Join the Campaign to Bring- MY DEAF FAMILY- to television

It would be great to have a deaf family and American Sign Language portrayed on television for ALL to view and enjoy!

Marlee Matlin once again is bringing the need for deaf entertainment and equal access in the spotlight.  She has championed for closed captioning to be on all TV sets sold in the United States and now she wants to highlight how YouTube can have immediate closed captioning services available.

Here is more info and the sites for you to peruse.  Would love your comments!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Gc85nQK8w  Here is the pilot of MY DEAF FAMILY

Here is a great story explaining why this seminole program could be so important to all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9A_NK-Bxvw

Knowledge Safari and KidQuest-TV- two great websites!

Learning and Laughter with Louise- Wednesday, April 7th show-  On Toginet.com- part of the HerInsight Network!


I love innovation!  Which is why I picked for this weeks show two great companies and their websites to spotlight-  Knowledge Safari and KidQuest- TV!

                              

Knowledge Safari  is a great website for people who who live or work with individuals with special needs.  In addition, you can read or add reviews of products, restaurants, businesses and so much more.  Marci Hersh will be joining us for the first half of our show.  She would love to connect with you, learn more about Knowledge Safari and help YOU to network with others!  Call in your questions and comments on Wednesday, April 7th at 9am EST - 1-877-864-4869

KidQuest-TV.com is my second highlighted website.  What are cool kids doing?  Riding hot air balloons? Raising hawks or falcons?  Well, Robert Marshall captures great kids doing amazing things!  He should know a good story when he sees it as this group owns two Emmy Awards and have been Parent's Choice Gold Award!  

Check out this Amazing KidQuest kid!

presented on Youtube.com

Tweet our guests, too:  @KnowledgeSafari and @KidQuestTV

               

Welcome to the Virtual Job Fair!

Welcome to a Virtual Job Fair sponsored by

 Learning and Laughter with Louise 

on the HerInsight radio network of Toginet.radio

Today on Learning and Laughter with Louise we had three sensational companies chat with us.  ALL THREE HAVE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.  So, if you are looking for a job or to re-enter the workforce and need assistance this blog should be a "must-read".  Good luck and PLEASE let us know if you obtained a job through our virtual job fair.  We would love to hear about success stories!!

Our first guest on the radio show as Debbie Lesser.  She represented Keith Wann's company- CallVRS.org

This company has many facets which are clearly explained on their website-  www.CallVRS.org

Debbie indicated that American Sign Language CERTIFIED interpreters are needed nationwide. She also explained that CallVRS.org provides video interpreting and also remote video conferencing, such as with when a physicians/ lawyers office in a rural area needs to communicate with a deaf individual.  

What is great about this company is that stories online are also available for children and adults to enjoy. This multifaceted and national company is desperately looking for interpreters.  Spanish or other languages in addition to ASL is also desired.

Contact Debbie Lesser at Debbie@CallVRS.info

The website is www.CallVRS.org

Our second guest was the incredible Candi Wingate.  She has several companies LOOKING TO HIRE!  Now we are talking Part time, Full time, you make the hours!! Men, women, single, married, ALL 50 STATES AND CANADA!!  No reason to be unemployed with this group!  This is an incredible opportunity for people who are in college or need to augment their income.  Full time work for those who need it.  SUPER!!


Candi owns:  NANNIES4HIRE.com  and CARE4HIRE.com


Both of these companies are reputable,  have stringent applications for those who are searching for help and those they help to employ.  So, if you are looking to be a nanny or to hire one, Nanny4Hire.com is a MUST to research.  


In addition,  Care4Hire.com  website cites the following information:   Our database is designed to assist families in finding a quality babysitter, housekeeper, tutor, companion/eldercare, pet sitter and Miscellaneous care such as a personal assistant, gardener, party planner, etc. for their specific needs and requirements and offer caregivers an enjoyable employment experience.


Contact them TODAY- you can have a job by the end of NEXT WEEK!!  Keep in mind that this company will have security measures in place.  Also, they have been receiving kudos from tons of people (see website).  Even Kate Gosselin (John and Kate +8) used their services.  So,  hurry and check them out!!

