Light Up Your Brain is an interesting multi-facted site. Why do we say that? Because it seems to be many things to many different kinds of people. That’s why it’s become so popular over the last few years. On the face of it, it just appears to be a cute little site for kids, hosted by a guy named Chuck Brown. He has a cute little caricature on the front page. But as you look a little deeper, you find some more interesting things:
Games for Kids - A lot of game sites have hundreds or thousands of games. This is great for your average teenager…but for younger kids…not so much. Younger kids aren’t as prepared to handle violence and adult themes. So it’s great that this place focuses more on brain-teaser games…making quick decisions, solving problems, hand-eye coordination. This is one of the main reasons that many schools recommend the site to kids during free periods or for play at home.
Classic Childrens Stories - Again, there are a lot of sites out there with stories for kids. Some are text, some have pictures to go along with them. It’s a lot more unusual to have audio stories that you can listen to in MP3 format while you read along. This is obviously very helpful for kids who are just learning to read (we’ll return to that point in a minute). But, this site also allows you to download the MP3s and put them on your computer or iPod to take on the road. Very nice! And what kind of stories do they have? See if any of these sound familiar…Peter Rabbit, Rapunzel, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Snow White, Velveteen Rabbit, Cinderella…we’ll stop there, but there are plenty more. And they’re not just read by some guy off the street into one of those cheap computer microphones that POP when you talk into them. These are professionally recorded by a narrator. Nice again!
Help for English Learners - Now, back to that previous point again. Remember, kids are not the only ones learning to read English. There are also ESL (English as a Second Language) students all over the world who use the site to learn to read. Many of them have written to the site to say “thanks!” for the ability to listen and read along as they learn, and many ESL web sites have linked to LUYB for that very reason.
Well, that’s enough for now. As you can see, while it may not be EVERYONE’s cup of tea, Light Up Your Brain is a site that scratches a lot of itches for people. It might just be worth your time to check it out, and maybe to share it with a friend who you think might enjoy it!
