What is Our Circle Time?

Our Circle Time is an exciting educational series for young children. On a daily basis (Monday – Friday for the entire year), a brand new 20 minute Our Circle Time video, will introduce your child to a variety of essential educational concepts and tools in order to help prepare them for success in preschool, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and beyond. In addition, Our Circle Time is supporting the growth of national and international awareness by sharing customs and current local information that is shared by the children and families that participate in this unique and exceptional program. Taught by a credentialed, experienced, effective and delightful teacher, Ms. Heather, Our Circle Time is unlike any educational program seen before! An outstanding value for an online educational experience!

My son is only two, is he ready for this?

Absolutely! He will really enjoy the interaction, colors, words, songs and other interesting activities. Circle time is appealing for young children through early elementary age. Exposure to new vocabulary will encourage his speaking ability. Watching and interacting with the video, will show your child that you are excited about it too!

How interactive is the program?

Like any circle time in a school, I will be asking the children watching to follow along with me as we sing, stretch, learn phonics sounds, sound out new vocabulary and other fun activities. During each video, there will be a short segment where I will ask questions for the children to email me an answer. Your children will be really excited to participate and may actually hear their response on the next segment. Please assist your child with the answers form. Our weather map is a fun way for children to share what is going on in their part of the country and world. Please assist your child with sending the current weather in your area to the weather form. Don't forget to add your city and state. We also have an "Our Circle Time Photo Gallery". Please email pictures or drawings to gallery@ourcircletime.com With all submissions, please include your client id number, child's first name, city, state, and country. Please note that submission of pictures grants permission to us for use on ourcircletime.com.

Will my child be bombarded with commercials while he is watching the show?

NO COMMERCIALS AT ALL!!!!! Our Circle Time videos will run for twenty minutes commercial free. This will allow the child to maintain focus on learning. Please note that because there are no commercials, there is a very short (a little over a minute) of loading time that must take place, prior to the start of the video, for it to run smoothly and without stopping for the length of the show.

What if my child doesn’t want to sit still for the whole video?

All children are diverse and have different attention spans. If you notice that your child needs to run around after watching for a few minutes, please pause the video and allow them the opportunity to do so. All children internalize and learn new information in a unique way. Some children need to take breaks in order for them to adequately absorb new concepts. Taking breaks is not uncommon at all. We all should allow ourselves more breaks!!!!!

How can I contact you with a question or suggestion?

Feel free to contact us at ourcircle@ourcircletime.com.

Will you mention my child's birthday?

Birthdays are such a special day and we hope that we can make that day brighter for your child. If you are one of the first five parents to email us, for that specific day, we will mention his or her name on the program. Please note, that not all requests can be fulfilled. You can find this link on the video page once you sign in.

Could we watch the video on our television set?

A lot of home desktop or laptop computers have one of the following that enable you to watch the broadcast through a TV: 1) an S-Video Connection 2) an RCA-Video Connection (usually yellow) or 3) an HDMI interface. All 3 are just matching up the proper connections from the computer to the TV. Switch the TV to the proper video channel (Video 1, 2,etc.) and then push, on your computer, the function key (fn) and f4 simultaneously. This should bring the picture up on the TV. To return the computer to normal operation, simply push (fn) and f4 together until the screen is back to normal.

Do I need a specific browser?

The videos play in a Flash application and most browsers will play this without issues. However, we have noticed some difficulty playing the videos in Internet Explorer 8. We recommend using Mozilla Firefox.

What's the purpose/goal of the blog?

The blog is a place for parents and caregivers to discuss, share stories, laugh, ask questions and gain insight from our community on a variety of issues that face all of us as parents.

What are the pricing plans?

$39.95 for one month, $179.70 for 6 months ($29.95 per month), and $239.40 for 12 months ($19.95 per month) *BEST VALUE*.

How many (sessions, episodes,...) are available each week? And how long are they?

Each session will last for about 20 minutes and brand new videos will be available everyday, Monday through Friday all year long! Wherever you have internet access, your child can enjoy circle time. Even on vacation!

Will circle time be something my child can expect upon entering school?

Typically, children will be involved in circle time activities in preschool and Kindergarten. It's a wonderful start to the day in which children learn and build confidence in a relaxed setting.

Can I play the episode any time during the day?

Yes! You can decide when to show the video any time during the day. We want to make this experience completely convenient and wonderful! You can also pause the lesson, and start it up at your convenience.

Wow! This site is adorable! Who designed it?

Thanks! This site was professionally designed by the marvelously creative Laurie Satz. Her contact information is: lauriesatz@gmail.com or find her on the web at www.lauriesatz.com

The murals are fantastic! Who created them?

Thanks! The murals were professionally created by the tremendously artistic Tammy Chesnut. You can find her on the web at www.chesnutdesignsonline.com

We'd like to feature Our Circle Time on our media program, who do we contact?

Thanks! We love press! You can contact us at media@ourcircletime.com