By Shelley Gollust, Susan Logue Koster and Caty Weaver
2010-2-11

 

DOUG JOHNSON:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. Today on our program, we listen to music from Norah Jones ...

And we answer a question about George Washington.

But first, we tell you about a Web site for children too young to even use a mouse.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON:

The Internet is filled with web sites offering all kinds of games for children in school to adults in retirement. But now there is a Web site with games designed for the youngest members of the family. Faith Lapidus has our report about Kneebouncers.com.

(SOUND)

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Two-year-old Lilianna Robinson is sitting on her mother's lap. Lilianna is busy with one of her favorite activities -- playing Kneebouncers on the computer.

Her father, Jim Robinson, was one half of the team that developed the Web site.

Characters from Kneebouncer

JIM ROBINSON: "I do all of the drawings and the characters and the silly little games, and Kurt brings them to life."

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Kurt Dommermuth is the other half of the development team.

KURT DOMMERMUTH: "That's my passion is the Web, and what I love. So it's natural that we complement each other very well that way."

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The two men first had the idea for Kneebouncers seven years ago. They both had baby girls at the time.

JIM ROBINSON: "Mine was six months old and Kurt's was nine months old, and I had two older kids, too.  They could play on older sites, the Disney.com and PBS.com, but their little sister couldn't use the mouse and she was getting frustrated."

FAITH LAPIDUS:

With Kneebouncers, touching any part of the computer keyboard effects an action on the screen.  Jim Robinson says many of the eighteen games on the Web site are designed for very young children.

JIM ROBINSON: "A lot of the games came from just the simple games we play with our kids when they are babies – peekaboo, bubbles. Who doesn't like bubbles? Balloons, popping balloons, popping bubbles, jumping on the bed, splashing in puddles, even playing musical instruments."

FAITH LAPIDUS:

News of the Web site spread beyond the Robinson and Dommermuth families and friends. More than one million people from more than one hundred eighty countries have visited Kneebouncers.com.

The Web site has added educational games to teach babies shapes, letters, colors and numbers. The two fathers say they are developing programs for the Internet and television based on Kneebouncers.com characters.

But Kneebouncers remains free. And, Jim Robinson says the Web site is important in another way.

JIM ROBINSON: "We have created a safe environment, too. There is no advertising on the site. They're not going to hit a banner ad that will take them somewhere else.  There is nothing to download. There is no sign up, you just to Kneebouncers.com, you pick a game and you start Kneebouncing."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON:

Our question this week comes from Rwanda. Mutangana Herman wants to know about George Washington, America's first president.

This is a good time to answer the question. Monday is Washington's Birthday, the federal holiday that honors the former leader.

George Washington

George Washington has a special place in American history. He is known as the father of the country. General Washington commanded the forces that won American independence from Britain. He served as president of the conference that wrote the American Constitution. And, he was the first President of the United States.
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