Hip Hop Album Made Exclusively For Kids

With an album cover containing characters reminiscent of the animation in "The Boondocks," this thoroughly enjoyable children's hip-hop album was created by a former teacher and a group of hip-hop industry professionals, as a vehicle to share positive messages with kids through rap music.

MeeWee: Hip-Hop for Kids features a collection of 14 energetic and uplifting songs that have been tested extensively (with overwhelmingly positive responses) in elementary schools and among students from kindergarten to sixth grade.

MeeWee bridges the gap between "urban" entertainment and children's entertainment, creating music that is crosses the traditional lines of pop culture and is accessible to a broad age range.

The album opens with the fantastic and fast-paced "MeeWee Chant." Songs such as "Jumping Jacks," and "Kung Foo Kid" encourage guided movement with their lyrics and fast beats. Were it not for the lyrics, listeners could not distinguish "Planet Brooklyn" or "Extra Cheese" from some of today's Hip-Hop and R & B favorites. "So Much Love to Give," "Sounds Like Music," and "I Need a Hug" (My personal favorite!) give a nod to R&B and Hip-Hop trends in the 60s, 80s, and 90s, respectively.

I personally found "Us Bus," "Me and My Guitar," and "Keyvo" to be somewhat grating departures from Hip-Hop. But what those songs lacked was far made up for in the two most melodic and touching tracks:"I Can Do Anything" (featuring Divinity Roxx), and "Driftee McCloud."

MeeWee:Hip-Hop for Kids was the brainstorm of Daniel Klein and Perry Landesberg.

Landesberg is co-producer of The Lyricist Lounge CD series and creator of MTV's "Lyricist Lounge" TV Show. (Please note: "Lyricist Lounge" is a little like "In Loving Color" with rap and rhyme, and is not appropriate for young children.) His past projects have involved artists such as De La Soul, Black-Eyed Peas, The Roots, Erykah Badu, and Mos Def.

Meewee's album features Divinity (long-time collaborator and bassist for Beyonce Knowles), Keith Middleton (of STOMP), and Michael Viera (star of MTV's "Lyricist Lounge" show.)

In conjunction with the album's release, MeeWee is offering free downloads for teachers, camp counselors, and dance instructors through their website. Use the songs for guided movement, or to encourage children to create their own raps, rhymes, and dances.

The album is available for purchase through online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic. For samples of MeeWee music, information about the MeeWee characters, and MeeWee merchandise, visit http://www.meewee.com/.

Involving Kids in Cleaning the House

Summer has arrived, and your home is probably paying the price in kid-sized messes. (How do such small creatures create such big messes?) You can get kids involved in cleaning using these fun tips from The Maids Home Services:

• Don't expect kids to use adult tools to clean. Instead, create supplies in their size. Use an ice-cream pail for a mop bucket, or shorten the handle of a mop or broom to make it kid-sized.

• Fill a squirt gun from a solution of a gallon of water and drop of dish soap (Ivory works especially well for avoiding streaks). Let kids squirt windows and mirrors and wipe dry with paper towels or crumpled newsprint.

• Cover kids' hands and arms with old athletic socks, then squirt them until lightly damp with a solution of vinegar and water. Then send them off to dust around the house.

• Got a pile of blocks, cars, or action figures strewn across the floor? Scoop up toys in a few swoops using a kid-sized rake, and they are in a pile for easy pickup.

• Make cleaning a game. Give young children grill tongs and challenge them to pick up toys and put them in a toy box or bin using only the utensils. Keep score of the toys they pick up and see who wins.

• Play fun music to help your kids get their groove on as they boogie through their chores.

Remember, children's cleaning may not be as "perfect" as yours, but their skills will improve with patience and practice.

Surrogate to Carry Baby to Save Toddler's Life

(Please Note: This is NOT one of those forwarded e-mails about a child with a dying wish to receive a million birthday cards or what-have-you. This sprang forth from an actual press release from an actual newswire service.)

Hailey Kent, 23 months old and born with a twin brother from a surrogate mother, has a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. She has had chemotherapy and a mis-matched cord blood transplant in an effort to save her life.

If relapse occurs (There is a 75 % chance it will occur.), then her only chance of survival is 100% matching umbilical cord blood from a sibling.

The Surrogacy community has rallied together to carry another child for the Kents. Surrogacy Options, LLC, is coordinating the effort and a benefit fund has been established.

