded my expectations for children’s toys.  They have been made with quality craftsmanship and I love that as my little girl grows, there is a LeapFrog product that she can grow into, year after year.

We are entertaining the LeapFrog Leapster2 right now but the next gaming handheld (for school-aged kids, 1st through 4th) is the LeapFrog DIDJ (ages 6-10).  What do I love so much about LeapFrog’s handhelds?  They make educational games for them!  Fun and education, hand-in-hand.  As a parent, I like the ring of that.

We’re giving away a DIDJ gaming handheld system of the winner’s choice, along with these three games:

The brand new Hannah Montana custom-learning game (8-11 yrs), the brand new Indiana Jones custom-learning game (7-10 yrs) and the brand new Nicktoons Android Invasion custom-learning game (7-10 yrs).

To enter: LeapFrog’s Learning Path is an online experience that lets you see and shape your child’s learning.  Include the answer to the following Learning Path question in your entry form:

“What are the three steps of LeapFrog’s Learning Path?”

(Hint: Click HERE)

Fill out the giveaway entry form below and click “SUBMIT”.  If you have successfully entered, you should get an auto email response (Check your spam folder).

A winner will be chosen at random and emailed the day after the giveaway closes.  Last day to enter is Friday, December 12, 2008 at midnight PST.  Be sure to check your SPAM folder so you don’t miss the email notification.  This post will also be updated with the winner’s name and blog/website (if provided).

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*Take me back to the Holiday Giveaway Guide so I can enter more giveaways!
*Hosting a giveaway or posting a gift guide at your site? Make sure you list it HERE
*Do you “Twitter“? We’d just adore you if you would “Tweet” about this giveaway!

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That was my best pirate imitation, like it?

What better way to kick off a slew of Fall / Halloween posts and giveaways than by offering up VeggieTales prizes!  We love these little veggies around our house and we’re giving you a chance to have them hang around yours too.

Set Sail for Adventure!
This year’s big screen hit comes to DVD! Join the comic misadventures of a boatload of Veggie pals who reluctantly set sail for adventure and discover what it really means to be a hero! The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything is coming to DVD October 14th!

You can visit these links to download FREE Fun tools such as Buddy Icons & Desktop Wallpaper:

http://bigidea.com/other/piradvd_fun.aspx
http://bigidea.com/products/shows/shows_content.aspx?pid=684

And now, for the PRIZES!

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• Copy of the new DVD

• Sticker Pack

• Inflatable Sword

• Movie Poster

(Grand Prize MSRP: $41.95)

Four (4) Runners up will receive:

• Copy of the new DVD (MSRP: $29.99)

To enter this giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post (comment section is located underneath the post).

In your entry comment, let us know what your favorite “veggie” is.  Is it carrots?  Celery?  Maybe you like peas? (Gross).  You can enter even if you are not a blogger.  One grand prize winner will be chosen (not base on comment) and four runners-up will also be chosen randomly.  This giveaway ends on Monday, November 3rd.   Winners will be notified via email on the morning of Nov. 4th (check your spam folder!) and will also be listed on this post.

Guess what – MumsTheWurd has the SAME giveaway running!  Head over THERE and double your chances of winning.   ; )

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*Update: Congratulations to Melinda S., our winner of the “As I Grow” DVD series!

The As I Grow series is a great set of developmental learning DVD’s that you can use as early as you bring home your newborn.  We used them with our daughter.  No need to go out and buy a new DVD when your baby passes that newborn stage, as this educational series consists of six discs that you use according to their development stage (click on each link to get a sneak peak of the disc stage): up to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months, 9 to 12 months, 12 to 15 months and 15 to 18 months.

We have a set of the As I Grow DVDs to giveaway.  To enter, head over to the Egghead Learning Systems website and grab the answer the following question:

“At what age can babies see almost as clearly and as far as adults? “

Hint: click here.  Come back, fill out the form below including your answer to the above question and click “Submit”.  Voila.  You’ve entered to win.  This giveaway ends on Friday, September 19th.  The winner will be notified via email the morning of the 20th (check your spam folder!) and we will update this post after the winner has been chosen.

*Other ParentSphere contests:

Ju-Ju-Be BeLight bag – ends 9/12/08
My First Shades – ends 9/17/08

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It’s out on the shelves now and Tag! You’re it! It’s time to head out to your nearest LeapFrog product retailer and pick up this brand new, sensational reading tool…for the kids of the next generation.

I’m still amazed at how far technology has come even in the past five or so years. I sit and watch my toddler run this over-sized pen along a sentence in the accompanying book and it actually READS the story to her. She taps a word on a page and the pen SAYS the word. Pretty fantastic, in my opinion.

The Tag is quite easy to set up and use. Load the software onto your computer (disc included/Mac and PC compatible), connect the Tag to your computer via USB (cord provided) and follow a few simple instructions to load the books onto the pen-like reading device. The Ozzie and Mack book (our favorite) comes with your Tag. You can also connect the Tag to your computer and use it online at LeapFrog’s Learning Path.

“The Tag Reading System is the first handheld learn-to-read technology that interacts directly with real books. Audio for the stories, as well as the fun-filled games and activities spread throughout the pages, offers early readers an entirely new and captivating reading experience. By simply touching the Tag reader anywhere on any page of a Tag-enabled book, children can bring their favorite stories to life, easily skipping from page to page or book to book.“

So, we’re totally digging this new product and highly recommend picking one up for your kiddo or purchasing one as a gift for someone. The Tag retails around $50 dollars and can be found at most major retailers that carry LeapFrog products. Additional accessories for the reading system, like books, retail around $14/ea. There are quite a few books in the LeapFrog library to choose from right now. I can’t wait to pick up more!

PS: I highly recommend checking out the live Tag Demo by clicking HERE and scrolling down the left-side of the page to “Try the Tag Demo”.

My toddler, Hailey, using Tag on her new Tag Cars “Tractor Tipping” book:

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Star 50 Handbags has graciously offered to donate 5% of all sales from the Louisiana Market Sac to the Make it Right Foundation (MIR9).

For those of you who are not familiar with the MIR9 project and foundation, here is a summary:

• “Make It Right” was created by Brad Pitt in December of 2006.
• The foundation is inspired by the courage and hope of the residents of the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans.The initial goal is to construct 150 eco-friendly homes on 14 square blocks of New Orleans Lower 9th Ward using sustainable materials that are healthy for families and the environment.
• The concept of “The Pink Project” is to reflect the progress of the rebuild in real time.
• The individual pink “components” or “volumes” lay at the site and are assembled as progress is made. When enough donations have been raised to cover one house, 3-4 “volumes” are pieced together to show a placeholder for a house.
• The ultimate goal of the Make It Right project is to build these eco-friendly homes throughout New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
• As of Sunday, February 17, 2008, the money for 78 of the 150 houses has been donated and over 3/4 of the funds for the 79th house have been raised.

I fully encourage you to head over to the Make It Right website and check out the full details of this project. I spent a good four hours or so clicking through the site the other day and familiarizing myself with what is going on down there. I’m actually in contact with the folks at MIR9 to possibly set up a “Team House“, so that when you donate, you can donate through our house and show your support in re-building this devastated area of New Orleans.

Here are some details regarding making donations:

• You can make cash donations or donations of products and/or services.

• You can purchase items for the Donation House (from $5 for faucet aerators to $150,000 for the entire house)
• You can purchase merchandise and the all proceeds will be applied toward building new Make It Right homes
• Donations are tax-deductible

Kudos goes to Star 50 Handbags for supporting this fantastic cause!

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