http://www.readtv.com/blog/ Read-TV's Blog en leah@readtv.com Copyright 2013 2013-04-12T05:37:38+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/i-love-when-we-play/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/i-love-when-we-play/#When:04:37:38Z I Love When We Play is almost complete! Save 30% if you pre-order your DVD's. We will ship in mid-June. I Love When We Play is almost complete! Save 30% if you pre-order before May 3rd. We will ship in mid-June. If you like the I Love When.... series - you'll love this soon to be released addition. I Love When We Play teaches parents how best to encourage and support play-based learning. As we know, free-play is crucial for healthy childhood development and play helps children succeed and thrive throughout life. Parents of children from birth to age eight will learn why play based activities are taking place in the classroom and learn how to support and encourage play in the home I Love When 2013-04-12T04:37:38+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/bc-hydro-blog/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/bc-hydro-blog/#When:05:17:13Z What an amazing summer it has been working with BC Hydro to create the BC Hydro Heber River Diversion documentaries and timelapse...What an amazing summer it has been working with BC Hydro to create the BC Hydro Heber River Diversion documentaries and timelapse. We set up two timelapse cameras at the Heber River Diversion site, traveled to the site once a week to charge the remote power system for the timelapse cameras, downloaded the images, and captured further footage and interviews. In total we collected 250,000 photos over period of three months. Tight data management was crucial for this project. Our programmer created scripts which took the individual photos and stitched the individual photos together as movies. Tremain Media had three camera people contributing to the documentaries, a remote location power specialist for for the timelapse cameras, a data manager / computer programmer, a motion graphic designer, an editor, a sound designer and a director. You can find the two of the three pieces here: http://www.readtv.com/about/productions/bc-hydro-heber/ Update: Hydro released the last of the three videos to 200,000 people through their blog, email list and newsletters. You can find the short promo of the project here on Uncategorized 2012-12-03T05:17:13+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/teachings-from-the-half-boy/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/teachings-from-the-half-boy/#When:02:30:23Z Two years later “Teachings of the Half Boy: A Cultural Homecoming” is in our hands. We are in the midst of a launch of the production. There is singing drumming and...My Reflections on the Making of Teachings of the Half Boy Two years ago, Donna Miller arrived in Campbell River. We met – one rainy, winter evening by the hearth at Painter’s Lodge. I showed her the educational videos I created and we brainstormed about what we might be able to do together. For decades Donna has been working with aboriginal communities, the Vancouver Island Health Authority and school districts in support of aboriginal children and families. This is the same direction she wanted to go with a video production. And so her tireless work of raising funds began. Donna Miller, Rotary Club of Royal Oak Centennial Fast forward two years - and the DVD, “Teachings of the Half Boy: A Cultural Homecoming” is in our hands. We are in the midst of a launch of the production. There is singing, drumming and accolades for the journey we have all undertaken. Each organization that was involved is glowing with excitement and anticipation of where "Teachings of the Half Boy" might go. As I watched the production on the big screen in the beautiful First People’s House - which sits at the heart of University of Victoria – I was unable to hold back tears. I was so grateful to be here at this point. "The Doors Open." The doors into First People's House, University of Victoria The making of any production – if done with intention and love – is a journey of the heart. For me it is the marshalling of many energies for one specific result. With interviews it is encouragement and a pulling forth of another. With editing it becomes creative listening and a following or mining of a path or the message as it unfolds. As we enter post-production it is the gentle guiding of the team. At the Launch For a production like this I had to lock myself away with six hours of interviews. Each interview is each individual’s heart song - and I had to listen to that song - oh so carefully. My first cut was 45 minutes long – double what the final cut would become. It started with the heaviness of residential school, racism and suicide and travelled with those people that have reclaimed their identity and their health through culture. It ended on a call to action, a call of hope. I sent the first edit out. This is the most nervous I’ve ever been waiting for feedback and approvals. This turned out to be a very serious piece – a piece with bottom and depth. Would the clients accept that this has shifted from a simplified message – to one much more complex, nuanced and serious? Barb Cowan, ED of Surrounded by Cedar and Kendra Gage, ED, Hulitan Family and Community Service Society - two of the key partners I breathed a sigh of relief – the complexity and seriousness was allowed to stand - in fact, it was embraced. And again I fast forward and return to the launch. I sit in First People’s House. I see community members, Minister Ida Chong, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Chiefs, Keepers of Stories and Songs, singers, drummer, representatives of various organizations. Community after community – many of them intertwined – take ownership of the final piece. I sit quietly. Communities and individuals have embraced this Teachings from the Half Boy. Wholeheartedly. And for this I am grateful. Minister Ida Chong, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation This production will not fade away with its launch – it will be buoyed by this energy. It is this investment of feeling and purpose that holds this content now. I held it for a brief time and now it is in the hands of others. This launch helped me reflect on the building of Teachings from the Half Boy - alone, but with others, in community but also locked away. This launch, and other people's passion showed me it is this new energy, this investment, this celebration of "Teachings from the Half Boy: A Cultural Homecoming" that will give it further life. I helped raise something and now, during the launch, I realized that it is no longer of me - and perhaps it never was. It reminds me of Kahil Gibran’s poem on children – this production - partly - may have come through me - but is not of me. Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. .... It is through productions like these that I can truly feel I am of service. My deepest gratitude to Donna Miller for ushering this forward and for believing that this was something we could accomplish. And to Bob Ennis, who went above and beyond the role of camera person - bringing situations, people, film from other projects and perfect locations. It was like having a second set of eyes and a whole bunch more guts and energy with Bob on board. Uncategorized 2012-12-03T02:30:23+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/rotary-the-rotarian-and-i-love-when-we-count/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/rotary-the-rotarian-and-i-love-when-we-count/#When:15:59:24Z The Rotarian, a magazine that is delivered to every Rotary member in Canada and the United States, featured the DVD, "I Love When We Count." Very exciting news indeed! The Rotarian, a magazine that is delivered to every Rotary member in Canada and the United States, featured the DVD, "I Love When We Count." Very exciting news indeed! Here's how your Rotary club can get involved: Numeracy is Literacy Get involved in the exciting Rotary literacy project, “I Love When We Count.” By providing educational content in a DVD format we can share literacy information with those that need it most, those with low-literacy. How You Can Be Involved Rotary Clubs organize initiatives where the DVD is given to families for free. The President of Rotary International 2007/2008, Wilfred J. Wilkinson, provides a message to parents as a DVD special feature. Families receive a gift of literacy and are reminded of your commitment and participation in literacy initiatives. We will pool all Rotary Zone 22 orders together to get the lowest possible bulk rate. We are aiming for a bulk rate of $3.50 per DVD. Math is Everywhere “I Love When We Count” emphasizes family numeracy learning as a part of a child’s everyday world. It will help parents integrate and highlight math activities in daily life. “I Love When We Count” is for families with children ages 0-6. Give the Gift of Literacy “I Love When We Count” is an affordable and deeply impactful literacy service project. Over 55,000 families have received “I Love When You Read” and “I Love When We Count” DVD’s for free. Let’s share these gifts of literacy even further. Please call or email me, Leah Tremain, for more information I Love When 2012-05-04T15:59:24+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/busy-times/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/busy-times/#When:02:25:20Z It's been a busy time for us. We've expanded what we do. Tremain Media creates products for the educational market and sold over 68,000 of our educational DVD's. We found that, over time, there was a demand for the quality of our products outside the rigors of education. People appreciated...First of all a big thank-you to Toronto Public Library for your purchase of I Love When We Talk. We're proud that the full catalog of our educational DVD's are available to borrow from TPL. It's been awhile since we posted - it's been a busy time for us. We've expanded what we do. Tremain Media creates products for the educational market and we sold over 68,000 of our educational DVD's. We found that, over time, there was a demand for the quality of our products outside the rigors of education. People appreciated the brains we brought to any endeavor - so we slowly started expanding. Tremain Media is now a full service media company. We still create intellectual property that we own and sell but we now create work for other organizations, firms and clients as well. We highlight some of our most recent work here - but to sum it up - we work in any medium from paper to light. Today we delivered 300 beautiful books to Laichwiltach Family Life Society, we got our hands on a publication that commissioned photographs taken by Tremain Media, and we continued our work in a First Nations language preservation project. We are truly honored to be working with the people and teams that have called on us to help them. It's exciting to be diving into new subject areas with those people that know those areas the best. Contact us about any project you have in mind and let's see what we can make happen. Uncategorized 2012-02-28T02:25:20+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/i-love-when-we-talk-featured-in-strongstart-bc-centres/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/i-love-when-we-talk-featured-in-strongstart-bc-centres/#When:21:02:32Z I Love When We Talk included as a resource at all StrongStart BC Centres through 2010 LegaciesNow... I Love When We Talk In All StrongStart BC Centres The early-literacy, early-language DVD, I Love When We Talk, was given to StrongStart BC Centres across the province as part of professional development workshops for StrongStart BC facilitators. 