A. Tiny Oaks Entertainment is an education and entertainment multimedia company for children based in Los Angeles , California . Tiny Oaks opened its' doors in January 2006, with the release of our first DVD, “Learn Along with Me”, an educational DVD that combines stunning 3D animation with live action segments of students completing lessons in their classrooms. In October 2006 Tiny Oaks released our first full length CD of children's music entitled, “Sing Along With Me”.

Q. Tell me about Tiny Oak’s educational foundation?

A. After considerable research, Tiny Oaks embraced the Montessori model of learning based on the teachings of Maria Montessori. All of our lessons are pulled from her extensive library of educational teachings.

Q. Why did you choose this teaching method for your DVDs?

The logical basis of each Montessori lesson translates perfectly to the video format. Each lesson is self-contained , easily understood , and lays a solid foundation for all future learning.

Q. You label yourself an entertainment/education company. Who certifies the educational content?

A. We have two educators on staff with a combined 30 years of both public and private pre-school teaching experience. Our Head of Education is a certified Montessori teacher.

Q. My son/daughter does not attend a Montessori School. Will he/she understand, benefit from, and enjoy your production?

A. Absolutely! A large and growing number of parents with children attending non-Montessori pre-schools have bought and loved our product(s). “Learn Along With Me” and “Sing Along With Me” are perfect for ALL children of pre-school age. All children understand blocks, beads , and colored letters. There is nothing exclusionary about our CD or DVD.

Q. I have heard that Montessori is religious based. Is this true?

A. No. There are religious schools, both Christian and Jewish, across the country that have embraced the Montessori Method of teaching but there is nothing religious in the educational methodology. There are currently 300 public schools that utilize this method of teaching their students.

Q. Has anyone well-known graduated from a Montessori s chool?

Graduates include Anne Frank, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Child, Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon.com), Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Nobel Prize-winning novelist), and Sergey Brin and Larry Page (co-founders of Google who credit their Montessori education for much of their success) among many, many others.

Q. I have never heard of this teaching method. Please tell me more.

A. Known throughout the world, the Montessori Method of education is based on the philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori, the first woman physician in Italy during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Specializing in pediatrics and psychiatry, Maria Montessori had regular contact with working class and poor children through free clinics at the University of Rome 's medical school. These experiences convinced Dr. Montessori that children are born with incredible learning potential and an intrinsic desire to explore, discover, and learn about their world.

Through scientific investigation, study of available research, and observation of children with developmental disabilities, as well as with poor children of normal intelligence, Dr. Montessori saw that children flourish in an environment that supports the individual child's social, emotional, intellectual, and moral development. By observing the children and through trial and error, Dr. Montessori developed an educational method that is designed to help each child reach his or her full potential in all areas of life. The Montessori Method relies on multi-sensory, sequential, and self-correcting materials. There are in excess of 5000 independent Montessori schools across the United States and Canada and thousands more schools spread across the world.