Welcome to the first installment of the ZRecs Hall of Shame, where we pit two unusual kids' product ideas against one another and ask you, our readers, to decide which one is more deserving of inclusion. Below, find the best case we can make for each product's failing. Then set our jabbering aside and vote your conscience in the comments to this post. Commentary is welcome, but please make sure to state your vote clearly as the opener to your comment, for easy tallying. Voting closes at noon on Sunday, September 30.
We'll be selecting a few voters at random to take their pick from a selection of DVDs, books, and random stuff from the ZRecs product library. Winners will be notified directly if they include an email address; if you don't include one, make sure you check our "Claim Your Prize!" on Monday, October 1.
The "winning" product will be permanently enshrined in the ZRecs Hall of Shame. We don't yet know exactly what that means, but you'll be the first to find out when we do!
Exhibit A: The Teddy Bear Your Child Will Love To Hate
The pitch: "Time-Out Teddy lets kids know when time's up! Plush bear not only measures a child’s 'time-out' if they’ve misbehaved, but also aids in teaching youngsters the concept of time. Timer on the teddy’s tummy can be set in increments up to 60 minutes, and when the time’s up, a buzzer rings to let everyone know!"
Our take: Let's all just let that sink in for... oh, say, SIXTY MINUTES. We aren't going to take a position on "time outs" here, so let's just look at the feasibility and psychological issues attached to this particular little friend. Feeling sad about being in time out? Don't get too cozy with that teddy, or you might be tempted to turn the dial on the timer and make your "up to 60 minutes" of punishment "disappear"! You won't tell, teddy... will you?
Available from Harriet Carter for about $20.
Exhibit B: Make Reading A Chore In 5... 4... 3...
The pitch: "Record daily reading minutes at the touch of a button! Colorful digital bookmark with timer/alarm accumulates or counts down minutes to accurately track reading times... Parents and teachers from across the country confirm that the Mark My Time Digital Bookmark is the best and easiest way to monitor reading time and keep kids excited about reading so they'll want to read more."
Our take: Astronauts, New Year's revelers, and PBS execs have known for years that there's nothing more fun than a countdown, but clock-punching adults know there's nothing less relevant to real achievement than measuring challenging tasks in terms of the hours and minutes spent performing them. What better way to "iron out" the confusing ups and downs of reading with the comforting conformity of digital time-tracking? This timer is the perfect antidote to all those "Reading is Fun" posters your kids see in school.
Available at Amazon.com for about $9. [Website]
So, fair reader, what think you? Which of these products deserves the ultimate virtual punishment? Cast your vote in the comments, and you'll be entered for a chance to win a goody of your choice from our goody bag! Remember to include your email address if you'd like to be entered for a prize and won't remember to check back in on the blog on Oct. 1.
Results from our last poll are now in! We asked readers which of our product demo videos - Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets, the Diaper Valet, or the Kaboost - was the worst of the videos we've made. A full 62% of respondents were kind and said that all three of our efforts so far were functional, if not pretty. Another 25% of you thought our Mr. McGroovy's video was the worst, 6% said they were all so bad it was hard to pick just one, and another 6% admitted to being blind and loving them all dearly. Thanks for voting, folks!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
ZRecs Hall of Shame: Time Bandits
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33 comments:
I will go with the Digital bookmark as my "Hall of Shame" vote...
Both are pretty awful ideas, but maybe you could redeem the bear by letting him count down the time left for your cookies to come out of the oven or something... just ignore the "time out" on his foot.
I'm voting for the teddy as the hall of shame...
It would be so bad if it didn't say "Time's Up! Time Out!" on the feet.
I can see the bookmark being useful to countdown bedtime reading. "We can read for X minutes and then it's time to go to sleep!" rather than "You have to read for half an hour." Of course, a regular timer would work just as well for any uses you can dream up for these items...
I vote for the teddy...but both are pretty crazy
Ugh, that teddy is the worst! It has my vote.
