June 03, 2010
Use sparingly!
My friends from Brazil came to visit last month. They brought me the most delicious chocolates I have ever tasted from Cacau Show. The bag announced in Portuguese: "Chocolate is magical. It opens smiles, it translates desires, it joins people, it brings the joy of energy." One could say the same things about Discovery Toys!
June 02, 2010
Bill Gates talks to Bill Gates, Sr. @ 92Y
Tonight, at the 92nd Street Y, Bill Gates was in conversation with his dad, Bill Gates, Sr. He asked him to share with other parents his thoughts about having a bright child. The father led off by saying, "You had a really great mother." He added that the curious thing in this country is that the quality and the impact of parenting has an enormous impact on where we go in our lives. Information on how to do it seems to be lacking. One of the most important things in your life is how your kids are doing or how they've done. Later, Bill Gates added that his parents shared with him things they cared about, made him feel worthy and never sugar-coated things. That helped him have no hesitation as a young man about selling Microsoft ideas to people 20-30 years older than him. "Doing Microsoft didn't seem like that big of a deal," he said.
A question from the audience was about Malcolm Gladwell's theory that the years 1953-1955 were the perfect years to be born for those interested in microprocessing. (That many of Silicon Valley’s giants were all born within 3 years of each other (1953-1955), or that 14 of the 75 richest men/women in human history were born in the 1830s begins to seem less than accidental. The story is not that luck alone brought these people to success, but that there is often more to the story when people rise to stardom, and good fortune. When asked if he thought he became successful because of luck, innovation, risk taking or creativity, he said Microsoft was built up on a depth of engineering, whereas other companies were involved in just one product. He felt being there early helped, and success bred success. It was something that hadn't been done in the world and they were careful about taking one step after another. Mr. Gates felt that being young and open-minded at a time when the microprocessor was invented was a plus. Older people didn't 'see it' because they weren't as open-minded. He attributes luck and fanatical behavior to making magical things come together.
A question from the audience was about Malcolm Gladwell's theory that the years 1953-1955 were the perfect years to be born for those interested in microprocessing. (That many of Silicon Valley’s giants were all born within 3 years of each other (1953-1955), or that 14 of the 75 richest men/women in human history were born in the 1830s begins to seem less than accidental. The story is not that luck alone brought these people to success, but that there is often more to the story when people rise to stardom, and good fortune. When asked if he thought he became successful because of luck, innovation, risk taking or creativity, he said Microsoft was built up on a depth of engineering, whereas other companies were involved in just one product. He felt being there early helped, and success bred success. It was something that hadn't been done in the world and they were careful about taking one step after another. Mr. Gates felt that being young and open-minded at a time when the microprocessor was invented was a plus. Older people didn't 'see it' because they weren't as open-minded. He attributes luck and fanatical behavior to making magical things come together.
May 26, 2010
May 04, 2010
May Specials
- DT Hostess Bonus Offer: Hostesses with a minimum $300 or more party receive a FREE $30 PRODUCT COUPON (redeemable in June) to add to their Hostess Rewards!
DT Party Customer “Gift with Purchase” Offer: Our Party Customer Promotion is a sure fire way to build sales, party averages and SUMMER FUN in May! Party Customers with a $50 or more qualifying order will receive a FREE NEW! MEASURE UP!® SHOVEL just in time for warm weather months, beach and outdoor play! This FREE GIFT encourages party attendance and large party customer orders to earn this fabulous offer for May. Dig it!
- Drawings: Every New Booking will get both the hostess and the consultant into 25 company drawings for a $25 Free Product Coupon! So, if I win, you win, too!
- Grand Prize Drawing: Grand Prize for 1 winning Consultant and Hostess to receive a DT Rolling Case filled with $200 Free Products!
April 21, 2010
Discovery Toys prepare your child
Learning through play is the hallmark of Discovery Toys. Recently I've written about the FIRST Robotics challenge that my son, a former Discovery Toys child, participated in. What he learned from playing with toys like Marbleworks .... gravity, balance, basic physics, logic ... all came into play when strategizing how to build his team's robot to effectively "kick" a soccer ball into a goal. Where to locate the camera, where to position the kicker, what angle to have when aiming the ball, were just some of the hundreds of decisions that needed to be made. That is the same type of thinking, albeit on a more junior scale, that will go into building a better Marbleworks structure. Today's Discovery Toys kids may be tomorrow's FIRST competitors, and those are the kids who will be our future braintrust.
April 18, 2010
Discovery Toys opportunity comes to Chicago
Chicago Opportunity Blitz! Join our team April 21-26th
Discovery Toys, the foremost direct sales / network marketer of educational toys, is offering an opportunity for those passionate about children and education and a desire for extra income. The goal: to help parents help their children learn through play, and help parents, grandparents, and teachers supplement their current income or even start a new career.
