Can education and learning be fun?
The Amazing House crew answers this question with a big YES!
Fun, Entertainment and Education Combined into One Package.
The Amazing House grew out of the desire to bring education into videos that children could watch safely and have fun. While we particularly focused on helping children who may be having reading problems, we also produced a show that will be fun for all ages of children and adults too.
The aim was to stimulate children at a level that their imaginations may already be doing in their normal play – that is not to have impossible super heroes, but rather what was within their realm for their toys to come to life. After all, many children have an imaginary friend at some stage and image that their teddy bears and dolls can have life with them.
The Amazing House uses classical puppetry and ventriloquism principles with magic tricks to entertain and hook the children with what is being taught. All the magic tricks are filmed without any trick camera switches.
Our educational consultants recommended that we follow the principles of the Carnine Order (Teaching Struggling At-risk Readers: A Direct Approach, Carnine et Al, 2005 ISBN 9780131707320). Therefore our episodes generally follow Carnine’s order of how children learn to read (A-M-T-S etc).
We were advised by Los Angeles educational PBS TV station KLCS to make episodes that are a nominal 30 minutes in length (26:40). We have found children really get involved with this length of program. The Amazing House had its world premier on KLCS. The Amazing House cracked the hardest market first. Children with a problem with concentration seem to love the length of episodes.
The Amazing House avoids violence and complete unreality. Having Alex and Taryn come into the realm of the main characters makes the world real. Fi-Be and Benji are the ones in control.
Each episode follows a standard pattern to allow children, especially those having difficulties, to be comfortable as Fi-Be takes us on a journey from the front door to the Red then Blue Rooms. Then we go outside to play and visit an interesting sight plus see a magic trick. Next, we are back to the Yellow Room of The Amazing House to bring everything together and have more fun and perhaps silly chaos.
Each episode has a simple story that is read while in the Blue Room. Listening to a story involves a child using their imagination. So, at the end of the Blue Room scenes, everyone flies off in Benji’s car to see something amazing outside (so showcasing around Australia) and they see a magic trick.
The songs are all original compositions and, again, are similar between episodes. This is all part of familiarity and also comfort.
The Amazing House has always been concerned that many children reach the end of the primary (elementary) years of schooling with below normal literacy. This is a major handicap leading into the years of secondary education. We know from viewer feed back that The Amazing House has saved many children and given them a love of learning.
When production of The Amazing House started, what is now known as Phonics was mostly restricted to research departments at universities. Now, that is how children learn to read. The Amazing House was ahead of time in this way of teaching.
For more discussions about the educational aspects of The Amazing House, please contact the producer at Contact Us