Truly a Masterpiece

One of my favorite adages (which, in my role as a parent, I hope is not honored more in the breach than in the observance) is Proverbs 22:6. It reads, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Foolproof? Of course not. We all have free will and life will offer my/your kids plenty of competing lessons.

But it's amazing how much sticks. For instance, whenever my wife and I do something that suggests we are not going to make our two younger children adhere to this or that rule as strictly as we required of our two oldest children, boy, do we hear about it!

I mention this as a way of introducing an idea that is hardly new but one that grows in importance, at least for me. And that is the notion of educating about life throughout life, starting early.

Which brings me to You Are a Masterpiece, produced by the Human Development Resource Council (HDRC). Very briefly, those of you with elementary school-age kids could not find a better introduction to the sensitive subject of how babies grow than this state-of-the-art animated video.

The two most obvious potential missteps when formulating a message about prenatal development for children roughly 5-12 years old are (1) detouring off the main highway onto back roads that do not need to be explored with little ones, and (2) failing to make a complicated subject understandable. You Are a Masterpiece does not get sidetracked and uses a vocabulary and illustrations (including in utero photography and 3D animation) that make sense to youngsters.

Produced in association with Small Fry Productions, the video has assembled an impressive list of awards, to say the least. According to the HRDC, You Are A Masterpiece was nominated Best Video of the Year by "Kids First!" a sort of Academy Award for children's video.

The video was also named one of Dr. Toy's 10 Best Socially Responsible Products and 100 Best Children's Products, and received honors from the Parent's Guide to Children's Media. If that weren't enough, the Discovery Channel gave You Are a Masterpiece four stars.

Its online review was positive gushing. Let me quote at length:

This video skips right past the question of the birds and the bees and focuses on how a human being grows in the womb. For most kids, it can be a bit of a mystery what goes on inside Mommy's "belly" when she is expecting a child. This video gives them a good idea of how babies develop before birth, through demonstrations and comparisons that they can understand. Did you ever wonder what a young child imagines when his mother tells him that a baby is growing inside her? This video almost completely demystifies the process.

You Are a Masterpiece opens with the question "What is a masterpiece?" Real kids are interviewed before the gentle and enthusiastic narrator draws parallels between a special work of art and the beauty and uniqueness of each and every human being. She speaks to viewers directly, reminding them that they are masterpieces too!

Making sure the video was accurate in every way, You Are a Masterpiece brought to bear the input of doctors, nurses, and medical experts as well as educators. It's a great way for youngsters to get to know the world of their unborn brothers and sisters.

You can order the modestly priced You Are a Masterpiece from HDRC.

The address is:

Human Development

Resource Council, Inc.

3941 Holcomb Bridge Road, Suite 300

Norcross, GA 30092

HDRC's phone is (770) 447-1598. The fax number is (770) 447-0759. Its e-mail address is info@hdrc.org.

dave andrusko can be reached at dha1245@juno.com