Our third, but certainly no the least in any way- was Sandra Beck from the fantastic company MotherhoodIncorporated.com     I LOVE THIS COMPANY.   Why?  Because people can work from home within the tech, corporate or creative companies and still be at home with their children  (By the way, you can hire a nanny from Nannies4hire.com to help make your home work life run even more smoothly - hint, hint)

Back to MotherhoodIncorporated.com

Their website is super and was created by people they employed through this company- how great is that!  Here is what they want you to know if you are looking for a job:

Many mothers leave the traditional workforce to raise their children. Contrary to popular belief, their skills do not evaporate the day they do. The work at home mother is the largest untapped resource for skilled work in the United States today.  Every day we are contacted by educated, skilled mothers who want to write, create, design and facilitate - only not in a traditional office. They are smart, they are business savvy and they are successful in what they do. They are "our moms." And every day we are contacted by companies, small businesses and sole business operators looking for alternatives to traditional hiring. A way to get work done without additional office space, equipment and software needs, taxes and costly benefits. These are "our clients." Motherhood Incorporated brings Moms and Clients together to get the job done effectively and efficiently using phone, fax and Internet. We at Motherhood Incorporated believe that Outsourcing should be Home Sourcing and that Pink is the new Green. Using a Home Based worker reduces fossil fuel emissions and allows ours mother's more time with their family. We save our families and our planet at the same time. What could be better than that? info@motherhoodincorporated.com or call directly at 310-424-5324 **************************************************************** To recap-  ALL of the above companies are hiring!  They want to connect with people from all over the United States and Canada. Now this is what you need to know: 1-  An email, phone call  or checking out these companies cannot cost you a thing other than your time and effort.  If you truly want a job and don't have a felony record- then you have a good chance of having a job- very soon 2-  These companies were selected because they value their employees and clients.  These are not menial jobs.  These are careers.  You can be helping children, elder care, work outdoors, be a virtual assistant, design graphics, design websites, and much more. The only company that required certification is CallVRS.org 3. The pay from these companies varies according to the tasks.  That is up to you to discuss with potential employers.  However, I guarantee that you will EARN no money from your skills if you stay at home and do nothing. EARN is the key word in this sentence. 4.  You need not finish high school nor college for consideration for some of these jobs.  Yes that is right.  There is something for almost everyone.  Also, people who are deaf, blind or do not use English as their first language are encouraged to check out our information, too! 5. Please let me know if you successfully obtained employment.  There are no guarantees, however here is great info for you that may lead to you being a virtual career fair success story! GOOD LUCK!! Louise

You are never too old to......(fill in the blank!)

     Let's start with the facts.... I teach sign language.  DUH!  But, what you may not know is that the average age of a student in my classes or workshops is not the typical college aged student.  Nor is this student between birth to 18 years old. Nope the median age of my students is up around the 30 year old mark.  HUH!?!  How did that happen?  Well, quite simply I have noticed a trend where many of my sign language students are parents, business owners, healthcare professionals, first responders or senior citizens.  I have one class now, in which one of my students is retired from NASA and helped to create the Hubbell Telescope.  (Trust me I stopped using the phrase- "This is easy, its' not ROCKET SCIENCE" during this class!)

    Since today is my birthday I wanted to reiterate to those of us who are a bit "mature" that is is NEVER too late to learn ANY SKILL! Go ahead and learn to make the quilt you always wanted, dance the Zumba, learn conversational Italian and then go take that dream trip to Italy!  And if you are so inclined, learn the fourth most common language used in the United States- Sign Language.

     I would love to know... what is on your "must learn" list?  Well, let us all know here and maybe you will help to inspire someone else.

     Have a great day!

    

Coming soon- Lebanon PA

Who has been on Learning and Laughter with Louise to date?

     It has been my pleasure to have hosted Learning and Laughter with Louise since the first Wednesday in December 2009.  It seems that I only know my show as exisitng in "cold weather".  Thankfully, we will be rolling in to Spring very, very soon.

     And with every spring comes changes!  The biggest change for Learning and Laughter with Louise (and my sister hosted shows) is that we will be moving from the Toginet Radio umbrella to all become HerInsight Media.


     Now don't panic!  It will be the same show- just a new company website with a new look!  See my banner below:

So let us recap- who have been the wonderful guests on Learning and Laughter to date:  Well, here is the list (and I really, really, really am sorry if I missed any names)  I have added Amazon links if you wish to check out any of the fine products, etc. associated.

Dec. 2nd we had Ann Calamia and Catherine Miller of Universal Signs

Dec. 9th - Sue Scheff talking about her book Google Bomb and much more!

