FINALLY! SUPER HEROES TEACHING KIDS "REAL LIFE" LESSONS
Hello! MagicBlox Friends and Family :) We're so glad to meet you by way of the internet. I'm Greg Devlin (Co-Creator) of the Neon Tiki Tribe project and we (our awesome team of writers, illustrators, web designers, app builders, translators, teachers and educational consultants) look forward to talking with the MagicBlox community.
I'm a USAF disabled veteran, survivor of a Titan II Missile Explosion (9-19-80 / Damascus AR) and my survival story is featured in "Command and Control" written by Eric Schlosser (9/13 release date). I live in central Florida and my wife (Annette) and I have 4 daughters, and three cute grandchildren (2 boys- Matthew and Connor and 1 girl- Delaney Rose.
My business partner, Dave Thompson, is a local Janitorial Service owner in the Indianapolis IN area, he's married to his loving wife Jane, and has two sons. Dave and I are GREAT FRIENDS.
How this all got started was: Dave Thompson and I were simply "tired" of seeing so much "dumb" or "useless" television shows on air for children and we decided to do something about it. We thought; why can't Super Heroes do more than just "entertain?" Since Super Heroes already have the child's attention why can't they "teach" them really important life messages along the way?
So we created a new breed of Super Hero that would generate lots of action and excitment, using laser powered sunglasses, with 4 unique characters, ZEKE (the leader), TIA (most intelligent), DAR (fastest) and MOWAH the GREAT (Strongest) AND yet each story we write will also include a real life lesson that parents and teachers want them to rememeber (i.e. Bullying, Perseverance, Sportsmanship, Body Image, Listening to their parent's advice, Battling Boredom, Environmental Responsibility, Honesty, Internet Safety, Family Literacy, Fire Safety, Stranger Danger and many more).
NOTE- The apps are in English now, with Spanish coming soon and more languages as we go forward. NEON TIKI TRIBE is a worldwide mission.
Let's face it, most parents tell their children to never get in a car with a stranger and to never give out their home address to someone they have just met "online." We also tell them to "never give up" when things get tough, to respect the environment around us, and to always be "honest" but how do we know these messages are really getting through? Were they paying attention? Will they remember the messages when the time comes to make "the right decision?" We all hope so. We just thought "what better way is there to keep a childs attention, than by using action packed stories, colorful (TIKI) Super Heroes, a cool "Super Car" and a fictional (TIKI) island?
We just knew that "learning" could be so much more fun, if the children were engaged in the stories. Not just "following along" but REALLY engaged.
One of our goals with the Neon Tiki Tribe book series is to create enough of a success to drive it to an animated television series. We visualize the Neon Tikis being in all the same places as many of the other Super Heroes who have come before us (animated television, movies, licensed products etc) BUT we also see them in places where Super Heroes aren't really part of, like in elementary school classrooms being used as educational materials.
NOTE- We offer FREE "TEACHING GUIDES, LESSON PLANS and PRE/POST TESTS for the tight budgets of many schools, and for the Homeschoolers too! Get your free downloads at www.neontikitribe.com/more along with seeing the "testimonials" from industry professionals.
We built this series for 1st to 5th grade children, so that we could "empower" them with real life lessons BEFORE they get to the high peer pressure ages of "Middle School." Our belief, is that "pre-middle school" children are the perfect age for these messages because they're "old enough" to understand the messages, and "young" enough to grasp, and implement these great concepts, making the world a better place as they go forward in life.
NOTE- Look closely as you "read" each word, each sentence, in the Neon Tiki books. We used a special font that's almost un-noticeable to the average reader, yet was designed to help children who are dyslexic, read easier. We've heard that one out of every 5 children (20%) are dyslexic. The GOOD NEWS is that most likely your child isn't dyslexic, but it also means that one of his, or her, friends could be. Shouldn't we help ALL children learn to read? We think so, that's why we licensed this unique new font called "Dyslexie" for each one of the Neon Tiki Tribe books.
This project all started with ONE word, TIKI. It's an acronym to be more specific. TIKI means THOUGHTFUL, INTELLIGENT, KIND INDIVIDUVALS and the world sure could use more thoughtful, intelligent, kind individuals.
So what do YOU think? Are we on the right track? TRY OUT (DOWNLOAD) A FEW OF THE APPS NOW and let us know your thoughts.
Is the NEON TIKI TRIBE a project and a mission worth "sharing?" If so, tell your friends. If there is something you would change, tell us!
We would love to hear back from you no matter what.
You can reach me at:
Greg Devlin
Worldwide Neon Tiki Tribe Inc.