Learn how to help your kids: Changing Brains DVD review & GIVEAWAY!

Recently I was contacted by Tara Armstrong from the Brain Development Lab at the University of Oregon. She told me about a new DVD that the Director of the lab, Dr. Helen J. Neville produced to give caregivers/parents/teachers an insight to the effect that children's experiences have on the development of their brain. Seeing that we are in the beginning of our journey, I was very intrigued with what the DVD had to offer.

 

I thought it might be a little too "educational" or boring, but that really isn't the case. It is separated into nine segments and an introduction. Each of them lasts about 5-10 minutes, and were short enough to keep my attention, informative enough to keep me interested, and very understandable with plenty of examples and reviews. I started by just going straight through, but after the first two segments I was really interested in jumping ahead to the emotions section, so I started bouncing back and forth.

What interested me wasn't necessarily the facts or figures, for me it was learning why my kids act the way they do, how they came about that, how it could change, and what I could do to improve their lives. And it was even more important to me since everything on that DVD was not only supported by facts, but they supplied me with places to check the facts and learn even more.

I remember when my first was very young, still under three months even. I looked at my husband, and I will never forget saying to him "we haven't done ANYTHING wrong yet. We haven't yelled, we haven't hurt his feelings, we haven't hurt him in any way." And while this was true, after watching the DVD I realized there were things I could have done MORE of, especially with my second. There are things I could still do. Brains don't stop developing until people are in their 20's. There is still time. We can still make our children's lives better if we have the tools to do so, if we have the knowledge of HOW and why what we are doing will help or hurt them. One of the quotes from the DVD that stuck out to me most was "Children's brains are the most changeable", well, I want to make sure I am changing it for the better, each and every day.

From reinforcing lessons on why kids should wear helmets, to suggestions on ways to improve their vocabulary, learning, emotions, and more this DVD kept me interested the whole way through.

The goal of the Brain Development Lab at the University of Oregon is to make the resource available to those who can best use and benefit from this. As a matter of fact...this is why it was made into a DVD rather than a book. Dr. Neville realized the people that would purchase the book were the same ones that would read all those scientific journals and studies anyway. She wanted to get parents, caregivers, and teachers to see it.

SEE IT! Experience the discoveries yourself at www.changingbrains.org

OWN IT! I am lucky enough to be able to give a copy of the DVD to one of my lucky readers. View it yourself, have the kids grandparents/nanny/siblings watch it. Give it to their teachers for a unique end-of-year or holiday gift. Save it for your next kid. Believe me, this is information you want, you can use, and that you will benefit from!

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(The DVD was sent to me free of charge from The University of Oregon Brain Lab to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed are my true opinion, and are no way influenced by the giveaway. No monetary compensation was given.)

THIS GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 11:59 PM MDT ON 3/12/2010. WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND! Open to U.S

Good Luck and Have fun!!!