We are going to be in Chicago from Wednesday April 21st until Monday the 26th. The purpose of our trip is to grow the Chicago area Discovery Toys team. We'll be exhibiting our products and marketing materials in a swank Oak Brook hotel. Easy access and parking for everyone.
Advance RSVP required: email Billie -- billietoy@gmail.com
Please email for additional details.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO
Who do you know in the Chicago area who you think might be interested in a fabulous home based business they can do around their family's needs? Contact them and invite them to attend or give us their info and we'll do it for you.
OUR PART
You may have your prospects contact us directly, if you prefer, or we would be happy to contact them, answer any questions and invite them to our showing. When they decide to join, they will, of course, become YOUR team member. We are sharing this with all of you because if you have any connections with people in the Chicago area who might consider joining Discovery Toys, please let us know! We have teamed up with Sherre B. (longtime leader in our family from Chicago) and are available to meet and greet, show prospects our fabulous toys, answer any questions--and schedule Success Start trainings for those who are ready to go.
We will schedule a time all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday morning that is convenient for them.
THE BACK STORY
We started brainstorming about building up the Chicago area -- especially with the Discovery Toys Convention being in Chicago this summer. This is an area that has supported many huge organizations in the past and is ripe for growing. The opportunity to "success start" a lot of folks this spring and early summer who could then quantum leap their business by attending Convention in their backyard just made sense!
We are really excited about this trip! We hope to hear from you so we can help you build your teams. Call your Chicago area prospects today!
Discovery Toys, the foremost direct sales / network marketer of educational toys, is offering an opportunity for those passionate about children and education and a desire for extra income. The goal: to help parents help their children learn through play, and help parents, grandparents, and teachers supplement their current income or even start a new career.
We are going to be in Chicago from Wednesday April 21st until Monday the 26th. The purpose of our trip is to grow the Chicago area Discovery Toys team. We'll be exhibiting our products and marketing materials in a swank Oak Brook hotel. Easy access and parking for everyone.
Advance RSVP required: email Billie -- billietoy@gmail.com
Please email for additional details.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO
Who do you know in the Chicago area who you think might be interested in a fabulous home based business they can do around their family's needs? Contact them and invite them to attend or give us their info and we'll do it for you.
OUR PART
You may have your prospects contact us directly, if you prefer, or we would be happy to contact them, answer any questions and invite them to our showing. When they decide to join, they will, of course, become YOUR team member. We are sharing this with all of you because if you have any connections with people in the Chicago area who might consider joining Discovery Toys, please let us know! We have teamed up with Sherre B. (longtime leader in our family from Chicago) and are available to meet and greet, show prospects our fabulous toys, answer any questions--and schedule Success Start trainings for those who are ready to go.
We will schedule a time all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday morning that is convenient for them.
THE BACK STORY
We started brainstorming about building up the Chicago area -- especially with the Discovery Toys Convention being in Chicago this summer. This is an area that has supported many huge organizations in the past and is ripe for growing. The opportunity to "success start" a lot of folks this spring and early summer who could then quantum leap their business by attending Convention in their backyard just made sense!
We are really excited about this trip! We hope to hear from you so we can help you build your teams. Call your Chicago area prospects today!
April 17, 2010
Seth Berg, FIRST Dean's Award Winner
On Feb. 27 I told you about the local FIRST international robotics competition that outstanding math and science students from the New York area were participating in. Yesterday, the championships were underway at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
My son's team mate and the president of engineering for the Stuyvesant High School team, Seth Berg, was honored by Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, along with 9 other students from FIRST for being an exemplary student. His team writes, "The award is given to students who are '...examples of student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission.'
My son's team mate and the president of engineering for the Stuyvesant High School team, Seth Berg, was honored by Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, along with 9 other students from FIRST for being an exemplary student. His team writes, "The award is given to students who are '...examples of student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission.'
"Seth has done an incredible job leading the team for the past two years and the team could not be more proud of all he's done and the recognition he received today. Because of the award, our team will have reduced registration fees for one regional next year. In addition, Seth gained the team some air time on news channel NY1 which can be found here:
http://www.ny1.com/1-all-If you're in Atlanta, come on out to the Georgia Dome today and tomorrow for more qualifying matches and award ceremonies. Stuyvesant High is still in the running for the Chairman's and Engineering Inspiration awards. Come cheer them on. Free and open to the public!!
Go 694!
April 09, 2010
Kids in the Kitchen
Brenda Thompson, in her column Kids in the Kitchen, suggests activities that little ones, beginning at age 1, can perform as mama's helpers in the cooking department.