Our library has a summer reading program where if the kids read 10 hours during the summer (not much, I know) then they get a free book at the end of the summer. The kids get a sheet of paper with 60 little pictures and they are supposed to color one little picture for every 10 minutes they read. So I could see the bookmark being used for something like this, though clearly a wall clock or kitchen timer would do the trick much cheaper (if you already have those items).
My vote is for the digital bookmark. I don't like anything that makes reading seem like a chore!
The bear is AWFUL!
Who gives a child young enough for a time out bear a time out of 60 minutes?!
Craziness.
time out teddy is the worst! and why is he smiling?
I vote for time out teddy as the hall of shamer. A time out teddy?! This is a crazy, ridiculous idea. Most kids are very upset when getting a time out and the kids who act out when they're angry...well, I see them throwing this teddy around or potentially ripping it to shreds by throwing or stomping on it. Lame idea.
Time-out Teddy
The bear is cute, but really...time-out is a consequence they shouldn't have a bear to play with PLUS who wants to carry a huge bear with you everywhere?
I think that they are both pretty bad but I would have to vote for the time out Teddy. What a way to confuse your kid by having a teddy bear punish them.
I vote for the Teddy. The bookmark could be useful to an adult for keeping track of time when they (like me) don't wear a watch.
The Teddy however with those terrible words on its feet might just give me nightmares.
My vote is for the Teddy.
I actually have used or seen the product used. First, I bought the reading timers at Costco last year when my kids had to read 20 minutes a day for homework. Honestly they were not that easy to work and so they become clunky bookmarks but at least they were somewhat useful. As for the bear, I noticed that my sister-in-law's kid was carrying around this bear during our vacation in August. It appeared to just be a bear that he likes but it had nothing to do with Time Outs part of the product! Seriously thought, who wants to cuddle with a bear that has hard plastic protruding from their tummy and sounds like a time bomb??!!
I definitely vote for the bear. At best, it's a confusing message. At worst, it's a 60-minute time out!!! Yikes...
I'm going to have to go with the bookmark, against the tide as usual.
I'm lucky enough to have a 2nd grader who loves to read, and a toddler who loves to listen to books being read to him.
I can't imagine what would take away the joy of reading for a child more than timing them for compliance. Ugghh.
My vote is for the teddy. My feeling is that if you're giving out so many timeouts that you feel the need to buy special "timeout" stuff, maybe they aren't working. I also hate "timeout spot" mats and those hand painted timeout chairs I've seen at craft shows.
I'd say the digital bookmark is worse. It's catering to teachers that require x number of minutes reading per day/week etc. I can see that it has a purpose in that sense but I don't agree with the logic behind these requirments.
My vote goes to the bookmark. You should be teaching your kids to read for enjoyment.
Ugh! i think that time out teddy is terrible!!! Especially since it goes to 60 minutes. What ever happened to the suggestion of one minute per year of age?
The book mark is a better option and could have multiple applications, but as a child who hated reading...I think it would have been very distracting.
Last week I heard a suggestion for timing musical instrument practicing which was to light a candle at the start of practice. The longer and more frequently the child practices the more the candle burns. When the candle is finished and is too short to keep burning the child gets a reward. Why not apply it to reading too? (of course not too close to the books) :)
I vote for the bookmark
If you're timing the reading, say for 10 minutes(especially with a nifty gizmo), my guess is that the kid is going to be watching the nifty gizmo for 10 minutes without much reading.
(ok, the bear is awful too. but my gut says the bookmark is worse)
I vote for (er, against?) the bear. What a confusing message. "Here, a fun bear to punish you! Now be good and don't touch him!"
My e-mail: jg at jennaglatzer.com
Teddy gets my vote.
60 minutes is ridiculous. I agree with other posters that the bear could be used for other things if it didn't have the messages on the feet!
I vote for the teddy to go in the hall of shame. Time out shouldn't look like "fun" and who needs a timer that goes to 60 minutes?
Plus, even though I think timing reading can make it "unfun" some kids have to time their reading for school, or they already think it's not fun to read and parents/teachers are trying to increase fluency by requiring a certain amount of reading. This might be not the greatest, but it's still better than a time out bear!