With support from the owners of Surrogate Mothers Online and All About Surrogacy, Surrogacy Options, LLC, posted a request for someone to consider being a gestational carrier for the Kents. Twenty women stepped forward and offered to carry for the Kents with no compensation.

Misti, a Texas mother of three, was chose to be the Kent's surrogate.

The agency is hoping for donations from pharmaceutical companies, airlines, and hotels.

The Hailey Kent Benefit Fund has been established at Wells Fargo Bank in Simi Valley, California. Donations are needed so Misti (the surrogate mother) can begin the journey to bring another beloved baby to the Kent family -- the sibling who could save Hailey.

What do you think? About surrogacy? About saving cord blood? About having a child for the sole purpose of saving another? Is it ethical? What if the child conceived is not a 100% match for Hailey? Do the Kents keep seeking surrogates until they find a match for Hailey?

Music Transforms Lives

In the previous blog, you read about Music in Motions' history and product line. It seems that their products would be excellent for parents who are homeschooling or unschooling their children, as well as for additional enrichment at home for those who choose public or private education.

Ms. Stewart, founder of Music in Motion, suggests a few stories about music's transforming power. Although I have not seen them, the story lines are interesting and inspiring. I am not reviewing anything I have not seen -- this list is strictly informational. If you have seen them, feel free to share your thoughts below.

Some images may be too graphic for young children -- please use discretion and preview clips before sharing the stories with your child.

"Breaking the Silence" tells the story of Afghani musicians regaining their musical freedom from the Taliban, who had prohibited all music and destroyed instruments.

"The Journey of the Butterfly" prompted Ms. Stewart to create the Butterfly Award in memory of the 15,000 children who died in the Terezin concentration camp during the Holocaust. This choral work is based on poems of the children, who had kept their spirits up with music, art, and poetry.

"Song of Survival" is a documentary about women who spent 3 years imprisoned in Sumatra. They arranged orchestral and piano works of Beethoven, Chopin, et al, from memory. Their "symphony of human voices" sustained them.

"The Dancing Man" tells of tap legend "Peg Leg" Bates, who was a world-renowned tap dancer despite having a wooden leg and living in a bad time to be black in America.

Music in Motion

Although funding for arts education continues to decline in America's school districts, the Dallas-based company Music in Motion strives to keep music (and love for music) in schools.

Music in Motion is a music education and gift catalog. Music teacher Mary Ann Stewart founded the company in 1976, from her garage, as a mail-order resource for music and movement teachers and for musicians.

Music in Motion gives out a "Butterfly Award," which is a program designed to encourage schools and organizations "to develop exceptional music programs which help transform the lives of children or adults with special needs."

Music in Motion has more than 5,000 music education products distributed worldwide. The wide range of products includes games, books, videos, "ethnic" instruments, classroom instruments, software and gifts.

According to Ms. Stewart,

"Music is essential to every child's development -- physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Music transcends all barriers of culture, language, and race. My hope is that Music in Motion will inspire parents, teachers, and students to recognize the power of music to transform lives."

For more information, or to request a free catalog, call 1-800-445-0649 or visit the website.

Summer Blockbuster Collectibles

Planning on enjoying any of this summer's blockbuster movies with your kids? Then you are probably also preparing for the inevitable requests for character-based toys and accessories.

AllAboardToys.com is adding to its already full array of themed toys and accessories for kids of all ages to include products from this summer's action movies, including Speed Racer, Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, and Batman: The Dark Knight.

Ty Simpson, CEO of AllAboardToys, plans to continue carrying "all of these movie-themed products through their release to home video and beyond, when consumers often have trouble finding their favorite character products."

AllAboardToys recently merged with Ty's Toy Box, forming the largest independent toy for licensed character merchandise available online.

In addition to this summer's movie toy line, the site offers extensive products based on popular characters, such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Disney Cars, Backyardigans, Sesame Street, and the Disney Princess line. Products range from birthday party supplies and costumes to toys, clothing, bedding, and children's decorative items.

Educate or Die

The self-stated goal of Educate or Die, a new website designed as a way to help the youth of "Black America" stay in touch with their dreams and aspirations, is to provide an outlet for students and young professionals to take their education to a whole new level."

The site contains a "Did You Know" section with facts that change with every click. For example, did you know that Silas B. Purnell, working from a small office in the basement of a Chicago housing project, enrolled 55,000 black students in college?

The website also includes profiles of "Star Students" and information on their summer events, as well as links to other helpful sites.

Educate or Die is sponsored by the Black Star Project, a father involvement program.

www.educateordie.org