What she fails to mention is how Discovery Toys Measure Up Cups, fit into your plans. They're a set of twelve cups, with the largest being an 8 oz. measure-- "1 cup" in your recipes. You can teach your child math skills as you measure out your ingredients....a half a cup, will be cup #6, half the size of the #12 cup, and so on. There are also toy Measure Up Pots and Spoons, and Measure Up Balance, a real scale for measuring solid and liquid weights. (Good in Science class, too!)
If you're mixing up a batch of cookie dough, remember to use Place & Trace puzzles, which double as cookie cutters for fun-time dinosaur- and bicycle-shaped cookies.
What she fails to mention is how Discovery Toys Measure Up Cups, fit into your plans. They're a set of twelve cups, with the largest being an 8 oz. measure-- "1 cup" in your recipes. You can teach your child math skills as you measure out your ingredients....a half a cup, will be cup #6, half the size of the #12 cup, and so on. There are also toy Measure Up Pots and Spoons, and Measure Up Balance, a real scale for measuring solid and liquid weights. (Good in Science class, too!)
If you're mixing up a batch of cookie dough, remember to use Place & Trace puzzles, which double as cookie cutters for fun-time dinosaur- and bicycle-shaped cookies.
March 27, 2010
Discovery Toys enrollment now online
It's official! You can now sign up online to be a Discovery Toys consultant! We're going paperless, and streamlining the process for you. Feel free to ask me about joining; you may have questions before you "sign on the dotted line."
March 24, 2010
"Never fear...
spoiling children by making them too happy.
Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow."
~~Thomas Bray (1656-1730), English clergyman & philanthropist
Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow."
~~Thomas Bray (1656-1730), English clergyman & philanthropist
March 19, 2010
"The darn trouble with cleaning the house is...
... it gets dirty the next day anyway, so skip a week if you have to. The children are the most important thing.”
~~Barbara Bush, First Lady
~~Barbara Bush, First Lady
March 17, 2010
"True Teachers Are...
... those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own."
--Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)
--Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)
March 09, 2010
Literacy in the early years
Literacy includes reading, speaking, and writing.
At the Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Philadelphia (where 89% of the school qualifies for reduced or free lunch) college students from Temple University's Speech-Language program mentor underprivileged kindergartners and first graders in reading skills in an after school program. Research has shown that the poorest groups also have poor results in literacy, causing high drop out and unemployment rates, in addition to poor health.
The "Kids Write and Create Program," developed in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Temple, is attempting to turn this problem around. They know that children who do not read at grade level by the end of first grade are unlikely to ever catch up, hence the focus on the youngest students.
The above article also points out the need for children to have materials that span the various learning styles: auditory, kinesthetic and visual, particularly because at the youngest ages they don't yet have the ability to translate the spoken word to the written word.
Discovery Toys can truly make a difference in this population. Not only are there fun games like AB Seas that bring fish and the alphabet to life in a lively fishing game, and CDs like Sounds Like Learning that includes songs of the alphabet, opposites and manners, or The Big Hungry Bear book and companion CD (with a narrated version of the book on it) but there's also a sequencing, storytelling game that asks the child to put sentences into the proper order.
Please contact me at billietoy"at"gmail.com if you know of grants that will provide these types of products for kids in need.
At the Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Philadelphia (where 89% of the school qualifies for reduced or free lunch) college students from Temple University's Speech-Language program mentor underprivileged kindergartners and first graders in reading skills in an after school program. Research has shown that the poorest groups also have poor results in literacy, causing high drop out and unemployment rates, in addition to poor health.
The "Kids Write and Create Program," developed in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Temple, is attempting to turn this problem around. They know that children who do not read at grade level by the end of first grade are unlikely to ever catch up, hence the focus on the youngest students.
The above article also points out the need for children to have materials that span the various learning styles: auditory, kinesthetic and visual, particularly because at the youngest ages they don't yet have the ability to translate the spoken word to the written word.
Discovery Toys can truly make a difference in this population. Not only are there fun games like AB Seas that bring fish and the alphabet to life in a lively fishing game, and CDs like Sounds Like Learning that includes songs of the alphabet, opposites and manners, or The Big Hungry Bear book and companion CD (with a narrated version of the book on it) but there's also a sequencing, storytelling game that asks the child to put sentences into the proper order.
Please contact me at billietoy"at"gmail.com if you know of grants that will provide these types of products for kids in need.
