When it comes to child-rearing, maybe, just maybe, the parameters of protracted preparation have reached their limit.
While the thought of a pregnant woman reading a bedtime story to her swollen belly seems ever so endearing, the flipside - images of frenzied parents scrawling calculus equations on their toddler's Etch A Sketch - is somehow slightly less romantic.
It is in opposition to these latter, nightmarish visions of well-meaning, if overbearing, parents that Johnny Dagnen and Sam Reich-Dagnen created "Braincandy," a children's DVD series that encourages kids age 4 and younger to "learn how to engage their five senses to explore, experiment and discover new things about their world - and themselves."
According to them, unlike many other children's DVDs on the market, "Braincandy" isn't interested in drilling facts into the heads of impressionable youngsters.
Instead, the emphasis is on active learning, fun and the proven-but-sometimes-forgotten importance of parents simply spending more time with their child.
The opportunity for 'Braincandy'
The idea for Braincandy began following the birth of the Mount Baker couple's twins, daughter Blaise and son Logan, now 4.
Like many new parents, they soon received gifts and advice from friends and family, all of which was designed to enrich their children's developing young minds; by the standards of most, including the Dagnens', a worthwhile endeavor.
But for them, there was too strong an emphasis placed on mechanical learning and memorization.
"What we really quickly realized was that it seemed like the whole culture was sort of bearing down on us, in terms of this hype around making kids smarter and the competitive nature that comes along with that," Reich-Dagnen said.
Though both worked at Microsoft at the time, both also had backgrounds in filmmaking, and they began researching the market and developing their idea about two years ago around their initial discoveries.
"We just felt like there was an opportunity to create a product that was really different, that took away some of that pressure and that hype, and instead focused on parents worrying less and playing more with their kids," Reich-Dagnen said.
Thus, "Braincandy" was born.
Using the five senses
The 40-minute DVD includes skits starring "real" kids interacting with "sense" puppets that resemble the different sensory organs of the human body and 3D animations that explain the way the senses function set to "kid-friendly music of various genres from around the world."
The Dagnens funded the entire project themselves, quitting their jobs and focusing solely on Braincandy.
Now, after being on the market locally for about a year, "Braincandy" will be launched nationwide by THINKFilm on July 15, with more titles to follow later in the year.
Jude LaRene and Jennifer Schneewis, owners of Izilla Toys store in Madison Valley, were among the first to take a chance on "Braincandy." LaRene said that although their store didn't carry DVDs at the time they were approached by Braincandy, they decided to give the movie a spot on the shelves because of its unique approach to learning.
The customer response, he said, was amazing.
"'Braincandy' is very thoughtful," LaRene said. "It's a little edgier than most other children's videos in the sense that it's not so saccharin, but in a good way. 'Braincandy' is very real because it shows kids being goofy, silly and loving - doing what real kids do."
Which is exactly what the brain trusts at Braincandy had envisioned when they developed their product: videos that encourage children to interact with the sounds and imagery and connect with the characters they see on the screen, with sensory perception acting as the facilitator of that interaction.
"We developed the series of titles around the idea that kids don't just learn by rote memorization," Reich-Dagnen said. "They learn by experience, and so we wanted to create content that helped children learn about themselves as they learned about the world. We thought that the five senses was the perfect opportunity to do that because that's really the basis for that cognitive knowledge in those really early stages."
Lisa Lucas, who watched the DVD with her 3-year-old daughter Taylor, agrees.
"'Braincandy' was a good opening for how to teach kids about the five senses," she said. "I liked how the video introduced the topic, but left some things open-ended. It sparked questions and conversation for my daughter, letting us as parents jump in and take it from there."
A foundation for learning
Now, in the wake of the introductory DVD's success, Braincandy plans to follow through with its initial plan and expand the series in the months and years to come.
"We conceived the company around the development of the whole child," Reich-Dagnen said. "We just really felt that focusing our energies on this cognitive series, taking a broad look at the five senses and then following up with five titles that focused in on each one of those senses in a more in-depth way, would create a good foundation for that kind of learning."
Chad Schuster may be reached at editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