I've got to go with Inappropriate Teddy on this one, as we have (and use) the bookmark. My 10 year old has been required by her school to keep track of her reading minutes since KINDERGARTEN, and is assigned a certain number of minutes per week. This device ended the "when did I start reading again?" "NOW how many minutes left?" nightmare at our house. Yes, it has an air of big-brother-is-keeping-track-of-your-reading, but it is useful for us.
Definitely the teddy bear!
I could see some possible uses of the bookmarks, but as stated many different ways by others...the teddy bear is bad.
The teddy gets my vote. I can't imagine having a toy that can be loved being used as part of a punishment (I say punishment since many parents don't use Time-out properly) on top of the suggestion it gives in letting a child sit for an HOUR! Ugh. That's too much for me.
the teddy bear gets my "hall of shame" vote. the digital timer is almost as awful but at least you could use it for something else. who thinks of these things?
My vote goes to the time-out teddy bear. I can see the bookmark being used for children with ADD who may lose track of time when reading, doing homework, etc. But the bear...a cute, snuggly, possibly useful toy gone wrong. It even says time out on it. Yea! Time out...let's celebrate!
My vote goes to the Time Out Teddy, it just seems "wrong"
Put down the bookmark...
I'm a Language Arts teacher and that bookmark horrifies me! Counting down some things is great fun, but counting down reading time is a terrible idea. I know my students, if given the opportunity, would stare at the clock counting down. Why do that to kids?? And if a child thinks reading is that bad, he or she needs help finding better books, not counting down the "punishment" of reading.
Its the bear hands, er, paws down. "The Teddy Bear Your Child Will Love To Hate" says it all. And a 60 minute time out would likely be the end of the bear.
As a teacher... I would say the bookmark. I agree that it would turn reading into a chore instead of an enjoyable experience. Maybe buy the timer to use for timeout instead of using the teddy bear.
shin.christina@gmail.com
I'm not a teacher but I disagree with the other Christina. The digital bookmark could be repurposed for some other countdown-appropriate activity, but that bear is just lame and easily made ineffective. As you noted, it could just as easily teach the concept of how you turn timers to make them end faster as it could teach the concept of time.
I must say that my daughter (4th grade)asked for and LOVES the reading timer!!! I never knew they existed, yet, less than six months after buying it for her, I just bought a new battery for it. For the past couple of years at least in school she's had to keep a log of minutes read; this helps her do it. She likes to be very precise, and this tool is great for that too. Perhaps it's not offensive to impose a timing log on reading if you're a teacher and if the kids are old enough; Z is clearly too young for that and should just learn to love reading even if it only means flipping the pages and looking at pictures at this point! A timer such as this is certainly NOT suitable for such an age!! I agree that there is no better way to squash the love of sitting down with a good book...if you're under 7 perhaps. My daughters all started with these reading logs that count minutes in the secong grade. None of them mind, but I can certainly see that they would have HATED reading if they were 3 or 4 and I was monitoring their book time in such a manner.
The time-out teddy on the other hand...I can see only one pro as a veteran parent...this is a great tool to keep your house from being overrun by stuffed animals. By the age of six each child will have accumulated at least 500 of these cute little space takers. Each of them will be important and have a name and a history. If you try to sneak any out of the house (in the trash or for donation), it will haunt you; your child will look for, cry for it, need it...even if s/he hasn't touched it in the three years prior to its leaving!!! My thought is that if you use this time-out teddy early on, your child will learn to hate all stuffed animals and your future space-saving troubles will be solved before they begin!!! Oh, wait, another thought...get Time-Out Teddy for yourself; you would NEVER consequence your child for 60 minutes, but if dad's home to rule the roost, mom might just be able to manage such a time-out in the bath-tub or in her bed with a good book and a glass of wine (does the idea of reading while on a sixty minute time out with the timer teddy present a conflict of interest regarding the reading timer???)!
My final vote...Time-Out Teddy NEVER (disgusting and scary); Reading Timer-awesome when used in an age appropriate situation; it gives kids autonomy when teacher says to track their reading (no more, "mom, what time is it?")!!!
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