Learning to spell can be as easy as ABC.
Lionsgate sent us the LeapFrog Talking Words Factory and this DVD is now my 2.5 year old daughter’s top video pick.
With a simple plot and catchy songs, the LeapFrog Talking Words Factor teaches kids rhyming words by adding consonants to common word endings. There is nothing ironic or hip–this is a pure, earnest, and enthusiastic celebration of leaning to spell.
The story centers around Tad, who knows his alphabet but cannot yet spell. He wants to enter his father in the “My Dad is the Best Dad in the Whole Wide World Contest” but needs help filling out the entry form. Tad, Lily and Leap head to the Talking Words Factory where they use the “Word Whammer” and the “Sticky-Ick-O-Rama” to assemble words like “Cat” and “Big” and “Best.” A sub-plot revolves around a big order for Tad’s Dad’s “Talking Dictionary” and there is the requisite machine on super speed scene.
At one point, Professor Quigley transforms into a rhinestone jumpsuit-clad Elvis impersonator and rocks out–or about as close as this wholesome romp can come to rocking out.
With a perky little preschooler frog, cute animation, and plenty of fun tunes, my daughter gets really engaged. We sing the songs around the house all the time. And my daughter, who up to this point could recognize all the letters, has begun to sound out words. After her bedtime stories, her dad said, “I don’t know what you’ve been doing, but she’s starting to read words!”
As an educator, I caution against using a DVD alone to teach important pre-literacy skills to young children, but I do think videos can be a fun educational supplement for children 2 years’ and up. Combined with first readers, alphabet books, and spelling manipulatives toys, LeapFrog Talking Words Factory can be a great tool for inspiring your child to begin spelling and sounding out words.
Build a love of reading at the LeapFrog Talking Words Factory.
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WANT IT: LeapFrog Talking Words Factory ($10 at Amazon)
