New Videos for Summer Fun and Learning This month, Nick Jr. joins DCMP's Accessible Television Portal with described and captioned shows your preschoolers are sure to love, like Blaze and the Monster Machines, Dino Dan, Dora the Explorer, PAW Patrol, Peter Rabbit, Tickety Toc, and Wally Kazam! Teens and preteens will enjoy browsing through dozens of episodes of National Geographic's Wild Chronicles, where host Boyd Matson connects kids to the pulse of the planet, reporting on those who are exploring the Earth, solving its scientific mysteries, and advocating for its protection.  Teachers are loving our Science Video Vocab and Social Studies Video Vocab series. Each program is designed to reinforce and support students' comprehension and retention of these terms through use of video footage, photographs, diagrams, graphics, and labels. Viewers will experience the terms used in a variety of contexts, providing a model for how to use the words appropriately.  Rounding out our new titles for June, Human Relations Media brings to DCMP important topics for middle school and high school students, including as Making the Most of Middle School, When You Feel Left Out, What's Up with E-Cigarettes, You Are In Charge of Your Body, My Best Me: All About Self-Esteem, Nutrition Myths and Facts, and Caution: Teenager Under Construction.

Summer Sign Language Learning and Practice Signs of Development: The DCMP provides many media resources for educational sign language interpreters, including dozens of interactive CD-ROM titles from Signs of Development. Over the course of the past several months, some members have reported having a problem when trying to access these titles. Our technical team identified the issue as one that occurs when old software meets new technology. The videos included in the content from the producer were formatted in such a way that modern web browsers displayed the videos inconsistently, and sometimes not at all. Rather than lose these valuable resources, DCMP's IT used technical wizardry to “refurbish” these titles in an effort to make them function properly with modern web browsers. You will still need the Flash plugin, available at https://get2.adobe.com/flashplayer/. This is an experiment—we’re not certain that our efforts will fix the issues you were having. Please email us and let us know if it works for you. If it doesn't, please give us a few details and that may help us further ‘patch’ these titles to work in more environments. So far, so good, members report! You can email us at support@dcmp.com. Hundreds More Titles: Over 200 titles for learning and practicing sign language are available for your use! Beginning learners can Meet the Bravo Family, who teach the typical signs for a morning routine, and then are ready to teach much more in the award winning Beginning ASL Videocourse of 16 videos. Browse our catalog under Sign Language and be introduced to so much more!

Parents: Avoid Your Child’s Summertime Learning Loss The Summer Slide is not a new attraction at the water park; it’s a term to describe the documented slip in children’s academic skills over the summer months. The good news? Studies also show that parents can help their kids keep this slide to a minimum during this time by engaging them in activities to promote learning. This engagement of children, according to the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), can also lead to higher graduation rates, teach them new skills, allow them to develop previously unseen talents, and foster their creative potential. DCMP helps parents develop opportunities for education and enrichment through interesting video experiences. For example, summer reading is one of the best antidotes to the summer slide. But also check out all the wonderful new series in different subject areas that DCMP has to offer you over the summer!

Fathers’ Day Quick Hits Fathering: What It Means To Be A Dad.  Being a father is a lifetime commitment that requires a lot of love, time, and energy. An interview with fathering expert Steve Onell is paired with interviews of young fathers to explain the impact and importance of a father in a child's life. Offers sound advice to new dads.  Life With Father.  This classic film, based on a book by Clarence Day, is fun viewing for older children and their families. It is both an affectionate account of a New York City family in the 1880’s and a lightly satirical study of a supremely self-satisfied man who sees himself as king in his castle. In a broad sense, the work is a study of the concept of the Victorian head-of-family.   My Father The Luo.  A film about finding one's identity. The main character is Roma Ndolo, a young woman who grew up in Germany with parents from Poland and Kenya. She had always longed to find out more about her "African side", so she travels to her late father's homeland. While there, she recognizes the parallels between her own life and that of President Barack Obama. Each of their fathers were from the Luo tribe and Obama's half-sister is Roma's family friend. The Red Pony.  Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara star as a turn-of-century farming couple. Their 10-year-old son is a rebellious lad constantly at odds with a father who seems distant and uncommunicative. The catalyst for the ultimate reconciliation of father and son is the magnificent (but foredoomed) red pony that the boy raises. Based on the book by John Steinbeck.

Parent Alert: Make Eye Exams Part of the Back to School Routine The New York Times reported that a group of ophthalmologists conducted 2,400 vision screenings in three New York City schools with shocking results. Nearly one-fifth of the kids had 20/40 vision (which means street signs and chalk boards are blurry) or worse. Many of the kids knew they could not see the board, but hadn’t thought to ask for a checkup because their vision had deteriorated gradually. Parents should watch for warning signs (like complaints of headaches, or a child being routinely tired or irritable at the end of the day), because often if a child is not specifically asked if he or she has trouble seeing the board or reading fine print, problems will go undiagnosed.   Pass on the word about this serious problem in America, and remember that the DCMP has resources to help:   The Eye.  The eye gathers light information and transforms it into a signal that is used by the brain to formulate an appropriate response. How does this process work? What are the structures involved, and what do they do?   Take Care Of Your Eyes! (Spanish)  Explores how eyes work and how eyes help us understand the world. Explains how safe behaviors and healthy habits can prevent illness and injury to eyes. Discusses what to expect from an eye examination and other eye tests. Talks about how visually impaired children walk with a white cane and read Braille   The Living Body: Eyes And Ears.  Devotes to the senses that bring information of more distant events. The camera shows a reckless driver careening down a road and then takes the viewer inside his eye, where the image of the potential crash site is pictured. The camera enters the ear, showing how the linked bones vibrate in response to a sound, and by using a computer graphic sequence, it shows how the eye focuses on an image.