Educational Media Reviews Online

This tape, as part of the Planet Parent series on parenting, simply tries to cover too much information in a short period of time (4 segments in 30 minutes). In an attempt to appeal to the general public, this tape reminds me more of a cable television show than a means of providing sound information on parenting.

The first segment, which covers gifted children, provides the most valuable information on the tape. Even at that, the segment doesn’t go into great depth. While the psychologist featured here does discuss such things as the signs to look for when determining if a child is gifted and defining forms of giftedness, it is done without going into much detail. Also covered is the role of the school system as well as the parent in noticing and nurturing giftedness, but doesn’t expand on the topics. The remainder of the video consists of “fluff” pieces. In the second segment, a single mom talks about her feelings toward post-divorce dating. “Man on the Street” interviews are conducted with men, who discuss their ideas toward dating a single mother. Next, we see the single mother getting ready for a date, followed by watching her on the actual date. (They went bowling.) Issues such as how long after a divorce should one consider dating, or what to tell the kids, are not addressed here.

For the third segment, the series host introduces a woman who presents to the audience several new products to aid in breastfeeding. This segment especially resembles something seen on daytime TV. Again, issues such as how to decide if breastfeeding is right for you or how to incorporate it into a busy life are not examined. In the fourth segment, we meet a couple that is going through the process of toilet training their two year old. While they discuss matters such as the challenges and obstacles that toilet training presents, there is no feedback from child psychologists regarding when to know if a child is ready for toilet training or if the gender of the child will play a role in the process.

This video is definitely designed for use in a public library. Funds in a library budget for collection development must be used extremely wisely and every penny spent must be worth the purchase. I believe it would be more advantageous to seek out a video that devotes its’ time to exploring each of these issues separately. This video barely scratches the surface at best, and the caliber of the information presented can be found in an afternoon of channel surfing.