For parents who have known me personally or for those who have asked for my opinions with regards to allowing my children to watch Educational TV program, my answer would have been a strict "NO NO!  Not for my kids!"
 
A few weeks ago, I was invited to review a newly launched Chinese Program entitled WinkToLearn, which aims to help children and adults kickstart Chinese language acqusition gently and effectively. 
 
Relunctantly, I did a quick evaluation of the programs and was impressed by the high quality photographs, concept (similar to Glenn Doman's guidelines, whereby words and photographs are shown separately) and accurate pronunciation of the words.

Impressed but still skeptical on the effectiveness of the program on my children, I decided to "just give it a try" and "let my children be the judges".  Deep in my heart, I was quite sure that Ryan would reject the program after a few minutes of viewing because it seems like no program can capture his attention other than the movie "Initial-D"!
 
As such, I told myself that if my children are interested in this DVD set (which consists of 6 DVDs, Volume 1-6) beyond Volume 2, I would consider it acceptable.  If they request to stop the DVD after DVD volume 1, I would consider it a failure.
 
Very carefully, I chose an "auspicious" time to introduce the first WinkToLearn DVD to my children - a time when they are enthusiastic and energetic (after their naptime and mealtime).  To my surprise, both Claris and Ryan sat through the first DVD and Ryan asked "Can we watch the second DVD?".  But of course my reply was "No!  Next time maybe!"  (As  advised by Glenn Doman, we must stop before our kids want to top, remember?).
 
For the next few days, my children were hooked to the program.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they have completed DVD volume 1 to 5 at their own pace.  To date, they are still watching the DVDs and I am sure that they have gained much knowledge and Chinese vocabulary from this program!
 
 
For parents who are interested in finding out more on this program, you can go to www.winktolearn.com

Disclaimers
I am neither paid to write this article nor receive any commission for the sale of the DVDs.