February 28, 2010
Dean Kamen on kids
In yesterday's blog entry, I gave a link to an amazing interview Anderson Cooper did earlier this year with Dean Kamen, an inventor and the founder of the FIRST robotics competitions. 13 minutes into the interview, he has this to say,
"There's no stimulus package that this country can possibly put together that will have a better return than stimulating the next generation of kids in this country to be for the 21st century our Thomas Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright, the Google boys."Can you see why Discovery Toys hold such a special place in my heart? How can a child get a better start in math and science than playing with building blocks or manipulatives like Giant Pegboard, Marbleworks, Measure Up Cups or math games like Think it Through tiles?
February 27, 2010
NYC FIRST Competition
Because I'm a proud mama of a child raised on Discovery Toys, I am happy to announce his participation in his school's Robotics team, Stuy 694, at the 10th anniversary of New York City FIRST!
Learn more about FIRST and how it impacts kids interested in technology, math and science, and hear what Dean Kamen told Anderson Cooper on AC360 about innovation. You can also see what PBS Newshour had to say about FIRST.
You can be part of the biggest celebration of its kind in New York City - four major student technology events under one roof. New York City FIRST's Mega Celebration is the biggest FIRST event in the world, second only to the FIRST World Championship at the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta.
Join us in celebrating our City's kids working smart in science and technology. Help inspire young men and women to go on to further studies and careers in science and technology.
This event is free and open to the public.
2010 New York City FIRST Mega-Celebration
Celebrating young men and women
working smart in
science and technology
Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14
9:00am to 4:00pm
Jacob Javits Convention Center
New York, NY
NYC FIRST Robotics Competition
Saturday, March 13 & Sunday, March 14
Sixty-four competing high school robotics teams of future technologists and entrepreneurs.
NYC FIRST LEGO League Championship
Sunday, March 14
Eighty middle school teams, exploring alternative transportation systems selected from among 220 winning teams from across the City.
NYC FIRST Tech Challenge Championship
Saturday, March 13
Forty-eight high school robotics teams putting their technical and teamwork skills to the test.
NYC FIRST
Science & Technology Career Expo
Friday, March 12, through Sunday March 14
Fifty exhibitors, including colleges and universities and NYC FIRST sponsors informing students about careers in science and technology.
MAJOR SPONSORS:
(as of February 24, 2010)
Platinum
Bloomberg
Credit Suisse
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs employees
Gold
Con Edison
Google
Hearst Foundations
JPMorgan Chase
Two Sigma Investments
Silver
Michael Dubno
Johnson & Johnson
Newman's Own
NYSE Foundation
Milgo Bufkin
Port Authority of NY & NJ
Josh & Judy Weston
Bronze
Ackman Family Foundation
Bezos Family Foundation
David L. Klein Jr., Foundation
Jerry Callaghan
NASA
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
Pershing Square Foundation
Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Learn more about FIRST and how it impacts kids interested in technology, math and science, and hear what Dean Kamen told Anderson Cooper on AC360 about innovation. You can also see what PBS Newshour had to say about FIRST.
You can be part of the biggest celebration of its kind in New York City - four major student technology events under one roof. New York City FIRST's Mega Celebration is the biggest FIRST event in the world, second only to the FIRST World Championship at the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta.
Join us in celebrating our City's kids working smart in science and technology. Help inspire young men and women to go on to further studies and careers in science and technology.
This event is free and open to the public.
2010 New York City FIRST Mega-Celebration
Celebrating young men and women
working smart in
science and technology
Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14
9:00am to 4:00pm
Jacob Javits Convention Center
New York, NY
NYC FIRST Robotics Competition
Saturday, March 13 & Sunday, March 14
Sixty-four competing high school robotics teams of future technologists and entrepreneurs.
NYC FIRST LEGO League Championship
Sunday, March 14
Eighty middle school teams, exploring alternative transportation systems selected from among 220 winning teams from across the City.
NYC FIRST Tech Challenge Championship
Saturday, March 13
Forty-eight high school robotics teams putting their technical and teamwork skills to the test.
NYC FIRST
Science & Technology Career Expo
Friday, March 12, through Sunday March 14
Fifty exhibitors, including colleges and universities and NYC FIRST sponsors informing students about careers in science and technology.
MAJOR SPONSORS:
(as of February 24, 2010)
Platinum
Bloomberg
Credit Suisse
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs employees
Gold
Con Edison
Hearst Foundations
JPMorgan Chase
Two Sigma Investments
Silver
Michael Dubno
Johnson & Johnson
Newman's Own
NYSE Foundation
Milgo Bufkin
Port Authority of NY & NJ
Josh & Judy Weston
Bronze
Ackman Family Foundation
Bezos Family Foundation
David L. Klein Jr., Foundation
Jerry Callaghan
NASA
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
Pershing Square Foundation
Polytechnic Institute of NYU
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