Help your child have high confidence, self-esteem, and become a better problem-solver
Research shows positive impact on social skills later in life for infants watching familiar faces
Children with secure early attachments are more likely in later years to:1
- be better problem-solvers
- form friendships and be leaders with peers
- be more empathetic and less aggressive
- engage their world with confidence
- have higher self-esteem
- be better at resolving conflict
- be more self-reliant and adaptable
Seeing parents' faces now is important to baby's social development later in life
The face is the center of human social interactions, and from birth, infants attend vigorously to faces.2
Research shows that babies recognize faces within hours of birth 3
and babies as young as 3 months recognize their mom's face in photos.4
Babies are born with a fairly detailed representation of the average human face that helps them recognize familiar faces
and learn about the social world.5
Seeing a caregiver's face increases baby's attachment,6 leading baby to become confident, empathetic, and self-reliant as a child and adult.
Tot By Me personalized educational baby videos feature parents' faces to enhance family bonds
Children recognize and prefer familiar faces.7
For this simple fact we created Tot By Me.
Tot By Me personalized educational baby videos use your face to teach early words, explore basic concepts like object permanance, and expose infants to numbers, letters, and sounds.
There is strong evidence that faces moving through the environment, as compared with still faces, are better for strengthening a baby's memory and processing of faces.8
Tot By Me educational baby videos are designed by Ph.D.s and parents to be dynamic, making them superior to slide show products and more fun for babies to watch.
Our parent based characters play Peek-a-Boo, a valuable game for learning and remembering faces,9 and dance to engaging, educational songs, like
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Tot By Me uses these tools to help prepare your child for a bright future. Watch them together over and over.
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Give your child more face time, by choosing a character for a FREE video starring YOU!!
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Learn More
- Should I let my kids watch television and videos?
- How much television should my kids watch?
As with all good things, it is possible to overindulge.
There is evidence that the quality of what your children watch is more important than how much they watch.
Co-viewing with your children and talking about the content at least part of the time will help them get the most out of age appropriate programs.
Make sure your children have plenty of opportunities to interact with you and other kids, besides watching television.
Use your good judgement about when your kids have had enough, turn off the TV, and guide them to another activity.
- What programs are good for my children to watch?
Research shows that programs well designed to be educational for a specific age group can be very beneficial.
Pay attention to age recommendations, for example Sesame St is made for 3 to 5 year olds and Tot By Me is for up to age 4.
There is little or no educational benefit to watching cartoons designed only as entertainment,
nor in watching programs aimed at a significantly older or younger audience.
If your preschoolers are consistently viewing cartoons intended for older kids, which are common on TV, then get some high quality videos to watch.
- What should I look for in a high quality educational video?
Different age children have different needs. Tot By Me and other high quality educational programs have many of the features below.
Newborns and infants (0 to 12 mo) benefit from seeing the faces of their caregivers.
They have a preference for high contrast, dynamic but slow moving visuals.
Repetition helps reinforce new concepts.
Toddlers (12 to 24 mo) need lots of exposure to new and familiar words.
Adult speakers using simple language aid toddler comprehension of new words.
Verbal emphasis on words and repetition helps build early vocabulary, especially for objects and concepts presented in the here and now, like nouns and verbs.
Faces are still important at this stage of development.
Letter and number recognition, as well as basic counting begin at this age.
Rhythmic music and simple songs, like Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, encourage dancing and physical participation in viewed content.
Preschoolers (2 to 4 yrs) benefit from seeing letters and words presented with a visual representation of their meaning.
Gradually more complex interconnected story lines help build understanding of event sequencing and knowledge of narratives.
Counting to 20, colors and color concepts, increasingly complicated shapes, and singing along are all introduced.
- How long does it take to personalize my video?
Just 5 minutes!
Once you upload your photo, personalizing your video is fast and easy.
Then we create your FREE sample and it's ready to download within minutes!
- What do I get?
The FREE sample is a personalized educational cartoon that you download and watch on your computer.
The cartoon features a fully animated character based on a member of your family created from a photo you upload.
After you create a free sample, you can order a full length educational DVD starring the same character.
Your DVD also comes with a full color glossy picture of your character on both case and the disc itself!
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- How do I give Tot By Me videos as a gift?
We offer gift cards by email or plastic gift cards we send by regular mail.
About Tot By Me
"Face time with family is critical for a child's development and family bonding," says Tot By Me founder, Chris Furmanski, psychology Ph.D.
The founders of Tot By Me want to provide parents with the most meaningful, educational, family-friendly, and personalized video content possible,
while making sure it is as easy as possible to make and use.
References
1. Center for Early Education and Development (CEED). College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, 215 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455-0223. The Baby D Controversy, What are the Child Development Issues?.
2. Bryant PE. Developmental psychology. Face to face with babies [news]. Nature 1991. 354: 19.
3. Field T, Reite M. (1984) Children's responses to separation from mother during the birth of another child. Child Dev. 1984 Aug. 55(4): pp. 1308-16.
4. Barrera, M, and Maurer, D. (1981). Recognition of Mother's Photographed Face by the Three-Month-Old Infant. Child Development, Vol. 52, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 714-716
5. Slater, A. Von der Schulenburg, C. Brown, E. Badenoch, M. Butterworth, G. Parsons, S. Samuels, C. (1998). Newborn Infants Prefer Attractive Faces. INFANT BEHAVIOR AND DEVELOPMENT, 1998, VOL 21; NUMBER 2, pp. 345-354.
6. Suzanne J. Carr, James M. Dabbs, Jr., Timothy S. Carr (1975). Child Development. Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jun 1975), pp. 331-338.
7. Pascalis O, de Schonen S, Morton J, Deruelle C. (1995). Mother's face recognition by neonates: a replication and extension. Infant Behavior and Development 18. pp. 79-95.
8. Roark, D., Barrett, S, Spence, M., Abdi, H., and Toole, A. (2003). Psychological and Neural Perspectives on the Rolen of Motion in Face Recognition. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 15-46.
9. Montague, Diane P. F.. Walker-Andrews, Arlene S. (2001). Developmental Psychology November 2001 Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 826-838.
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