Google Bomb: The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet

Dec. 16th- Was a list of my favorite educational products for our holiday show.  Natasha picked out her favorites too.  We spotlighted two particular companies- Kubit2Me and Tripflix!

Kubit2me - Now You're Talking       TripFLIX

Dec. 23rd - Mary Gardner- Ruch joined us to discuss how she reinvented her life after for the better.  She also shared an awesome soup recipe for the holidays!

Dec. 30th- Shara Lawrence - Weiss, Owner of Mommyperks.com AND PersonalChildStories.com

I Can Count to Ten in Asl, English and Spanish! (¡puedo Contar Hasta Diez En Asl, InglÉs Y EspaÑol!) (English and Spanish Edition)

We were back in the New Year with great guests too!

January 6th was Kat Eden from Education.com

January 13th was the HYSTERICAL Keith Wann from the ASL Comedy Tour, VRS and the list goes on, and on and on!!

January 20th was reserved for an amazing guest - Jeni Stepanek.  She wins the prize as the guest with the most phone calls so far.  Her book, MESSENGER about her life with her son, Mattie Stepanek, remains one of my favorites on my book shelf.

Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs

January 27th was filmmaker Ben Hickernell.  I let Natasha do most of this interview being that she is a film student and in his new movie- Lebanon PA

February rolled around with TONS of snow- so we were happy that our guests were not snowbound and could call in to the show!

February3 was Denise Graab and a great conversation about Multicultural and Multilingual homes.  I love this topic and Denise on the show.

February 10th was two guests - Julie Coe and Sondra Brassel who wrote and illustrated the FRIENDSHIP PUZZLE a book about acceptance and inclusion of children with Autism.

The Friendship Puzzle: Helping Kids Learn About Accepting and Including Kids with Autism

February 17th- We celebrated the Winter Olympics and more with my cousin , Lisa Densmore.  Her work on the new movie- TEEN ROMANCE- WHAT'S RISKY, WHAT'S NOT is extraordinary!

Ski Faster: Lisa Feinberg Densmore's Guide to High Performance Skiing and RacingHiking the Green Mountains: A Guide to 35 of the Region's Best Hiking Adventures (Falcon Guide Where to Hike)

February 24th we invited two AMAZING KIDS to join Learning and Laughter.  We had Jaylen from Jaylen's Challenge (help stop bullying and educate about Tourette Syndrome) AND Lane Sutton the Kid Critic USA.  Jaylen even brought guests, too!  His mom, Robin and Dash Mihok also joined us.

and that leads me to last weeks show the first in March....

March 3rd was great parenting advice (and again lots of callers) from Brenda Nixon.

The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start

I want to add that all of my guests graciously contributed their time and for many products to be distributed to families and educators.  Thank you all!

                


Now who is coming up in the weeks ahead on Learning and Laughter with Louise?


Glad you asked!


March 10th- Traci Bisson from the MomEntrepreneur group.
March 17th- Jan Morrison and Ilana Schwartz chat about commuter grandparenting.  Also, Judy Templeton will talk about healthy family programs.
March 24th- Mary Kay Hoal from Yourshpehere.com
March 30th-  TBA  (Which really means not yet confirmed so I can't announce it..)
April 7th- Two great kid websites:  KidsQuest.com and KnoweldgeSafari.com
April 14th- Bryna Paston and her humorous books about grandchildren
April 21st- Maimah Karmo andthe Tigerlily Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness
April 28th- Annie Fox and her sensational Middle School Confidential Series of books for Tweens and teens
May 5th- Let's go explore Washington D.C.
May 12th- Lisa France, producer and her movie Anne B. Real 
May 19th- HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS- WE HAVE AMERICAN IDOLS ON MANY OF OUR HERINSIGHT SHOWS THIS WEEK
May 26th- Have a problem with your children, well Wendy Warner Young will have KIDLUTIONS!

"Educating the Educator"- wisdom from a young Jaylen Arnold and his friend, Dash Mihok

I first heard about Jaylen Arnold from Twitter and our mutual pal, Sue Scheff.  I quickly learned that this young dynamo is an amazing kid who is trying very hard to teach others to not bully kids with differences, such as his own Tourette Syndrome.  Here is the wonderful PSA he made with pal, Dash Mihok.  (FYI- if Dash looks familiar it is because he has graced your television and movie screens countless times, including on the current series, THE GOOD WIFE)

Enjoy  And check out JaylensChallenge.org

PSA from Jaylens Challenge