2010 Legacies Now provided the DVD's and partnered with British Columbia's Ministry of Education to provide the training. StrongStart Workshops a Success Workshops have just finished up and the Fiona Morrison, Director of Early Learning at 2010 Legacies Now, and StrongStart BC workshop leader, was pleased with the results. "There was a lot of idea sharing, networking and mentoring that took place at these workshops. The StrongStart facilitators really shone a light on how they engage, interact and educate families and children in their StrongStart BC Centres." Over 400 I Love When We Talk DVD's Distributed Fiona Morrison made sure that each StrongStart BC facilitator received a copy of the DVD, I Love When We Talk. "I'm a big fan of the I Love When... series. I Love When You Read and I Love When We Count are in most StrongStart Centres so I was quite pleased to include I Love When We Talk as part of the resource package for facilitators." Twelve regional sessions were held throughout British Columbia and over 400 I Love When We Talk DVD's were distributed. Fiona's Favourite Chapter StrongStart BC facilitators discussed how the educational DVD can be used in their StrongStart BC centres. Fiona also used the DVD to spark discussion. Fiona says, "my favourite chapter of I Love When We Talk is called: The Importance of your Home Language. I co-developed the iPals (Immigrant Parents As Literacy Supporters) program and know of how important it is for parents to speak their home language to their young children. "There is a mistaken assumption that parents should try to speak English as much as possible but that assumption has been proven wrong by research. The literacy skills a child learns when hearing and participating in their first language run deep. It also deepens their sense of self and their sense of their culture." The Importance of Your Home Language is a DVD extra feature in I Love When We Talk. Fiona shared the chapter as a tool to engage the facilitators in discussion and as a way to remind them to share this information and the DVD to their StrongStart BC families. Conversation Between Children and Caregivers is a Cornerstone of Literacy "Speech and language between children and their caregivers is a cornerstone of literacy. I appreciate that we have another tool that reinforces this for parents," Fiona concluded. I Love When 2010-11-29T21:02:32+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/winnipeg-public-library/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/winnipeg-public-library/#When:17:16:19Z The I Love When...series becomes a part of Winnipeg Library's Early Literacy Kits. We're proud to be a part of your literacy strategy. I Love When We Talk, I Love When You Read and I Love When We Count are now a part of Winnipeg Library's Early Childhood Literacy Kits! Thank-you Winnipeg Library - we're very proud to be a part of your literacy strategy. I Love When 2010-10-20T17:16:19+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/hamilton-wentworth-district-school-board-adopts-literacy-dvds/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/hamilton-wentworth-district-school-board-adopts-literacy-dvds/#When:17:37:36Z DVD's from the I Love When We... series are arriving at Parenting and Family Literacy Centres across Ontario. Most recently, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) included Tremain Media's literacy, numeracy and language DVD's in all six of their Parenting and Family Literacy Centres.DVD's from the I Love When We... series are arriving at Parenting and Family Literacy Centres across Ontario. Most recently, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) included Tremain Media's literacy, numeracy and language DVD's in all six of their Parenting and Family Literacy Centres. Parenting and Family Literacy Centres are school-based programs for parents and their children, aged birth to six years of age that operate during the school day. The parent/caregiver stays with the child at all times. These programs help to prepare children for school and encourage families to be part of their children’s learning. Program Facilitators work as partners with the Kindergarten teachers and local community programs, collaborating to create a welcoming learning environment that will help prepare children for school. Centres are free to attend and no pre-registration is required. Drop by any of Hamilton-Wentworth's six Parenting and Family Literacy Centres where you will be able to borrow: I Love When We Count, I Love When You Read, I Love When We Talk or Read-TV. Thank-you HWDSB! We are proud to be a part of your early-learning programs. 2010-08-11T17:37:36+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/bc-association-of-speech-language-pathologists-and-audiologists/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/bc-association-of-speech-language-pathologists-and-audiologists/#When:23:31:43Z Thank-you to the BC Association of Speech / Language Pathologists and Audiologists (BCASLPA). It was wonderful to have you on board as a sponsor for I Love When We TalkThank-you to the BC Association of Speech / Language Pathologists and Audiologists (BCASLPA). It was wonderful to have you on board as a sponsor for I Love When We Talk. Also, thank-you for featuring I Love When We Talk in your montly newsletter "Vibrations." BCASLPA is a non profit association which supports over 1000 speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and supportive personnel in BC. I Love When 2010-08-10T23:31:43+00:00 http://www.readtv.com/blog/grass-roots-press/ http://www.readtv.com/blog/grass-roots-press/#When:22:51:30Z Tremain Media is proud to have Grass Roots Press as a distributor for the I Love When We... series. Tremain Media is proud to have Grass Roots Press as a distributor for the I Love When We... literacy and numeracy series. Grass Roots Press has been publishing and distributing literacy materials to over 4000 individuals and organizations across North American since 1997. The company was founded on the belief that the best resources are those developed by literacy educators. A special thank-you to Dr. Pat Campbell and the Grass Roots Press team. You are a pleasure to work with. Thank-you for distributing over 400 copies of I Love When You Read, I Love When We Count and I Love When We Talk DVD's to libraries, schools and literacy initiatives across North America. Here is a quote from one of their many happy customers: “We love sharing I Love When You Read with our families during our Calgary Reads at Home program. It is accessible and communicates a clear and critical message.” Steacy Collyer Co-Executive Director Calgary Reads I Love When 2010-08-10T22:51:30+00:00