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In this episode Paige and Gretchen literally dive into the interactive website, Disney Digital Books. Watch as they walk through the different features on the site and illustrate how simple it is for children and parents to use. Improving childhood literacy is something that MommyCast is dedicated to and its it interactive reading sites like Disney Digital Books that can help really help. Take a look and let us know what you think!

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As a part of MommyCast’s ongoing series on education this episode is dedicated to the subject of childhood literacy. Improving your child’s literacy skills is a very important goal for a parent and luckily there are many tools out there that can help. Paige and Gretchen sit down with Gail Lovely, literacy and technology specialist, to discuss some of the programs available. One such website is Disney Digital Books. This site offers many tools and games that will not only help your children read and write, but get them excited about learning in general. Stay tuned because in the coming weeks MommyCast will be reviewing this site even further.

Watch Paige and Gretchen literally dive into the interactive website, Disney Digital Books in the video below.

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Gretchen and Paige speak with fellow mom and Mommycast community manager, Shelley Fosse, about Mommycast.com's new Ning page. Ning is a social network where fans can interact with one another, as well as Gretchen and Paige.  Ning community users can also upload their own pictures, videos, and blogs. Ning's interface is extremely user friendly, and will be a source of exclusive content for listeners.

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Hopefully things are starting to slow down around your home now that the holidays are over. How about taking advantage of that and making a New Year's resolution to spend a little more "slow" time together as a family? The Mommies are working on it; Gretchen is focused on family dinner and conversation, and Paige says her family enjoys game time at the end of a busy day. Leave a comment and share what you like to do, or plan to do, to help your family "unplug" from all the distractions and focus on what’s really important—each other!

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SwitchCraft HowTo

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There’s a new (really new!) trend in crafting—techno crafting, and Paige is hooking us up with Alison Lewis, creator of www.iheartswitch.com, to show us how fun and easy it can be. Alison is an instructor at Parson’s school of design and has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show. Her fun and innovative projects combine technology and crafting to make super cool and unique items, like a lighted purse or “gadget gloves” that let you use your iphone without taking off your gloves. Yum! Check out her blog and book for easy, clear step by step instructions for making your own projects…like a light up snowflake ornament! Also watch a special HowTo video right here on MommyCast.com and learn how to make those neat light-up present boxes! Who doesn’t want that?

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Some parents are totally plugged into the online social networking scene; other parents find it one confusing mess. Whichever way you lean, Windows Live Profile helps you easily organize your favorite networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, so you can check on what your kids and friends are doing all across the web. Paige and Gretchen learned more about this great tool when they spoke with Marty Collins, Group Marketing Manager for Windows Social Media as part of our Microsoft MommyTech Series.

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If you've heard about using your computer to record TV, but couldn't figure out how to do it, then this is the show for you! Techno Paige shows Not-So-Techno Gretchen (and all the rest of us) how to set up your PC as a DVR. You can save money, take your shows on vacation, and use your television as a complete media center with your shows, movies, pictures, music, home movies, everything! Try it out and let us know what you think. You can go here to learn even more about Windows Media Center, or here, to watch another help video.

If you're looking for a PC to DVR adapter, we recommend trying one of these: the KW-PVR-TV305U USB 2.0, the ATI-TV Wonder 650 - ATSC HDTV receiver / analog TV tuner / video input adapter – PCI, or the Hauppauge WinTV Express - TV tuner / video input adapter – PCI.

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Is managing your media overwhelming? Do you have pictures on one computer, music on another, and videos somewhere else? As part of our Microsoft Mommy Tech Series, Paige and Gretchen spoke with Cat Lambson from Technogeekery.com about some of the super cool things you can do using the Windows Media Center to streamline your media experience, including streaming and recording your favorite television shows! Of course, Paige has to slip in a plug for Xbox; leave a comment if you want to play with her!

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Bob Smith, a school based technology specialist, gave Gretchen and Paige the run down on keeping kids protected when they're on the computer. His number one rule? Communication! Bob says the best way to protect kids is to talk to them about what they're doing. Let them know you care enough to check where they've been and who they've been talking to on the computer. Watch the show for more ideas on keeping kids safe, and then share how you monitor your kids’ computer use on Mommycast.com. We’d love to hear from you!